Seeing him in this attire brings back memories of my first time watching him in a drama, “My Only Love Song” he was also my favorite character there. Nice. This drama seems interesting!
I am kind of confused as to what the issues really is here? What is the controversy? Why is a mention (or allusion to, like them getting off at that specific bus stop) of a situation that really happened, and is significant to ROK’s history, inherently bad and controversial?
There might be something, that I am not understanding because of lack of information in this article or lack of cultural context, in the portrayal of that survivor (with a gunshot wound in the head) that might be inaccurate, or improper or forcing a specific view on the situation. But all the other examples related to that day, to that uprising, brought up in this article, seem relatively harmless. It is just a mention, I don’t understand… would korean netizens rather have this event not be mentioned in more casual settings at all? Swept under the rug? Isn’t it rather important to remember, especially when there are people alive today, not that old, who remember those days, or were participants?
I think it would be interesting to see both 6 years on, CEW was wayyy better in his last two dramas than anything…
Agreed. Another more recent role of his, that was very distinct from his previous ones, was his character in Decibel, and he did a very good job there. However that role was a supporting role, no matter how important to the plot, he had little screen time, so it’s while it was a good change to showcase his growing skill, it wasn’t a “big platform” to do it.
I hope in this new drama, his character might be more unique than his previous romance characters, maybe not relaying so much on his handsomeness as a character trait…
I think it would be interesting to see both 6 years on, CEW was wayyy better in his last two dramas than anything…
I like him too, and he has good potential and did well in couple of his past roles. Still, reputation and connections can take you quite a long way in a corrupt world (which SK unfortunately is — not that it’s individual to that country, there’s a lot of corruption and self-interest in all countries), I’m not saying that it is like that in his case, I just wouldn’t put institutions like the University you’ve mentioned, on such high of a pedestal.
I think it would be interesting to see both 6 years on, CEW was wayyy better in his last two dramas than anything…
Eh, I get what you’re saying, and I don’t think he’s that bad, but I also think you’re underestimating a bit, the corruption of the top universities (of institutions in general, to be honest).
There is no such thing as positive propaganda. Propaganda can be a good means to a good end, and can be the right tool in some situations, I guess- but, it involves a form of manipulation, which by it's nature, is not positive. And indoctrination is involved in every tighter political circle, in every major country right now, I suppose, China included. Also, please remember that China has a pretty heavy censorship when it comes to media, and that every script and drama must pass it, before being released and that sometimes, entire episodes are cut out of dramas.
Schindler's List is a movie exploring the themes of good en evil, and in hist-political context, could be called anti-n*zi and anti-genocide. As for it's relevance today, it is historically relevant, it does not exactly relate to the present day, but it's themes and message sure do (Ironically so, considering what is happening, the genocide in Palestine).
You cannot really say that "without those martyrs China would have not been the powerful and independent country it is now" because we cannot say exactly how China would have been without them, you can only speculate [i.e. We can theorize that if history went different, a different guy won a war here, a different guy became or stayed a leader there, some other guys did or did not have a conflict (depending on how it happened in real history), then China's development would have gone this-or-that way, this-or-that political situation would most likely be the consequence of it, and then depending on which choice this-or-that potential politician makes (assuming that some of those people who existed and were involved in real life also do in this potential alternative scenario), and so on. These situations would have shaped how that alternative China would have looked today - which might be very different, or not so different after all.]. Without those people, there would have been different people, and so they'd have shaped different history. So, yes, without those people China would not have been the country it is now, but it might have been as powerful and independent, or maybe it'd somehow have been very similar to how it is now, or it'd have been similar but powerless etc. You cannot say for sure, some of those guesses definitely would be more probable and better explained than the others though.
