O-Ring

It is actually the perfect time slot. The other time slots are too early and will definitely lead to complaints... I mean, stabbing, biting ears, torturing... The only time slot I could see this work is to put it on a Friday-Saturday at JTBC that was previously occupied by Sky Castle and The World of The Married... But then they need to move channels...

The drama was not a masterpiece, but it was enjoyable - even after it was severely edited due to all the criticism. Also, kudos to the actors. I found them to be pretty decent as you said.

I think those comments about the disappointment in JCW and KYJ in picking such a low quality-drama are a bit pretentious. These are also the type of people that pretend that they dislike unhealthy food such as McDonald's, because they have such a refined taste and only eat Kobe beef prepared by 3-starred Michelin chef. I agree with the top review of this drama - "When it's so bad, that it's good...". It is like a guilty pleasure and those are most of the time the funnest.

That is what kdramas exactly are. Do you really believe that a rich guy with a Phd in Physics and handsome looks will fall for the clumsy, poor girl with no impressive credentials?

The mental gymnastics... There is a saying: "Fool me once, shame on you... Fool me twice, shame on me" Sure, you can make one mistake. But for her it becomes almost a pattern... If you really believe she is totally innocent and pure, then you are a fool.

Also, it is almost contradictory. Mamamoo supports the BLM-movement, but does not understand the gravity of blackface and the n-word. So they support a cause that they hardly understand? - Dangerous shit.

Using your argument, you can also say that Backstreet Rookie did a "Hwasa". They were ignorant, clueless and not well-informed. This argument does not fly for me though.

By the fucking way, do not be so overly theatrical with your "especially in this political climate where people can get killed just for the color of their skin". Yes, there are incidents of hate crimes or murders, but this has nothing to do with a shit-character from Backstreet Rookie. There is a difference between the effect of "cultural appropriation" and "hate speech". BR might have ill-portrayed the Rastas, but it did not contribute to hatred against black people such as Hitler did with the Jews...

I have attended international primary school in Hong Kong, so I know how the country is. But adding another official language does not mean jack shit. Until 1974, English was the sole official language... Hong Kong did not loose its identity then... In fact, the majority of HK people speak broken English - both under British rule and now. So Cantonese will always remain the number 1 spoken language. Also the language of instruction at Hong Kong universities is still English. Yes, Mandarin made its inroads, but only to serve the Mainland customers. Mind you, this is business that HK should not normally not get... Shanghai would be much better to cater to Mainland clients... So HK gets free business from China that they do not "deserve" (if you get what I mean). Complaining that you need Mandarin to serve Chinese clients is ridiculous.

Yes, Hong Kong has the highest real estate price relative to income, but this is not only caused by Mainland China. First of all, the Hong Kong-native real estate tycoons are the major owners of the ground in Hong Kong. See here: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Hong-Kong-protests/Payback-China-presses-Hong-Kong-magnates-to-share-the-wealth. Second of all, it is the impulsiveness of the HK-people that caused this. After 1997, all the HK people dumped their real estate as a lack of faith in China. All these HK real estate tycoons opportunistically jumped into this market and acquired all the housing for bottom prices. If these HK people had more patience, more faith in China and decided to sit on their real estate, they would essentially all be millionaires. Just like the people in Vancouver and London became millionaires overnight when the Chinese, Arabs and Russians entered the market. So there is more to this story... Partly their bleak situation is self-inflicted. And the free economy is also unforgiving (if you find America capitalist, then HK is the steroids version of US capitalism). BTW, HK is a shit place anyways... It is also a hotbed of all kinds of triads that used to launder their money in HK cinema and TV. At least, we know the origins of the money in Chinese cinema and TV (the Chinese government or companies with ties to the Chinese government haha)...

Yes, that is what makes BR and wearing traditional clothing a grey area. It is not tastefully done, but compared to using the n-word, blackface and calling yourself the African unnie, it is child's play.

I live in Central-London. The Arabs and the Russians also drive up the prices of our buildings with their oil money. I have never seen Londoners aggressively protesting against Arabs and Russians, because at the end of the day it is capitalism. However, Hong Kong... Which supposedly has the free-est economy in the word, wants to use socialist measures to lower the rent. Remember, government intervention is the only thing to lower the rent/kick out the rich people... But guess what... who are they beefing with? - the same government they hate.

