Kachiiing

Yeah - the mother! Fans were in a uproar. Dragging it out 8 seasons, introduce such a sweet character, then....

Thank you, Captain Obvious. I was being silly and thought he would be one year younger now O.o

I voted Healer (I've underestimated this drama) because it was the only drama aired this year, I had the heart to finish. Pretty rad accolade, if I say so myself. I'm not even that hard to please, so I don't know why k-dramas are failing to win me over....

Her sense of justice is too strong maybe. I thought she was overreacting by holding up an entire busload of people - what next, ordering someone to prison just for looking at her? (honestly, that's how much I felt she was overreacting.)...she entered the casino by delivering pizza......what are the coincidences....everything in this plot is so passive....Jin Woo's uppa is nailed for a crime he didn't commit, but coincidence coincidence, it's the only guy in the vicinity with terrible amnesia....and he's the one that discovered the body...what are the chances...I can't stand plots where things happen to the character, rather than the characters make things happen.

I liked PMY in Healer. Here...not so much.

This drama relies a lot on coincidences.

South Korea has the highest rate of cosmetic surgery in the world. Rather than singling out one celebrity, it would be more interesting if you commented on this phenomenon as a whole, and why so many people are driven to do it. Pop singers/actors/actresses/hell even the average joe on the street. I will never judge someone who does plastic surgery, but I will only have a problem if they shun me for not doing it.

...But why were you making the point? I'd just said, that in Indian dramas generally, they don't show how it's really like - and then you say, "you can't tell about asian culture through dramas alone" - it was a little frustrating, because you were repeating my point back at me, but with different wording!!!!

....Asking stuff like that is a defensive strategy. Just give me the benefit of the doubt, man. I'm with you. I've got your back.

A popular slap/kiss lakorn is Roy Leh Sanae Rai. Just go read the comments, from people who watch it. Even if there's rape - they watch to the end. However way you put it, it does say something about the society that watches it and a society that allows it to be on mainstream television. Although TV doesn't accurately display every tidbit about culture - it gives you a pretty good indicator of what's acceptable for public consumption! No two ways about it!

@Marooya I must say some of the comments aimed at you from the author has been passive aggressive - but aim your ire carefully.

I don't think you deserve to be judged - clearly you've been going on about K-dramas all this while and Ceki and I are going on about Thai dramas in the comments section. Also, you are a tad bit defensive against me, when I'm not attacking you in the slightest. I just asked for your thoughts, and suddenly you were telling me, "you can't tell about asian culture through dramas alone" not knowing I'm Asian myself - at no point in my correspondence with you, have I judged you, marginalized you or whatever - yet you ask me, if I'm asking, because I'm interested in what you have to say, and I have my own agenda about proving what's right and wrong!!! I don't know. In my mind, there was no argument to begin with. We are debating about different things, so it's all m00t. I agree with all you have to say about k-dramas, and hopefully you will agree what I have to say about Thai dramas. Peace?

Buuttt....in the second line after the first subheading, Ceki mentions slap/kiss are almost exclusive to Thai dramas....where's Ceki...can't she clear it up? Maybe she should've said "slap/kiss" refers to thai dramas exclusively, but similar themes at a lesser level are present in other asian dramas...I don't know!!! I thought Ceki was pretty clear. I'm from a little island nation just of the coast of India - Sri Lanka. However due to the civil war (one of the most under-reported conflicts in the world), they emigrated to France, had me, and then we moved to England, where I'm currently in London!!!!

Oh. That explains a lot then. I think the examples (ie GIFs) used in this article might've lead you astray - although there is slapping and kissing in mnay dramas, only thai dramas have a distinction of "slap/kiss lakorns" - and they nearly always have rape. The term "slap/kiss" I have always coined for thai dramas - no others. So if you're talking about kdramas, and I'm talking about thai dramas - there is no point in debating anymore is there? It's like you're talking about algebra, and I'm talking about....trigonometry. There is a link, but it's fraught at best. And I'm asian myself - I know drama and movies doesn't show the whole culture. Which is why I used the India example. They have a real issue with rape, but in the dramas, you don't see it all.

Randomly checked this out again - the debate is really hotting up! Hi, Marooya. Not everybody was talking about rape fantasy. It was only me, and me only, who brought that term forward - and why? Because like Ceki said. A good portion of slap/kiss dramas have the female being raped, aka actually being held down, and it's "meant to show how passionate he is for her." There is no justice for his action. The male is never seen in prison, serving a sentence. No. He is usually married to the woman he raped. And she's hunky-dory too.

I brought rape fantasy into this discussion, because it is a reasonable explanation about why rape is being put in "romance" dramas. It's there to satisfy a particular audience - an audience that sees violence and women being forced as the norm. A "rape" can allow a blowout of pent-up sexual energy - and usually because in conservative societies, women are stigmatized if they openly go with a guy and enjoy it - though it probably happens all the time. So what happens? Voila! Rape scene. The guy and girl get some "sexual" action, but the girl isn't seen as a slut. Unfortunately, in some cultures, if the girl is raped, she is still seen as a slut anyway, so this epidemic seems uniquely honed to Thai dramas. Maybe because they have a curious mix of sexual values - Thailand is famous for it's sex tourists, but is still a "conservative" culture. They are both open and closed at the same time - certainly different from India, which has a huge problem with rape, but they have largely ignored the societal issue, and brushed it under the carpet, until the 2012 bus rape.

After reading everything I have to say - any thoughts Marooya?

...well? How did it compare?

If this drama keeps going like it's going - I will honestly remove every single drama from my favs list, and only keep this one. It has set the benchmark. I've been keeping up to date with the translated novel - and man, please keep those kissing scenes! Please? :D

The term "rape fantasy" is widely used, I did not come up with that expression myself. Read at least 5 articles by psychologists on it before I commented, and they use the term "rape fantasy" too, so maybe I should have words with them (joke.) You can use "surrender" fantasy if you wish, makes little bearing to me.

Fillers. Can't stand them!

....
I'd like to add about the extra phenomenon which links nicely to this - rape fantasies. It's the second most common fantasy for women apparently. Being "raped" absolves the woman of all guilt and responsibility- they don't have to feel guilty about their own sexual desires and healthy interest in the bedroom arena - because societally women have been repressed and they have no other way of expressing their urges without looking like a "slut" (Elsa has it bang on.) This is where the term "bodice-rippers" comes from, and a popular segment in historical fiction - a whole genre focused on the women's corset being ripped away from her, and being "forced upon."

Slap/Kiss is popular because it panders to women who have rape fantasies, but the actual woman in the drama is not living a rape fantasy...she is usually seen kicking and crying and distressed. So for audience satisfaction this genre has been born, because in those societies healthy sexual urges cannot be shown, without the woman being seriously labelled. What does it say about the society that watches it? Quite a lot! :D

I read some depraved shit. I don't mind watching it either.
However, I have this fictional "line." Whenever I am watching media, I question myself: Is the abuse being glamorised? Romanticized? Being seen through "rose-tinted" glasses? Slap/Kiss definitely does all three. Why? Mainly, because they portray happily ever afters (like you said.) This phenomenon can't die soon enough imo.

They remind me of Sherlock and Watson, but with sizzling sexual chemistry, hahaha XD

My first chinese drama. Love it. Andy the audi, is awesome^^ So much product placement...hooked from ep 1. Reminds me the format of american crime series, so unless there's a major cock-up, this should be awesome^^