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Open Thread #744

Happy Friday everyone!

Here is your Open Thread, which is here for you to chat about anything you want, whether it be drama-related or not. Nothing’s off-topic here! Spoilers may be rife, so proceed accordingly.

 
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If you were a studio head, what kind of k-drama would you like to produce?

I would like to see a realistic exploration of celebrity dating culture; the highs and lows of a celebrity couple navigating the expectations and pitfalls of being a public figure in a parasocial fish bowl.

Part 1 would have the couple meet and circle the problematic issues of agency dating rules, contract restrictions and image concerns.
Part 2 would be the couple secretly dating and the stress of being found out by the gossip press.
Part 3 would be the anxiety of getting “caught” and the ramifications with contracts, CFs, and “scandal management.”
Part 4 would explore probably the biggest hurdles to a celebrity couple is how they handle a) when he is working and she is not; then b) when she is working and he is not; then c) when both of them are working on film or series projects. The ending could be good, bad or ugly.

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Isn't is Record of Youth?

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Fluttering Warnings was along these lines.

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Are both halves of this couple celebrities? Imitation did this down to fans boycotts and protest trucks. If the celebrity is dating a commoner, then Record of Youth and So I Married the Anti-fan had opposite endings.

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I was thinking two A-list stars with different career paths coming together and/or surviving or breaking a part in the end.

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cdrama You are my glory was celebrity and aerospace engineer! Quite realistic with a celebrity's life being cooped up. Beautiful actors, too.

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Wow, I’m struck by how often I encounter comments on Dramabeans that capture what I’m thinking about! But this brings up a question I have for experts in Korean pop culture about celebrity gossip. Everything I know about Korean celebrity fan culture comes from K-dramas, where its often depicted as scandal driven, and dominated by cruel or critical internet comments with desperate attempts by pr agents to overcome damaging revelations. I’m sure there’s an element of truth in that—I’m thinking of the Kim Seon Ho controversy this past summer. But what about the more innocent “who’s dating who” that has always played such an important part in Hollywood gossip? I assume that’s a big part of Korean fan culture as well, but I’m not finding it available on the English language internet.

I was interested in Our Beloved Summer lead Choi Woo-Shik’s Canadian background, so I looked up his biography on the Internet, and I noticed as an aside that when it came to his relationship status, at least in the sites I looked at, he is officially “not dating anyone.” Of course, there are a number of rumors based on the shows he starred in (including a suggested gay liaison with Park Seo Joon, and then the hopeful fantasies by Our Beloved Summer fans that he and co-star Kim Da-mi have become a real life couple.) But then I looked up Kim Da-mi, and she is also officially not dating anyone. In fact, I notice that this circumstance is true of the majority of K-Drama stars whose biographies I look up.

Now, despite this flurry of “research,” I want to stress that I am NOT someone who is obsessed with star’s real life romances. For example, the joyous reunion of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez as “Bennifer 2.0” warmed my heart, but if they once again are torn asunder, I’m not going to go into mourning. In fact, as a longtime resident of Southern California, I have over the years encountered a fair number of movie stars, popular musicians, and prominent sports figures out doing ordinary things, and it really bothers me to see other people treat them as familiar, harass them, ask for selfies, etc. I understand fan culture, but I’m sure glad I don’t have to experience it!

Still, what welh says makes me curious--do Korean star profiles differ from the many movie and t.v. star puff pieces I’ve read in my home town newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, where they almost always mention a significant other? Do Korean pr agencies discourage questions about who the stars are actually seeing in real life? But since rumors are circulating anyway, wouldn’t it be in the star’s interest to say “I’ve been dating X and right now we’re quite happy together?”

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I also have wondered about these things, especially about why anyone in Korea would even want to be a celebrity when it seems you would be virtually a prisoner in your home due to the public's obsession. I feel sorry for these people.

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Short summary: Business is Korea is very conservative. Agencies create a brand image of their actors/idols being perfect, innocent, sweet and single so fans can fantasize/connect with them and sponsors can rely on a wholesome image. There is a standard "no dating" in most idol contracts. It is "scandal" when a celebrity is caught dating because it ruins the fantasy image; the person has a BF/GF and OMG, they may have unacceptable premarital relations. Scandal covers more than just dating such as childhood bully allegations or a celebrity being rude to staff - - - again, it breaks the star image of being a perfect human being. The backlash comes from a hypercritical public who believes they have been deceived into following a star who "betrayed" them by not being what they were seen to be (many fans feel invested in their stars because they spend a lot of money on supporting them).

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I kind of understand this fan psychology for younger K-pop stars, who are attracting (mostly) teen-age fans. But by the time actors are in their 30s, it seems the feeling of "betrayal" would be replaced by a romantic desire to see your favorite star happily connected -- whether that happiness was genuine or just created by a public relations firm. Very interesting that there is such a difference in thinking between Korean entertainment and the Hollywood publicists!

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It kind of seems like they have to be single until they are 40 at which point they must be happily married, there is no in between.

