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fillingthescrapbook · 3 years

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Do the writers of theCW's Kung Fu watch their show?

I don't really have the energy to write everything that isn't working on this show... But just in case this post reaches eyes that are connected to the show, here's a list of things that the writers might want to keep in mind while breaking and writing the second season.

1. Watch your show.

I am begging you, writers of Kung Fu: watch your show. Take down notes on what you've written and what you've established. Take note of character chemistry, of the strengths and weaknesses of your actors, directors, fight choreographers, set designers, etc.

Let's not have a dead character sometimes appear as a wise mystical ghost in one episode, and then a personification of Nicky's subconscious in another. Let's not have a character say "I want what [our parents] have" in reference to his failed romance just mere episodes after the parents almost split up because of a kept secret. That they didn't even really resolve. And let's not have character arcs appear and disappear willy-nilly, like Althea's sexual harassment storyline that only crops up when it's convenient.

Sure, it's great to have themes in episodes--but just because a storyline doesn't fit the theme doesn't mean it should stop moving.

2. Don't fall in love with your characters and actors.

I don't mean romantically. But that too, I guess?

Here's the thing. Zhilan is a cool character, I get it. But we didn't really need to see her in every episode. Her actions can happen off-screen and it wouldn't really affect the show. Because while her endgame does connect to Nicky, everything she does leading up to it does not.

Eleven episodes in, the only thing we really needed from Zhilan was her first encounter with Nicky in the pilot--where she becomes the yardstick to which we measure Nicky up to; her face-to-face with Nicky at the museum--where we see that while Nicky has grown, she still has much to learn before she can defeat Zhilan; and then the fight alongside Simon Lau, where Nicky sees that she can now hold her own against Zhilan--but she still has weaknesses that Zhilan can use against her.

Outside of those encounters, we don't really need Zhilan. We didn't need her to team up with Kerwin and have all those scenes with him. Kerwin could've been introduced via Nicky and Henry's research only for him to side with Zhilan, sure. But having Zhilan approach him in one episode, and then sprinkling them around so many episodes just talking, making out, killing, stealing, etc? Those scenes only took time away from developing Nicky as a character.

3. Develop your main character. Please.

Nicky is very unlikable. So is Henry, by the way. They're charming, but that's thanks to the actors. The characters themselves are selfish and thoughtless. They act without fear of consequences, and why would they be afraid? The show never deals with the fallout of their wrong decisions. Because of that, the characters don't grow.

How can people aspire to be Nicky? How can people root for her to win beyond not wanting the bad guys to become more powerful? We can't. Because Nicky is not worthy of our respect or affection. She is impatient, impertinent, and immature. Flawed characters are one thing, but Nicky is a hero with all the virtues of a one-dimensional villain.

4. Ask your script supervisor if they're okay.

Kung Fu airs so many scenes that could be fixed by someone on set going, "umm--is there a better way to film that?" Like Zhilan showing Simon her pendant to tell him she's a guardian too. The pendant was nesting on her bare skin for all to see. We could argue that Simon was reeling from the death of his bodyguards--but the conversation between him and Zhilan started prior to the deaths. And it was preceded by him getting warned by Nicky that a woman was coming to steal his weapon and kill him.

And then there's the Zhilan-Kerwin love-making and off-screen Myanmar adventure that was interspersed throughout an episode of Nicky searching Canada for her long-lost aunt. Nicky went on a road trip, had a scavenger hunt, had a lengthy conversation with a plot device, got lost in the woods, had an interlude with a wolf, spent the night in the woods, traversed more of the mountain to find her aunt's cabin which she then thoroughly explored. Meanwhile, over at the Zhilan-Kerwin show, the set, costume, AND lighting implied that all their scenes transpired in the span of hours.

5. Figure out a better way to have fight scenes.

The pilot's fight scene at the monastery, and then with goons when Nicky was back in "San Francisco", was organic. Nicky's fight at the secret poker club during the second episode was a little eye-roll-inducing, but it still had a purpose. But some of Nicky's fights since then just felt forced. Like the fight with the pool players during her Canadian road trip, and the frat fight with the kids who wanted to scapegoat a Chinese kid into paying for their crime.

