Life on the Inner Mongolian desert isn’t easy. Tuya (”Speed Racer’s,” ironically enough, Yu Nan) has it tougher than most. Ever since her husband was paralyzed digging a well, the accomplished camel- and horsewoman has single-handedly tended their flock of sheep and two rambunctious children, as well as hauled water from far away each day. When one of Tuya’s own discs slips, the only way to avoid dire economic consequences in the new communist-in-name-only China is to divorce her husband and find a more productive spouse.

But even though eager suitors visit Tuya’s isolated homestead on beast, bike and even in a Mercedes, few can handle her ironclad pre-nup demand: Whomever she marries, her beloved ex must live with them.

Comic and heartrending, Wang Quan’an’s study of a woman who’s too responsible for her own good has the mythic quality of a great Western - it’s all strikingly shot against vast, unforgiving landscapes and crushing big skies - and is as weirdly piercingly intimate as a good Sam Shepard play.

Cast mostly with local amateurs, this well-structured story seems completely natural as it plunges us into an unfamiliar culture where desire, economics, confusion and loyalty affect relationships no differently than they do anywhere else in the world. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

“American Idol” had it all this season — talented singers, a David Archuleta for the prepubescent crowd, visits from pop royalty, stinging comments from Simon Cowell as usual, and jaw-dropping commentary from Paula Abdul. With all that provided on the show, why have some fans and observers found it a dull slog as the show builds to its David Archuleta vs. David Cook finale on Wednesday?

It seems contestants who were good but not memorable made for only mediocre television, according to show watchers. Where was the drama, the unpredictability, the oddball personalities? Where was the fun? I can’t believe I’m saying this… but maybe the show needs more idiots like Sanjaya?

Such criticism of this season’s show is ironic given the heat “Idol” took last year when Sanjaya Malakar, way more a hairstyle than a singer, held the spotlight of a semi-captive audience. Or remember the reaction when dancin’ man and over-rated singer Taylor Hicks won the title in 2006, relying on charm rather than skill?

Producers of the Fox show made an effort this year to go for vocal gold over glitz, and this is the thanks they get. We want good singers and bad singers, too! Viewer Mike Anderson chimed in with:

“The only thing that kept the entire thing from being excruciatingly boring was (apparent frontrunner) Michael Johns being voted off and the shiver it seemed to send through everyone. Because the talent level was so high, nothing anyone did was surprising.”

Dave Della Terza has long relished mocking “American Idol” on his Web site, VotefortheWorst.com, but counts himself among this season’s disappointed viewers. Dave said:

“In past years people would ask, `Do you hate “American Idol?”‘ I’d say it’s fun to make fun of, it’s so bad,” he said. “But this year, honestly, I’m so sick of the show. … It’s almost a chore to watch at this point.”

He’s hearing the same thing from visitors to his site and seeing it in the numbers, with traffic down about 50 percent. A major complaint cited by Della Terza: The contestants have remained cyphers. In other words, Jason Castro’s dreadlocks showed more character than any contestant.

“What do you really know about David Cook? All you really know about David Archuleta is his dad is annoying,” Della Terza said, referring to reports of backstage meddling.

“I think that’s why Sanjaya was so successful. Every week, he was coming out and showing personality. He flourished in a crowd of people who didn’t have personalities,” Della Terza said.

“American Idol” executive producer Nigel Lythgoe isn’t buying the criticism. He says the talent this year has been “phenomenal” and he expects the David Cook vs. David Archuleta finale will be the “humdinger” that judge Cowell colorfully predicted last week.

Bob Lefsetz isn’t buying it. The music industry analyst says flatly that “the bloom is off the rose” after so many years. “Even if the new Aretha Franklin came on,” he said, “people would say, `Seen it. I’m going to watch something on YouTube.’”

Nothing against the 818, says the star of TV’s “Ugly Betty,” who grew up in Woodland Hills and attended El Camino Real High School, but she had plans.

“The Valley reminds me of my childhood,” says Ferrera, who appears in the just-released film “Under the Same Moon.”

“I had a really rough time through high school. I don’t think I liked myself very much. High school is a very hard place to like yourself. It’s easier for some people, but it wasn’t very easy for me.”

Ferrera chalks up her troublesome high-school years, in part, to a rare single-mindedness of purpose about who she was and what she wanted to do.

Simply put, long before she entered her teens, Ferrera knew she wanted to go to college and she wanted to act, not necessarily in that order. When people asked about her backup plans, Ferrera would shake her head.

