Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Depending on which time zone you’re in, this greeting may come a day late but I hope you had a healthy serving of mooncake and other scrumptious goodies. Hunan TV held their annual Mid-Autumn Night celebrations and being a tv addict, among my favorites were the actor crossovers from their respective dramas.
Leo Lu Yunxi, Joe Xu Haiqiao, Ma Ke and Jeremy Tsui prepared a song and dance number as the four great scholars of ancient China. Really, it seems more like an excuse to fangirl.
It’s been less than a month since Ashes of Love, and yet it feels nostalgic to see Luo Yunxi as Run Yu. Even for a variety show guesting, he’s living up to his godly persona.
Jeremy Tsui is also flawlessly handsome in ancient garb though I wish that he had appeared as Tai Shi from The Legend of Dugu.
This one has me stumped. I’m not sure who he’s going as. Joe Xu Haiqiao’s most recent costume drama is The Dark Lord opposite Lareina Song.
Ma Ke may have headlined a number of costume dramas since Journey of Flower, but he’s still Sha Jiejie for me and probably for most people too.
There was a whole skit devoted to Story of Yanxi Palace despite the show not airing on Hunan TV. Charmaine Sheh headed up the ensemble cast along with Wang Yuanke, Su Qing, Li Chunai, Jiang Zixin and Lawrence Wong. Veteran actress Dai Chungrong who’s made a career out of playing empresses takes her rightful seat on the throne.
Last but not the least is a guesting from the cast of Hunan TV’s current primetime offering.
Wallace Chung, Sun Yi and Alan Yu Menglong from the tearjerking melodrama All Out of Love joined in on the festive celebrations. Aww, no Ma Tianyu?
Source: 1
Anonymous
I'm going to get a lot of heat for stating the obvious, but why are all the young male leads these days look so flimsy and gay? They look thinner than girls!
Anonymous
yes I agree with…all that young male leads exactly look slimmer than girl..I would tend to like someone that is more manly and have a muscle
Anonymous
You could have said it without the word “gay” in it cause it just makes you sound homophobic. It’s 2018 and people still associate with being skinny as gay lol I’ve met gay men who are more buff than your average straight man. Back to your question, the younger actors nowadays are indeed more frail than other veteran actors. Let’s face it, fans like flower boy types. I know some buff younger actors but they arent that popular. Also, in historical drama, if the men arent in the army, they’re intellectuals who are often depicted as frail, handsome, skinny. There’s even a word for this look. I also like toned and muscly men but it seems like they’ll get to that the older they are in their career. You’re not the first to point out either, Chinese men usually make fun of the girls for liking these skinny guys while they like older and manly man like Eddie Peng. I remember my Chinese male friend makes fun of Luhan for being “gay looking and feminine” but he is earning tons of money rn he doesnt care lol the fact is the industry cater to young women and they tend to loke the flower boy type
Melodysweetmusic177
does someone have a link or something to where I can watch this? thank you so much!
Anonymous
Ma Tian Yu has conflicting schedule when Sun Yi, Wallace and Alan recorded this. He was spotted at the airport leaving while those three posted a photo watching All Out Of Love together premiere on weibo. Haha
Anonymous
This is just my guess but if you're a teenage girl, you will be more likely to idolize male actors who give off a young, boyish look. Most young boys are not muscular. As women get older, more and more will find the big muscular type more attractive. Teenage girls have a lot of time and maybe discretionary money to spend supporting their idols. Women of working age have to work and worry about other things in life. So there would seem to be a disproportionate support of the flowery type of male actors/idols.
Anonymous
but I still dont like flowery male actors…to flowery it seem like their face will look like such a woman…I am sorry for that
Anonymous
Lol I think the actors could pass as the Four Most Handsome Men in Ancient China. Especially Leo Luo Yun Xi looks like a modern counterpart of Wei Jie, a handsome man with frail health.
Anonymous
Wow a lot of hate and ignorance in the comments. I say 'hate' because if you said the same things about men being too fat, it'll be unacceptable. Skinny shaming is just as bad! Coming from a family that genetically does not allow me to grow fat, I hate watching people online tell celebrities what to do with their bodies just so they can be more attractive in the eyes of themselves. I'm not sure about the others, but LuoYunXi (Leo) used to be a ballet dancer. He IS muscly and strong but also thing because of his training. Imagine if you said to someone 'You're too fat, so you're not attractive.' Saying that about skinny people, who often can't control it (I know that because of "fans" Leo is eating more junk foods to look fatter WHICH IS NOT HEALTHY), is just as disgusting. Stop it. Seriously, stop it.
Anonymous
My husband is naturally skinny and just can't "bulk" up no matter how hard he tries. That said, he is not "flowery" which is what the original comment is referring to. I don't think anyone can deny that there are lot of "flowery" and androgynous boys in Korean and Chinese entertainment, especially prominent in music. Attitudes and concepts about what "men" and "women" should act like and look like deserve a discussion in and of itself, but I don't think the original commenter was specifically hating on skinny people, just "flowery" men in Chinese entertainment (some of whom also happen to be slim, but not slim people specifically).
Anonymous
The flower boy look is popular with young girls(who are the biggest consumers of idol dramas). It's the actor's/actress's job to cater to market tastes. Since the flower boy look is the trend (due to the influence of kpop), everyone is going for that aesthetics. Once the trend fades, everyone will go for something else.
FYI, the muscular male protagonist is more common in mature dramas aimed at adults. Some of the actors that are muscular: Huang Xiaoming, Eddie Peng, Elvis Han.
Anonymous
I agree with Anonymous 5.a. I don't think the original commenter was hating on "skinny" men either–I don't think anyone was, actually. It's more that these men look very androgynous, which if you naturally look like that, nothing wrong with it, but I reckon a lot of these actors purposefully make themselves look that way. I get it: it's all about what the masses want.
I, too, know many, many slim men who cannot gain weight no matter how hard they try, but they still retain their more masculine facial features, even when they were younger. I can't say any of them ever looked "flowery"–cute and boyish, yes, but not in the same way we're seeing our young male idols these days.
Jules Verne
Pretty much all of the above: 1. You're not the target market 2. The target market's preferred look is androgynous (also applies in manga and anime) 3. Asian men generally can't bulk up as well as caucasian men (without protein regiment they just end up wiry).
I'll add one more, which is a bit of a catch-22 for these guys but applies even in Hollywood. When you're an actor/actress in an industry looking for work in certain genres, you need to have a build that is close to 'standard' in that genre. If all the actors/actresses in that genre is flowery and slim, you can't be too different from that look. If you have a different look, the story will have to explain why you have a different look from the 'general populace'. Muscular look will narrow down your field to action genres or 'Conan the Barbarian' characters (lots of them in Tribes and Empires, which is not the normal kind of production).