Also kind of seems to me that once a star hits their 30s it’s less about whether they’re dating and more about whether the person they’re dating is someone that fans have deemed suitable.

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Hello, fellow Southern Californiac

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Hi, Neighbor!

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You may consider also the demographics. slightly more than 40% of population are unmarried and they anticipate 1 in 3 male korean being single or unmarried by 2035. Since dating mores are more strict and conservative in SKorea than in the US, for example, dating announcements among celebs will probably not to be in their best interests, at the start, I presume. PDAs are frowned upon, i presume.

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I highly suspect this is not only a Korean issue, …, more and more people, young or less so, are happy with the virtual world, and unwilling to get into a « physical-world » love relationship … the current covid circumstances not only enhance this ww trend, but encourage it, not to mention « me too movements » and so on, who scare off men and women from even having casual verbal exchanges …

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@hacja - This is a non-sequitur of a comment! I hope the nice ones are having lots of consensual sex with whomever, treat their partners kindly and fairly, and if they have to go their separate ways, they remain dignified and silent!

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I also read that some celebrity couples negotiate when to release their public dating news and also negotiate when to release their break up news. The break up news can overshadow current projects, CFs, etc. which is considered rude, counterproductive and damaging to a film or series cast and crew as it takes away from their efforts and own PR. Some couples keep the news secret for more than a year.

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If I could add to welh’s concept suggestion—I would like to see a k-drama that not only explores celebrity dating (which I do think has been done) but adds an additional twist by pairing a brilliant and beautiful drama reviewer and website recapper (think @missvictrix with a good looking and unexpectedly thoughtful K-rom-com star. (they meet cute at a literary convention, where he’s gone incognito to discuss critical theory.) Previously she’s dismissed his productions as lightweight, but is impressed by his intelligence and sensitivity. As their relationship develops she finds, somewhat to her horror,that she’s actually living out all the classic rom-com tropes she’s made fun of for years. Can the couple get by their meta relationship to find true, concrete love? It will take 16 episodes to find out!

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You’re ruining every beanie’s self-insert fanfic, hacja!

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Speaking of self-insert, for the past year I've tried to get my wife to spontaneously hug me from behind when I'm cooking, but she absolutely refuses. Do you think this is grounds for divorce?

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Is she not watching Kdramas??? 😮 oh my heavens! Maybe she’s saving it for Valentines Day? 😬

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@bbstl She's watching k-dramas, but she prefers the crime/police/law ones. We're watching on Netflix, with English subtitles. So she keeps saying to me "Gosh, you punk!"

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No! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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Oh, this sounds good and interesting. A straight story about idols or k stars dating would be one episode of people hiding and being chased by “Duspatch” 🤣, The End.

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Something along the lines of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World" but where the reporters are chasing after a couple instead of a buried treasure?

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a foodie or mukbang star meeting a celeb she hates but they meet by accident, and he happens to cook REALLY WELL. He has a very bored and indifferent personality, and is frustrated that he cant return to studio where he needs to record a childrens´songs compilation he promised to a sponsor, but he really doesnt want to do it. Kind of burnout and loss of motivation with everything being the same. but he is a good person - even though he puts in a line "and they cooked all the kids and made some pie!", he goes into panic when the sheet with his watermark on it flies out the window.
so, like, she ends up at his door, furious, but he has cooked a meal and it smells delicious. to shut her up he offers a meal to her. Bam, addicted. she is angry, but she tries to find an excuse to come back.
in the end he gets used to this hungry person showing up and they talk.
but it is the mukbang that ends up in a scandal for accidentally running over someones eloped pet squirrel, when the songwriters angry fans throw eggs at her car and she cants see the road. songwriter gets worried hearing she is stranded in her room and is just crying on her channel, at her wits end and exasperated. but how to get her the food since he cant get through? dress as a deliveryman and ring another apartments doorbell.
so its like, they become friends first and then it turns out the mukbang only eats to cover up her insecurity and lack of confidence. she likes to draw animated cartoons. when he sees them he is cracking up so bad upstairs neighbors are worried there is a psycho on the loose.
on the other hand she is very straighforward and doesnt like his songs but says he is THE best cook.
life gets busy and they drift apart, talking on the phone, even dating others. but they cannot enjoy their new success and be happy apart. so, naturally they make time and meet and confess before brutally being dragged away by their managers. their relationship is a constant battle...
I would continue but I got my booster and im sleepy

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1) once again, I lodge my complaint that there is no emoji for a SQUIRREL 😒

2) much less, a DEAD SQUIRREL

We gotta chipmunk, we gotta beaver, we got rats in two colors but no squirrels. How is this possible? You wonder.

3) congratulations on your booster 🎉🎉🎉

4) I wish I could watch this right now.

