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Beans of Wisdom: Make dramas, not war

This week in Beans of Wisdom…

In “The teacher has a crush on SBS’s Doctors,” comment #8, JesO guessed what Kim Rae-won’s character has been doing for the past 10 years:

Sadly, he probably was pinning date-less for 10 years; after all, this is dramaland where it’s perfectly normal not to have your first kiss till your 30.

There was some danger of a misunderstanding so mary stepped in with some PPL:

JesO was just kidding because dramaland likes to do that “Super Concentrated 99.9% Pure Love” thing.

A product Kreyon is familiar with:

With no artificial flavors, sweetners, or non-obsessive behavior! HP (healthy perspectives) Free! *may contain traces of fate and poor logic

PBY wants to warn the parents:

Hah! The necessary warning on every drama packaging XD.
*parental advisory sticker: features excessive wrist grabbing and steamy death-glares

and naimisha wants to warn all of us in general:

limited amounts of noble idiocy, second lead cliches added

Too late, everyone. We have come too far. We can’t stop now.

 

Just look at Mk who’s willing to sacrifice something for her dream drama in “More potential roommates for JTBC’s Age of Youth,” comment #17.1:

I would give a kidney to see a female-oriented psych thriller drama. Preferably not my kidney.

 

In “Vampire Detective: Episode 11” Itenoria summarizes the main cast in #16.

All I can say is, you’re a better person than me Gummimochi. For sticking with the drama and giving us recaps even though a ton of us have dropped it, I say on behalf of us all: thank you! Thankfully, Seo In Guk is just around the corner to get us all to forget about the manipulative undead (Yona), mopey undead (Yoo-Jin), whiny undead (Tae Woo) and the undead who has no idea he is undead or who is just messing with us all by acting like he doesn’t know he is undead so we would think he is unaware undead (San. Or as I like to call him, the riddle wrapped inside a puzzle wrapped inside a… you guessed it… undead!)

 

Over at “Jackpot: Episode 21,” Mikanjjj may have hit on In-jwa’s secret to a long life. Kdrama Villains, take note of comment #12!

I like injwa’s optimism. Even when he’s tied to a tree, pelted with eggs and awaits execution, he still believes it’s not over yet.

mIRIAd thinks it’s evolution:

This drama gives me a lexical anxiety: is the Korean word for cockroach ”yiinjwa”?
It’s not optimism, it’s the survival abilities of the species!

And while HeadsNo2 ended the recap with:

KILL IT. KILL IT WITH FIRE.

Browncoat_78 wants to go all scorched earth on us:

Fire? Not enough. We have to nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

 

In “Oh Hae-young Again: Episode 11,” Chandler tells us the actual moral of OHYA: Don’t be like OHY. Don’t be like PDK. Be a mix of both (#6.1.2):

Well, something I’m realizing is that the characters of Oh Hae Young and Park Do Kyung are like extreme representations of these conflicting aspects of myself.

OHY = the part of me that wants to shamelessly give 100% of myself to everything and to do so while cutting through all the BS, even though doing so can feel akin to putting myself on a dart board. PDK= the part of me that can only put out out 50% and less and less, the more paralyzed with fear I become until I’m at 0%. Fear of loss, fear of failure & pain, and fear of no acceptance and no control. And, yes, even guilt. In my case, I’ve come to accept the guilt was misplaced but I still retreated from a relationship once because I couldn’t handle how sorry I felt. I’ve become like both these characters at certain points in my life and, often, I’ve found these two aspects cause the other IF you can’t strike a balance between them.

These characters are extremes, but they pose such universal questions. How much can I give of myself to the world? And how much do I protect myself? This is why this couple has come to represent something beyond the romantic to me. No matter how dysfunctional they are, I can’t help but want them to find that balance with each other, even if I know that they need to find it within themselves first.

 

Ane just wants to rewrite the script and end it in two episodes.

