[2017 Year in Review] In search of contact

23 December 26, 2017December 26, 2017

by Guest Beanie

Because This Life Is Our First

I come from a lost corner in South America where we had only regular Spanish TV and Spanish dubbing on American television. This is why, for all my life, I had no access to other cultures at all until a friend introduced me to Korean culture in 2012, and since moving to Germany in 2013, I have watched a handful of dramas. This year, I started to watch currently airing dramas and post my comments here on Dramabeans. To all of you Beanies, thank you for your acceptance; thank you very much.

I meditated a lot about what 2017 has been for me and for my overall K-drama watching. I think, no doubt about it, that the most relevant theme I found and enjoyed this year was contact, and in general that is the reason why nowadays I don’t consume American or South American television anymore, because they don’t reach me. But Korean dramas do.

Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju

There are, of course, many types of contact. I started this year watching a very awkward kind of girl who loved to lift weights, making contact with her own femininity in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-ju. I identified with her in so many ways that I was able to laugh and cry with her. It was wholesome and simply gratifying for me to see her improve her relationships with friends, father, uncle, and boyfriend (ohhh and what a boyfriend!). I also watched a totally messy story about a woman who was supposed to be the strongest on the planet (Strong Woman Do Bong-soon), and although plotwise her story didn’t make sense, her falling in love with the right “Romeo” and him falling for her was so beautiful—a true first love contact which ended in wedding and babies like a fairytale. It made me happy.

I also watched the story of a certain Chief Kim, who was a fraud, but due to misunderstandings ended up being a hero, and in his position as a chief became a key factor in the dismantling of a huge corrupted corporation. Chief Kim learned to trust others and I became a fan of office dramas, a genre with I had never had contact with before. It made me laugh.

Without family- or friend-centric dramas, I don’t think my year would have been very good, but happily I had lots of family contact in the form of the best mom ever: Kim Mi-kyung in both 20th Century Boy and Girl and Go Back Spouses. For me who never had a mother, I was able to experience maternal love, however indirectly. She was basically the same mother in both dramas, and I was very glad to have more of her. Drama Mom Kim Mi-kyung made me feel loved.

I also had girlfriends this year: Ah-reum, Young-shim, and Jin-jin in one corner, and Su-ji, Ho-rang, and Ji-ho in another corner. And I also got to have guy friends, tons of them who were strong deliverymen trying to survive against a big food corporation. The friends here and there made me feel hope.

Go Back Spouses

I don’t think I can praise all these stories enough, or all the writers and actors and directors, for making me feel part of this or that family or friendship or dream or goal in life. For showing me time after time that there is value in the consummation of contact, because in contact is where we can all find recognition, and recognition is one of our most basic needs. To be able to be part of people who really listen to what you have to say, people who are really aware of you being there, who understand how you feel, who really see you, people who allow you to stop your rushed lifestyle for a moment. I have been impressed with how all these dramas manage to touch my heart time after time, because I am actually not easy to win over—I’m critical, I’m picky, and I’m demanding most of the time. But these stories, the way they have approached me, guiding me to feel things I cannot find in my life—they make me remember the deep footsteps left in my soul from so many wonderful novels I have read in the past.

Since moving abroad, I don’t think I could have survived here without these little “touches” in the form of fiction. I know Korean is a different culture as well, but it feels connected to my Latin roots. And every time I encounter another bad story every time I watch the international news, I can know that there is always a badass woman in a drama, like Ae-ra in Fight My Way, who will quietly take over the world and make it better in her own way. I know they will keep on showing me my own way, and make me feel better as well.

In general, 2017 was a good year for me, and with the hope that in 2018 the drama gods will continue making contact with me, I want to bid my farewell with this last image, eloquent in and of itself.

I’m Not a Robot

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1 PakalanaPikake

December 26, 2017 at 11:07 PM

Thanks for writing, javinne! I had no idea you're in Germany. (I studied there long ago.) Contact and connection are some of the things that I appreciate about Kdrama, too. There is an emotional component that (for me, at least) is missing from American TV shows. Kdramas make me feel, and I'm grateful for that.