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yeah, maybe the squirrel can turn zombie, too, and plot revenge. it would be a slice of life romantic comedy, with the zombie squirrel that also ends up being cooked by Jamie Oliver who is his usual "Just look at the freshness of this gorgeous squirrel!" while holding a stinky piece of misery with flies all around it.
oh maybe she resurrects it in her cartoon, and the cartoon world sort of mixes with reality.
oh, and she is overweight all the way through, but, she is the one who is scared he´ll ruin her image at first because he doesnt give a f about anything and she has this super emapthic and lively persona built up so she thinks she´d be seen as some cold bitch. then she discoveres he does care about stuff but he puts all the emotions into food and thats why it´s so good

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Yay for your booster! And I love beanies’ imaginations.

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@hacja hahaha ready for this!

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It reminds me The Greatest Love (/Best Love) although they’re not both A-List in that (one A List and loved, one D List and universally disliked).

I regularly wonder why anyone would want to be a celebrity. The odds of you making lots and lots of money seem low and not worth the trade off of the intense interest in your personal life.

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My K-drama pitch: 'Vampire Ghost'
The story of a 500 year old vampire who dies but... and here's the twist... stays around as a ghost. I suppose he'll have to be able to communicate with someone, like a female rookie police officer who survived a family car crash as a child and can now see ghosts. The bad guy can be an evil chaebol who is secretly also a vampire serial killer, besides being an evil chaebol.

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I'm happy to know that you're balancing your studies and Kdrama watching well.. that's something I have been striving to do for so long.

Nowadays, I'm only watching 1 Kdrama (rn it's the rewatch of Run On) and catching up with the variety 2D1N. I think this is how much I can be comfortably doing atm. I want to cook a lot of meals myself again, so I have to be better at time management. I also want to regain my normal sleeping schedule, so I'll be also focusing on that. I want to spend less time on Discord, but it's so addicting 😂 and talking to Beans there is something I constantly do.

Another thing is that after I found your tacos post, I had this strange craving for a good nachos at 3 a.m. last night. I wanna eat good nachos.. 🤣

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"but it's so addicting "😂 now you get it why I deliberately avoid it! Everybody's so good there that I would just stay all day and talk to you guys, seriously!
Ah, order for me too @mmmmm, with extra cheese sauce!😂

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If I order, I’ll have to order 3 now! One for me, one for @carlybisek, and one for you! 😂

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There’s a Discord for Beanies? 😮

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U won't believe the same thing, literally same words I had said when I found out!
I was searching for you there other day, but you weren't there! You wanna join?

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Yes please! :D I'm pretty active on Discord but I did wonder the past few days if there were good kdrama communities.

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After reading in The Korea Times this morning that the horse, tripped by a rope, died a week after the filming of a scene for, "KOT," I'm asking myself why the director thought it was so important for us viewers to see that much realism in a scene. Actually I've wondered many times how scenes in some Kdramas were filmed without harm to animals, be they human or horse.

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This is sickening. I thought it was weird that the horse fell flat on its face in that scene. I looked it up now and saw the footage: its hind legs were tied to a rope or wire and they made it run like that, so it stumbled and fell headfirst. I am really enjoying KING OF TEARS but this is not acceptable. 😭

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Oh my! I’m so sad for the poor horse. 😭😡🤬

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And I won’t be found watching this show no matter what.

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I can't blame you. The drama is really good but it's shot itself in the foot now. This is not a good start to my 2022 sageuk year. 😓

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😥

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That’s horrible and not what I would expect from a modern production at all. If you can’t do it without harming a performer (be they human or animal) it’s not worth doing.

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That's horrifying.

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Why is it that I have dropped every kdrama since I left? Crowned clown, Money flower, I am not a robot, and now Bad and crazy I tried 2 episodes and then got distracted again ☹️

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In this amount of time I have watched multiple American shows. Somehow it's easier to get back into them than with kdramas.

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i'm frustrated that the ones i want to watch are slow to sub... The One and Only, Tracer... i will have to be patient... so hard cuz i'm not into the other ones... *sniffs*

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The One and Only is kind of heavy (heavier) this week.

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oh, i sorta expect this from the story... but i love it and gurls... thanks for the heads up! i'm not into the fluffy always a happy ending stuff... i love the various storylines!

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I would say this is a very not fluffy drama, that’s for sure.

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Happy weekend Beanies and keep Beaning On!

Real life has been kind to me this week, and this is a fact worth mentioning. I try to be open about all the bad stuff week after week in order to learn from it, but the good stuff also needs to increase if I want to properly heal.

On that note, I am happy to report that my main source of happiness this week has been watching stuff. There is always something going on at the beginning of the year…and before I know it spring arrives and I have yet to start my K-drama batch. 2022 seems to start better than previous years, probably because I started warming up with some non-Korean shows and old K-dramas late 2021. My eyes and fingers will be busy the next few hours, trying to finish the remaining episodes and include it all in a what we are watching post for tomorrow. Hopefully I can start on my Bean count and fangirling next week!💪

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Lovely to hear that you have had a good week 👏🏽

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Watching kdramas always amounts to a good week. Glad you’re in a good place.

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hey , loving your posts .
loving your views and your reviews on various posts .
hallyuwave
do check them out

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