Thank you for reminding me that DK did not want to catalyze her inferiority complex by revealing the truth. But still, I think having one more pain because of other OHY was much less of an issue for her comparing what she felt being dumped on her wedding day.
Remember when OHY first told DK that she was dumped on her wedding day:
OHY: I got dumped on my wedding day :((
DK: I know.
OHY: Ottoke arasso???
DK: I know your fiancée from business, and saw you two once before. And he did not dump you. I heard that they put him jail.
OHY: Whaa? But why?
DK: Dunno. Ask him.
OHY: *runs to visit the inmate*
*black screen, closing credits appear on the screen*
I guess that is why I can never be a writer.

 

Inggg thinks there’s something wrong with Do-kyung:

He reallly is flip flopping!! After all that “let’s see this till the end” and then “let’s end this”

so Oshi helpfully troubleshoots:

He got punched in the head and had his stupid light turned on

 

nodramayes lives up to her nickname in “Let’s Eat spinoff Drinking Solo lines up its drinkers,” comment #20:

My head be like : No…. it won’t be good
My head after 2 seconds : But it’s from the same showrunner and you will probably watch it anyway.

 

We were all surprised to find out that Woo-bin is playing a rockstar in “Kim Woo-bin rocks out for Uncontrollably Fond” but there’s something missing, so mary asked in comment #5:

But… where’s the rest of his band???
http://www.dramabeans.com/2011/12/vampire-idol-episodes-1-3/

YY says it’s all in the show’s title!

They had to take a toilet break? Because it was getting uncontrollably uncontrollable?

while pogo answers on a more serious (relatively speaking) note:

both gone back in time (Mukadil went off to chomp on Joseon kings, Yariru to fight Goryeo princes for power and th e heart of a time traveller I guess?)
Which leaves Gabri alone and making questionable hairstyle/career choices.

 

logan5 found a solution to the OTP problem in “Beautiful Gong Shim: Episode 8,” comment #25.

So, I’m thinking the only way this drama can end on a high note, is if there’s law passed in Korea that allows polygamy … because seriously she deserves both of these guys, and they are both worthy of her and most importantly the only thing more tragic than clubbing a baby seal to death with a bag full of puppies would be breaking up this bromance.

 

In “Lucky Romance: Episode 6,” the beanies are starting to accept the idea that the show isn’t a full rom-com. What they can’t seem to accept is the misuse of denim. Miranda reacts to Bo-nui wearing a denim skirt over denim pants in comment #3:

…and I would just like to point out the the Crimes of Fashion continue with total disregard for the mental health of the audience. At one point in the show, Bo Nui was wearing a shin-length denim skirt over deeply cuffed jeans. That means not only was she majority denim, but that all but four inches of her legs were covered by not one but TWO LAYERS of denim.

I want to know who producing this show is in the pocket of Big Denim. This is ridiculous.

Meanwhile, Oshi comments on the sad state of female second leads in comment #11.2.1:

I actually like Gary the character. he dresses better and seems to have some real pathos to him. I dunno if it’s symptomatic or not but they always write better for men even when most of the writers seem to be women. i wonder why that is.

 

soapbox pokes fun at the uber-perfect lead in “Lee Jong-seok becomes gazillionaire in W–Two Worlds” (#9):

It’s a bird.
It’s a plane.
It’s Super Chaebol.

Though he is playing someone from a different universe, so I guess he gets a pass…

 

Finally, I’d like to end with love drama’s earnest reminder to all of us that we’re here to enjoy dramas, not fight, in “52nd Baeksang Arts Awards: TV Section” comment #76:

I am not a serious drama watchers. I do not see every drama so I cannot say that I can judge which drama is the best, who is the best actor or actress such a thing. However, I see a war between the fans. Everyone in the drama or the movie will try deliver their best performance, like the actors, the actresses, the directors, the screenwriters. For them, they are a big family that they may see each other in the other projects. There should not be any angry feeling and hatred among them. Why we as the fan create a war? Just any joy the drama they deliver to them. You may like this one or that one. But other people may not like it. If you look at the movies in the Hollywood. I don’t know whether you remember Gary Grant. He was one of my favorite actor. He never got a acting Oscar only a honorable Oscar. For me, he is one of the greatest actor. However, because of his movie are more light weight and light heart movie. He never got a acting award. Drama or movie is entertainments. Just enjoy. you can say whatever you want. I enjoy some of the critic but please don’t say any hateful things. Because we should respect the actors and actress as a person.

