First Episode 48: 我的青春谁做主 - My Youthfulness

[imron]

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

我的青春谁做主 - My Youthfulness

Emule - Sohu HD - youku - mysoju (English subs)

Summary

Follows the story of three young female cousins trying to find their own way in the world against the pressures from their parents and society.

I've just finished watching this, and it's pretty much in the same league as 奋斗 - it even has some of the same actors and same music - and probably the same Audi's. It's a pretty solid family drama with a few sub plots thrown in to keep things interesting, plus a mix of the usual absurdities and implausibilities you find in this kind of tv soap.

Language wise it's about the same difficulty as 奋斗, and if you enjoyed 奋斗, it's probably a fair bet to say you'll like this one also.

Edited February 9, 2010 at 02:17 PM by renzhe

[roddy]

Would you rate it above or below 奋斗？ I caught an episode or two of this, but it just seemed like a 奋斗 clone. I do need to watch something a bit more modern though, as I'm halfway through 走向共和 and I'm probably starting to talk like a late-Qing mandarin.

[imron]

Tough call. I'd rate them about even. In many ways it is a clone of 奋斗 except I found that the main characters in this are more likeable/less childish. 奋斗 was also more about the younger characters, whereas this series also contains a fair number of scenes showing things from the parents' point of view.

If nothing else, the show will drag you back into modern day Beijing language-wise.

[muyongshi]

Hmmm... I don't know if I could handle a 奋斗 clone. Liked it, even went back and watched certain episodes but too much of the same thing just does it in for me. Hmmm reminds of a 成语, 千篇一律. Most movies and TV shows are this way.

I'll check it out if I get a chance though.

[imron]

Don't let being a clone put you off. It's not an exact clone and personally I'd prefer something like this to a sequel as it's its own complete story and doesn't try to interfere or change with what happened before.

[renzhe]

youku

Language-wise, I found 奋斗 to be just right, and I'm also looking for a modern show to practice listening. I might give this one a whirl, as soon as I'm finished with the phantom one.

Edited July 2, 2009 at 11:40 AM by renzhe

[muyongshi]

Got too curious

The music gave me a headache and wanted to turn it off...I have been enjoying a quiet day....

Okay, I'm hooked...it's got 华子 and 米莱 (now called 小样) as well from 奋斗 (sorry I don't pay attention to real names). I am not 100% sure but I'm pretty sure the guy that played 夏林's father in 奋斗 is playing in this one as well (it was only a quick glance) as 米莱's father. It no longer matters about the story line or anything else. (oh btw I am writing this as I watch and I am only in about 6 minutes).

Okay, this line is just funny, (said with a shocked expression) "你...不会是做生意吧?!" Like it's the worst evil under the sun.

Sorry I'm not good with the whole summarizing thing like renzhe but this is hilarious. 小样's father is into 京剧 (I'm guessing) but some sort of 剧 and walks around practicing, talks in the house like it's opera an what not. Adds a great comedic element and it's not too much to get annoying either.

oh and I'm pretty sure the Audi is different. This one has a self closing trunk feature. Pretty sure 陆涛's didn't. ;)

Finished and liked it. I know there has been some posts in between as I have been writing this for 40 minutes now. Very interested to see where it goes from here!

[imron]

Yeah, I didn't particularly like the opening credit theme either. There are a couple of great characters in this series and a couple of completely wooden characters too. It's definitely worth continuing the whole thing and it manages to maintain a fairly decent pace throughout.

As for Audis, 陆涛's Audi was grey, and the grey Audi's make an appearance later on. It's like every who drives a car has an Audi (talk about soft advertising!).

[renzhe]

Wow, this is such a shameless, SHAMELESS ripoff of 奋斗, I'm still shocked. Even the background music is a total ripoff, and one of the actresses reminds me a lot of 夏琳.

Anyway, the short story is that 钱小样 is a nurse in some city I didn't quite figure out, but wants to go back to Beijing, where she is originally from. She meets a young guy 方宇 from Beijing who pretends to be a businessman and hitches a ride with him back to Beijing. Secretly, since her mother won't let her go. She is also under a lot of pressure because all her cousins are very successful, and she's a bit of a failure.

They have some misunderstandings on the road, especially when they have to share one room, which leads to a misunderstanding on his part. But she is a martial arts expert so she clears the misunderstanding very quickly. When they come to Beijing, it turns out that he is not a businessman, but merely transports cars from one city to another.

