In Spite of Myself

Professional Single is a Chinese drama that seemed a bit staid and drawn out for a college series, with the usual contrived conflicts and not-so-subtle propaganda. Yet I enjoyed it, mainly because despite all the script and production problems the actors all did a very fine job with their roles.

The story is a typical romance between two unlikely characters: Yuan Xian (Ireine Song), a clumsy art student with a tiny body but a big heart who is stuck in the wrong department and has nothing but bad luck, and Qin Shen (Aaron Deng), who is detached, cold and by-the-book as well as the top artist in the same department as Yuan. These two shouldn't even notice each other, but of course they do. Weirdly Shen is the one who falls for Yuan and starts pursuing her. There's also a childhood friend of Yuan's who has grown up to be a star athlete, as well as a high school classmate who relentlessly stalks Shen to serve as competition and distractions, and both do a fine job with that. The whole cast was quite inspiring with their convincing performances.

Problems: aside from what I've already mentioned, throughout the series there was a lingering atmosphere of misogyny as well as Victorian-level uptightness about sex and relationships. Yuan reacts more like a middle schooler than a college student in intimate situations with Chen, and that made every romantic scene seem almost forced on her. I know there are very high expectations when it comes to female moral character in Asia, but this was silly and unnecessary, and nearly spoiled the romance. Also, the annoying friends (as always) are present, but were sometimes excessively annoying. For my final gripe I have to mention the art class itself -- these kids are the slowest clay sculptors I've ever seen. Since I took art class for four years in high school with a bunch of clay sculptors, and sculpted clay a bit myself, I speak with authority. :)

Despite the problems I still liked Professional Single; I think Aaron Deng is gorgeous and Ireine Song very fetching. They don't quite work as a couple, but just watching them act was fun. Available on Viki.com.

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