GBA Race: The Making of an Ordinary Woman 2 is a cure for the maladies of contemporary civilization | Opinion
With its 15 GBA nominations, The Making of an Ordinary Woman 2 proves that the second season of a Taiwanese drama can stunningly outshine its previous production.
Given that Taiwanese dramas now enjoy relatively abundant production resources, what are the advantages of the five nominees competing for Best Television Series at this year’s 57th Golden Bell Awards?
While their performance delivers an earnest relevance to the audience, Yu Tzu-yu (于子育) and Hsieh Ying-Xuan (謝盈萱) continue to speak for all mothers and daughters of Taiwan. Even if the show was not created to shadow any typical Taiwanese long-lived “soap operas”, the potential of Ordinary Woman 2 lies in its capacity of being filmed like Friends to reflect multiple aspects of contemporary life and culture in Taiwan. Or, it can be presented and distributed like the Korean drama Dae Jang Geum, serving as an ardent ambassador of Taiwanese tourism and rich food culture.
At the narrative level, Ordinary Woman 2 depicts three generations of Taiwanese women going through a journey of self-discovery in both family and career. At the core, the show touches on more transcendent topics beyond gender issues, challenging the high wall of traditional value and culture. Outdated social conventions often lead to actual psychological damage and distrust among relatives and friends regardless of gender. The collective maladies of contemporary civilization are in need of a reshaping of ideas and a prescription of comedy.
Ordinary Woman 2 might be the answer.
Yet, although Ordinary Woman 2 serves as the most unrestrained and lighthearted drama program of 57th Golden Bell Awards, the rebellious protagonist Chen Jia-Ling still chooses to follow the social expectation of a woman, heading to marriage and parenting in the end. It is harmless to conclude the show with a happy ending based on its general comic tone, but I still wish that the many singled-and-without-kids Chen Jia-Lings in real life can pluck up the courage to be themselves.
Is The Making of an Ordinary Woman 2 too trivial to enter the hall of elegance?
With its impressive numbers of nominations this year, The Making of an Ordinary Woman 2 reminds us much of the fate of the 56th GBA’s nominee U Motherbaker: Family comedies focusing on female characters, during the preliminary discussion for shortlisting, are often underestimated and considered too trivial to enter “the Hall of Elegance”.
This year, how much the president of the committee Chen Hui-Ling can defend Ordinary Woman 2’s legitimacy of winning will bear such significance equal to how much she defends U Motherbaker (Chen Hui-Ling is the Producer of U Motherbaker). In the end, who will insist on his or her opinion and who will compromise, to allow The Making of an Ordinary Woman 2 become the winner of Best Television Series? Let us stay tuned.
Read the other analyses for the nominated Best Television Series of the 57th Golden Bell Awards.
The Making of an Ordinary Woman 2: A cure for the maladies of contemporary civilization
Gold Leaf: the uplifting warmth among Taiwan dramas
Danger Zone: the overlord that breaks the convention in every way
Seqalu: Formosa 1867: the most unstoppable period drama
Light the Night: praised as the Taiwanese Squid Game
Will, one day, Taiwanese drama march on to the Emmys?
These are my analysis of the nominees of the 57th Golden Bell Awards for Best Television Series. Looking at the major TV and movie awards around the world, we would find that the logic of the awards varies.
No matter how much big data and professional analysis are conducted, it is impossible to precisely predict the considerations of the committee composed of different professional fields. The saying of “being shortlisted equals gaining recognition” is not created to comfort the nominees, but to reflect the committee’s dilemma when decisions are hard to make.
Would the Golden Bell Awards signify the Taiwanese Emmy Awards? Or, as we’re always asking, “will, one day, Taiwanese drama march on to the Emmys and win big like ‘Squid Game’”? The answer is a resounding yes. It took 20 years of hard work for Korean dramas to fully blossom. For now, it only took two or three years for Taiwanese drama to embrace its revival.
If we keep up this momentum with resilience, a wider global audience will surely appreciate and embrace the beauty of Taiwanese dramas in five or ten years.
Original text from Dramago.
Written by Cheercut
Edits by Chen Shan-Shan
Copyedits by Yang Lee
Translation by Maggie Sur-Han Chang
Editorial review by Whitney Hung
