i thought i would share a unique perspective. my wife is a korean drama addict. she watches 12 to 15 hours a week of everything from drama, to running man, to you name it. we both live in the the Central United States, and my wife Donna knows no one who even watches korean shows besides herself. this started about 3 years ago.
over the past 3 years, i watched, i think 6 or 7 "dramas". i must say that i find them really fun. now don't quote me on this because it's late, and i will probably screw up the names of the shows, but they were, in order:
1: My Girl? it was an older one 2: Three different dramas with the names of years like "1988" each drama had the same two people as the parents of the main character. 3: The Producers? people working at a tv station 4: You are all surrounded, or something like that. it was a police drama.
that was the last one i watched for a long time. feeling under the weather this past week, i noticed my wife was talking about this "Judge" drama.
(mind you, i hear stuff all the time about crazy shows about dramas about "the voice?" or some "witch" drama that she said had more twists than a pretzel.) but i like legal stuff, so the other night, i started to watch this Judge vs Judge show from the beginning.
Donna was up to episode 26......so tonight was the first night, we actually watched the latest 2 episodes together.
i decided to come to this forum, just to get some information about how these Korean dramas are made, who the actors are, etc. i am not going to speak about "spoilers", but i want to offer some sincere friendly advice to all you drama fans out there. believe me, this comes from someone who has been so blessed to see my wife get so much pleasure from these shows. it is an escape for her. if she is going through depression, it's a way to imagine a wonderful world. a fantasy where you can take a couple hours after a hard days work, and go live in another country. (i even take her to the only authentic Korean restaurant in our area 6 times a year, and it is an hour from our house......just so she can "make believe" she is in Korea eating food which is so foreign to us Americans.) she is my life.
however.......the only reason i watched that very first drama, was because i had a back injury and was FORCED. before that, i would have rather watched paint dry, because i thought i would hate some show with subtitles in a foreign land. instead, i actually enjoy them, and would watch MORE of them if i had the time.
ok........here goes: with all due respect..........i just don't understand what i read on these kind of forums. for every one comment that will say at least ONE good thing about a show.....it seems people do nothing but gripe and complain and hate on just about everything.
reading the posts on this thread made me think: are these people even WATCHING the same show i have been watching? i am stunned with how they are able to produce such high quality programs with the tiny budgets they have to work with. the actors work outrageous hours......the churn this stuff out week after week, and yet they manage, most of the time, to produce an 18 to 20 hour drama 50 times as quickly as they do here in America.
yes.......it's obvious they don't have the money for big sets and sometimes you can tell that they have to put in a bit of filler stuff to keep the schedule going. and yes, sometimes the acting is over the top.
in America, an hour show costs two to three MILLION dollars to produce, and you get, if you are lucky, 20 episodes a YEAR. they can do 20 retakes if they want. i stop watching American dramas years ago. it is TOO polished.
Korean dramas, on the other hand........in my opinion...........are magical in a way. it's like a group of people get an idea.......they cast it........they GO FOR IT.......warts and all. and along the way......there are twists behind every corner......sweet, innocent romance......civility......respect for elders........everything i wish America COULD be.
of COURSE it's a fantasy world. don't you watch them because they give you a break from real life and a way to escape from a cold, uncaring world?
but if you guys and gals want to get more people like me to even "consider" committing 18-22 hours of my life to a subtitled foreign drama......and in the process having to get familiar with a totally different culture.........i humbly, sincerely, and with all my heart offer you this advice, because it's how my wife got me.........a stubborn husband, to begin to love laying in bed with my wife and watching something totally alien to me:
1. if you are going to gripe and complain about some petty thing at irritates you about a drama........make sure you say at least FIVE good things about it.
2. on these forums......cultivate a spirit of understanding that these actors work under unbelievable pressure, and probably don't have the luxury of saying: "oh, let's redo that scene again".
3. if someone like me went to a forum like this BEFORE telling my wife i would watch a drama with her, i would have said FORGET IT! some of the comments on these forums about the actors are so mean spirited and hurtful that i don't know why anyone in their right mind would choose to be an actor in South Korea.
4. remember the reason you watch these dramas. it isn't to nitpick every little detail, is it? you watch these dramas because they bring you some kind of joy and happiness. focus on that. share that with people you are trying to "get into Korean Drama". remind yourself that those actors bring you an escape, even if only for a few hours a week.