When under British rule, every Governor of Hong Kong has been "white", whilst the Governor of Canada in comparison has been all kinds of color. But all the important positions in HK were occupied by white people. It does not really matter, because the UK did indeed respect human rights much better than China. However, people are nostalgic and sometimes remember Hong Kong as more bright in the past... The Hong Kongers think that the British were good to them, but in reality that was not their goal. The British were good to themselves in the first place and as added benefit that meant that Hong Kong could thrive. Having said that, the current UK plans to offer HK people citizenship is funny. It is only offered to anyone who had the British National Overseas-status prior to 1997. But that is super-ignorant, because the BNO-status "recognized the special and enduring ties the UK has with those people as a result of [the UK's] role in Hong Kong before 1997". I.e. they were given to the important and rich people... Of course, the British want them... the vultures... They will not provide UK citizenship to the "poor and unemployed" protesters... The British look like heroes to the world and their "stance" against China gives them good PR, but in reality they are opportunistic as f--k...

Regarding the source material of Mulan... Please do your research.... The source material of Mulan is a folkore from the 6th century (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hua_Mulan). It got absolutely butchered in 1998 by Disney to make it more commercial...

It might be too harsh to Korea to call them a "white man's dog", but it certainly is not to call Hong Kong that. The British used to have signs in Shanghai with "No Dogs and Chinese Allowed". Prince Philip once made the joke “If it has got four legs and it is not a chair, if it has got two wings and it flies but is not an aeroplane, and if it swims and it is not a submarine, the Cantonese will eat it.” Many Hong Kong people are Chinese and from Cantonese origin. Also, are you familiar with the term "FILTH" (Failed In London, Try Hong Kong)?

If the people in Hong Kong know how the British have perceived the Chinese/Cantonese historically, then they should realize that GB does not think highly of them.

For a long time, I was actually pro-Hong Kong and anti-China, but it has gradually changed. I seriously think that Hong Kong has a destabilizing and destructive effect. It might have started out as a protest to protect their rights, but it has shifted. The people that are protesting are protesting against the bleak employment prospects and the high rents, which is caused by the influx of rich Chinese people. It is actually a form of racism against mainlanders. A bit like the natives in Vancouver, San Francisco or Toronto feel about the real estate hunger of the mainlanders. The difference is that they keep it mostly civil, whilst Hong Kong does not. Anyways, I digress...

Do you know why Mulan is different than Hero etc.? It is because this will be the first movie where an Asian woman will be the main lead and the hero. The representation of Asians is fairly consistent in Hollywood - docile females or small, unattractive kung-fu guys.

When I said that Korea and Hong Kong were looking for an identity, I was using an euphemism. I hope you got on to it, but I think you did not. I was actually saying that they have no backbone and are the white man's dog. For example, Parasite was genuinely a good movie, but when it won the Oscar for best movie many people in the West were like: Da Fuk? Even Trump was ridiculing the movie and the Koreans. Sure, you can say that Trump is a moron and should not be taken serious. But he is still the commander-in-chief and to hear such an important person belittling a movie and its nation is quite humiliating.

Regarding HK. The country is so eager to distance themselves from China, but what they do not realize is that (outside of the UK) no-one is going to acknowledge them. Instead of helping HK, the US immediately put HK on the blacklist together with China. The EU is also not tapping China on its fingers... Even the enemies of China such as Japan or Taiwan are not helping HK. Japan, for example, is even trying to put the last nail on HK's coffin by luring the big companies to Tokyo.

Look it is a tough debate, because it involves democratic rights. But you also have to admit that HK - since it was handed over in 1997 - has continuously tried to find ways to get rid of China. Even when there was a real "one country, two systems". I believe that they should have been more like Singapore, buttering up to the one that can provide you with the most benefits. Sometimes that is the West, other times it is China...

Regarding the rest of your message, money talks. So yes, the Oscars can be replaced. Look at European football, there are clubs such as Chelsea, Manchester City or Paris St. Germain that are more prestigious than Nottingham Forest, whilst the latter won more European Cups. Why? - Because of money. Or if you use dramas... There was a time that HK-dramas were all the rage, but nowadays C-, K-, J- and TW-dramas are all "more prestigious".

So do I think that Chinese cinema will become the world standard? - I don't know. I think it will be difficult, because of these stupid infights. Look at a blockbuster such as Mulan. Normally this movie would be the big breakthrough of Asian representation in Hollywood. Perhaps win a few Oscars to send out a message (you know how politically correct the Oscars are). However, thanks to HK, this movie will never win any big prize (because Liu Yifei defended HK police and you cannot let a controversial pick win the Oscar). Hence, Liu Yifei will not become the new it-girl...

