The GBA Aftermath

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Okay, I wasn’t even going to participate in this ridiculous, beyond childish “game” this year. Yet I had to after reading some things. I refrained from wanting to even blog or care about it after reading some news (which was my first mistake in a long time now because I had cut myself off with anything that’s related to the stretch of the media and anti-fans) last night. But I could no longer hold out after reading an exchange between Will and Mark:

(Image Credit: Will’s Weibo)

YES, it got to Will. In this day and age and leave it up to the media to add in more oil to the blazing fire, OF COURSE, IT GOT TO HIM. Thank you for those who were making things even worse. I hope you all are happy now! (YES, that was sarcasm.) Now that I got that part out of the way, I will attempt to tear everything apart one by one and beat the already “dead horse” to death again (IF POSSIBLE). These points were influenced by a collection of various discussions around the net BUT might not cover everything because I stopped reading for the sake of keeping whatever of sanity is left in me. Luckily, Will didn’t get beat down yet and will continue to strive forward.

First and foremost, who should have won? Everyone loves this question, right? Since most people (or what seems like it) have been yelling out injustice since the result was announced. Biased or unbiased, I think Will deserved every ounce of the award–regardless if the other nominees are veterans or not. Well, it’s easy for me to say because I’m some obsessed fangirl, right? WRONG, I thought James Wen would win this year–finally. Does that mean I have no faith in Will? NO, it was because Endless Love was too underrated AND the fact that the hype was built around The Fierce Wife and many others all along.

Additional reasons?

• Picking on the new guy is just so fun. People are so against Will because he’s new. Technically, he isn’t new anymore in the industry, but at least he’s one of the new nominees and some people wouldn’t expect to show up on the list. It’s the same reason why Mark got bombarded to the point that it could be compared to a massacre two years ago. AND also the mockery that followed after Show got beat by Wu Cheng Di. I just want to say that when it comes to these things, it’s not a matter of who’s senior/junior but it should be based on that one performance only. That’s why they attached the title of the drama after reading out the nominees’ name, hence the next point.
• Acting? The obvious reason for thinking his acting isn’t up to it. Those who think so based on Miss No Good and never watched Endless Love should not even have a say in it. After all, the award was based on his performance in Endless Love. Endless Love received some attention when it first aired–yet for all the wrong reasons (thanks to the media), but that was it. So it was hard for those who lost interest and never watched the rest of it to criticize Will’s acting. He had improved heaps since Miss No Good–if that was possible. Not to mention how with people’s first major lead role, they would end up all nervous. (AND because he and Rainie are really good friends outside, too familiar with one another that made him nervous and less natural in Miss No Good than in Endless Love.)
• Fanbase and the personal support team. This is important because this is where everyone gets overly emotional because of course, they would be supporting their friends, favorites, etc. YET if they’re unwilling to step back and analyze the whole situation, it’s just group-bullying the winner in the end. Even more so, just because someone you support wins it means it’s fair? And if someone you don’t support wins, that means the whole thing is corrupted? More on that later.
• Different interpretation of what ‘good acting’ is. YES, this is why sometimes we have a room full of people and they can’t seem to get along. We all have a different perception of what good acting is. SO the people on the panel are like that as well. Ever heard the phrase “9 people with 10 opinions”? (I’ll leave some other questions about doubt for later as well.)

