Hey everybody~
If anyone’s interested, I wrote a very long, self-contradicting blog post about why I struggle with fantasy romance dramas, and nothing captures the chaos in my brain better 😂
Agree with everything you said but especially with Jin Seon-mi being ridiculously bland. I resisted watching anything with Oh Yeon-seo for years after that show.
Honestly! The first thing I watched her in was Come Back Ahjussi, where she was amazing (or maybe the character was amazing, I don’t know anymore), so imagine my disappointment when she then turned out bad role after bad role 🥲
Korea do fantasy tone and setting really well, but they then crowbar cliche rom-com characters into what should be an epic story.
Then there’s usually issues with pacing: loads of world-building and subplots, dates and cutesy bits in the first 2/3 followed by the last two episodes of insane revelations with no time to process it.
There are, of course, exceptions. But I usually end up with the above complaints.
Why her? Because she is the norm. It is tricky but rather simple.
Modern Romance Fantasy is maybe my favorite kind of kdrama but I’ve long accepted that they don’t know how to do a great one or won’t do it, because of many issues, one of them being the Bland Female Lead you talked about, though I don’t exactly agree they are bland. It is more like they are an idea. A superficial role model.
The similar dramas they manage to do better are Modern Romance with a Supernatural Element which is why it is much easier to find something good like I Can Hear Your Voice than fix a mess like Faith. It is why you get a lot more Go Back Couple than Queen In Hyun’s Man.
You talk about Rich World Building, that is undoubtedly a necessary quality for this kind of drama, I’m not sure why you think aesthetic matters so much. It’s more about internal rules and whether the story remains logical and consistent. It’s great to have fantastic sets and costumes but it’s just the icing on the cake.
Goblin was a nice example of a drama that had great actors, settings, cinematography but terrible script. The author took the rules and situations out of a hat to move plot to whatever direction she wanted it to go. Great vibes though, and powerful emotional moments, so if audience doesn’t care about logic it will become a success, which it did. Goblin became a classic of the genre and almost a standard for all other future kdramas of that kind.
W was the little brother of Goblin, exactly the same issues minus the romance between a manchild and a lonely girl.
Interesting they came out the same year and that was also same year of Legend of Blue Lagoon which was kind of the poor cousin of those two. Everything was a little worse in Lagoon, except for our pretty and charismatic mermaid, which was only allowed to be THAT, because of a certain actress in My Love from the Star, the other modern classic of this genre, which had aired 3 years before.
I’m not sure why to be a good MRF drama both leads should have an EVEN power balance, this a good rule for a nice realistic romance but since in this kind of drama one of them usually is supernatural or has some kind of supernatural power, it is not common, and many times it will go against the very nature of this plot, to have equal power. Take Bride of Habaek, Doom, Nine-Tailed, Goblin, Roommate, these MLs were gods. It was impossible to have that, though it would have been still possible to tell a good story with a human and weaker heroine. All of them tried to have the FL have some kind of power over the ML, which moved plot, but I’d hardly say their balance was even at any moment. Arang was boring and messy but it was possibly the one to get closer to that. Funny coincidence that Arang had one of the better FLs of MRFs while being played by Min Ah doing a lighter version of her adorable Gumiho from MGIAG. continues
Not a coincidence that when this kind of MRF, Modern Romance Fantasy, gets closer to even power balances it is always when the FLs are the supernatural creatures. How could a female handle too much power? Better to level the plainfield or the romance won’t be believable!
Which is the answer for the Why Her question. It’s simple. They are, mostly, not as plain or bland as you think. If you compare these heroines to the Fls from movies and dramas from many decades ago you would understand that. They do have their quirks and charms but they are also trapped in a very hard set of rules which makes almost every one of them seem like a copycat from another. Once in a Blue Moon, we get a Jun Ji Hyun playing a loud and charming actress, there is a reason Naughty Gumiho from MGIAG and Cute Conwoman from My Girl were such hits. Most FLs must be that bland girl you talk about because that’s what society , especially korean society, still expects women to be, the modern princess on a pedestal. Yes these days she has a job and a rooftop apartment, she drinks and eats heavily, despite being skinny, but she isn’t much different from being an ideal instead of a real complex character. Male leads are usually much more believable and interesting in any kdrama, not only MRFs, because they are allowed to have flaws, they even sometimes have a growth arc! They learn things and become better people while our reliable female leads were already born being patient, a little sassy, kind, a bit spirited, generous, respectful, hardworking, clever but not too much, talented and romantic. They all talk the same and act the same because they came from the same mould. It is a formula. One that is soulessly applied to every female lead to please women, who should approve and identify with her and man who should like and desire her.
ps: sorry for the long reply english mistakes, wrote fast.
0
0
Modal title
Modal title
Modal title
Modal title
A verification email has been sent to your new email address.
Please click the link in that email to complete the email change process.