Sometimes I hate Asia... If you go to Asia. Korea hates Japan, Japan hates Korea, China hates Japan, Japan hates China, Korea hates China, China hates Korea etc. etc. However, if you go to the US or Europe, Kim is hanging out with Wong and Minamo. Why? - Because they share one thing... They are immigrants. Also, almost everyone in the US and UK have difficulties distinguishing between the different types of Asians. To them, it is all the same. They all think that Asians can do martial arts, are good in math , have slanted eyes and a tiny ding-dong

Hence, I used the word "cultural appropriation" instead of "racism". I mean I am only the messenger, not the judge. I do not know whether the criticism was justified or not. But it is weird to hear a Hwasa-fan shout "racism" when she has quite a lot of scandals disrespecting black people... But I guess she is allowed to, because apparently she is black (fyi, Hwasa referred to herself the "African Unnie" in the past... another questionable act...)

I dislike Lee Min-ho... Whenever I see his face I want to vomit... But to say that recognition in Hollywood provides legitimacy is bullshit. Chow Yun-fat might be less known than Jackie Chan internationally, but he is the number 1 actor in Asia. So the question is... Do you want to be recognized everywhere, but not necessarily seen as the number 1 anywhere or do you want to be seen as the number 1 in a few big countries?

Lee Min-ho is one of the biggest stars in Asia. He will be recognized by billions of people from China, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines etc... Does it really matter that he is not recognized in Europe or the US? If you worship Western culture and see them as the pinnacle of good taste, then yes... If you care only about the sheer amount of people knowing him and idolizing him, then no...

I chuckle whenever people underestimate a country such as Japan or China in sheer financial power. They have so many citizens that they can pay Hollywood-money. You see it more nowadays. The Chinese movie "The Bombing" had Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson (as art director) and Adrien Brody... But also people such as Song Seung-heon. Or what about singers... Why did Jessie J went to the Chinese version of idols... I mean, she closed the London Olympics with Queen in 2012... In football and basketball, you can even see this pattern... The stars in the Chinese leagues are sometimes paid more than the NBA or the top football clubs in Europe. LMH is one of the biggest stars in China... And based on that, he already proved his relevancy. That is just a fact, whether you like it or not...

I must admit that a lot of Asians have a certain self-hate. They worship white people as if they are gods, so that is perhaps why a lot of popular Korean actors make the move to Hollywood or are so happy with the Netflix-ratings... It is not necessarily out of financial reasons, because - as said - China can pay as much or even more... Japan does not have this self-pity. And mainland China is also getting more proud of their heritage. Places such as Korea and Hong Kong... Still looking for their own identity, I guess...

Thanks for the analysis though...

Meanwhile has an avatar of Hwasa that used the n-word in her Beyoncé cover, wore blackface to parody Uptown Funk and got herself in a cultural appropriation scandal a few weeks ago for wearing Nigerian traditional clothing... Yeah... I agree racist shows are the worst... Bollocks... hypocrite...

I do not want to start a fanwar, but the only real hit from KSH was Emperor, but it pales in contrast to Love in The Moonlight... Tale of Nokdu... Well, a shit drama such as Backstreet Rookie had higher ratings?

Easy... He was kidnapped and the reason for his kidnap is because he is the husband of Ji-won - the detective heading the case. The taxi driver wanted to use BHS as a warning. To be fair, it will sound believable as well

I know that the remake will be produced by BH Entertainment (the agency founded by Lee Byung-hun), but surely not the full roster of the agency is going to act in this drama, right? I highly doubt that Yoo Ji-tae, Han Hyo-joo, Han Ji-min and Kim Go-eun all will be in this drama. Would be cool though... If we are at it, why not add also the other stars from BH: Lee Byung-hun, Han Ga-in, Lee Hee-jun, Park Hae-soo, Park Bo-young, Go Soo, Lee Jin-wook and Jin Goo. Haha

For the preview of episode 16 on iQiyi, there was a scene where SB arrived at the head office in a big limo and became the boss of GS25. She was also dating DH, who was also an executive. She then woke up from her dream. But it did not appear in the finale at all. They cut the scene... So I think the show has been heavily edited.

She works in the garden center, because she wanted to become a florist before she met JCW, right?

Can you please help me remind what drama Kim So Hyun has been leading that has been some sort of hit? No offense, but KSH is not the best in choosing roles... Yes, she has no real controversies, but at this point she is more feeding on her success of Moon Embracing The Sun... I wish she could be more bold in her choices... She has only been in those dramas with idols...

Yes, I was referring to that scene. I thought it was the dad too, but it could also be the victims list with pictures. However, I checked the Korean Wikipedia and he was listed as his dad. Also, episode 4 made it pretty much clear that he is indeed the dad...

Nah, my theory is wrong. According to the Korean Wikipedia, Choi Byung-mo is playing his dad. It is strange that the police have a picture of the dad, but not one of his son though...