The Republican Era in China (and the interwoven Japanese Occupation Era and WWII as well) is very interesting, and shows many things about the country's culture and political/social climate at the time, and many important things as well (like the war crimes of the Japanese, which tend to be partially erased otherwise), however in most (if not all dramas/movies - excluding those obvious pieces made just for glorification , which i mentioned in my comment above (not that China is particularly unique in this, many countries do it, to a bigger or lesser extent, also not that it's all inherently bad)) dramas there are moments, when clearly but subtly nuance is being stripped and situations are shown very black n' white, which suggest what the show wants the viewer to think and take away from it - and people who do not posses enough sensitivity to such matters, media literacy and/or historical and political knowledge, will far for it, and not even attempt to form their own opinion or ignore the obvious bias. Not ignoring the obvious bias doesn't mean that you have to immediately do a 180° on your opinion (about politics and/or history), no- noticing, acknowledging and being mindful to try and be aware of it in future instances (and not being scared to point it out, essentially, "owning up to it") is enough - and not everybody is capable to do that, but it is worth to try and enable oneself to do it.
[You mention dramas being linked to real people and situations in context, as means to disprove that, meanwhile it is exactly the opposite: being relatable to real life events, is part of the mechanism (by the means of how it relates, which you can easily observe by watching a couple of those dramas).]
It is in fact not "simply showing "this is what happened and what we lived in order to create modern China", that's all" but it is simply showing "this is what happened and what we lived in order to create modern China, and also here are two sides: this one is good - this is us, the other side is bad, and that's how we want you to think, haha no need looking for nuance here". Which again, isn't all that uncommon of a phenomenon in media, in the grand scheme of things (The World).
It is not all bad, definitely not. China is extremely rich in tradition, history and culture and the 20s and 30s specifically were full of western influences and interesting blending of customs etc. (see Shanghai for example), and that is worth acknowledging, exploring and sharing through media like dramas and movies, even if it just concerns a background setting.
Mowing on, you really cannot say that somebody's impression given by their personal life only, is not from reality, because somebody's personal life and experience is the reality, it is their reality (of course, in extreme cases, one's reality might be shattered, and it turns out all that they perceived as truth were lies, but i am not talking about such scenarios here). You could say, that someone should look beyond their personal experience and try to see things from a different point of view, or take into account specific circumstances not considered before, or new to them etc. But that is exactly what trying to stop seeing everything in black n' white only, and looking for nuance looks like - which is the opposite of what these propaganda-ish plots in these period dramas are trying to achieve.
Additionally, radical socialism, radical communism generally do not work out for you, for anyone. They have some nice ideas on paper, i guess, but it doesn't work out in reality (and every extreme, radical politics usually turn problematic - that's why making decisions cannot be that easy after all, and life is difficult), it didn't work out for The Soviet Union, and it didn't work out for China either. But these period dramas tend to do these little advertisements of such ideologies, as they're relevant at the time (however sometimes, instead of a simple portrayal is it, as I said, an advertisement). And someone from a country behind The Iron Curtain, who would have been taught about, maybe experienced these harmful politics and manipulation first hand, would be much more sensitive about it (and it is understandable and justifiable). [On the other hand, someone disillusioned by western governments (USA etc.) may give into the idea without caution or sense, which also can be explained by their circumstances.]
Sorry, this comment came out extremely long. I hope it is cohesive enough to be easily comprehensive, but i was also just kind of typing out whatever came to my mind so... I'm not sure haha.
Hey! It’s not irrational– or at least it’s okay that it is, because it’s about taste and we’re allowed to like and dislike things without much reason (of course in many cases it is much much better to have a reason, or at least be able to think and talk about it and try to find some — which you very much did, very well — but especially when it comes to things like aesthetic, just vibes is completely enough to justify dislike).
Thank you, for replying to my question so generously, and I am honored that I might have provoked your thoughts on this or you to put them into words.
As someone, who’s also from a country that used to be behind the Iron Curtain, I completely understand. I haven’t actually experienced any of it first hand, but my close family has (and obviously, I’ve had history at school etc.), so the obvious propaganda and non-nuanced political alignments/plots often sting me as well. (Especially recently, in combination with this kind of glorification of these type of politics rising in the west (USA mainly) because their government is on a fast track to “the other end of the spectrum” — not literally I think, like, it’s not like that from a professional point of view (those contrasting political etc. systems aren’t polar opposites) but I hope you know what I mean.) It depends on my mood, and life circumstances but I totally get the overall, strong repulsion to some of these dramas, I felt it too (probably not as hard as you though, since I can only relate to secondary experience etc. as I said, so I do watch some of them) — and it is honestly just tiring at times, to come across the ever-repeating themes of political indoctrination.