Her cousin, 赵青楚 has graduated from a top law school and is applying for a position in a top company. Apparently her grandmother is an important figure at an important institute (政法学院的学术权威, whatever that is), which helps her get the job. Her mother insists that she should go back to Shanghai and stay with her, but she wants to stay in Beijing. The two cousins are very happy to meet again, they are staying with the grandparents, 赵青楚 gets accepted, but warned that hard time is ahead of her as they usually don't take people who have just graduated. 钱小样 doesn't get a job as a boutique seller. 钱小样 meets the 方宇 again, and they have dinner. 赵青楚 goes to a karaoke bar with her former classmates, and meets an old admirer of hers, who is now a doctor. He still seems to be after her, but she's into career, not marriage.

At home, the two cousins have a nasty surprise, both of their mothers have arrived. They all fight, and the grandfather feels ill.

It was OK. Intermediate to upper intermediate, due to the fast and sometimes unclear spoken Beijing accent. The subtitles help here, especially with very fast passages.

I might watch a few more (contemporary everyday stuff is always good), but it feels that 奋斗 was actually better.

[imron]

She's from 银川 in 宁夏。 Yeah it's a rip-off of 奋斗 but I'm guessing it's by the same people/producers. Personally though I feel this one is a little better than 奋斗.

[roddy]

Downloading the first five episodes of this, will give it a shot once I've finished 走向共和 (should be today or the next couple of days). I've enjoyed 走向共和, but feel a need for something with cars and mobile phones and more attractive people (not that 袁世凯 isn't attractive, of course, but . . .)

[roddy]

Hmm, finished the first one. It's watchable enough, not sure if I'll really be able to get into it though - can't say I'm that concerned what happens to any of the characters, and the acting doesn't seem great. Will watch what I've downloaded already, then decide if I'm going to carry on.

[roddy]

I've now watched four episodes. Unless someone informs me that at some point all three cousins get run over by a combine harvester, I'm going to stop watching it.

[renzhe]

I've added a live stream with English subs (!!!) to the first post.

I've watched a few episodes of this, and it's basically the same stuff as Fendou -- drama for the 八零后 crowd.

It's watchable enough, and easy enough not to need the subtitles too often. A modern series, set in modern-day Beijing with everyday characters using everyday language, that's good enough for me to keep watching this.

[renzhe]

Still plodding through this one, 13 episodes in.

It's basically the same thing as 奋斗, but with a bit more of family drama thrown in. If you liked that, you'll like this, and the language level is similar. Great language practice, good production, pretty people, keeps you watching, unexpected trips into impossible-land, not too deep.

As far as I can understand, it is made by the same people, and it is the second part of a trilogy (奋斗 being the first).

I'm shocked at the three mothers, though. How did such a level-headed grandmother produce such monster offspring?! You don't know which one of the three is worse!

[imron]

I know! Some of the things they conspire to do

[renzhe]

OK, I've finally finished this.

imron's description is quite accurate, as usual, as was my original impression -- it's similar to 奋斗 and if you enjoyed that one, you'll probably enjoy this one. Also, it's great practice, everyday language. I still prefer 奋斗, for a number of reasons.

奋斗's major problem is that it's slightly unrealistic. 25 year olds in Beijing don't live like that. But it was also quite consistent, as long as you accepted the premise.

This show oscillates a lot. There are parts where it is strong, really strong. Then there are parts where it's far more ridiculous than even the Magic Mobile Phone. I mean, it gets really ridiculous in places. 30% of everything happening to 小样, about 70% of everything happening to 青楚, and EVERYTHING happening to 霹雳 is absolutely ridiculous. On the other hand, you get moments when it's one of the best dramas we've seen. This inconsistency is the biggest problem, IMHO.

奋斗 built on a strong young cast and two experienced older actors. The two main characters in this show were only supporting actors in 奋斗, and though they do a really good job here, the supporting young actors are not as good. Both 青楚 and 周晋 are made of wood, and 霹雳 is just too much. This was compensated by putting more accent on older actors, who are generally really good (especially the grandmother, she's awesome). Unfortunately, the three mothers are SO convincing at being psycho sociopaths that they only managed to piss me off. I HATED them although they all changed for the better towards the end. The fathers were very cool, though.

Overall, it's worth a look, it's great practice, and better than much of the stuff we've covered, but it's not my favourite. Still, there are some moments where they do unexpected things that really shake the characters around, which makes for some really good drama -- in places. Then it switches to 霹雳 and Cambridge, and similar nonsense that makes you go bleh

I like both fathers, the grandmother and 高齐. He's such a boring person, but in the context of this show, he makes for one of the most interesting characters. I found that contrast intriguing.

[muyongshi]

You managed to pretty much sum up my own feelings toward the show.

Especially about the mothers. They only served to make me want to commit murder.

[renzhe]

Especially about the mothers. They only served to make me want to commit murder.

I was afraid that I'd be accused of cultural insensitivity if I said what you've just said

[muyongshi]

Accuse away!!! haha