“I’m very much in awe of how young children have such bravery to dream so big. They just don’t question it,” she says. “I never questioned it. I used to lie in bed and say, `I don’t know how I’m going to get there. I just know I’m going to.’ I was, like, 10 and thinking, `What is taking so long? Why has my life not started?’ ”

Times have indeed changed. The woman who utters these words from the terrace of a Beverly Hills hotel is a USC graduate with a degree in international relations. She’s also an Emmy, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe Award winner. In its two seasons, the telenovela-inspired sitcom “Ugly Betty” has become something of an international phenomenon.

Ferrera turns 24 in April, and she’s still asking questions. The last two years have been prosperous and fulfilling, and they have also made the actress look inward.

“There is no possible way someone standing on the outside could know what I’ve been through in my life,” says Ferrera. “Sure, it looks like a Cinderella ball. It’s an amazing show, and the fame and the awards and recognition, but those are just the side effects of what, for me, is truly fulfilling. I work really hard for something I’m really proud of.

“There’s kind of a calm about it for me,” she continues. “There are so many ways to become frightened of your own success. It’s a big learning lesson in questioning why do I do this and what is it for? And what do I want out of it?”

She is equally even-keeled when the topic of being a role model is broached. “Ugly Betty” has been embraced by the gay community and Latinos alike. Women - and their young daughters - have lauded the notion of a TV heroine who isn’t a size 0 and who doesn’t have the snappiest taste in fashion.

Ferrera, though, has stopped reading message boards and blog notices. She’s grateful and gracious to fans who embrace underdog Betty’s struggle as their own, but there’s a limit to how much of a crusader Ferrera is willing to be.

“I don’t make every decision in my life based on, `Am I doing what’s right for the Latino community? Am I doing what’s right for young women everywhere? Am I doing what’s right for curvy girls in Hollywood?’ I don’t want to be responsible for that,” she says. “I want to do what’s right for me, and I think that’s what everyone should do.”

Outside of “Betty,” Ferrera has kept plenty busy. In addition to “Under the Same Moon,” she appears in the just released Spanish-language hostage drama “Toward the Darkness,” which she also produced and which began as a friend’s short film while Ferrera was at USC.

Last summer, she filmed the sequel to “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” based on the Ann Brashares novels, with fellow “Pants” alums Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn and Blake Lively. She also spent part of the summer campaigning for Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.

No, she doesn’t expect voters will blindly follow Betty Suarez to the polls, but as Ferrera notes, “I’m lucky enough that when I talk, maybe a few cameras will follow me.”

“I’ve done the work and educated myself, and I’ve been very active in this election because I think everyone should be,” she says. “If cameras weren’t following me, I’d probably still be involved in this election. Nobody would care, but I would still be trying to do what I could to bring attention to the candidate I believe in.”

She recently went back to the set of “Ugly Betty,” which returns to ABC on April 24. In the first original episode since the conclusion of the Writers Guild of America strike, misfit fashion magazine secretary Betty Suarez will celebrate a birthday.

“I don’t really know what else is going on in Betty’s life,” Ferrera says. “That’s one of the reasons I’m anxious to get back.”

Ferrera basically has a cameo in “Under the Same Moon,” playing a non-Spanish-speaking American who tries to earn money for her brother’s college tuition by smuggling Mexican babies over the U.S. border. Ferrera’s character, Marta, ends up transporting 9-year-old Carlitos (played by Adrian Alonso), whose quest to track down his mother in Los Angeles is at the heart of the film.

Ferrera received the script when it was titled “Immigrant Boy.” Put off by the title, she tried - unsuccessfully - to use the script as a sleep aid.

“I thought I’d be asleep by page 4. It usually works,” she recalls. “Of course, at 2 a.m., I’m on the last page, crying. I just really connected to it on a very human level. I just thought it was a perfect way to get a human connection to what immigration is all about.

“Yes, it’s deemed a crime and it’s illegal,” she adds, “but to call this 9-year-old boy who wants to be with his mother a criminal, something about that seems not complete.”

She filmed her part in May 2006, shortly after the premiere of the “Ugly Betty” pilot. Ferrera was far less well-known then, although “Same Moon” director Patricia Riggen knew the actress’ work from her 2002 debut film, “Real Women Have Curves.”

“Basically, I felt that she was the only one I could have who would represent that generation of Latinos,” says Riggen.

“In the movie, the characters show us that the struggle doesn’t end for Latinos when they get a passport. (Ferrera’s) character was doing something not good for a good reason, which makes her very human.”

Riggen sees Ferrera as “one of those actors that are going to always do challenging stuff and not stay with easy or sweet roles.”

Ferrera agrees.

“There is so much growth in my work that needs to be done,” she says. “I need to live more so I have more to bring to my life.”