I started watching Kdramas about 4 years ago. One looooong night as I was working the third shift at the library, had finished my homework and didn’t bring a book to read I looked up and Delightful Gal A was watching a drama. She offered to pull one up for me and our supervisor. It was Coffee Prince. I watched half of it that night, binged the rest over the weekend. That Sunday DGA gave me Boys Over Flowers For the next few weeks I just consumed whatever I could get my hands on with a very limited key word search. I didn’t know any of the actors names, we watched the dramas on Youtube and they weren’t recommending new things to me. I think at the the time the only keywords that I actually knew were flower boy and kdrama.
Somehow or another that lead me to A Gentleman’s Dignity. That drama was a game changer for me. That drama showed me that Kdramas weren’t just for kids and they weren’t made up of only youth and school romances. I’ve watched it at a time or two since (I’m a serial rewatcher if you havent noticed). I still love it. I love the ultimate man-child playboy being challenged into growing up for the woman he falls in love with. I love the friendship of the four men. I love (almost) all of the women (well—-I can say all of them since one love interest is a CHILD and acts that way throughout the entire drama and is the one fast forward plot line for me. Goodness she’s irksome). I love the friendships between the women. I love that the drama ends with the four men and their four significant others going to get a professional picture taken together—something that the men have done on their own every decade. I love that they are adults that I recognize. They are trying more or less their hardest but adulting is hard–do people get that? Adulting is hard–and they don’t have all the answers no matter how smooth they try to be.
And Lee Jong-hyun is in it. And he plays a pretty significant role as the unknown son of one of the leads who ultimately helps his father get the girl while finding his own group of solid best friends. Its not a huge role. But like I said, pretty significant.
It was more or less easy to cancel CNBlue in spite of them being one my favorite groups because I still have JYH and Min Hyuk in other things. Which is sad but true. But, to cancel one of my favorite dramas. One of the dramas that showed me that my love of kdramas wasn’t going to be a few months trend but has turned into one of my defining characteristics these last few years…thats a bit harder.
Which leads me back to the questions I’ve been asking with MJ and that I’ve been asking with R. Kelly and didn’t really have to challenge myself to ask with Kpop: do you separate the artist from the man? Do you cancel them completely? Do you say well this is my favorite drama and he’s not even a lead character so its ok? Do you wait and see if he’s forced out of his band and if he isn’t or if he isn’t charged with anything

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    Does that mean I can quietly add CNblue back to the rotation and I can rewatch A Gentleman’s Dignity in peace without feeling the weight of the guilt of all of those victims?.
    Thanks, so much, idols for ruining so very much. Criminals.

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      I wasn’t a big fan of Big Bang but I really liked Seungri in the variety shows that he was in. He just had so much personality and made me laugh so much. Up until the time the Burning Sun issue blew up, I was still watching snippets of his variety show appearances. His involvement in the scandal ruined those for me. Now seeing his face makes me so mad. I used to describe him as charming and hilarious but he’s now just a liar and criminal to me, together with his “friends”. I’m mad as well to those that condoned (and continue to tolerate and excuse) his behavior.

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      I had the same feeling when The Princess’ Man was ruined by trash. I still consider it one of my favorites, but will likely not watch it again (nor will I recommend it now.)

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    Same with me. Gentleman’s Dignity is one that I rewatch once or twice a year, but probably not anymore. I try to separate artist from art — after all, I’ve done my share of crappy things, but I can’t seem to. I can’t listen to Wagner or watch Edward Scissorhands and I’m hoping I can still listen to Highlight but that hasn’t happened yet. I know ignorance isn’t better, but it certainly would feel better.

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    I totally cancel a person if they are linked with murder, domestic violence or sexual crimes. Because these are crimes and there is a punishment by law for them. But more importantly, I think it is related to their profession. When you are a celebrity, you have an onscreen persona, which people idealize or believe to be true. So in one way or the other they influence people. In that case, they are not an ideal example/influencers for people. Also actors have the leeway to romance on screen with the same gender they talk crap about behind the scenes. Most of all, I just think it would be awful for the victims to see them and we appreciating them/their work when technically they are not being punished.

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      I have found it hard to get an answer to differentiating man from actor too but in cases I did end up watching a show, I found myself ffd the said person’s scenes. Somewhere I did keep thinking that it would be hurtful to the victims.

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    For me it take time, I can listen to likes of David Bowie or Led Zeppelin now, but new crop of creeps unearthed still make me uncomfortable and their art lead my brain to their crimes and I can’t enjoyed it as I used too, I don’t think I’ll be able to listen to MJ for a long, long time.

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    I can’t answer that for sure, but I can say that this really shows how the actions of the one person affect so many negatively. None of the actors in that show had anything to do with his actions, and yet people would consider discarding the entire show (where he plays a small part) because of his involvement in the scandal. Like I said, I don’t know the answer to that, I can only raise another question: Do the innocent people around the guilty deserve to suffer for the guilty’s offences? I guess each person has to do what they are comfortable with. I also re-watch A Gentleman’s Dignity from time to time and will continue to do so.

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      Thank you for this response, honestly. I hadn’t even considered that aspect of the problem. I was only thinking: ugh. Gross. I don’t want to see his face. And that I was irritated that I may not be able to watch a favorite drama because of my distaste that I hadnt thought to consider the innocent parties effected.
      Thank you for pointing it out. More thoughts to think.

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