Who handled the outcome better? Of course, it’s easy to be happy and all when you’re winning, right? YES, but Will had to deal with the combined pressure from the other nominees–and their supporters, the media, and the audience. This is one of those rare times when he rather not win. Being the winner is worse than being the loser this time around. But I must say that out of all the other nominees, Jin Shi Jie handled it pretty well, even congratulating Will based on this post. I’m not sure about Long Shao Hua since I haven’t heard much about him afterward–or the media focused less on him. NOT sure. Joseph Chang looked sad from some of the photos captured afterward–with Rainie comforting him–AND he has every right to be. Yet the most disappointing reaction must be from James Wen. He has every right–like the other nominees–to be upset yet calling injustice? Okay, here is the part where everyone would be arguing about there’s never a wrong way to react after losing since it’s hard to control one’s emotion and how it hurts to lose four times already. YET why didn’t he react so strongly before? (Okay, people are rolling their eyes and saying, “Maybe it’s because this is the fourth time.” How could I miss it when I wrote “four times” up there, right?) Lei Hong won in 2008–and no reaction just because he’s a veteran? Or was it because it was the second time (after some years) so no real effect yet (but just the whole flaunting around about “being honored with having the nomination”)? My turn to roll my eyes here. But if Eddie Peng had won over him that year, how would he feel? (Though if Eddie had won, I wouldn’t mind either because I felt his performance in Wayward Kenting was so convincing as some clueless guy. But for the record, I was rooting for Zhang Chen Guang also SO I wasn’t too happy with Lei Hong winning YET I got over it. YES, I said it that I didn’t agree with the winner BUT I wouldn’t go about bashing another for it. I just moved on.) Then come last year’s The Happy Times of That Year and he didn’t win either AND what was his reaction? Sorry that I have forgotten but most of the heat was on between the winner and Show Luo–or so it seemed. AND is this year an appropriate time to come out pondering if the audience could vote as well? (I get it the part about him being sad and disappointed that he doesn’t know where he went wrong. YET I didn’t like some of the attitude going on like he was sure he would win. No one wants to lose OR so others would be arguing right now, but he has let the whole hype get to him and building himself up too much hence not being able to accept the outcome–like some others who have taken it lightly. I’m sure it’s hard not to get pulled in because of how much The Fierce Wife Team has built itself up for getting awards, but he must understand that acting is not about awards only. Or was that his goal all along? And IF anyone wants to pull the veteran card out now, he has to understand how the industry is since he has been around for a while now.) Back to the whole questioning about the panel, he could question the panel all he wants but touching the audience? Nice move. This goes back to prove that everyone has a different opinion on how and what is good acting. YET what is he implying? (I’m sure the media could be twisting his word, but some of the reactions from him and the rest of The Fierce Wife Team are obvious already without the media adding in more.) Talking about TFW (The Fierce Wife) Team, Sonia sure disappointed me with her reaction as well. (YES, this is the part where people are saying about how it’s natural for her to not be able to control emotion because she just lost the leading actress award to Tian Xin previously–and that she was just supporting James–AND how she already apologized afterward via Facebook. YET Miss Sui was saying in this one article that she didn’t care about winning and seemed like she was taking it easy. She must have underestimated herself and reacted differently when the moment finally came and she couldn’t predict that YET it proved that the response was just a publicity stunt after all. And if what she said before had been taken out of context with her not caring about the award and she had clarified about that–aka she does care, then I’m sorry. But that was kind of not so graceful with her reaction–regardless of how much damage control was done afterward. It had allowed for the TFW fanbase to bash others since it was okay their idols were against a certain victory as well. Yeah, here comes the whole “idols couldn’t control their emotions” again, BUT they’re NOT new. People want to use the “veteran/senior card” to their advantage? I will use it too if you want to play that way.)

SIDE-NOTE: I want to stop here and clarify that I really like both Sonia and James Wen. I liked Sonia since watching The Magicians of Love–even if people thought her performance wasn’t all that, but I saw the potential in her. (NOT to mention how I have included her as one of the key characters in The Dating Game series of my fanfiction–regardless of how lame and random the story-line tend to get.) James? I only watched him in bits and pieces in The Happy Times of That Year but really liked his chemistry with Sonia in there, and loved them as an on-screen couple since then. Not to mention how I think James could really act. Yet I’m just disappointed in their reaction of recent, that’s all. SO if anyone thinks it’s just my cheap attempt to defend Will by dunking both James and Sonia, that’s fine and I can’t stop you, but it’s not the truth. I will continue to support both and wish their time will come in the future. I also hope that they would both learn to handle situations better as well. (NOT to mention the whole ‘TFW Team’ also.)

Moving on…to the next point.

The results were fixed. This couldn’t be helped when an award ceremony comes around–or some sort of competition. I read somewhere that someone was mentioning about Angie Cai (the producer of Endless Love) was behind the whole thing with getting Will to win. Honestly? Someone also pointed out through the same post that: “Why couldn’t she do the same last year for Show and Hai Pai Tian Xin?” I must agree with that response. Don’t tell me because she learned better this year. Unless you can prove it, don’t even go there. It does happen in the industry at times and who knows what else behind those curtains YET unless you can prove it, it’s just a bunch of baseless assumptions. To make it even worse, someone else blurted out that Will was actually the one buying himself the award. Again, honestly? This, I could say is impossible without proof. Why? He focuses his career on music because that’s his passion, but does one drama per year (or so he had announced one time) because of fans who would want to see him in the dramas. He’s known to be one of the most extreme workaholics in the industry, never stopping even when he injured his leg performing that one time onstage. Would he resort to that method to win?