 

And if anyone is curious (or a little forgetful), you can read the Dramabeans Commenting Policy here.

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Seriously has there ever been a good Korean vampire show or movie other than from what I heard of "Vampire Prosecutor"? Genuinely curious here.
Thanks DB Staff for this segment :)

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I enjoyed Park Chan Wook's vampire movie Thirst. Check it out!

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That movie was weird. Not saying it was bad... but it was weird and depressing and dark. It wasn't what I was looking for in an awesome vampire flick. So if you are looking for something like what we all hoped Vampire Detective would be, you aren't going to find it in Thirst. It's not that kind of vampire movie. Once again, not saying it was bad... it was just... different.

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It's a vampire movie, also black comedy, I think. Gory, disturbing black comedy.

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Haha, Park Chan Wook does deal with some dark themes, but I do enjoy his ability to insert some comedy into his films as well. I remember there being some genuinely funny moments in each one of his films in the Vengeance trilogy.

For Blueribbon—Thirst is a horror movie with a love story, basically. A love story that starts off wrong, goes wrong, etc. But it's engaging. And the characters are very much aware of what they are, too. It's apparently loosely based on a book (in which there are no vampires).

I mean, if we're talking vampires in Korean media, there are probably only a little over a handful of options.

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Hello Franceska! I don't know how well it's aged but it's a very cute and funny sitcom. The grandma who looked like a teen was my fave.

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"I dunno if it’s symptomatic or not but they always write better for men even when most of the writers seem to be women. i wonder why that is."

Interesting Oshi! I think it's because they write to cater to women's fantasies of ideal men. However, they shouldn't ignore women also want the ideal woman too! It's great if a female second lead character gets something to do other than be bitter...or there.

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The biggest hurt for me is the portrayal of Minah's sister in her drama. The actress is amazingly good and stuck in the supporting role. She gets pigeonholed by un nuanced writing into such a horridly one note character. You can do a lot with an actress like her if you give her good material to work with.

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Mhmm, I remember discovering how delightful an actress Yoo In Na was only after she got that lead in Queen In Hyun's Man. Before that, she was in a string of bitter second lead roles or comedic relief roles. I would have never thought she could carry a drama but she does. I'm sure there are dramas that have done better with the female second lead but I just can't think of them right now, lol.

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Same here! I loved her in Queen In Hyun's Man and Secret Hotel!

Why can they give us a non-jerk main lead and kind chaebol second lead but not a non-bitchy secondary female lead?

There's enough kindess to go around! Just ask Nam Da Jung from Liar's Game.

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Lmao, the whole structure of the drama would fall apart if the male lead had TWO good options for a happy ending! There are only SO MANY good women in the world. The female first lead has to be the FIRST he's met EVER. Or the second...where the first has DIED.

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They can make secondary female leads evil too, if they want, but make her someone we'll understand, cheer for, fear, or be jealous of... not just someone who makes us want to fast forward scenes.

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I agree Mary! I named some dramas that I felt had that—mostly Nice Guy, I think, did a good job with that kind of conniving second female lead who you also got to learn more about and understand as the drama went on.

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i feel like the ONLY time we get secondary female leads that arent the worst or cliches from hell. is when they are supposed to have their own love story or if there is little to no romance in the plot at all (like Angry Mom or Ms. Temper for example) and or if they eschew a love triangle set up period.

my fave dramas are when the second and main female leads are friends or become like accidental friends. I'M LOOKING AT YOU PROTECT THE BOSS.

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I love Yoo In Na too! She's a beautiful actress but its too bad she almost always gets stuck as the second lead or as a side character. She is such a talented and passionate actress who has a lovable personality. She needs to be cast as a lead more often! (I know she was the lead in a couple of dramas, but she has more supporting roles than lead ones!)

