This week end I am watching Becoming A Billionaire, another Korean Drama. The subtitles are not quite as good as the other dramas I've watched, and I notice it is not DramaFever made. I don't mind so much that the typist often forgets a letter here and there, but it is almost impossible to see some of the dialogue at times because the yellow print is too light for the scene and mostly because there is Asian writing beneath it. I guess it is also in Chinese or Japanese. They need to fix this issue and make the text visible to the audience who can't understand Korean. But I am grateful there is a translation, even imperfect.
I am picking up a few words here and there though, despite the fact that the most mundane words are almost never said the same way twice. Maybe the translator is just simplifying everything too much. You hear 60 seconds of a character speaking Korean, and on the screen it says, "OK. sure." and you KNOW that's not what they said, but what can you do? You can't call someone and complain. You just live with the dumbed down version.
Having watched 49 Days, My Fair Lady, Secret Garden, Padam Padam, and a few others, I know Korea is a macho culture and I have no complaint with that. In truth I sort of like it. But in this current drama I am getting an uncomfortable feeling. The two main characters keep playing a childs game where the loser gets hit in the forehead. And the girl keeps losing to the guy who almost kisses her, but then hits her as part of the game instead, and she walks around with a big dark bruise on her forehead. I was shocked by this, because beneath the game is of course sexual tension, and the result is a woman who has been flirted with...but who has actually been struck in the face. And that is not sexy. That is not cool. That is not entertaining or charming or cute. It is the opposite of all that. It is more repellant than the close up shots of people chewing too much food. The Korean culture must have a thing for mouths jammed with food. They show a lot of sloppy chewing and smeared food on the face. There is actually audio of stomachs rumbling in hunger. Sometimes the cultural differences are interesting and strange, and sometimes they are upsetting and infuriating. Food dripping out of the mouth is tolerable. Bruised girl is NOT.
I am picking up a few words here and there though, despite the fact that the most mundane words are almost never said the same way twice. Maybe the translator is just simplifying everything too much. You hear 60 seconds of a character speaking Korean, and on the screen it says, "OK. sure." and you KNOW that's not what they said, but what can you do? You can't call someone and complain. You just live with the dumbed down version.
Having watched 49 Days, My Fair Lady, Secret Garden, Padam Padam, and a few others, I know Korea is a macho culture and I have no complaint with that. In truth I sort of like it. But in this current drama I am getting an uncomfortable feeling. The two main characters keep playing a childs game where the loser gets hit in the forehead. And the girl keeps losing to the guy who almost kisses her, but then hits her as part of the game instead, and she walks around with a big dark bruise on her forehead. I was shocked by this, because beneath the game is of course sexual tension, and the result is a woman who has been flirted with...but who has actually been struck in the face. And that is not sexy. That is not cool. That is not entertaining or charming or cute. It is the opposite of all that. It is more repellant than the close up shots of people chewing too much food. The Korean culture must have a thing for mouths jammed with food. They show a lot of sloppy chewing and smeared food on the face. There is actually audio of stomachs rumbling in hunger. Sometimes the cultural differences are interesting and strange, and sometimes they are upsetting and infuriating. Food dripping out of the mouth is tolerable. Bruised girl is NOT.
I could not refrain from commenting. Exceptionally well written!
ReplyDeletemy web page Nusuno Karya
Thank you so much! I regret to say I was not able to understand/read your web page.
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