Beanie level: Rooftop room dweller

I wish more people would care to ask why this young man died instead of commenting on the relationships of celebs:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1649159wpp/voice-actor-lee-woo-ri-passes-away-at-a

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Korean dramas have long been written and viewed by women, Hwang said over the phone. (In 2018, the country’s Broadcast Writers’ Union estimated that 94.6% of TV screenwriters are women.) But as a result of the “feminist reboot,” she added, women feel solidarity with one another and are more empowered to express their concerns about gender issues, with stories addressing these topics particularly resonating with female audiences”.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/korean-dramas-changing-representation-women/index.html

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“In real life, however, South Korea’s women face significant barriers to equality, and have reported issues with sexual harassment, outdated gender stereotypes and other forms of discrimination in male-dominated workplaces. The country ranked 99th out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Index. OECD data found that South Korean women earn an average of 31.1% less than men (the worst gender wage gap of any OECD country). Feminism, meanwhile, remains an extremely divisive topic”.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/korean-dramas-changing-representation-women/index.html

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    I don’t trust MBC, they toyed with our feelings the last time (85 mins).

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      Going by the BTS, they did not even film a kiss or any other scene after that ending. While I may be wrong, I don’t have my hopes up. But other scenes might be enjoyable.

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      They publicised the supposed 85 minutes’ duration but didn’t deliver. A low move.

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Even though the KF final ep is not available as yet, Viki shows that it will only be 72.54 minutes! How dare they cheat us out of the 12 extra minutes we were promised?

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How hilariously basic is this? I hadn’t noticed it at first viewing. It made me laugh.

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    This ‘degree’ is what Jeong presented to the Grand Merchant in “Knight Flower” in case it wasn’t obvious.

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      Thank you for the clarification. I remembered this but couldn’t remember where I saw it. And I think that I tried to stop and enlarge it at the time.

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        I hope you’ve been well. I still fondly remember what you kindly shared about your life and a bit about your son few years ago when I had recently joined DB.

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@indyfan @kiara Lee Jongwon with longer hair.

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I have been rewatching like FLIS with and the sadness and loss that Baekdu feels is so poignantly conveyed by Jang Dongyoon. I had forgotten how sad and bereft he was at the outset. And Jinsoo! He was so nasty to Baekdu in the restaurant scene. My affection for him diminished after watching that scene again.
And, now that I have watched the entire series I can definitely see that Jang Dongyoon lost weight during the filming as he mentioned in this interview: https://mydramalist.com/article/i-ate-until-i-felt-like-throwing-up-jang-dong-yoon-s-talks-about-transforming-into-a-wrestler

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    How interesting. You could definitely see that his neck was much thinner in the last episodes. I thought wow, he’s already going back to his regular weight (and wished I could do that after gaining!)

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      I noticed that too. I suppose actors like him who physically transform so drastically have to start the process of losing the weight during filming. But to his credit, that process didn’t undermine his portrayal. Losing weight is not easy as WE all know.

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        For mortals like us the math never equates. Weight gain – weekend. Weight loss – 1 year.

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          Exactly. Gaining weight is a breeze but shifting it, requires time, low intake of kilojoules and iron-clad discipline.

          As for JDY, I hope he was working with a nutritionist and a trainer both times (to my knowledge) when he lost and gained weight for his roles.

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          ^^ Sigh. Yes that. Pounds pile up by just looking at cake.

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        I answered too fast. Now that I read the article, awwww poor guy had trouble going back down like the rest of us.

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    Yeah. It was kinda obvious in the last episode he had most most of the weight.
    Miss this drama!

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    If you watch My Name is Cupid – which, in fairness, nobody should – you can see him gaining weight during the back half as well.

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      Is it really that bad as I haven’t watched it.

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        The first half is really bad but in a kind of mindless silly way that could be fun if you’re in the mood. But the second half is just flat out bad in a really stupid way.

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          ROFL! I always struggle when someone asks me ‘how was Cupid drama’. I did watch the whole damn thing.

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            I suddenly realised if I finished it I get a bean for 2024 and it is definitely not Bean Worthy.

