I feel like there’s a really interesting divide in how the characters in Moonlight Chicken are being received. I’m almost tempted to do a poll for science, but in the most loving way possible I gotta wonder how much of it comes down to age.
Because as a queer person in my 30s, the part of this show that’s really knocking me out is how relatable Jim and Wen are to me, and I’m genuinely surprised there are people that don’t like them. I’m out here empathizing so hard it’s physically painful. There have been so many parts of this show where I’ve gone, “Fuck, that’s me”.
A lot of those parts are from lived experiences and mistakes I made in my mid-twenties or later. I wonder; if I had seen this show in my early twenties, would I also be bored with Jim and Wen and their slow, unglamorous adult problems and their self-made baggage? Maybe. Probably, even. I still had a lot of hard lessons to learn. I still do. So it goes.
And obviously we all adore Heart and Li Ming and we are correct, but at this point in my life I’m (reasonably) relating more to the adults on screen. We so very rarely get such a delicate, introspective, mundane queer take on what it’s like to try and fall in love again when you’re older and your heart is damaged and your bank account is thin and your house isn’t a home and you genuinely aren’t sure if you can put yourself out there again. I want to marathon this with my queer friends. It feels like a love letter.
I guess what I’m saying is, to the JimWen haters - I salute you. I hope it means that your path has been smooth enough, or that you’re still young enough, that the sad older gays don’t resonate with you. Maybe you’ll be lucky and they never will.
To the JimWen lovers who watch this show and see themselves - come to my house, comrades. I’ll make you dinner and we can hug.
izzy806
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