If the leads have a child, it's always a girl! Look out for it. Literally, in 9.5/10 Korean dramas or movies, the kid is always girl! LOL Not that I mind, but really? I know Korea in recent years started having a preference for girls as the firstborn child, but come on! Not every couple in all of Korea, or even all of Seoul for that matter, will be lucky to have a cute little girl as their firstborn every dang time!
Now, when I read about a movie or drama and the leads happen to have a child, I find myself thinking 'Just this once, make the kid a boy!' LOL It's insane! Even in the West, where the preference is mostly for boys being the firstborn, you'll recognize that a close to equal amounts of drama or movie children are girls. In Korea, however, every trend always has to be one-sided until a new trend erupts and overthrows the current one. SMDH!!!
This doesn't happen only in Korea, though. I've noticed the complete opposite phenomenon in Chinese dramas & movies, where the firstborn child is always a boy! And I'm like ... here we go again, a country with over a billion people, and the firstborn is always a boy!!! REALLY???? It's only in Japanese dramas I've noticed that they'll make an effort to mix up the genders of the firstborn child ... although I perceive a slight preference for boys.
All the bad guys (or good guys going undercover) wear full black with a black baseball cap. I mean, every.single.time! Movie or drama ... it's always the same! OMG...
Two of my all time favourite actors are in this drama! Yoo Ji Tæ and Ms. Jun Do Yeon! I love these two, but unfortunately I doubt I'll be seeing this drama. I don't like shows about cheaters and philanderers and the agony and stress they put their families through. So I'mma have to pass on this one, but I'm so glad more people are discovering these two incredible actors!
Both of them are well known and well respected actors in the industry and are so deserving of whatever attention they get (unlike most other K-actors :/ ). Be sure to check out their other works, esp their movies! People might recognize Yoo Ji Tæ as the antagonist in Oldboy, but some of his best roles are in lesser known independent flicks such as One Fine Spring Day, Secret Love, Midnight FM & Hello Schoolgirl. He also recently debuted as a writer/director and I loved his first movie, Mai Ratima. I loved that he used the movie as a form of social commentary, to shade light on some of the shadier aspects of South Korean society as opposed to the glitz and glamour of Hallyu.
As for Jun Do Yeon some of her best movie roles - for me - are Secret Sunshine & The Housemaid. I loved her in those! But she also puts in phenomenal performances in everything else I've watched her in. The Shameless was just an average movie, overall, but she stole pretty much every scene she was in! Untold Scandal & Happy End were also really well played (but beware, if you're a prude the nudity in these movies might offend some of you).
I do that all the time! Prior to this I had never seen anything with Jeon Do-Yeon, but in this drama she blew…
She's not much of a drama actress. The Good Wife (haven't seen and probably won't ... not my type of drama) is the first drama she's done in 8 years.
Like most South Korean actors, she started out in dramas but seemed to have mostly focused on cultivating her movie career over the years. For me, she is absolutely THE best actress working out of Korea today, and is fully deserving of more and more fans. In terms of female actors, no one else is even in her ball park, imo. I've pretty much loved her in every movie role I've seen her in, and I'm not at all surprised she totally owned this drama ... I wouldn't expect anything less.
If you're into movies, check her out in Secret Sunshine. Her performance here was absolutely heartbreaking, but soooo well portrayed! First time I came across her and I was so impressed because I've long been unimpressed with South Korean female actors. Many of them are so vapid and don't really know how to act! I suspect it's partly due to the idiotic, underdeveloped roles that are written for women in Korean showbiz, but it's also a lack of deep understanding for the craft of acting. So I've long struggled to find a favourite Korean actress ... until I came across Jun Do Yeon. Later, I found out she won the Best Actress award in Cannes for her role in Secret Sunshine ... not surprised and well deserved!
She's also really good in The Shameless and holy sh*t, you've got to check her out in The Housemaid! Another bombshell performance! You know what, just go ahead and watch all her movies, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I don't like dropping dramas I've started, but in extreme cases I do. I've watched just about 100 dramas and I think I've dropped like 4 ... maybe 5. In hindsight, there are a few rotten ones on my completed list that I WISH I had dropped and saved myself from the torture of finishing them. I'm looking at YOU ... Temptation! Something like 3 - 4 yrs on since I watched that damn drama and it still makes me mad, just thinking about it!!! LOL
But I digress ...
I tend to research a drama fairly thoroughly (including spoiling the ending for myself because I - mostly - do not care for sad endings) before starting it. If my research indicated that it's a drama I *should* like, and yet it's not living up to my expectation, I tend to believe that if I keep watching it'll get better. Well, sometimes that pays off and sometimes it doesn't. Ha!