That’s why I avoid the Republican Era dramas focusing heavily on politics (and the truly pure propaganda dramas/movies — every couple of years they make historical dramas or movies, taking on events from the 1920-1960 period, that are purely glorification propaganda, and put a bunch of popular actors in them, especially ones that got popular globally or did bromance dramas recently etc, in supporting roles).
I did have to make an exception for the 2023 movie “Hidden Blade” though, because it’s just so beautifully and interestingly made. I watched it for Wang Yibo, and it’s honestly a really great movie. It’s just it’s propaganda heavy at few moments, but I digested it and it’s actually one of my favorite movies that I got from this site. (I do have to say that, watching some propaganda-heavier pieces, as long as you recognize and don’t fall for it, is an interesting experience in the “getting to know both sides of a situation” kind of sense. Also if you’re interested in recent history, which I am. But one has to be careful and be prepared to have negative experience regarding propaganda-charged parts of these dramas/movies).
But I do like historical dramas in general, and I absolutely love the vintage, 20s aesthetic (Well, I’m not the biggest fan of this Era in Europe etc. but I do like it– what I am a big fan of though, is the blending and transition of traditional looks to western-inspired styles in Asian and African countries in the 19th-20th century. I know there are some negative connotations to that, like Colonialism etc. but I just think it’s interesting to observe, especially presented in media.), the costumes and hairstyles, even just the architecture (and the blend of traditional Chinese patters or ornaments with wester style, furniture etc. that you get from that era!) so I cannot not watch Republican Era dramas.
Fortunately, there are a lot of Romance-driven dramas that only have political side-plots, or merely the political/political-adjacent settings, so it doesn’t worry me that much. I might just not be that sensitive to it though.
[Side Note 1: Some Republican Era dramas that are kind of about politics, are focused more on the current government at the time, and maybe they do not praise it but it’s not feeling heavily set up for contrast with “how good” the next era is. For example, like in “My Roommate is a Detective” I think.]
I think it is quite helpful, not to expect there to not be any propaganda involved. I just prepare myself to ignore it LOL. And a good counter-measure is to go read about the events that maybe are mentioned in the drama, from a more accurate and unbiased source (while or after watching), that’s what I always do — but I like history, so I understand if someone isn’t that interested in it, it might just be a waste of time and every to go looking it all up, though I suppose it’s worth to know about the major things that happened.
[Side Note 2: there was also quite strong French influence then, there was a “French district” in Shanghai for example]
Ah! Yes, the lack of hopeful future… I completely get that. I actually don’t dislike sad endings etc. but the truth is, they often devastate me enough to have a longer impact on my mood and life (like productivity, will to live etc.) so I try not to watch things with sad endings etc. too often haha. Unfortunately I love stuff about war (in the 20th century especially), like it always makes me cry, and war is such a horrible, terrible, horrifying thing, but, it’s also very interesting usually. (And I simply put, like the decades from 20s to 90s, and they just happened to feature quite a lot of war(s) and conflicts in the areas of my interest (but generally globally too)). So at the end, I don’t really care all that much whether they end up happily or not. I think maybe because of the time period, those dramas come with the kind of expectation that even the HE wouldn’t be that happy, so it’s kind of okay…
It’s totally valid though (not that you need my acceptance or whatever, I just want to point out that I understand and, share some parts of the feeling) not to like, and not to want to watch a sad ending.
(Thank you again for your reply, I had a good time reading it, and I am happy that I came across someone who took time to think about their answer, and write it all out so well. I also hope my reply to you came out okay, sorry that it is so long… anyway, have a good day!)