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            So did I, in the same sort of daze as Moon in the Day. It really was quite bad and I never once considered dropping it. I guess my brain, emotions, and taste needed that kind of break for a while.

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            Guess Cupid does work as some sort of palate cleanser. We all need that kind of break @Elinor

            Off-topic but why is your display name not something showy – as in indicative of your state of mind or dramas.

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            @seeker The Truck of Doom Real Life has hit me and my imagination has been wiped clean as thoroughly as my palate. I was looking at my bare nym yesterday, wondering what to add, and nothing came to mind. I’m watching a few dramas but I don’t feel like any of them own me. I also wish there were more LFIS, so I could hang out in that village café for a little longer, watching Baek-du stumping back and forth muttering to himself. Hmm, maybe I’m in a slump?

            I also realized that if you flip a couple of letters, LFIS becomes LIFS (Love is for Suckers) and now I can’t stop seeing that. 😠

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            @Elinor I hope your RL issues get resolved peaceably… which is of course only a break till the next one knocks on the door. Meanwhile in the lull I hope you get to watch some dramas which inspire you.
            All I can say for LIFS is **Spanish fainting** while mumbling loudly enough to be heard across the street – “Trauma”!!

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    I stuffed up the acronym! LFIS is what I intended to write.

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    @elinor: I empathise with you as I feel I’m in a slump of sorts. I’m under tremendous pressure at work and outside it, and feel sad that I can’t immerse myself as fully as I did in LFIS, enjoy the communal reverie and find these joyful periods of loving a drama so much.

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Wow: what a hateful cesspool some of the comments in this weekend’s Open Thread are. At times, this site attracts bizarrely fixated reactionaries.

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LFIS: I’ll miss you. You made me cry this morning. I wanted more of you and still do. How could you go away so soon?
Ps – No eating whale meat, you dingbat! And, I wished Dushik had ****** him first.

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Korean women who challene their patriarchal and regressive systems deserve karmic hugs and victories:
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1126548.html

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The poor working conditions at Korean streaming platforms: https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240129000666

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The Yoon Government is brutal and a disgrace: https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240130000616

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@frenchfan: It gets pretty lonely here at times. I appreciate your views and for speaking up. I just wanted to tell you that and to say thanks. Take care.

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    @frenchfan and @dncingemma raising the bigger issues on a platform like this takes a lot of guts so it is reassuring when others join the discussion and you don’t feel like a voice crying in the wilderness. I chat to beanies in real life, who have opinions about important issues like this but don’t raise them or join the discussion online. I am sure a lot of lurkers also feel the same. With limited word counts and the context of the discussion it’s hard to go into all the nuances so many beanies choose not to expose themselves so become part of the silent majority.

    I think you got an interesting discussion going and found allies. Both of you stayed the course and this will encourage others to think at a different level about what often goes unnoticed or is taken for granted. I hope you continue to counter the alternative perspectives when you feel moved to do so. I hope you are assured that you are not alone in noticing and wanting to widen the discussion beyond the cute actors, scenery and story being shown.

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      Thanks. I appreciate your comment.
      How did you get to pierce the veil of anonymity? Was it because of Covid or are you a magician?

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        Some of us realised we were in the UK and I wanted to have a Korean drama club where we could meet and chat about dramas, due to distance it is a monthly meet up on zoom. We ended up with European, US and Caribbean members, it includes lurkers and some of the prominent commenters on DB. The club has been going for a year and we have daily contact on WhatsApp. It’s great as we represent different age groups, cultures and religions and have one man in the group.

        In open thread and fan wall discussions we started chatting about meeting up in London for the Hallyu exhibition at the V&A with a Korean meal so we finally met in real life there and since then have met for Korean meals tagged on to other events. We are planning a trip to Korea whether we can coordinate it and actually go is another thing!

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          That’s such a potentially hard thing to get off the ground. Sounds great though. If you happen to be in contact with dramadillo, please say hi to them from me as I haven’t come across any of their comments for a while now.

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            I will call her in so you can speak directly ❤️@mellowarmadillo

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            It wasn’t too difficult and has been well worth it. I am hoping that others will do the same so there are meet ups in different time zones across the globe we are such a diverse group us beanies.

