thoughts on "passage of my youth"

ok so tbh i didn't go into this w a v like critical mindset so there's probs stuff i missed.  if yall wanna watch the movie, the link is in my status abt the movie and i'll also add it here: Passage of My Youth

***SPOILER WARNING!! IDK WHY U WOULD CLICK ON THIS IF U WEREN'T PREPARED FOR ANY SPOILERS BUT YEAH!  IF U CARE ABT SPOILERS, WATCH THE MOVIE FIRST N THEN COME BACK IF U FEEL LIKE IT!!





UHM OK WTF WAS THE ENDING??? AND WHY???? WATTTTTTTTTTTT
but anyways i honestly thouroughly enjoyed it.  i think the storyline is messy, but sometimes in a somewhat more realistic way?  except maybe the very end, but yk.  although it's p cheesy, it wasn't like bad?  it def def def has that idol drama feel to it, but it was enjoyable.  the cheesiness doesn't take away from how i feel abt the movie.  like i think it tries to encompass a lot of different ideas and scenarios, but it does it relatively well.  i rly liked how they didn't tie the jiang he and jiang hai part off perfectly, but also i (at first) didn't like that she and gu xinglie (gu er chun aka dumb gu) got together, but then the ending happened n i still bawled my eyes out lmao.  also even though i always feel second hand embarrassment with my full mind, body, n soul, i still appreciate when misunderstandings are added that aren't like dramatic, shoujo manga style misunderstandings.  although those r p entertaining sometimes, it just doesn't fit w this movie imo.

i also rly liked all of the little references to the beginning of the movie that show that gu xinglie is thinking abt jiang he.  also i loved the whistle n the marble bc im a f***in sap lmao.  i think the whistle def had more of an impact on the vibe of the movie, especially the ending.  like i felt like it portrayed more emotion?  like both the marble n whistle n just lil trinket that can "grant a wish" or "summon the love interest" is a common trope (that i rly enjoy tbh) but i still think tropes can b used in less cringy and/or predictable ways.

i think my main criticism would b the thing abt autism bc i felt like it wasn't necessary and it was generally p yikesy to say that "allistic, nt person won't talk bc of heartbreak so they're just like non-speaking autistic ppl :D".

ig the other thing i would've disliked abt the movie if it didn't end the way it did, would b the fact that jiang he and gu xinglie get together.  MOSTLY bc i think it's rly important to show that no matter how much u like sum1, no matter how much u do for sum1, if they don't have feelings for u, they don't have feelings for u.  HOWEVER i didn't mind it as much simply bc then they used their relationship to showcase like grief n sh*t.  ig they also used it to signify jiang he being totally over jiang hai, but i think her not liking him anymore should show that enough.

like i think that a lot of movies tend to show the type of relationship that jiang he and gu xinglie have are always portrayed a certain way: either the gu xinglie-esque character gets to b w the jiang he-esque character in the end OR the jiang he-esque character is shown to be this evil bitch who uses gu xinglie-esque character who then regrets what she does bc he like gets rich or famous or attains sum form of success.  it's rly annoying and perpetuates the idea that sum1 simply not being interested in u is not enough and should not b enough to deter u from pursuing them.  more movies n shows should push more relationships that focus on consent.  like relationships where if one person isn't interested in the other, no matter how much they love them and how much they're hurting and how good of a person they portray themselves to b... that they still cannot pursue them bc they will never love them back.  like normalize not breeding niceguys(tm).

i think another criticism is just on the explosion effects lolz like it seemed kinda fake, but yk im a crybaby when it comes to movies so obvi i still cried.


OVERALL THOUGHTS:
it was a p ok movie!  wouldn't say it's a masterpiece or anything, but it was def enjoyable despite my main criticism.  i don't have many bad things to say, but it's not smthn i would say is like my fav.  i think i could still gush abt pts of it bc i still love shoujo romance manga so sum of the more cutesy stuff, i'll still get excited over.