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ohhh... my name got mentioned in a post.
it feels like I've won some kind of award.

maybe Should do a speech about it.
thank you mom, dad,apple for making the mac i watch dramas on,db for doing BoW, fellow commentors who gave me a base etc.....

hehehe kidding aside I get the feeling that ehm voluptuous or sexy actresses usually get typecast and mostly don't get lead roles. Is that true, did anyone else get this feeling??

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From your lips to the Drama Gods ears!

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Ugh, I was just thinking about this the other day. It's sooooo common for the second guy to be perfect and nice and wonderful and for the second girl to be a bitch. I think it's because writers get lazy and make it like this: the lead hero generally starts off a douche, right? So the other guy must look so much better at first but really we'll end up rooting for douche to change and become better. But the heroine is Sweet and Kind TM so the second girl must be an evil bitch because of course that's the only way to contrast women. *rolls eyes*

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Yep, it's definitely one of the most prevalent tropes in K-Dramas. It's especially glaring when they give perfect, nice second male lead some other trait that's kind of negative like maybe he's a bit controlling or manipulative and that makes him more complex as a character but then the second female lead more often than not remains just angry and gets even angrier. Now that I've gotten more sleep I can say that there are some second female leads that were pretty complex, though: Like in I Need Romance 3, Protect the Boss where she was a big sweetie, and Nice Guy. I would like to see more characters like that.

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yep! those are some of my fave secondary female leads. and Secret Garden was AWFUL but the second female lead was actually pretty great despite her misleading cliche first appearance.
I actually feel like other Oh Hae Young aka Bit Na is worthy of being considered a non cliche complex secondary female lead. she might not be likable for alot of ppl here but she ISNT scheming, hateful or one note imo. she's a person with a perfect facade who is very broken inside. I would like to see her mature, move on and grow in the remaining eps of the OHY drama. and yes to be happy as well.

Also I loved the way the drama handed all the supporting female characters in Ex Girlfriend Club!

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Lol, yes! I recently did a re-watch of Ex-Girlfriend Club and it was even better the second time. I loved those ladies so much. They were at times scheming but they were so fun and very real.

I'm glad to hear that about OHYA. I can't wait to watch, myself. T_T

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I'm 29 and I haven't ever had my first kiss! And I'm perfectly normal. I think it depends on the culture and the person.

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Lia,
I'm sorry if I offended you or anyone else. That certainly wasn't my intention. I was just making a comment in jest to dreamland's habit of single idolized preoccupation with one person- usually a first love, and also their tendency to portray grownup relationships as almost completely nonexistent or nonphysical prior to the main couples blossoming romance/pairing. I can't tell you how many times I've watched dramas where one or both leads have never kissed/dated anyone, even if they're approaching middle adulthood. I admit that my perspective is shaped from an American viewpoint. Maybe this dateless/ skinshipless lifestyle is true for some Koreans, but sometimes dramas make it seem as if this is the standard and not the exception. Having said that, I'm completely open to being wrong about my opinions.

My intent wasn't to disparage or make fun of anyone who has decided to wait to kiss, or withhold physical affection before marriage or for any other reason.

??????????????

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While I'm some years younger than lia the same applies for me. But I definitely get what you're saying JesO, it does seem like a statistically impossible amount of kdrama people are as pure as snow lol. Even though it's nice to have someone to relate to (in contrast with eg American TV where everyone had their first kiss when they were 5 and started dating when they were 12, which doesn't seem that realistic either), it's more than once annoyed me how they make so many adult characters into very inexperienced people. Especially as they're often clueless as well and that just seems completely unrealistic on every level considering today's world. Lack of experience doesn't necessarily mean naïvety or cluelessness.

I think you always have to be critical of how much TV, celebrities etc really represent the culture and lives of ordinary citizens of their country. I think it's mainly a trend, however I have heard of several young South Koreans who didn't date while in high school or even college, because of the pressure to study hard. In the West there's not really the same kind of pressure to make studying your life, so that may mean that there is a bigger percentage there than here of people who start dating later in life. So there might be both a little bit of truth and a little bit of exaggeration in all the chaste kdrama characters?