Modal title
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit,
sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna
frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials
September 24, 2022 at 3:45 PM
Hey everybody~
If anyone’s interested, I wrote a very long, self-contradicting blog post about why I struggle with fantasy romance dramas, and nothing captures the chaos in my brain better 😂
https://crabbyfordramas.wordpress.com/2022/09/24/the-magical-boy-and-his-regular-girl/
miso
September 24, 2022 at 5:39 PM
Agree with everything you said but especially with Jin Seon-mi being ridiculously bland. I resisted watching anything with Oh Yeon-seo for years after that show.
frabbycrabsis loves KBS Drama Specials
September 24, 2022 at 11:37 PM
Honestly! The first thing I watched her in was Come Back Ahjussi, where she was amazing (or maybe the character was amazing, I don’t know anymore), so imagine my disappointment when she then turned out bad role after bad role 🥲
Jance
September 26, 2022 at 5:23 AM
Korea do fantasy tone and setting really well, but they then crowbar cliche rom-com characters into what should be an epic story.
Then there’s usually issues with pacing: loads of world-building and subplots, dates and cutesy bits in the first 2/3 followed by the last two episodes of insane revelations with no time to process it.
There are, of course, exceptions. But I usually end up with the above complaints.
Lixie
September 26, 2022 at 9:28 AM
Why her? Because she is the norm. It is tricky but rather simple.
Modern Romance Fantasy is maybe my favorite kind of kdrama but I’ve long accepted that they don’t know how to do a great one or won’t do it, because of many issues, one of them being the Bland Female Lead you talked about, though I don’t exactly agree they are bland. It is more like they are an idea. A superficial role model.
The similar dramas they manage to do better are Modern Romance with a Supernatural Element which is why it is much easier to find something good like I Can Hear Your Voice than fix a mess like Faith. It is why you get a lot more Go Back Couple than Queen In Hyun’s Man.
You talk about Rich World Building, that is undoubtedly a necessary quality for this kind of drama, I’m not sure why you think aesthetic matters so much. It’s more about internal rules and whether the story remains logical and consistent. It’s great to have fantastic sets and costumes but it’s just the icing on the cake.
Goblin was a nice example of a drama that had great actors, settings, cinematography but terrible script. The author took the rules and situations out of a hat to move plot to whatever direction she wanted it to go. Great vibes though, and powerful emotional moments, so if audience doesn’t care about logic it will become a success, which it did. Goblin became a classic of the genre and almost a standard for all other future kdramas of that kind.
W was the little brother of Goblin, exactly the same issues minus the romance between a manchild and a lonely girl.
Interesting they came out the same year and that was also same year of Legend of Blue Lagoon which was kind of the poor cousin of those two. Everything was a little worse in Lagoon, except for our pretty and charismatic mermaid, which was only allowed to be THAT, because of a certain actress in My Love from the Star, the other modern classic of this genre, which had aired 3 years before.
I’m not sure why to be a good MRF drama both leads should have an EVEN power balance, this a good rule for a nice realistic romance but since in this kind of drama one of them usually is supernatural or has some kind of supernatural power, it is not common, and many times it will go against the very nature of this plot, to have equal power. Take Bride of Habaek, Doom, Nine-Tailed, Goblin, Roommate, these MLs were gods. It was impossible to have that, though it would have been still possible to tell a good story with a human and weaker heroine. All of them tried to have the FL have some kind of power over the ML, which moved plot, but I’d hardly say their balance was even at any moment. Arang was boring and messy but it was possibly the one to get closer to that. Funny coincidence that Arang had one of the better FLs of MRFs while being played by Min Ah doing a lighter version of her adorable Gumiho from MGIAG. continues
Lixie
September 26, 2022 at 9:29 AM
Not a coincidence that when this kind of MRF, Modern Romance Fantasy, gets closer to even power balances it is always when the FLs are the supernatural creatures. How could a female handle too much power? Better to level the plainfield or the romance won’t be believable!
Which is the answer for the Why Her question. It’s simple. They are, mostly, not as plain or bland as you think. If you compare these heroines to the Fls from movies and dramas from many decades ago you would understand that. They do have their quirks and charms but they are also trapped in a very hard set of rules which makes almost every one of them seem like a copycat from another. Once in a Blue Moon, we get a Jun Ji Hyun playing a loud and charming actress, there is a reason Naughty Gumiho from MGIAG and Cute Conwoman from My Girl were such hits. Most FLs must be that bland girl you talk about because that’s what society , especially korean society, still expects women to be, the modern princess on a pedestal. Yes these days she has a job and a rooftop apartment, she drinks and eats heavily, despite being skinny, but she isn’t much different from being an ideal instead of a real complex character. Male leads are usually much more believable and interesting in any kdrama, not only MRFs, because they are allowed to have flaws, they even sometimes have a growth arc! They learn things and become better people while our reliable female leads were already born being patient, a little sassy, kind, a bit spirited, generous, respectful, hardworking, clever but not too much, talented and romantic. They all talk the same and act the same because they came from the same mould. It is a formula. One that is soulessly applied to every female lead to please women, who should approve and identify with her and man who should like and desire her.
ps: sorry for the long reply english mistakes, wrote fast.