But honestly? I wouldn't mind the per-episode fight scene requirement if the fight scenes were actually any good. But they're not really fun to watch. They're dizzying most of the time, and they're edited so clunkily. Kung Fu peeps? Watch Disney's Mulan live-action film from 2020. Let that be a guide of what not to do.

And finally--

Just...talk to each other. Sketch out the entire season, and don't just make stuff up on the fly. Create a character bible of who the characters are--their history, their traumas, their favorite shit. And use the bible to make sure your characters don't suddenly become someone else for plot's sake.

Fix your show, Kung Fu writers. Make it a show that Asians can be proud of. Please.

#Kung Fu #The CW #tv talk #tv review #Asian representation

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anindecentinnocent-blog · 5 years

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Are you experiencing extreme stress?

Well, so do I.

What's very odd though is the fact that I'm more of mentally and emotionally stressed than of physically exhausted and strained, and what's more bothering and tiring is the fact that emotional stress alone already holds a very great value behind the reasons why we all tend to get very worked up and sad.

(you may now stop reading if you want to cause you don't need to anyways and go back to freaking out about Article 13, which I am btw 😶 .)

I am stressed. Again not physically but emotionally and mentally. I'm not "that" stressed though. It's more like the stress I feel is a result of built up confusion combined with a lot of little fragments of little things I can't even comprehend to begin with but still they get straight to me.

What's even worse is I don't know how to resolve a problem I don't even have a solution to. I don't know why I am suddenly feeling this way or why I am very upset out of the blue but what's more unnerving than these questions is the fact that I simply am disturbed.

I was a very mean person and I admit to that. I'm not ashamed of that certain fact but I am of the things that I've done. (Doesn't make sense does it?) I didn't want to put my mistakes on loop so I finally decided to lift myself up from those infamous moments and begin to redeem myself from the impurities and misdeeds that I have done and inflicted towards other people. I am proud to say that the progress was indeed productive and I've been slowly bringing myself closer to kindness which is truthfully very difficult to maintain and achieve but I still did so.

The previous paragraph wasn't about the story on how I finally became a goody-two-shoes but rather another reason why I am very much upset.

I had so much failures that I now fear them. Whenever I notice a slight change in my behaviour or in the way I treat other people, I easily panic and tremendously get scared of the possible consequences I might face. I am very much afraid of failing to the point where everything I do I think is a failure.

The next thing that I was very much confused about and is one of the primary reasons why I am questioning myself a lot of unneccessary queries is that I tend to feel really alone "romantically".

Sounds cliché doesn't it?

I don't know why but every time I see a couple I instantly feel the need to be somewhat similar. And on the process of deliberating on how to stop these emotional feeling I always get bombarded by my insecurities and trust me it does not help at all.

Listen, I am well aware of the fact that I don't belong whatsoever in the "beautiful people variety" and I don't want to be that guy who constantly feels the need to change his appearance just to fit in the spectrum, but still, I want to look atleast presentable. And I also am not used to relationships and it honestly isn't even in my priority list (which is why I am confused on how these thoughts came about) but it doesn't mean I am resilient and excused to feel such want and need to be loved in a certain way from another person.

So basically, if I were to be on a Disney movie I will be in every single scene of Beauty and the Beast only that the title will be changed to "Lonely is the Beast".

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If you have managed to really withstand this bitch of a letter then congrats, you've got aids.

But really, I don't want to appear more of an emo bitch but I also don't want to suppress such feeling inside. And I know I could've just gone to my friend but I am aware of the fact that I am not alone to what I've been experiencing these past few days and I would want you to know if you, the one who's reading this, also feels the same way then do not worry there is not a single organism here on earth not miserable (I know, I'm bad at advices)

And finally, my last say:

Don't be a bitch and man up to your feelings but don't also be a bitch and cling on to that feeling.

May sound hypocritical for now but not for long 😉.

P.S.

Why am I assuming there'll be a lot who'll be reading this?

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