Today, I'd like to share my opinion about a topic related to the new Channel 8 primetime drama "Mightiest Mother-In-Law", which is mainly about the infidelity of a husband.
At first through the trailers I thought Paige Chua would be portraying a typical weak woman who end up being bullied by her unfaithful husband but refreshingly, she acts as a fierce wife which unfortunately pushed her husband to find comfort in the third party who is gentler and much more understanding.
This is the drama description lifted off Toggle:
Guan Shu Hui’s (Paige Chua) domineering ways causes a rift between her husband Qi Hong Zhe (Thomas Ong) and his family. Hong Zhe is unhappy with his wife but chooses to put up with her, until Zhou Ke En (Tong Bing Yu) enters his life. Ke En is pretty, intelligent and most of all, she listens to Hong Zhe’s problem and supports his dreams. Ke En also manages to win the approval of Hong Zhe’s family, leaving Shu Hui feeling helpless. Shu Hui’s estranged mother Lu Xiu Zhu (Chen Li Ping) steps in and tries to salvage her daughter’s marriage. Xiu Zhu tries to outwit Ke En who is actually a malicious and mentally unstable woman. How will the battle between the mightiest mistress and the mightiest Mother-in-Law end? Will Shu Hui be able to save her marriage?
So anyway, I've been following the drama up till episode 4 now, and she is indeed very overbearing on her husband and atrociously rude to her parents-in-law. But at the same time, my blood boil every time I watch this show because I know how the general audience, like the characters in the drama, probably sympathizes with the husband and puts all the blame on her for the failure of this marriage.
In my opinion, underneath that tough character is a caring wife, who probably took the husband's patience for granted.
Some examples:
- She is very stingy with the household expenses. Why? Because she care about saving for the family.
- She is very fierce, controlling and naggy. Why? Because she care about her husband and the family.
- She does her part to do the housework and cook dinner, etc. If she doesn't care, why would she do all this?
The only unacceptable flaw is that she is indeed very rude to her husband and family. It takes two hands to clap and I wouldn't say she shouldn't be faulted too.
But the husband has a part to play too.
- Over time, she gets more insecure and often confronts him unnecessarily. It's a very unlikable trait and probably annoys him very much but why? Because everytime she feels insecure, he brushes her off instead of reassuring her. Over time, things will just get worse.
- He has never voiced out to his wife about his displeasure. He is her husband and if he doesn't correct her, she will never know it affected him so much. It's extremely unfair to the wife in this case because she wasn't given a chance to rectify the issue as she didn't even know it was an issue! When she finally realize, it's too late because he has already fallen for the third party. This is the most frustrating part.
- He has never shown his appreciation towards his wife's merits.
- He has never wondered why the third party is so nice and kind and patient and understanding and gentle? Because she is not a wife, she doesn't have to worry if he becomes bankrupt, his future, his safety, etc. It's just so much easier to be supportive towards someone when the the consequences will not be shared.
- Also, he's extremely nice to the third party of course she will be nice back lah. In contrast, he is quite cold towards the wife at home.
- He did not do his part as a husband to reject a woman that is obviously throwing herself at him. Instead, he kept protecting her! That's just breaking the marriage even more.
People always look at a couple and assume the fierce one must be the bad one. But very often there are deeper stories if people can be more willing to look beyond the surface. Things add up and there are reasons for everyone's behavior. Worse thing is, people around him kept encouraging him to just dump the wife. Really, people should just shut up and stay out of other people's relationships.
Anyway, Paige Chua's acting has definitely improved with her two recent roles in this drama as well as the materialistic girl in 'Heroes'. I'm looking forward to the rest of the episodes! I love the comedic effect of Jeffrey Xu and Chen Li Ping's characters too!
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