Great Korean Drama Lines, and other sound bites
"Can't you see I am blushing?? Can't you hear my heart beating wildly?" Shin Mi demands, pulling away from the arms of Suk Bong.
"No," says Bong, confused. "But I can certainly hear your shrill voice..." (Becoming a Billionaire)
Peculiar hang ups in Korean shows
#1: Americans don't have an aversion to bathroom humor per se, sometimes it turns up in movies but not often and it is never overt. Not so in Korean TV. They not only have person-on-toilet shots, complete with rolls of toilet paper and narrow stall, but they talk about it in almost graphic detail. There is even audio. Which makes me wonder, are we watching because we ENJOY what we see or are we watching because the creator of the show enjoys filming what we have to see? Is this a supply out of demand sort of thing? Or is this how-far-can-I-take-realism sort of filmmaker thing?
#2: Let's revisit the repulsive food shoveling shots... watching Bu Tau_ (can't remember her full name) eat whipped cream cake is not so very terrible. I sat thinking, is she really having to eat this or are they making it look like she is swallowing but she is really spitting it out off camera? And I was thinking, is it low calorie Cool Whip ? Surely she couldn't really be eating half a whipped cream cake every show or she wouldn't be able to squeeze into those darling little glittery tee shirts she wears as dresses. Anyway, her cake eating is a necessary part of the storyline. She was a fat child because her father didn't give her enough love or time. He gives her money instead of love. So when she is upset, she eats. We all know eating sweet stuff is a temporary replacement for love. BUT, when the gross man (who mysteriously knows everything about everyone) eats with his mouth hanging open in every episode, the audience might not feel it is carrying the story along. The audience might actually think it is discouraging viewers from watching. I certainly find myself turning away.
Koreans kind of have an honesty in their shows that is lacking in the western world. I guess gross behavior is part of that, but I wish we were not subjected quite as often to it, especially since I have a 36 inch screen and a mouthful of seaweed dripping down a smeared greasy face is rather startling in HD. It could be that I would not be so offended if I took my TV's picture control off High Definition and Wide screen.
"Can't you see I am blushing?? Can't you hear my heart beating wildly?" Shin Mi demands, pulling away from the arms of Suk Bong.
"No," says Bong, confused. "But I can certainly hear your shrill voice..." (Becoming a Billionaire)
Peculiar hang ups in Korean shows
#1: Americans don't have an aversion to bathroom humor per se, sometimes it turns up in movies but not often and it is never overt. Not so in Korean TV. They not only have person-on-toilet shots, complete with rolls of toilet paper and narrow stall, but they talk about it in almost graphic detail. There is even audio. Which makes me wonder, are we watching because we ENJOY what we see or are we watching because the creator of the show enjoys filming what we have to see? Is this a supply out of demand sort of thing? Or is this how-far-can-I-take-realism sort of filmmaker thing?
#2: Let's revisit the repulsive food shoveling shots... watching Bu Tau_ (can't remember her full name) eat whipped cream cake is not so very terrible. I sat thinking, is she really having to eat this or are they making it look like she is swallowing but she is really spitting it out off camera? And I was thinking, is it low calorie Cool Whip ? Surely she couldn't really be eating half a whipped cream cake every show or she wouldn't be able to squeeze into those darling little glittery tee shirts she wears as dresses. Anyway, her cake eating is a necessary part of the storyline. She was a fat child because her father didn't give her enough love or time. He gives her money instead of love. So when she is upset, she eats. We all know eating sweet stuff is a temporary replacement for love. BUT, when the gross man (who mysteriously knows everything about everyone) eats with his mouth hanging open in every episode, the audience might not feel it is carrying the story along. The audience might actually think it is discouraging viewers from watching. I certainly find myself turning away.
Koreans kind of have an honesty in their shows that is lacking in the western world. I guess gross behavior is part of that, but I wish we were not subjected quite as often to it, especially since I have a 36 inch screen and a mouthful of seaweed dripping down a smeared greasy face is rather startling in HD. It could be that I would not be so offended if I took my TV's picture control off High Definition and Wide screen.
#3: Having never heard a discussion about menstruation in any movie or show before, I don't know how to judge and maybe I ought to leave the topic for another time. Suffice to say no bodily function subject is taboo in K-Drama's except maybe sex, which is fine with me. I've already expressed how I feel about voyeurism. There's nothing less appealing to me that watching copulation or anything close to it if it is not me. If it's you and another somebody, great. Just not in front of me.
One GREAT thing about KD is that no "bad Guy" is ever just a bad guy. The reason they are bad comes out in the story and you begin to feel great compassion if not warmth toward the bad guys. No one is ever all good either. They have their yucky sides. They say mean things sometimes. They are rounded out full characters and the audience is not forced to like one and hate the other... you are sort of sitting in mild judgement through out 18 or 19 episodes... You can't decide if you want Bong to love the chilly heiress or the fit-throwing heiress. And as for the fathers! Which father would be least gruesome for Bing Bong to discover is his real dad? The one who steals? The one who hires thugs to wreck lives? The one who is so stingy he doesn't mind when others suffer? Or the one lying comatose in the hospital who has lost most of his brain? It's a dilemma. So you watch, and you watch, and you watch, until you begin to dream in Korean at night. And you can't understand what is being said in your dreams....until someone kindly turns on the Subtitles located just under your pillow. And your dream even has a name. "Bing-Bong, I Can't Find My Shoes Darn It" only the word SHOES is misspelled Shues. It makes no sense, but dreams are like that...
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