Meteor Garden

Episodes: 49

Synopsis: 

This is a remake of the classic Meteor Garden/Boys Over Flowers/Hana Yori Dango drama. It is the classic story of a poor, hardworking individual being placed in an academic environment dominated by wealthy students. She fights against the bullying and oppression enforced by the four wealthiest, most attractive students in the school--called the F4. And as she gets to know them, change them for the better, and grow with them, she befriends them and even falls in love with the leader of the group. 

Review:

I do not know if my taste has changed but this drama was horrible. Normally, I watch dramas that I want to watch and I enjoy them for the most part. Why watch something you don't want to watch? Right? So when I saw that a remake of the original Meteor Garden was coming out on Netflix, I was excited. That drama was a part of my childhood--with the bad hairstyles, the feisty interactions, the rags to riches plotline, and so forth. So I was excited to relive those memories but it was such a letdown. For starters, the plot for Meteor Garden/Boys over Flowers/Hana Yori Dango is extremely outdated and not keeping up with times. It portrays an unhealthy relationship that lacked trust and communication, and also constantly romanticizes abusive behavior such as harassing, physical violence at times, verbal abuse, stalking, and so forth. It is problematic in many ways and it is easy to hide those characteristics behind the mask of it "being romantic," of the girl "being clueless and naive," and of the guy "caring a lot about her and this is the only way he knows how to show it." 

           Back in the day, when the previous versions of this story were made, it was more acceptable. Many people were not as educated about abusive behaviors, manipulative tendencies, what makes a healthy versus an unhealthy relationship, and so forth. Times have changed. Those dramas were a thing of the past, and dramas have been changing for the better. There are now more strong female friendships, strong female leads, supportive male leads, numerous healthy relationships, and so forth being produced. So I hoped that this remake (especially since it is on Netflix) would not be a carbon copy of the original. I wanted the general gist of what made that drama so popular and addicting -- fancy elite boys and the idea of someone outside of that socioeconomic circle becoming a part of that world and the funny, feisty antics of two people from two different worlds falling in love...(also cute guys). But despite those, I also wanted to see a healthier relationship, strong friendships, growth with the times, and so forth. I wanted it to be unique instead of just the "newer version of the previous versions." But it did not provide me that satisfaction. Sure, some scenes were altered and there isn't much they can do when they're falling a manga plotline. But I'm sure there could have been changes to the script, to the way the characters are, or even to the way the characters grow. Let's just say it was a big fail starting from the fact that it did not keep up with the times and instead even further highlighted abusive behavior (more than the original dramas did). 

           In the other versions, the male lead has been seen to bully, throw things at the female lead (in the beginning), take the female lead's personal objects, hire people to scare her in all the wrong ways, and so forth. (All bad stuff!). But in this version, despite those things (as they're a part of the story), there was also that one scene on the roof where he corners her and displays violent behavior before trying to comfort her. It made me so uncomfortable. She was frightened and his behavior was inexcusable for the situation at hand. It is not sexy for a man to punch the wall right by the female lead's head, corner her, drag her around, push her around, throw things at her, and verbally abuse her. And I'm not even saying it was just the male characters in the drama that I found flawed and unhealthy. The female lead was no better as her character constantly caused misunderstandings due to her inability to communicate (despite being so outspoken about all the wrong things), failing to read situations (you can call it naive, I call it on purpose), and so forth. 

           Not only that, the acting wasn't even great. I have seen the actress for the female lead act in another role where I really liked her in (A Love so Beautiful) but this was not a good look for her. I found her annoying in this role. Dylan Wang (the male lead) is cute and I was enamored at first when I saw the trailer for Meteor Garden...but this role also did not necessarily put him in the most positive light from my perspective. The attractiveness of an actor should not excuse character roles that perpetuate messages of sexual violence, abuse, and manipulation. I know they have the potential to do well and make it big from some scenes here and there, and also from other dramas I have seen them in. But this drama had overly cheesy acting, awkward dialogue, and affection that didn't flow well from all the bickering and abusive behavior the main leads would subject the other to. 

All in all, I did not like this drama and would not be recommending it to people. 

Feel free to watch it. But keep this review in mind so you can recognize the toxic behaviors early on as well.