Saturday, November 10, 2012

TVB Trends: Rape Scenes

Rape scenes seem to be the new norm at TVB’s scriptwriting office nowadays. In three consecutive series, there have been rape scenes – Aimee Chan in The Last Steep Ascent, Kate Tsui in Highs and Lows, and Tavia Yeung in Silver Spoon Sterling Shackles. I know people have complained that it is disgusting and perverted. I do not condone rape in real life whatsoever, but personally, I have no problems with showing rape scenes on TV. Murder is just as bad and wrong, yet we see it all the time in detective and lawyer shows. Everyone knows it's fake. Besides, how much do we really see from TVB shows anyways? So to the people who are complaining: get a grip of yourself and change the channel if you don’t want to watch it. Not everyone wants to watch rainbows and ponies all the time.

With that being said, the rape scenes at TVB in recent memory.


Aimee Chan in The Last Steep Ascent
Aimee was drinking heavily on the street, catching the eye of a drunken man, who chased her into a back alley and raped her. The scene shows the man ripping her clothes off and slapping her, then it flashes forward of her crying in the alley. She tried to commit suicide after she became pregnant from the rape.





Kate Tsui in Highs and Lows
Kate was forcibly shot with drugs, then gang raped by a fallen triad leader whom she had betrayed and his henchmen. This was a lot of talk and hype about the scene, even claims of how Kate’s acting in the scene was good enough for TV Queen. In the end, the anticipated scene was only 1 second, showing an unconscious Kate and the faces of the gangsters.





Tavia Yeung in Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles
Tavia was captured by three men for not giving “face” to their boss. The scene cuts to a crying Tavia next to the boss, who is laughs at having taken her virginity. He then invites the three men to rape her as well. The damage from the gang rape causes Tavia to be infertile.




Grace Wong in House of Harmony and Vengeance
Grace’s elegant dancing attracted attention from the son of a government official, who tricked her into a room and attempted to rape her. The guy held her down on the bed and tore off her clothes, revealing her cleavage, before Bobby Au-Yeung rushed in and killed the guy.

王君馨《耀舞長安》電視拋胸 益觀眾
王君馨《耀舞長安》電視拋胸 益觀眾



Aimee Chan in The Other Truth
Aimee was accompanied home by an Indian man, Chima. She is forced down on the sofa, screaming. They are shown arguing in their undergarments until her boyfriend enters and she cries that she has been raped. Later, it is discovered that she had actually seduced him. 





Sire Ma in Relic of an Emissary
Sire is dragged into the storage room and raped by one of the guards. In the scene, the rape was represented by the spilling of rice from the sack. She is seen afterwards in a shocked state with her bare shoulders showing.

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Natalie Tong in A Fistful of Stances
Natalie is chased down in a forest by Eric Li. As she screams for help, the scene is intercut with her brothers feeling a bad omen elsewhere. Eric finally catches her in a flying leap and pins her to the ground. The scene fades out as her cries echo in the air.



The trend will continue. From news articles, upcoming rape scenes include:

Samantha Ko in Friendly Fire
Samantha will be raped by a spoiled rich guy, portrayed by former Mr. Hong Kong contestant Ronan Pak. This scene will surely be anticipated by the netizens who view Samantha as a “goddess”. 

Mandy Wong in A Change of Heart
Portraying a prostitute, Mandy will be knocked out with a chloroform pad and raped in a dark alley. Luckily, Niki Chow, a police officer, arrives on the scene to save her.

Natalie Tong in Detective Columbo
Natalie reveals that she will be raped by Pierre Ngo. She said the scene only took her one take and joked that she was the most professional rape victim at TVB.

Sire Ma in Will Power
In the series, Sire is the manager of a modelling agency and will be dating Vincent Wong. Unfortunately, Vincent will turn bad and rape her.

Myolie Wu in Rosy Business 3
There will be lots of steamy scenes for Myolie Wu who works as a spy, including passionate kissing and bed scenes. The rape scene will involve Japanese soldiers.  




Repeat Offender: Eric Li
It's been said that out of ten roles, nine of Eric's roles are villainous and of the nine villain roles, eight are rapists. A sampling of his victims:

- Natalie Tong in A Fistful of Stances
- Charmaine Li in Ghost Writer
- Queenie Chu in A Journey Called Life
- Participated in a gang rape in D.I.E.





What do you think of rape scenes on TV?




5 comments:

  1. I'm glad you pointed this out. TVB seems to use the same methods to enforce drama nowadays. It's like they only have the same 2 people writing their scripts.

    Another trend I've noticed they've been doing more often is having characters pee their pants and then feeling super humiliated by it. And it's usually played out very dramatically. Haven't noticed it as much this year but it was popular the last couple years.

    Examples off the top of my head: The Beauty of the Game, Lives of Omission, Wax and Wane, Gem of Life, etc... (Not sure if the one in No Regrets should count though since it was played for laughs.)

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  2. TVB lost a lot of good writers so what we get now are plots that are so cliche and predictable. Now that you mention it, there are a lot of wetting pants scenes. The first I thought of was No Regrets. it happened in Yes Sir Sorry Sir too

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  3. In the Confidant, Power Chan poops in his pants!

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    1. lol at least it's something a little different. Btw, I'm loving The Confidant.

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  4. Wait....Wait...Natalie will get rape by Pierre? OMG!!! YES, i mean......I LOVE THIS COUPLE!! Since King Maker!

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