I know 😭

I was thinking more Call It Love. But yes: Heartbeat 15/08/23: Never Forget.

I spit out my coffee when I read this on the comment stream, Indy. Brown, stainy liquid is all over the place now.

Never forget, indeed. I know I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when watching the last five minutes of that show.

"One day, one day, we will be free from the scourge that is the chaebol system, but that day isn't coming anytime soon."
I would say that it will never come. They fed us enough issues to keep us preocupied and fight among ourselves for 50 years to come, at which point they will have the whole power and we'll end up living in the bad side of their imagined dystopian world.

I’m glad you mentioned the blacklist which is approximated to have included 9,000 artists including Park Chanwook and Song Kangho.
You might know the following but if not, Park Geunhye’s Government also created a whitelist which unsurprisingly involved the cooperation of a powerful industry group. Which do you think?
“ Here’s what the special prosecutor’s report says. Apparently, the Blue House asked the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) to fund 31 organizations at different times between 2014 and 2016. The FKI, by the way, is the main lobbying arm of South Korea’s chaebol, or family-run conglomerates.
The report estimates the total amount of transferred money, from the FKI to these unnamed groups, was approximately 6.8 billion won (over 6 million U.S dollars). This budget, says the report, came from the FKI’s own funds and member donations — made by leading chaebols like Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor and SK. It is not clear whether the chaebols were consciously donating to fund the groups on the whitelist”.

@kodra: They may create issues for the general public to fight about for the next fifty or even hundred years, but everything comes to an end eventually. We now live in a world unimaginable to most of our ancestors: the destruction of thousands of years of feudalism and (most) absolute monarchies. The end of our hellish capitalist landscape may seem impossible to us now, but I truly believe hope for a better world is an essential element in any movement against oppression and tyranny. Fear not, comrade, capitalism and chaebolism (just made that up) will fall and the people will prevail. I know it.

Or we all die from climate change or the inevitable heat death of the universe. But that's not a future I want to think about.

@dncingemma: I was completely unaware of an accompanying government whitelist (honestly, not that surprising in hindsight), so thank you for mentioning it! I don't believe for a second these chaebols were donating enormous sums without absolute certainty about what they were funding. I wouldn't be surprised if the current ultraconservative government has retained a similar whitelist with a similar chaebol-funded lobby to whitewash the history of capitalism in popular media. Ugh, I wish the whitelist names were also released to the public since I assume they were not due to the need to protect corporate interests.

@ladynightshade
Did you just call me a camrade? Oh, that's just...really funny, for a better word. I would really like to know what, in my comment, made you believe that I am one.
My dear(est), just because I was born and grew up in a such environment, you cannot assume that I am one that longs for it. My grandfather, after he fought in the second war, came home and fought those camrades. Of course he failed and placed in a hard labor prison. My family was persecuted, my father was not allowed to go to school. Later on, he emigrated and from my young teenage years I have been living in a free society. Let me tell you that those moments showed in CLOY hit me differently than most of you. I remember many things I grew up with, none that I want to ever experience. It is maybe that I see through government propaganda better than others, because I was born in it. But, lately, it feels to me like after living in 1984, now we will transitiion to a brave new world. Different, but just as bad. Sure, everything comes to an end, but the end might be just the beginning of something worse. Like comunism for my father's generation, for example. They have a plan, we don't.
I hope your generation, my kid's one also, will have a better future. And I will leave it here, can't wait to watch our NKM be happy tomorrow. 🤣

@kodra: I am genuinely sorry if you felt offended by my usage of the word 'comrade', but I really didn't mean anything negative relating to it. As for your negative familial experiences in relation to socialism/communism: my family, interestingly, has an opposite story to yours. My country had a socialist government where both sides of my family lived relatively prosperous, safe lives. Until that government fell under an (allegedly) CIA-backed dictatorship that swung the political pendulum to the right and put power on the hands of a ruthless military general who persecuted many civilians perceived as 'friendly' to the previous government. As a result of having relatively left-wing parents + the propagandist "education" from a religiously conservative, right-wing government, I would also say I can see through most blatant attempts at government propaganda. And frankly, all my experiences have led to realize I have never truly lived in a free society, even if it does seem it like as someone now living in a "western democracy". I yearn for a left-wing government in my country because it reflects the popular opinion of the majority of the population (our recent "elections" are notoriously rigged) and it was when the country was free of predatory foreign influence. It isn't that I am naively optimistic about the state of the current world, just that I must believe we are capable of a better, freer society for all because you need a clutch to keep on going.

I sincerely hope you and your family are doing better now away from an oppressive government. Once again, my apologies if you felt I was being too chummy.

@ladynightshade
Don't worry about it, I am sorry, I might have been too sensitive about that subject. I feel like crap now 😩 There's no need to apologize, you didn't know that in some parts of the world that word still brings bad memories. I am sorry to hear about the events in your country and the persecution of the people and how you and your family were affected by it. I hope you and your loved ones are well with all my heart.
My granpa died of old age many years ago. The stories told by him will forever remain in my heart. And the intro to Free Europe radiobroadcast that he listened to when I was just a child. He was fortunate to see the overturn of the comunist regime in my country after all. But how the same people that thrived during the old regime managed to become leaders in the new "democracy" it's a another story for another time. And how my child now was made to believe by external factors that the answer to the inequalities in my country and the world is going back to some form of comunism among other things...a good script for kdrama to say the least. You can imagine our family table discussions.... 🤣

But let's discuss more important matters.
Today I found out that I have seen way to few dramas with Jang Hyuk. Any recommendations?
🤣

@kodra: No, no, you weren't being overly sensitive at all! It's your family history and country's history, you have every right to speak out about that. I am glad your grandfather lived to see the fall of the oppressive communist regime. And yes, leaders from previous regimes remaining in control continues to be a massive issue - even in my country. Hearing your child espouse political ideologies that hurt your family so much must be difficult. I think them taking such a strong interest in the state of the world is admirable, but I cannot imagine how hurtful it must be for you. Stay strong.

On to better things. I can absolutely give Jang Hyuk drama recommendations. You might've seen some of these already, but I digress.
If you're into sageuks:
- Chuno (2010)
- Tree with Deep Roots (2011)
- My Country: The New Age (2019)
- Red Heart (2022)

If you like thrillers/crime/law dramas:
- Voice (2017)
- Money Flower (2017) (doesn't really fit the genres but idk where else to put it)
- Tell Me What You Saw (2020)

romance/romcoms:
- Fated To Love You (2014) (a db favourite - for good reason)
- Greasy Melo (2018)