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Me too, agree with you lia.

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Maybe that is the reason I can relate to kdrama, coz my dateless life, you can say it is quite impossible as even my friends were wondering what have I been doing in many years.

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I really like this thread. ^^

I'm so behind on OHYA's recap threads, but I just want to say I like Chandler's comment. Good analysis.

logan5's comment cracked me up. I didn't know there was bromance in Beautiful Gong Shim.

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Miranda posted some good stuff too! Go look!

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Aw, thanks! That comment meant a lot to me so I'm touched it got picked this week, especially when Oshi is totally right about Miranda and many other beanies having some amazing comments, as always. The discussion for this show has been fantastic so hopefully you'll get to join in more :)

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When did DB staff happen? :0

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When it became weird for mary to talk in 3rd person :P

Jk! It's for posts where the DB team collaborate like BoW and What We're Watching.

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I am laughing so hard at the comment of baby seal and bag full of puppies!!

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Oh my gosh, me too.
There is only one solution: brother husbands!

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omg the kidney comment...

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yes! best comment! i laughed out loud over that one.

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Oh no! I missed it all. I was so busy this week. And I will be from now on (sob) ....... Very busy ><

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My personal favorite is Oshi's 'he got punched in the head and had his stupid light turned on' ?. I really appreciate these since it's really hard to uncover these gems in the multitude of comments in DB sometimes.

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People kept getting the impression I supported Dk's stupidity when I was defending characterization. It got to me so i just had to say it somewhere...I mean really half the leads are like that. One punch in the head and the stupid light would go off :P

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I'm sad they didn't post the comment thread with the freakout Miranda had over the camera in Lucky Romance Episode 6. Now that was fun :)

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I figured that the BoW probably wants to stay within PG15 territory since I was also sure that certain comments about Seo In-guk would also make it the other week. :-D

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hang the crap on, what Seo in Guk comments? WHy was I not involved??? Was there pictures being traded...

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Well, now you're just giving me further incentive to catch up with the drama (someone get me more time!). I've been slowly but surely working through the second week of episodes, but now I have to power through. And definitely check out those comments!

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I'm so happy and I love this segment.

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I'm pretty sure nobody remembers Gary Grant, because his name was actually CARY GRANT lol. Gary Grant was some unknown basketball player. ;)

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Aw, poor Gary.

It's ok, @love drama, we knew what you meant. Also, good point! Nothing kills a good drama buzz for me like a fan war. Let people like who they like, for goodness sake.

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I do not have a single friend who enjoys watching kdramas, at least not openly admitting. Because you know, how can someone not like them, right? So whenever I think something about the episode I am watching, I do not have anyone to share it. Dramabeans recaps and comments are special because of that, reading all of it makes me feel like I am watching the dramas together with my friends. Thanks everyone!

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Aww...?

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Ha! Those Uncontrollably Fond teaser comments! I now badly want to watch Vampire Idol. That show just looks fabulously terrible, love it. Oh how I wish they'll give him bandmates and make them look like that! Or maybe since they named him Joon Young, maybe Drug Restaurant's/JJY Band's other members will make a cameo as his band members?

I was so surprised they made Woo Bin a rock star, but I do think he can pull it off. Most rock musicians I've known have had tendencies toward narcissism, arrogance and snobbery (not all of course). Perfect kind of role for him lol. They should've at least given him some guitar lessons thuogh, the poor handsyncing looks pretty ridiculous. At least learn the basics and get a feel for the instrument!

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this site (along with koalas) are my favourite site for kdrama movie related. I love beanies and their witty comments. even when the drama is awfull, reading comments section is always delight.
but, yes, as a long reader, lately I found fan war (my oppa is the best, his drama is perfect etc) which, for me, kinda annoying.
Not all critics are hate based. sometimes we just want to make an opinion about drama...
love you dramabeans staffs and commenters

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I loooooovvveee this segment. Bean of wisdom ???

And I love all the beanies! You are all the best.
Thank you DB, for creating the medium and for nurturing great community like ours, with or without kdrama. Keep it up.

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