A breakthrough of HK drama – 飛女正傳

Fly with me (飛女正傳) is a sci-fi and comedy drama which has drawn my attention recently. The main actress, Ada Choy, has two identities in this drama. She not only is a vice manager called 梁巧芝 in the department of investment in a bank but also is a superwoman called Janet Bin with supernatural power after she kisses masculine men.

Although superwoman has been used as the theme in foreign film such as My Super Ex-Girlfriend, it has not been adopted in Hong Kong drama. Apart from the new story in Hong Kong drama, Fly with me has been a breakthrough in Hong Kong TV drama especially its shooting style and abandonment of using theme song at the beginning of each episode. For example, there was a scene that Yvonne and policeman “Yeung Sir” was traced by three gangsters in a narrow and long corridor in the hospital. The use of slow motion to escape the bullets imitates the shooting style used in action film. Furthermore, this drama does not use theme song as the introduction of each episode but uses voice-over at the beginning of each episode. The words of voice-over (1) are meaningful because it summarizes the theme of the drama.

Since Fly with me is a comedy drama, the dialogues are particularly designed to be terse, cynical and funny in each episode and bring out some implications as well. For instance, Yvonne Leung (Ada Choy) was asked to give $500 to her colleague to sing karaoke and celebrate the birthday of her boss. She was reluctant to give the money and attend the activity so she said “我淨係知道我夾左五百蚊就要唱到夠本為止，我理得你做生日定做生忌”. This scene satirizes the social phenomenon that people are forced to spend money on gathering with their colleagues so as to keep a harmonious relationship. Besides, Dr Kan (Moses Chan) rejected to do breast enlargement surgery for a middle-aged woman who has done plastic surgery for many times. Dr Kan said “你沒有任何空間進行僭建工程, 譬如危樓一樣, 與其翻新維修, 倒不如好好保育”. Dr Kan insists his own belief to decide whether to help his patients to do plastic surgery. He believes in golden ratio which implies a perfect body figure. He won’t help women to do plastic surgery for pursuing their ideal body figure. He will consider the necessity of doing the surgery from their mind to their body.

Fly with me also satirizes some social phenomenons in Hong Kong. For example, when Yvonne Leung wanted to be a witness in court, she suffered from the bureaucracy of the government. She was referred to different departments to analyze her case such as Fighting Authority, Law Department, Immigration and Emigration Department and Education Department. Each of them shifts the responsibility to the others. It reveals the actual bureaucracy of government in Hong Kong. Another example is the son of Mr Yung questioned the explanation of the doctor about the situation of his father. He was unsatisfied with the explanation of the Chinese junior doctor but was satisfied with the explanation of the western senior doctor although the explanation was the same. This scene satirizes people believe in authority despite the same explanation.

Fly with me is a innovative drama in Hong Kong which uses new shooting style and introduction of each episode. It not only provides relaxation for audiences during their leisure time but leaves some rooms for us to think about the things around us in our daily life.

Footnote: (1) 她們驕傲, 自命不凡
對於來自四方八面
尤其是北方的同類物種競爭
她們試圖包容, 共存
但是種族大清洗的威脅之下
她們忍無可忍, 激發基因突變
為生存, 發出驚天動地的怒吼
她們身處食物鏈的最頂端
學名是"北半球太平洋橫流亞熱帶
英屬後殖民地域
温室培育哺乳類雌牲猿猴科"
俗稱"港女"

Student: Ng Yuk Wah, Eva

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