5. finally, i know there ARE times when you have honest criticism, and i in no way would ever try and tell someone to censor how they feel. but save your criticism for stuff that really is legit. i wish more husbands could lay in bed with their wives and enjoy the fun of watching these shows. you can make that happen.
again, i do not say this to judge anyone. i admire how much you all enjoy these shows. please remember, though..............words affect more people than you think. you may be turning thousands of people like me away from ever thinking about watching anything from Korea.
over the past 3 years, i watched, i think 6 or 7 "dramas". i must say that i find them really fun. now don't quote me on this because it's late, and i will probably screw up the names of the shows, but they were, in order:
1: My Girl? it was an older one
2: Three different dramas with the names of years like "1988" each drama had the same two people as the parents of the main character.
3: The Producers? people working at a tv station
4: You are all surrounded, or something like that. it was a police drama.
that was the last one i watched for a long time. feeling under the weather this past week, i noticed my wife was talking about this "Judge" drama.
(mind you, i hear stuff all the time about crazy shows about dramas about "the voice?" or some "witch" drama that she said had more twists than a pretzel.) but i like legal stuff, so the other night, i started to watch this Judge vs Judge show from the beginning.
Donna was up to episode 26......so tonight was the first night, we actually watched the latest 2 episodes together.
i decided to come to this forum, just to get some information about how these Korean dramas are made, who the actors are, etc. i am not going to speak about "spoilers", but i want to offer some sincere friendly advice to all you drama fans out there. believe me, this comes from someone who has been so blessed to see my wife get so much pleasure from these shows. it is an escape for her. if she is going through depression, it's a way to imagine a wonderful world. a fantasy where you can take a couple hours after a hard days work, and go live in another country. (i even take her to the only authentic Korean restaurant in our area 6 times a year, and it is an hour from our house......just so she can "make believe" she is in Korea eating food which is so foreign to us Americans.) she is my life.
however.......the only reason i watched that very first drama, was because i had a back injury and was FORCED. before that, i would have rather watched paint dry, because i thought i would hate some show with subtitles in a foreign land. instead, i actually enjoy them, and would watch MORE of them if i had the time.
ok........here goes: with all due respect..........i just don't understand what i read on these kind of forums. for every one comment that will say at least ONE good thing about a show.....it seems people do nothing but gripe and complain and hate on just about everything.
reading the posts on this thread made me think: are these people even WATCHING the same show i have been watching? i am stunned with how they are able to produce such high quality programs with the tiny budgets they have to work with. the actors work outrageous hours......the churn this stuff out week after week, and yet they manage, most of the time, to produce an 18 to 20 hour drama 50 times as quickly as they do here in America.
yes.......it's obvious they don't have the money for big sets and sometimes you can tell that they have to put in a bit of filler stuff to keep the schedule going. and yes, sometimes the acting is over the top.
in America, an hour show costs two to three MILLION dollars to produce, and you get, if you are lucky, 20 episodes a YEAR. they can do 20 retakes if they want. i stop watching American dramas years ago. it is TOO polished.
Korean dramas, on the other hand........in my opinion...........are magical in a way. it's like a group of people get an idea.......they cast it........they GO FOR IT.......warts and all. and along the way......there are twists behind every corner......sweet, innocent romance......civility......respect for elders........everything i wish America COULD be.
of COURSE it's a fantasy world. don't you watch them because they give you a break from real life and a way to escape from a cold, uncaring world?
but if you guys and gals want to get more people like me to even "consider" committing 18-22 hours of my life to a subtitled foreign drama......and in the process having to get familiar with a totally different culture.........i humbly, sincerely, and with all my heart offer you this advice, because it's how my wife got me.........a stubborn husband, to begin to love laying in bed with my wife and watching something totally alien to me:
1. if you are going to gripe and complain about some petty thing at irritates you about a drama........make sure you say at least FIVE good things about it.
2. on these forums......cultivate a spirit of understanding that these actors work under unbelievable pressure, and probably don't have the luxury of saying: "oh, let's redo that scene again".
3. if someone like me went to a forum like this BEFORE telling my wife i would watch a drama with her, i would have said FORGET IT! some of the comments on these forums about the actors are so mean spirited and hurtful that i don't know why anyone in their right mind would choose to be an actor in South Korea.
4. remember the reason you watch these dramas. it isn't to nitpick every little detail, is it? you watch these dramas because they bring you some kind of joy and happiness. focus on that. share that with people you are trying to "get into Korean Drama". remind yourself that those actors bring you an escape, even if only for a few hours a week.
5. finally, i know there ARE times when you have honest criticism, and i in no way would ever try and tell someone to censor how they feel. but save your criticism for stuff that really is legit. i wish more husbands could lay in bed with their wives and enjoy the fun of watching these shows. you can make that happen.
again, i do not say this to judge anyone. i admire how much you all enjoy these shows. please remember, though..............words affect more people than you think. you may be turning thousands of people like me away from ever thinking about watching anything from Korea.
humbly and sincerely,
Jasper