BTW, since you're a Kim Mi-kyung fan, be sure to see her as plain Hae-young's mom in OH HAE-YOUNG AGAIN. She (and dad Lee Han-wi) is magnificent. She's also dynamite as General Choi Young's badass auntie in FAITH. She was also in YONG-PAL and GREAT AMBITION.

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Jenmole🍊

December 27, 2017 at 12:16 AM

I second her in Oh Hae Young Again and Healer! She was awesome!

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latebloomer

December 27, 2017 at 4:13 PM

Apart from Heirs, Kim Mi Kyung seems to pick good projects and to add quality to any drama. If I see her name in the cast, I feel a lot better about trying out a show that I'm not sure about.

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PakalanaPikake

December 27, 2017 at 5:38 PM

Yes! If KMK is in a show, I know I'm in for a treat.

Although I have to admit that the modern timeline in SAIMDANG, LIGHT'S DIARY was such a mess that it was beyond help. The villains in it were ridiculous, although the gallery owner KMK played was not as over-the-top as the double-crossing art history professor. Alas, the writing was not good. In general, the Joseon timeline was written much better.

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javinne

December 27, 2017 at 12:42 AM

Thank you, @pakalanapikake and @jenmole as well. I already watched Healer (loved it, even though it was action), but I will watch oh hae-young. Faith and great ambition I am not sure... but maybe because of her! 😅. Thanks for the suggestions.

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PakalanaPikake

December 27, 2017 at 2:26 AM

Court Lady Choi has a smallish but significant supporting role in FAITH, and she makes the most of it. She's the lady-in-waiting to the Queen, so she's in a fair number of scenes.

GREAT AMBITION is a much earlier sageuk with Jang Hyuk. She looks so young in it, and again plays a maidservant with spunk.

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javinne

December 27, 2017 at 2:49 AM

I dont watch sageuks so much. Probably not at all, but maybe one day I well open up and go outside of my comfort zone like @whoopeeyoo.
Thanks again

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WishfulToki

December 27, 2017 at 10:21 AM

Faith is a good entry into sageuks, if I may add my two cents here. It has time travel and fantasy elements that help you connect with the history behind it easier. :)

whoopeeyoo

December 28, 2017 at 8:52 AM

I still can't with sageuk dramas but I've been trying them through movies. Oh, and if it's a time travel sageuk/historical, I'm in. Not just, you know, plain historical. So daunting (as of now)! Maybe this 2018 we can both diversify into sageuks! Hihi

vannerie

December 27, 2017 at 10:32 AM

Faith was the first Korean drama I watched so I always think of her as Lady Choi! Then she was great in Healer and in Heirs.

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javinne

December 27, 2017 at 11:03 AM

She was also in "heirs"? 😮 But even so, I won't watch it. Maybe Faith, thank you for the suggestion, but Heirs, no way... 😂😂😂

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vannerie

December 27, 2017 at 11:50 AM

Hahaha. I said SHE was good! She was the housekeeper (and Park Shin Hye's character's Mum). I enjoyed your piece. Thanks for sharing. :)

2 Peppy

December 26, 2017 at 11:27 PM

A very beautiful writeup @javvine. I only comment once in a while on dramabeans but your writeup just make me feel emotional kinda, thank you. Kdrama has taught keep alot also and I have consumed more than my fair share that I am not sure I can stop. I even Watch kdrama more than the people that introduced it to me in 2012😁 , probably because I started it at a stage when I wasn't in a relationship and was desperately lonely, kdramas gave me the romance I that was lacking in my life. They taught me that you can still be in love and still be pure and never lose yourself, that you can be broken and still be loved greatly.
I find it hard to watch American movies or series this days except the ones i really love, couldn't even finish the American remake of "good doctor " even though I love the Korean version, it just lack the heart and warmth of the Korean version (apologies to those that love it). So thank you for writing this wonderful piece, it made realize the reason why i keep going back for more kdramas, even though it makes me lose sleep and lots if data for downloading them but I don't mind.