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            Dearest DancingEmma! I’m sorry I’ve been so absent!🙇🏻‍♀️ Thank you very much for thinking of me, and I hope you’ve been ok.💗 The world is almost too much (I’d say sometimes, but it’s only really ‘sometimes’ because I suspend all the awful things that are happening into a holdbox in my mind…which is a privilege many don’t have). Thank you for continuing to speak up when you see injustice and prejudice.🙏 I have been thinking a lot about what makes people change their minds (and hearts), and sadly, I’m not sure knowledge and reasoning are enough… At the moment, I am wondering whether the level of collective and individual trauma is so high that we have to start at healing before we can even talk to each other. I honestly don’t know. So I don’t spend a lot of time interacting on the interwebs anymore. Words can feel so flimsy and futile, and they seem to ricochet off everyone’s armour in escalating ways. That’s not to say we should stop pointing out when something isn’t right (so thank you for being strong and continuing!). I just don’t feel like I even have the words most of the time.

            I hope you have a support network (virtual or otherwise!) that helps you refuel and recharge when the fight feels particularly lonely! Like @reply1988, call us in when you need us (actually, she messaged me on WhatsApp so if you ever want to be offline friends, let me know! I am not good at sustaining anonymous relationships because I’m a very face-to-face person😅)! Sending you lots and lots of love!💗✨💗✨💗

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            @mellowarmadillo: It makes me so happy to get your message as you are one of my favourites here but I know real life must take priority as arduous as sometimes it is. So don’t ever apologise. Just stay as healthy, kind and happy as you can.
            And, your comment is written as beautifully as many of yours before were. I often feel despondent about the world and what you just wrote resonated with me. I feel the same about not finding words to express how I feel. Just seeing Trump on the Guardian website induced that feeling in me today. Sigh.
            Look after yourself and when I feel a bit more robust, would love to meet F2F. Lots of love back to you.

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          Omg UK! I am in the UK and thought no one from here is! Assumed most of them are from the US or east Asia (based on the time of their comments). I would love love love to join if there is a meet up, virtual or real in London.

          Also, I missed the discussion in question here @dancingemma , will go check it out when I get an undisturbed 30 minutes

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            I have linked you to my fan wall for further info. I can’t believe you missed all the posts we did on Open Thread and our fan walls. So glad you found this discussion at least it will be great to have you join us.

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      Lurker here just to verify. Not great at sharing my own views, but I do look for @dncingemma ‘s comments for some much needed background info on Korean culture/current events. Please keep shouting into the apparent void (because it is not as empty as it seems)!

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        Oh wow,👋🏾 welcome to the discussion. Thanks for jumping in to share these encouraging words.

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        Thank you but not because of my ego. It’s because it’s lovely to hear from you. And, I mean it sincerely that you expressed yourself in such a nice way so if and when you have time, please do not hesitate to do it again. I know it isn’t easy to share views. I feel the same just so you know. Take care.

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      Oooooh thank you @dncingemma & @reply1988 for your very kind words! It’s very touching!! <3

      I'm lucky to be very well surrounded in real life and find support when I need to, so it's ok if sometimes it can feel lonely here and there.

      I sometimes just think of one lurker out there who could read my opinion and that's enough to motivate me to write : )

      Wish you two all the best! Take care! <3

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    Thanks, I had not heard before that the SK administration blames the Itaewon crowd disaster on drug use, and is using that as part of the reason for their recent drug crackdowns.

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      It’s always “something else” and “someone else” and never just the government itself mishandling and misjudging a situation. The government is never at fault in Korea—in many places, for that matter. Saying that the Itaewon crushing incident is because ‘resources were diverted because of media coverage of the main event (Hallowe’en celebrations after lockdowns)’ and that people were high on drugs is actually quite the disgusting insult, imho

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      It is disgusting, untrue and just inhuman. This administration is so regressive and dangerous. It bear remembering that SK only relatively recently emerged from their military dictatorships because of the blood, sweat and tears of those who were vilified as North Korean spies and terrorists as well as drug-users. This is straight from their playbook. One of the links I posted a while ago from Hani.co.uk had this to say:
      “ The reason the celebrity drug allegations and incidents are stirring up conspiracy theories is because of South Korea’s history, where dictatorships in past eras exploited drug-related issues to redirect the public’s political attention”. This re-direction has been alleged to include the recent celebrity crackdown.