What exactly is the controversy? What parts of the movie or facts presented in it are not aligning with facts and history? What annoys me about posts and articles like these, is how vague they always are. “Controversy” “false depiction” okay, but what exactly? What exactly was depicted as “B” but in reality was “A”, what differences are there?
I'm still wondering why don't they just make a new character? At least it would somewhat limit the comparison…
That would be bad for the storyline/storytelling though. Better we all suspend out disbelief (as the audience) a little, and pretend the character was always looking like this new actress (or just acknowledge the “unexplained” change and move on idk), than them inventing new characters and changing the story that is supposed to be based on a webtoon. Though I get your point of view too.
I’m sad that the actress went away, but regardless, I’m glad they’re not cutting the character out but recasting her, the story wouldn’t suffer from it. Of course, it’ll be noticeable but this is a case when there’s need for a collective suspension of disbelief from the audience (like, we’re all just going to pretend that the character didn’t change appearance lol) for the sake of the drama and the flow of the story — because it’s based on a webtoon, so there is some framework to how it will go, and it’s not an original script. I don’t get how some people might not see how this is better than inventing another character…
K-Drama 
1 
This drama seems interesting!
Why is a mention (or allusion to, like them getting off at that specific bus stop) of a situation that really happened, and is significant to ROK’s history, inherently bad and controversial?
There might be something, that I am not understanding because of lack of information in this article or lack of cultural context, in the portrayal of that survivor (with a gunshot wound in the head) that might be inaccurate, or improper or forcing a specific view on the situation.
But all the other examples related to that day, to that uprising, brought up in this article, seem relatively harmless. It is just a mention, I don’t understand… would korean netizens rather have this event not be mentioned in more casual settings at all? Swept under the rug? Isn’t it rather important to remember, especially when there are people alive today, not that old, who remember those days, or were participants?
Another more recent role of his, that was very distinct from his previous ones, was his character in Decibel, and he did a very good job there. However that role was a supporting role, no matter how important to the plot, he had little screen time, so it’s while it was a good change to showcase his growing skill, it wasn’t a “big platform” to do it.
I hope in this new drama, his character might be more unique than his previous romance characters, maybe not relaying so much on his handsomeness as a character trait…
Also, please remember that China has a pretty heavy censorship when it comes to media, and that every script and drama must pass it, before being released and that sometimes, entire episodes are cut out of dramas.
Schindler's List is a movie exploring the themes of good en evil, and in hist-political context, could be called anti-n*zi and anti-genocide. As for it's relevance today, it is historically relevant, it does not exactly relate to the present day, but it's themes and message sure do (Ironically so, considering what is happening, the genocide in Palestine).
You cannot really say that "without those martyrs China would have not been the powerful and independent country it is now" because we cannot say exactly how China would have been without them, you can only speculate [i.e. We can theorize that if history went different, a different guy won a war here, a different guy became or stayed a leader there, some other guys did or did not have a conflict (depending on how it happened in real history), then China's development would have gone this-or-that way, this-or-that political situation would most likely be the consequence of it, and then depending on which choice this-or-that potential politician makes (assuming that some of those people who existed and were involved in real life also do in this potential alternative scenario), and so on. These situations would have shaped how that alternative China would have looked today - which might be very different, or not so different after all.]. Without those people, there would have been different people, and so they'd have shaped different history.
So, yes, without those people China would not have been the country it is now, but it might have been as powerful and independent, or maybe it'd somehow have been very similar to how it is now, or it'd have been similar but powerless etc. You cannot say for sure, some of those guesses definitely would be more probable and better explained than the others though.
