Beanie level: Jang Geu-rae

When you open your computer and see you have 9 message notifications from the same person

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    Comment was deleted

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      Here is another one 🤣
      So sorry, I had a few problems today with this writing system. I couldn’t find the damn words that were illegal here even though they were cooied from wiki. They also put me on moderation and I saw it only later.

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    @seeker does this to me all the time, but I love her for it. She makes me feel seen and appreciated on here ♥️

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      Yes it’s lovely to see multiple notifications from @seeker!! 🥰

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          Err, post-specific context Beanies. 😂

          (Tho I too love my Cera notifications 🙂

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            Yeahhhh getting nice notifications is very different from getting a whole bunch of messages trying to tell you that feminists are responsible for women hating men and not wanting to get married is evil and they’re turning our children gay and transgender and making them have abortions, all from a person who thinks that the Me Too movement was feminist propaganda ruining Hollywood!!! 😭

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            mdiary like most Beans I too come to DB to entertain and be entertained!! It is a great stress buster. So let us all laugh and dance and be merry. 😘❤

            And send each other happy happy notifications. 😉

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            @mdiary
            Not Hollywood, if they ruined it that’s a good thing. 🤣 But MeeToo movement had other negative outcomes if you look at the whole picture, but I do not want to continue on this subject.
            I know it’s a lot to digest and I understand your annoyance with me. I was where you are a few years ago. But please, be sure that it comes from a place of love for women, I do have a daughter also that is very independent, I just understand things different than you or than I did few years ago. My positions are as center as one can be. It never hurts to get out of the buble and hear others point of views.

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            @seeker
            Well, that why I joined in, to talk about My dearest. I was mesmerized by talks of full moon tracing all the way to the 1600’s and I got to learn a lot reading kiara. Well, you know how that went 🤣
            The thing with me is that I do not start to talk about the issues I care on my own, I do not post articles about them. Mostly I respond to what I believe are outrages takes. As newcomer it was overwhelming the discussions that I read here, to put it nicely. I don’t know where you guys live or what you read or watch, but in my real life things are normal if you don’t look through the lenses of the media. I see happy couples, old couples that are still in love and support eachothers, I see mothers that are having carriers and families with very supportive husbands, I have had mostly female bosses being in healthcare. I have encouraged every female that I worked to to continue their education, to get ahead in their careers. Things are not that dark as you all talk about it here. Men are not evil, most are just trying really hard to be be good husbands and fathers. Maybe because I work in a field that is dominated by females is that I got to also have really bad female bosses, maybe more than the few men bosses I had. If you look only at people with a bias, you will eventually find some small thing to reinforce your beliefs.
            I hope there is more tolerance and understanding about everyone and not only the ones you are told or what is socially acceptable now. I know we, women, are better than that.

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Seeing Javabeans and Mary around the site again makes me feel like a kid again in the best possible way. Like stepping through a time machine.

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I decided to have a movie night tonight and was drawn to the 1995 film A Single Spark, which tells the true story of famous labor rights activist Jeon Tae-il, who self-immolated as protest against inhumane working conditions in 1970. It’s powerful stuff without being overly dramatic, and I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of Korean labor rights. I feel like it is something featured fairly often in dramas, but a lot of international viewers aren’t aware of just how important these movements are to recent Korean history and Korean identity. It’s something I myself am slowly learning about. While I don’t think all art needs to be (or should be) overtly related to social justice, whenever I watch something that is I am reminded once again of the power of art–even if it’s done poorly!

The Korean Film Archive channel on YouTube is an absolute goldmine for any Korean film buff, by the way. Definitely check it out if you haven’t. There are quite literally hundreds of films from 1920 to 2000. Some are good, some are bad, and many are somewhere in between, but they’re pretty fascinating in their own right to anyone interested in Korean film.

Saying this makes me sound a little crotchety, and maybe it’s survivorship bias at play here, but it sometimes seems that Chungmuro has lost some of its edge and its heart even as it has gained international prestige and booming production values. But it very well may be my nostalgia-tinged glasses making me feel this way.

Anyway, I’m feeling the beginnings of a thematic kick here and plan on finally getting to dramas like Special Labor Inspector and Awl. If anyone else has any other drama, film, or English/Spanish-language literature recommendations on the topic of Korean labor rights, I’m all ears!

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    Great resource diary, thanks!

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    The history of Korea in the last 50 years is fascinating to say the least. From dictatorship to democracy due in no small part to the labour and student movements is nothing short of spectacular – and that progressive element is still so necessary for the modern day Korea.

    Thanks for sharing @diary. Your observation about Chungmuro losing some sparks is quite spot on. The lure of big budget, international exposure is far too much to ignore.

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      I completely agree.

      I confess to not being super interested in sageuks, but any drama set around the time of Occupation or after has my interest.

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    Is drama you are referring to called Special Labour Inspector Jo that was the only one I could find. Awl I started some time ago but I couldn’t bookmark it then forgot where I was watching it and couldn’t remember the name. Thanks I now have both lined up. ☺️

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      Yes, with Kim Dong-wook! I started it last night and am quite enjoying it!

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    I love both those shows! They tackle the same topic so you can just pick which mood you’re in for: gut-wrenchingly realistic or fantastically fun. I’d say watch both but I’m biased. >:D

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Don’t remember the last time I so hated a male lead. Was glad our girl didn’t let him get away with it without literally punching him in the face, but it’s gonna take some hard work from the drama to get me on board with him.

Sticking around for Jeon Jong-seo.

It seems like polite convention here is to post multiple gifs under the cut, so feel free to look there for a couple more.

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