There will be Mo Dao Zu Shi Spoilers

It’s well known that if a guy is not good looking then if they do something creepy it’s creepy but if a good looking guy does it then it’s cute and thoughtful and “Aww he just wanted to talk to me” and all that crap.

Now when I say good looking I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder so beautiful or good looking to the beholder.

Ok so I’ve been watching a lot of dramas and I noticed that fans (when I turned on the comments) would talk about characters and excuse their bad behaviour because they were good looking.

Perhaps bad behaviour is too light of a word, their downright evil and disgusting behaviour. The kind of behaviour that has you wondering, “Is he a psychopath? Shouldn’t she be running right now?”

And I wondered is that really enough to excuse that guy’s behaviour? Is being beautiful enough?

Or they would sympathise with a character because they had a bad past and I would think, “Would they sympathise if he was ‘ugly’?”

I don’t think they would personally. I think if those characters weren’t cute they wouldn’t like them or excuse their behaviour.

However in TV shows and films this happens a lot, especially in the West. In Chinese and Korean dramas I feel like the bad guys gets their comeuppance one way or another but with Western TV shows I’ve seen guys get reworked and redeemed and just for looks.

I’m not against redemption, definitely not but some of the characters don’t even change! They just cry a little and the woman forgives them and goes back to them! Is that true redemption? Is he not still a psychopath? I mean…

The only show I can think of that actually shows a rational reaction to a psychopath is Agents of Shield. I will never forget watching Skye (as she was called) find out that Grant was Hydra and a killer and being utterly disgusted and horrified. At first I worried that she was going to justify it someway and go back to him but no girl was like not today! Not today! And I was so proud. You don’t even know… I was so proud! She looked past his beautiful face and saw that his soul was ugly.

Could he have been redeemed? Who knows but it isn’t always the love interest’s job. Some things only therapists and God can handle.

Anyway another example is Xue Yang. I can’t stand him and his face. Everyone is like oh he’s such a cute hero but omd I took so much pleasure in his demise. I try not to wish ill on others even book characters but OMD I WAS LIKE GET HIM, STAB HIM!! AH QING YOU BEST TAP THAT STICK!! He was just so evil and had no remorse and you know what Xiao Xingchen asked some pretty darn good questions that people seem to ignore. Why the whole clan? He could have taken a finger or a hand but the whole clan? Were all those lives equivalent to his finger?

And then people are like he had such a bad past. Bitch please who hasn’t? In that book as well so many people had crappy pasts. Xiao Xingchen lost his eyes, still a kind soul. Ah Qing a beggar and probably endured hardships only she didn’t get saved by a sect like Xue Yang and still was a better human. My favourite example is Doflamingo vs. Rosinante. They had the same childhood and they came out so different. At some point we have to be like, yes your past sucked and you had an awful life but you are also a little psychopathic.

Jin Guangyao is a different case. I still stand against him wholeheartedly but it actually made sense why he killed his father. I still think it was gross and awful but I see where his thought process went with that. He gave in to the darkness (you shouldn’t, it’s not worth it!). But like Nie Mingjue I don’t get everything else. He killed his siblings, his friend and anyone who mocked him but why? I mean you couldn’t let it go? You became chief cultivator, your existence alone proved them wrong. I’m not part of the beehive but Beyoncé said the best revenge is your paper. Let your hard work speak for you… I mean… you couldn’t let it go? And sometimes I don’t even think he killed because they mocked him but for power… and it’s like bruh. What he did to Nie Mingjue… I mean bruh that was your friend.

And he is beautiful. Xue Yang’s face annoyed me because from the beginning all I could see was the tragedy he was going to bring. When I read the book I honestly cried at that arc so when I watched the drama I just seethed when I saw his face. With Jin Guangyao I didn’t have that reaction and I thought, “This actor is beautiful” but he was still EVIL so I moved past that thought and enjoyed watching Nie Huaisang set him up for failure. Oh it was glorious.

So I can understand seeing that a bad person is good looking, you’re not blind. But I don’t understand then excusing the person’s behaviour just because they’re good looking.

In real life I have known some horrible people who were beautiful. I’ve also known horrible people who were standard looking. The outside honestly doesn’t matter and unfortunately it’s hard to tell what a person is like on the inside if they hide it. This is why I value honest people and I don’t mean, mean people but just honest people because some people think being mean is the same as being honest nah fam it ain’t!

In karate there was this girl who was tiny and looked fragile but was a black belt. She was soft spoken too but as soon as we started our session omd this chick was the fiercest one out of all of us. I wasn’t even sparring with her and I was scared. She came at sensei with intent. You know Naruto when they talk about that intent or Bleach… I felt that in real life from across the room!

So her outside didn’t match her inside. She looked like an elf but was actually a warrior (although that metaphor works against me because in lotr elves were badass).

Anyway this is long. Those are my thoughts, what are yours?

 

Ps: I’m talking about guys a lot because I’m talking from my perspective but this applies to women too. Have you watched Legend of Fuyao? There are many women who are beautiful but ugly on the inside, omd so ugly! They showed the female version of what I’m talking about.

I wonder if men or those who like women forgive women for the evil they do not because they’re sorry but because they’re beautiful. In Chinese dramas (or at least in Fuyao) the men don’t fall for it but I wonder about real life.