The Republican Era in China (and the interwoven Japanese Occupation Era and WWII as well) is very interesting, and shows many things about the country's culture and political/social climate at the time, and many important things as well (like the war crimes of the Japanese, which tend to be partially erased otherwise), however in most (if not all dramas/movies - excluding those obvious pieces made just for glorification , which i mentioned in my comment above (not that China is particularly unique in this, many countries do it, to a bigger or lesser extent, also not that it's all inherently bad)) dramas there are moments, when clearly but subtly nuance is being stripped and situations are shown very black n' white, which suggest what the show wants the viewer to think and take away from it - and people who do not posses enough sensitivity to such matters, media literacy and/or historical and political knowledge, will far for it, and not even attempt to form their own opinion or ignore the obvious bias. Not ignoring the obvious bias doesn't mean that you have to immediately do a 180° on your opinion (about politics and/or history), no- noticing, acknowledging and being mindful to try and be aware of it in future instances (and not being scared to point it out, essentially, "owning up to it") is enough - and not everybody is capable to do that, but it is worth to try and enable oneself to do it.
[You mention dramas being linked to real people and situations in context, as means to disprove that, meanwhile it is exactly the opposite: being relatable to real life events, is part of the mechanism (by the means of how it relates, which you can easily observe by watching a couple of those dramas).]
It is in fact not "simply showing "this is what happened and what we lived in order to create modern China", that's all" but it is simply showing "this is what happened and what we lived in order to create modern China, and also here are two sides: this one is good - this is us, the other side is bad, and that's how we want you to think, haha no need looking for nuance here".
Which again, isn't all that uncommon of a phenomenon in media, in the grand scheme of things (The World).
It is not all bad, definitely not. China is extremely rich in tradition, history and culture and the 20s and 30s specifically were full of western influences and interesting blending of customs etc. (see Shanghai for example), and that is worth acknowledging, exploring and sharing through media like dramas and movies, even if it just concerns a background setting.
Mowing on, you really cannot say that somebody's impression given by their personal life only, is not from reality, because somebody's personal life and experience is the reality, it is their reality (of course, in extreme cases, one's reality might be shattered, and it turns out all that they perceived as truth were lies, but i am not talking about such scenarios here). You could say, that someone should look beyond their personal experience and try to see things from a different point of view, or take into account specific circumstances not considered before, or new to them etc. But that is exactly what trying to stop seeing everything in black n' white only, and looking for nuance looks like - which is the opposite of what these propaganda-ish plots in these period dramas are trying to achieve.
Additionally, radical socialism, radical communism generally do not work out for you, for anyone. They have some nice ideas on paper, i guess, but it doesn't work out in reality (and every extreme, radical politics usually turn problematic - that's why making decisions cannot be that easy after all, and life is difficult), it didn't work out for The Soviet Union, and it didn't work out for China either. But these period dramas tend to do these little advertisements of such ideologies, as they're relevant at the time (however sometimes, instead of a simple portrayal is it, as I said, an advertisement). And someone from a country behind The Iron Curtain, who would have been taught about, maybe experienced these harmful politics and manipulation first hand, would be much more sensitive about it (and it is understandable and justifiable).
[On the other hand, someone disillusioned by western governments (USA etc.) may give into the idea without caution or sense, which also can be explained by their circumstances.]
Sorry, this comment came out extremely long. I hope it is cohesive enough to be easily comprehensive, but i was also just kind of typing out whatever came to my mind so... I'm not sure haha.
Thank you, for replying to my question so generously, and I am honored that I might have provoked your thoughts on this or you to put them into words.
As someone, who’s also from a country that used to be behind the Iron Curtain, I completely understand. I haven’t actually experienced any of it first hand, but my close family has (and obviously, I’ve had history at school etc.), so the obvious propaganda and non-nuanced political alignments/plots often sting me as well. (Especially recently, in combination with this kind of glorification of these type of politics rising in the west (USA mainly) because their government is on a fast track to “the other end of the spectrum” — not literally I think, like, it’s not like that from a professional point of view (those contrasting political etc. systems aren’t polar opposites) but I hope you know what I mean.)
It depends on my mood, and life circumstances but I totally get the overall, strong repulsion to some of these dramas, I felt it too (probably not as hard as you though, since I can only relate to secondary experience etc. as I said, so I do watch some of them) — and it is honestly just tiring at times, to come across the ever-repeating themes of political indoctrination.
