Lin Chen-Hsi is the main character of the Taiwanese series ‘Shards of Her’ on Netflix. The whole series talks about her traumatic past and her memories as a victim of sexual harassment and rape. Growing up, people tend to trust their friends more than anyone else, and there are times when people prefer to be with them rather than their parents. But things tend to go downhill when they betray each other for their own benefit. “Shards of Her” talks about the life of Lin Chen-Hsi, who had to face similar situations where she couldn’t trust anyone anymore. Chen-Hsi was a successful entrepreneur, but she lacked a good social life. Everyone in her company was jealous of her success and often tried to compete with Chen Hsi to acquire the respect that she had gained from her employers. Chen-Hsi prefered to work alone and tended to be away from business and work parties. She avoided any kind of social interaction and prefered her own company to avoid any turmoil or stress. During her high school years, Chen-Hsi was an A-grade student. Moreover, people often praised her for her abilities and beauty. Chen-Hsi often spent her time with two of her best friends, Yang Jia-Ying and Chen Zhi-ling. They often skipped lectures and spent their time making hotpots on the rooftop of their high school. However, their friendship was distorted due to a traumatic event in her past which changed everything for Chen-Hsi.
Chen-Hsi used to visit Hsieh Chih-Chung’s house for physics lessons, and his wife often invited his students for lunch as well. He was a renowned teacher at her school, and everyone relied on him for entrance exams and extra tuition. But this man had other intentions. One day, Chen Hsi visited his house for another lesson, and he raped her. She couldn’t do anything to avoid it, and even his wife turned a blind eye to his mistakes. Chen-Hsi decided to hide this from her parents since he had managed to convince her that nobody would believe her. But she broke down and revealed all the secrets to her family. Well, instead of believing her, they questioned her innocence and decided to drop the matter. As Mr. Hsieh was a respectable teacher, everyone in society trusted him, and people in her school were already blaming Chen-Hsi for seducing Mr. Hsieh.
Even his wife protected him and blamed Chen-Hsi for the same. As time went on, Chen-Hsi lost control of her mind and couldn’t accept her past. She hated her family for betraying her and decided to leave her hometown to settle in the city. Later, Chen-Hsi got to know that one of her classmates suffered from the same issue. Mr. Hsieh raped Yen Sheng-Hua and forced her to avoid the situation since he provided her with free tuition. Sheng-Hua belonged to a very poor family, and her grandmother had poor health. Chen-Hsi wanted Sheng-Hua to defend her, but she had no choice but to keep her voice down. So Chen-Hsi broke all ties with her and ignored Sheng-Hua her entire life. Before Chen-Hsi opened up to her parents, she decided to share this with her best friend, Zhi-ling. Well, Jia-Ying figured out that the duo hid some secrets from her, and Jia-Ying coerced Zhi-ling to share Chen-Hsi’s secret.
Jia-Ying got into a huge fight with some random students from her high school after they spread fake rumours about Chen-Hsi’s illicit relationship with Mr. Hsieh. To help Chen-Hsi, she decided to inform the counselor of their school. The counselor contacted her father and demanded an explanation since all these events were seriously affecting Chen-Hsi’s mental health. But instead of supporting her, Chen-Hsi’s father scolded her in front of everyone and ordered her to apologise. Chen-Hsi was heartbroken by this turn of events and decided to break her friendship with Jia-Ying and Zhi-Ling. Chen-Hsi trusted Zhi-ling, but she broke their promise and revealed all the secrets to Jia-Ying. Well, growing up, Jia-Ying’s parents often gave her fake praise. So, she always thought that she was the most beautiful and smartest person in her school. But, Chen-Hsi’s arrival changed everything for her as people started discussing Chen-Hsi and her beauty.
She even scored well on her tests, and Jia-Ying couldn’t bear it. Moreover, things became even more serious when Jia-Ying lost her best friend, Zhu-Ling, to Chen-Hsi. But, Jia-Ying never had any intentions to hurt Chen-Hsi. She wanted to help her out, but this misunderstanding broke her friendship with Zhi-ling. Even though the two managed to reconcile, they couldn’t mend their broken friendship with Chen-Hsi. For Chen-Hsi, it was a huge betrayal. She trusted her parents and her friends, but she was cheated on by both parties. But currently, Chen-Hsi is working on her mental health, and she is getting back into shape. Chen-Hsi had to face her traumatic past again, and this time it was her colleague, Danny. He lured her into the office and tried to rape her, but this time Chen-Hsi was not a child. She stood up for her self-respect, and even Sheng-Hua assisted her.
Sheng-Hua was married to Danny, who treated her poorly and abused her every day. Danny’s camera had the recordings of that night, and it was the only way to prove Chen-Hsi’s innocence. Sheng-Hua wanted to put an end to this painful life, so she stole the memory card and handed it over to the police. Danny was arrested for his crimes, and Chen-Hsi and Sheng-Hua were finally free. Chen-Hsi decided to visit her hometown, and she reconciled with her mother. Moreover, she went to therapy for her mental health and fixed her broken relationship with her boyfriend, Li Hao-ming. Towards the end, it was pretty clear that the trio got back together. Chen-Hsi spent more time with her friends and forgave them for everything that happened in the past. This time she faced her fears and decided to include people in her social life since they were all kids and none of them knew the right way to solve a problem. “Shards of Her” gives a strong message of women’s empowerment and gives a deeper insight into the issues of sexual harassment and mental health.