Why didn’t I defend Mark when everyone and their cousins were after him for winning two years ago? The obvious: I didn’t watch Black & White yet and could only read the news that was surrounding the matter. A lame answer to dodge out of the sticky situation, but it’s the truth. I wouldn’t want to be talking about a subject that I have no idea about because it would end up worthless when I need to back up my argument. Have you ever sit there and listen to some friends talk about a certain popular movie recently shown in the theater and they talked it to death YET you have no idea what it’s about? But you ended up pretending you do AND they cornered you with a question regarding the plot or trap you with some questions about the cast (how did you think so and so did)? The sad outcome would be they made some stuff up to test you yet you didn’t even realize it until they told you in the end, making you look like an idiot because they knew all along you were bluffing (and just want to teach you a lesson). SO, yes I didn’t want to be that idiot. Though I never agree with people targeting others, even resorting to name-calling, etc. SO now that I already watched Black & White, how about not dodging the question anymore? Did Mark deserve the win? Honestly, I think he did. I pondered about it a lot when I was watching Black & White–and if I had to go raw without any real first-hand information, I would be too blinded and biased to answer that question. But I was glad to hold my judgment while I was watching. It seemed like a slow start with Mark’s character–though there was some excitement with the cases and the chase scenes at various points. Yet there were more actions than scenes where it allowed Mark to show off his ability to express his emotions. But somewhere near the ending when the plot focused on revealing more of Ying Xiong’s identity and the trap he fell into, Mark got more chances to prove his talent. It was indeed fascinating to watch. It wasn’t Mark’s fault that there were less emotional scenes for him. It was the way the plot was built. It was just that Pi Zi had a harsh life and the ups and downs of the stuff he went through were ten times worse hence allowing Vic more chances to prove his abilities. I’m not saying that Vic doesn’t deserve it SO don’t put words into my mouth. But I’m saying that other elements must be considered before jumping to a conclusion about who deserves it more than whom. I think either one of the guys winning would already be a victory for the drama itself.

Who got it worse–Mark or Will? YES, I had to address it too. During the commotion and the announcement of the result, Mark must have gotten it worse. Though both were equally shocked and emotional to pay attention to other sideshows. Yet I think Mark got it worse after the acceptance/appreciative speech and the after-party. Just because he was right there witnessing everything. People must be whispering and some doubts are out there–thanks to the media’s interpretation as well. Mark saw it all and had to endure the whole night. Will was in China performing and was watching it on TV. Just to get some things cleared out of the way before people assume otherwise, Will had agreed to perform in China first and did not want to cancel the show just because of the award show. Some people had interpreted that he didn’t show up because he knew he wouldn’t win (possibly thanks to the media again). That might be true to some extent, BUT I think it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he didn’t want to disappoint the people who were coming to see his performance with the show in China (since he had been known to be quite considerate and always work his best with preparations for the shows). If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t even watch, right? Of course, he was beyond surprised that he won and even went into extremely shocked mode after learning that he won. (It could be seen in this clip that he included after thanking the cast and crew of Endless Love because he said the award did not belong to him only, but to them also.) To get back to the point in bold again, I think it’s about the same after the show was over and the media begin weaving stories–and the audience’s reaction. And I don’t think there would be anyone who could comfort Will better than Mark since Mark really, truly understand EXACTLY what Will is going through (like both had said in that message above).

So after all those rants from me, who should be blamed then? (YES, I know we must blame someone for our frustration, right? SO, of course, I got that part covered.) The most obvious answer: GBA panel aka the judges. It was them who determined the winner. Whatever it was said and done, it was up to them. They were the ones who people should be targeting–regardless of what you assumed happened behind the scenes. But it’s natural to blame the winners because we couldn’t change anything or have a say in the panel, right? NO! Come on now, could someone come up with a lamer reason to hate? To get back to the subject again, if the nominees don’t trust the panel OR care for the GBA, why didn’t they just file some report/statement stating that they DO NOT want to be involved in it altogether? Oh, we’re back to the whole “I thought I would win thing again.” Scroll up and it goes in circles. LOL!

To get way off-topic but still somewhat on topic, did anyone consider that some of the best dramas of the year didn’t even get mentioned? SO how could you rate the fairness of everything or feel the injustice of it all? I’m sure every one of the production team of all the dramas aired last year (and all of the years in the past, in the current, and in the future as well) did their best and put in a lot to work to create all of those dramas for us to see–regardless if we care for the genre or not, BUT they didn’t get mentioned. What I’m getting at is if you complain about those not winning, what about those who didn’t get nominated? The list goes on and on, not just the cast–or the usual upfront producer/director teams either. But the people who spent hours to put up the set and get the scenes ready for the shoot. Or say those people who spent hours after to clean up after the others are done with the scenes and already went home? Do they ever get mentioned? We know they exist, but the attention’s always on the forerunners. SO imagine how they feel when they are not mentioned at all. OR like some people thought they could carry on a show without the help of the so-called “little people.”

Am I trying to act all mighty and teach people stuff? NO, I’m just fed up with seeing so much negativity and what one human being would do to another just because of something they couldn’t change. You might think I’m making too big of a deal out of this because they’re entertainers. BUT does that mean entertainers DO NOT have feelings or deserve to pursue their dreams or follow their ambition? Every one of us has a dream or a goal we’re working toward. You might think one is silly or another. You might choose to be a doctor because you want to save lives, others could choose to become singers/song-writers/actors–or whatever you name it. But it doesn’t make one career/profession more superior than the other. We’re just all different from one another and the path we choose makes this world a place with variety.

This was a rant about the male side mostly since it has to do with Will and all. Yet I think it could apply for all of the categories that were mentioned in the award as well. Because honestly, it doesn’t make much of a difference. The bottom-line: Get over it.

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