#2020RoundUp.

I wish LGTB characters had more space in dramaland. I’m not talking about BL dramas (there have been some web dramas many beanies have praised here, but it’s not a genre I’m into), but about LGBT characters, although this 2020 gave us some interesting opportunities.

Joo Won Seuk, wonderfully portrayed by Cha In Ha in Love with flaws was a nice surprise. He was openly gay, worked in a gay bar, would never hide his affairs, and was much loved by his siblings who didn’t care about his orientation. His self confidence and his attitude came precisely from the support and love he received from his family. In a most heartbreaking flashback scene, we are shown how Won Seuk had tried to commit suicide and is recovering in the hospital. As he apologizes to his dad, he just tells his son how much he loves him with these words “I prefer if he is more talkative than you. I’m talking about the guy you will introduce to me one day”. What a sweet declaration of love from a dad to a son in despair. No matter how much you think you are wrong, you are not, and I love you and will always have your back. There was nothing to be sorry about being gay. The only thing he should be sorry about was trying to take his own life and stop being his precious son. The scene was even more heartbreaking considering Cha In Ha had left us too soon.

On the opposite side we had TaeHyeong (Kim Tae Hoon) in My Unfamiliar Family. As someone who never received support and real love from his family, his actions could never be filled with love and support. As much as I can understand his situation and what he was going through, I hated the way he treated EunJoo. If only he had been honest to her, so much suffering could have been prevented. But TaeHyeng is just the reflect of a very traditional society in which being different is not acceptable. We never saw his father but her mother was really despicable, as someone to whom only position matters, who would never care about her son’s feelings and pain, because he just had to be perfect and even when she knew he had his “flaws” the way she said he would always come back and do the right thing was so infuriating! I just wanted EunJoo to punch her in the face and then drain all her money out of her, because that’s the only thing she cared about. It was infuriating, but also a slap in the face: only if you have the full support from family and society you can be happy. Live and let live should be a motto to everyone.

And in the middle of these two situations: the total acceptance and self confidence in WonSeuk and the denialism in TaeHyeong we had Kang GunWoo in Dinner Mate. Not that we learned much about his circumstances (I wish we did), but he was also open and direct about his orientation (and about his crush on HaeKyung… who could blame him?) and anyone beanie who’s ever read my posts knows that he’s the one who delivers my favourite quote on dramaland ever so he has a special place in my heart. Also, he openly talked about his family not wanting him because he decided to act openly as the person he was, not trying to hide or to adjust to other’s standards. His family not having his back for him was painful, but he had the fully support of his friends: from the 2N Box Staff to HaeKyung and most important of all, Son NaEun. Their relation would have been lovely and nice to see if any other actress had been casted and actually acted.

I hope 2021 can bring us some more diverse characters and I wish I could watch a lesbian relation on a kdrama, because I firmly believe that tv shows help normalize what should be normal. So far I can only recall a WL story (and it was more hinted than anything) between MaRoo and her roommate in Matrimonial Chaos.