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3 Jenmole🍊

December 27, 2017 at 12:08 AM

When I saw the word contact, my first thought was skinship. As I read on, it dawned on me that contact had so many different meanings....how a show reaches you and the feels you get from watching the show. And like you, I barely watch any American shows anymore for the same reasons you mentioned. You delivered a well written piece. Thank you for sharing!

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javinne

December 27, 2017 at 1:09 AM

😊... Well, in Linguistics any communicative connection, verbal, physical, visual, written, sign language, all of them establish a contact that, as long as it reaches a target, is at least done. Now how "effective" the communicative situation or this "contact" may be, that is another story, LOL. There are many movies or shows that never reach a bigger audience, even though they may be well written, because the audience cannot feel identified or touched or even interested.
My opinion: Korean dramas are a good example how most of them in their respective genres reach their public and they even reach international recognition, acceptance and even fan service, because of the way they are done.
Even if I go technical and write a scientific article or develop a discourse analysis on my favorite dramas, it would still be hard (and too long) to explain really how this happens.
The only thing I can say in a simple way is that a show or a book is good for me as long as it makes me feel, laugh, cry and miss it once is over 🤓.

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latebloomer

December 27, 2017 at 11:18 AM

"The only thing I can say in a simple way is that a show or a book is good for me as long as it makes me feel, laugh, cry and miss it once is over." -- Me too. Well said!

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4 Safeenah

December 27, 2017 at 3:58 AM

Thank you for the writeup....the contact I had was with mum in go back couple. I travelled far from home for studies and watching that every night in my dorm made me miss my mom hence I cried immensely even after each episode. it made me appreciate my mum that I called her and started crying particularly the scene where the mum told her she can go back to her son, it was heartbreaking. I also missed my dad due to the first episodes of my golden life show casing the dad who could do anything for his children. the friendship show cased in because this is my first life touched my heart like no other. I personally enjoyed the friendship more than the actual romance( though I most say Lee min ki was wow!!!). overall dramas made me go through the 2nd half of 2017 as it was difficult and had no one except dramas. at the end of every gruelling day spent either in classes or library, I watch dramas at night which I feel is my reward for the day. once again thanks for the writeup.

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5 kdramaship

December 27, 2017 at 4:12 AM

I have to agree about how Kdrama is easy to relate to and the emotions feel more genuine as compared to American tv series, which is a surprise given the mostly outlandish plot lines. From all the fifteen odd dramas i have watched, I felt that "On the way to the airport" dealt with emotions and love in the best and most realistic manner.

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6 Minniepie

December 27, 2017 at 6:35 AM

So true, dramas and characters make contact with us. They pull us into their world making us feel their emotions. Javinne, you penned it in an lovable way.

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7 Mina

January 1, 2018 at 2:03 AM

Nice write up @javinne, thanks!😊 Reading you was a pleasant experience because I didn't think that far but I ended up nodding to almost everything.
Wish you all the best in 2018!

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javinne

January 1, 2018 at 1:52 PM

Thank you sooo much, also for reading my post.
I hope 2018 will bring us some extraordinary stories worth to be in contact with.
I have the goal to write down acts of kindness, let them be in the real life or in dramaland.
I need inspiration 😍😅😉

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Mina

January 1, 2018 at 3:01 PM

😅 Well I don't know if I can be of any help.🤔
Any examples? So that I know what you really need.
Right now, I can think of small gestures from friends in real life but I am not quite sure if that's what you have in mind.

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javinne

January 2, 2018 at 11:06 AM

Well...🤔 Basically, I feel very touched when strangers help one another in case of need. In a drama it is very "convenient" to advance the plot, and we know it. In the real life, it is almost impossible to witness something like that. But I will try to pay more attention. Sometimes it happens whenever you actually ask for help. I have come with heavy luggage to the city I live and I don't have a car, sometimes people have helped me out of the blue with one suitcase, and sometimes I have asked for help, and they never say no. At least that is something 😊

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