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        I think all of this drug-related crackdown started as far back as even the Burning Sun scandal. Not to say that the people involved were innocent—they’ve been proven guilty… One of which, Seungri, was even tried in military court, which is even more strict than S.Korea’s court of public opinion, allegedly— but that the whole thing was definitely a cover-up for something. I read somewhere that it was a cover-up for the internal conflicts that were taking place at the time within Samsung Corp., and we all know how highly S.Korea think of the rich and famous (very on brand with their “keeping up with appearances” society). I’ve read opinion pieces about LSK’s case also being a cover-up about something that has happened— maybe still happening?— politically, and I’m not surprised

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          This playbook predates the Burning Sun Scandal. The DB site doesn’t let me post a quote because of who knows what but this link mentions the political precedent set by the military dictatorships in Korea in using such tactics to deflect attention from their political scandals and failures:
          https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1115767.html
          Is to an article which mentions

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            The Korean democracy is still very young and exists because of the blood, sweat and tears shed by the democracy activists. Given how many western countries in what we perceive of/are told are strong democracies have been doing – from waging illegal wars leading to the destabilisation of the middle east to electing charlatans, racists and misogynists like Trump etc, no wonder nascent democracies like SK are struggling to establish accountability and transparency.

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            Oh yes, theory of using LSK’s case as a cover-up about the bullying is what I read.

            It’s a repeated vicious cycle through and through that anyone with half a sense of consciousness can see right through and which one can see the government isn’t doing anything about nor does it feel like they intentionally want to do anything about it, it’s very apparent

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I don’t exempt myself from what I am about to say because many actors are objectified on this site, at times repeatedly and blatantly. This is disturbing. I don’t mean acknowledging the physical beauty of someone but those kinds of references which reduce someone to their looks alone and are demeaning.
I try to check myself but I have been involved in it too. Today, this lingering concern has upset me a fair bit and has made me feel like a hypocrite as just because we are interacting anonymously, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be conscious of our attitudes and words because words have power. I’m going to do better.

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    Thanks for sharing your reflections. This is one of those areas where there is a very thin line between being ok and going too far down the objectification route. It is hard not to get swept up in it when appearance is exploited by the industry when choosing leads as they know who will get the high ratings and therefore make the money. It is shocking how much of a contrast in the looks depart there is when watching dramas from other countries, K-Drama actors are seriously on another level.

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    I echo Tessa in giving my thanks about your reflections.
    I also know that I do this a lot and am not going to look for an excuse to exempt myself from the criticisms. At the same time, it is for the fact that I know how objectifying the entertainment industry is—across the board, not just in S.Korea, East Asia, etc.— it is also SO IMPORTANT and ALL THE MORE important for myself, personally, to be able to find something that is more and that is outside of just looks which I love and adore about the entertainers (actors, actresses, singers, etc.) whom I am a fan of. Their works, their personalities, their integrity, their morals & values, their intelligence, how they treat others and how they present themselves (the “aura” and impression they give off) are all things that are all much more important to me than just their looks and physicality. I always say that the physical looks of a celebrity/artist is just the EXTRA/bonus

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    Words have tremendous power indeed. And especially here, on anonymous portals, I think it’s important we are kind to actors, writers, producers and to one another.

    Like you, I’ve made mistakes too! Loved reading the reflection & sending love 🙂

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      Thank you for taking the time to reply. I made an error of judgment today which wasn’t malicious or intentional but nevertheless, it blew up in my face. Life is about learning from our mistakes. And, thank you for sharing your values. I loved reading about it.

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We could all use an article with pics of Fu Bao, the panda frolicking in the snow.
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1122587.html

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Trigger Warning: Suicide related

“[Column] Lee Sun-kyun deserved a better ending than this”.
https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/1122705.html

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