mesmerized by the pretty

[once_a_weaver]

I do often love historical dramas / costume dramas. I'm thinking for example about Ivanhoe and North and South (the Elizabeth Gaskell story) and I, Claudius  and The Emperor and the Assassin and Moment in Peking. I'm not thinking of ridiculous Hollywood cheese like Braveheart. But I am including several different productions of Robin Hood, because a story passed down through centuries of popular culture can be just as much fun as seeing a new look at a historical figure.

But historical dramas have to be just right, because I'm picky. Several things can make me lose interest:

• too much fighting and/or blood
• the main characters are men, and any women present might as well be shadow puppets
• the story is about fighting/war, rather than about the people living through a time of fighting/war
• there is no one I can hold on to as point of view characters, or everyone is equally loathsome

I'm picky. But really, I can accept a lot of things otherwise. Poor budget? Okay, I just want to see the story told. A dragon suddenly appears to eat people? A turn into fantasy is okay, as long as it's internally consistent and I don't have to watch the dragon actually feed. But it's rare when a historical drama gets so many things right for me. Wonderfully made, with good music and costuming and characters, doesn't irritate me in some way, and I care about what happens next.

This autumn is being really good to me. Right now I'm watching Bu Bu Jing Xin and The Princess' Man, and loving them both. I don't really have the time or the bandwidth to stream them constantly, or I'd be done already, but it's like having two favorite shows on TV at the same time -- and I can't remember the last time that happened on actual TV.

I've been spoiled a bit on the endings for both, so I have some idea what to prepare myself for. That's okay.