That’s why I avoid the Republican Era dramas focusing heavily on politics (and the truly pure propaganda dramas/movies — every couple of years they make historical dramas or movies, taking on events from the 1920-1960 period, that are purely glorification propaganda, and put a bunch of popular actors in them, especially ones that got popular globally or did bromance dramas recently etc, in supporting roles).
I did have to make an exception for the 2023 movie “Hidden Blade” though, because it’s just so beautifully and interestingly made. I watched it for Wang Yibo, and it’s honestly a really great movie. It’s just it’s propaganda heavy at few moments, but I digested it and it’s actually one of my favorite movies that I got from this site.
(I do have to say that, watching some propaganda-heavier pieces, as long as you recognize and don’t fall for it, is an interesting experience in the “getting to know both sides of a situation” kind of sense. Also if you’re interested in recent history, which I am. But one has to be careful and be prepared to have negative experience regarding propaganda-charged parts of these dramas/movies).
But I do like historical dramas in general, and I absolutely love the vintage, 20s aesthetic (Well, I’m not the biggest fan of this Era in Europe etc. but I do like it– what I am a big fan of though, is the blending and transition of traditional looks to western-inspired styles in Asian and African countries in the 19th-20th century. I know there are some negative connotations to that, like Colonialism etc. but I just think it’s interesting to observe, especially presented in media.), the costumes and hairstyles, even just the architecture (and the blend of traditional Chinese patters or ornaments with wester style, furniture etc. that you get from that era!) so I cannot not watch Republican Era dramas.
Fortunately, there are a lot of Romance-driven dramas that only have political side-plots, or merely the political/political-adjacent settings, so it doesn’t worry me that much. I might just not be that sensitive to it though.
[Side Note 1: Some Republican Era dramas that are kind of about politics, are focused more on the current government at the time, and maybe they do not praise it but it’s not feeling heavily set up for contrast with “how good” the next era is. For example, like in “My Roommate is a Detective” I think.]
I think it is quite helpful, not to expect there to not be any propaganda involved.
I just prepare myself to ignore it LOL.
And a good counter-measure is to go read about the events that maybe are mentioned in the drama, from a more accurate and unbiased source (while or after watching), that’s what I always do — but I like history, so I understand if someone isn’t that interested in it, it might just be a waste of time and every to go looking it all up, though I suppose it’s worth to know about the major things that happened.
[Side Note 2: there was also quite strong French influence then, there was a “French district” in Shanghai for example]
Ah! Yes, the lack of hopeful future… I completely get that. I actually don’t dislike sad endings etc. but the truth is, they often devastate me enough to have a longer impact on my mood and life (like productivity, will to live etc.) so I try not to watch things with sad endings etc. too often haha.
Unfortunately I love stuff about war (in the 20th century especially), like it always makes me cry, and war is such a horrible, terrible, horrifying thing, but, it’s also very interesting usually. (And I simply put, like the decades from 20s to 90s, and they just happened to feature quite a lot of war(s) and conflicts in the areas of my interest (but generally globally too)). So at the end, I don’t really care all that much whether they end up happily or not. I think maybe because of the time period, those dramas come with the kind of expectation that even the HE wouldn’t be that happy, so it’s kind of okay…
It’s totally valid though (not that you need my acceptance or whatever, I just want to point out that I understand and, share some parts of the feeling) not to like, and not to want to watch a sad ending.
(Thank you again for your reply, I had a good time reading it, and I am happy that I came across someone who took time to think about their answer, and write it all out so well.
I also hope my reply to you came out okay, sorry that it is so long… anyway, have a good day!)
What annoys me about posts and articles like these, is how vague they always are. “Controversy” “false depiction” okay, but what exactly? What exactly was depicted as “B” but in reality was “A”, what differences are there?
Of course, it’ll be noticeable but this is a case when there’s need for a collective suspension of disbelief from the audience (like, we’re all just going to pretend that the character didn’t change appearance lol) for the sake of the drama and the flow of the story — because it’s based on a webtoon, so there is some framework to how it will go, and it’s not an original script.
I don’t get how some people might not see how this is better than inventing another character…