The premiere episode of My Sister of Eternal Flower (花花世界花家姐); was broadcast on Monday, May 16th in Hong Kong. Lead actors, Raymond Lam (林峯)and Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼)have become the subject of lively discussions, especially Charmaine’s portrayal of a mentally challenged woman. Charmaine’s “Sister Fa” character drew comparisons to Roger Kwok’s (郭晉安) “Ah Wong” portrayal in Square Pegs (戆夫成龙). Netizens criticized Charmaine for copying Roger’s earlier performance. In addition, Raymond’s rich heir character pretended to be a bank robber. This scene resulted in an audience member filing a complaint with the Broadcasting Authority, claiming it posed as a negative influence on children.
Charmaine’ “Sister Fa” character only possessed the mental capacity of a 10- year-old girl, a role which Charmaine regarded as an acting challenge. Since the broadcast of the premiere episode of My Sister of Eternal Flower, netizens complained the Charmaine’s portrayal did not resemble a mentally challenged person and only copied Roger Kwok’s acting in Square Pegs. Despite netizen’s criticism, there was still significant interest in the series first episode, averaging 29 points and peaking at 30 points (approximately 1.9 million viewers).My Sister of Eternal Flower trumped the finale broadcast of Relics of An Emissary (洪武三十二), which average 28 points last week.
A Flame War Ignites Online
On Hong Kong Discussion Forum (www.discuss.com.hk) and Tvb.com, the topic of Charmaine’s performance in My Sister of Eternal Flower sparked a heated crossfire. On Tvb.com, Charmaine’s fans strongly supported their idol’s performance and used “Sister Fa’s” favorite catch phrase, “It’s not that simple.” Another set of netizens attacked Charmaine’s performance and said she was unconvincing as a mentally challenged woman. They also complained that she uttered her lines too slowly, pointing out that she would say one word every 1.5 seconds. Some netizens complained that Charmaine’s performance resembled a 2 to 3-year-old rather than a 10-year-old girl. Others pointing out that Charmaine’s eyes appeared too alert and that her gestures were exaggerated, noting a regression in Charmaine’s acting.
Raymond Lam did not escape the judgement of netizens. Some people said that Raymond’s “chok expression” made them want to vomit and criticized his acting. However, there were also positive comments which praised the comedic effects. Although Raymond was quite “chok,” some netizens said he was quite playful. At the same time, Charmaine was praised as a rare pretty, mentally-challenged girl.
Producer Strongly Supports Charmaine Sheh
The Producer of My Sister of Eternal Flower, Kwan Wing Chung (關永忠), was aware that the public regarded “Sister Fa” as the female version of “Ah Wong” during the filming of the series. Mr. Kwan also followed the comments after the series’ broadcast, and noted that the positive and negative comments were quite balanced. Mr. Kwan said that comparisons to “Ah Wong” were expected and discussed this with Charmaine, hoping she would walk out of the shadow of “Ah Wong.” Mr. Kwan noted that the characters’ background and plot development were different from “Ah Wong.”
Mr. Kwan also noted that Charmaine had adequately prepared for the role and accompanied the scriptwriter to a school for mentally challenged people during the research process. Mr. Kwan explained that Charmaine spoke her lines slowly because her reaction was slow. Although she possessed the mental capacity of a 10-year-old girl, [she was different] from the new generation of 10-year-old who displayed more adult behavior. Regarding the complaint over Raymond Lam posing a bank robber, Mr. Kwan noted that My Sister of Eternal Flower crossed over boundaries to display the “devilish” aspects of Raymond’s character for comedic effect.
Source: Mingpao
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