I can watch a drama all the way through to the final 1 - 2 episodes and then decide to drop it. It's weird, I know. Why not just finish the dang thing when you're so close to the end? Well, because I AM one of those viewers who keep on hoping things will get better (a weak conscience ... yes, perhaps), but when it's almost the end and I see that I'm not being rewarded for my effort, for sticking it out, I get mad and drop the drama in a fit of rage 1 or 2 epis before the end. LOL It's like saying 'You screw me over by wasting my time with this sh*t!? Well, I'm dropping your ass without a conclusion, how about that?!' Yup, I have arguments with my dramas! I'm weird like that!
I find myself being more supportive of #metoo in Asian countries than the west, and it's all because of the juxtaposition of power in these societies. Institutional sexism and misogyny are openly tolerated in many of these countries. Their societies are built on the philosophy of everyone having a role to play. Concepts of gender equality and non-sexism did not come into play when these systems were being developed centuries ago. The lines drawn between male and female are, therefore, more stark, with men wielding far more power over women in many, if not all, aspects of society. So it is not too farfetched to believe that some men might gravely misuse the level of power afforded to them to abuse women sexually.
Whilst there's no denying that sexism & misogyny also exist in the West, the dynamic between men & women is not as imbalanced as in most of Asia in present times. Western women, esp white women, have far more power in Western society than Asian women in Asian societies -- indeed among all women in the world, white women are the most privileged in all & every aspects of life. In recent years, western white women have been gaining more power, and as is typical of human nature, anyone with power has the potential to misuse it.
I am not indoctrinated with feminist rhetoric (indeed I not identify as any feminist) to believe that women are somehow inherently morally better than men. I absolutely do not believe that, therefore, just as men abuse their power ... women, in the same position, are also capable of & do abuse their own power, whatever of it they have. We know this from the fact that false rape allegations are not (yet) proven to be widespread, but has been proven to be quite common.
Therefore, in western white society, I'm not willing to condemn anyone on anyone's word alone. Once there's an investigation and there's a determination that all possible evidence point to a preponderance of guilt, then and only then will I begin to question the conduct of the accused. There are exceptions of course, Weinstein & Cosby come to mind. I don't know it they're 100% guilty of everything they're accused of, but it's certainly not a boost to their claims of innocence with upwards of 50 odd women accusing them of the same crime.
Actually he did act as well, but it's true that first and foremost he's (or was) a producer.
If he did any acting at all, that was donkey years ago in his youth. Nobody knows him as an actor. Industry wide, he's known and referred to as co-owner & studio exec at The Weinstein Company. That's his official title.
The film is essentially about the bond between parents & children and has a very melancholic mood & atmosphere to it, which will probably make you feel a bit melancholic yourself, like it did me, but things ended well for all the characters. No one died, no one got a terminal illness. It was a poignant, sweet movie. Well worth the worth watch.
I thing the comments right above yours (by Plushie & Kate) are addressing both of your shallow comments. You have…
This is a criticism male leads often get from people who take their cues from mainstream (Western) media, rather than the wisdom life experience affords. Also lately it's kind of become criminal to be male ...
Anyhow, once you've lived a little & perhaps had a few relationships, it's a lot easier to have a more nuanced view of human behaviour and be truly able to recognize what's actual abuse and what isn't.
This is not to say that there aren't indeed any abusive male leads in dramas. There certainly are, and I've seen a few of them, but it is not all or even most.
The one thing I'll never get in korean dramas business genre, is how even if a woman comes from a wealthy…
I watched the 1st episode of Punch. It revolves more around politics, the law and prosecutorial misconduct than business, which is not my favourite, but it wasn't bad. I liked the first ep of GE better, though. Punch stars Kim Ræ Won, who I think is a decent actor so let's see where it goes. The Chaser stars the actor who played the greedy uncle in GE. This guy is totally typecast but I love how intensely he plays his roles. You can feel the raw emotion in every last one of his performances.
Speaking of him, I find it interesting that you thought the female lead in GE was the greediest of the 3. I actually thought the opposite.
I think she was the most humane of the three, but in the effort to preserve her family legacy she was forced to get her hands dirty otherwise she would have been crushed. All throughout the show you could see that she had a moral compass, but when you're involved in high stakes business with enemies at every corner, you end up having to make tough choices that you don't want to make.
Second in line, was the male lead - Tæ Joo. I liked him and of the 3, I was cheering for him the most because he was sort of the underdog. Based on how he treated the people around him, he wasn't psychopathic ... at least not to any major extent. We saw that he had a conscience, that he was capable of being kind and loyal to other people, and not just those in his circle. He was good to and gave back to the people in his community once he found success in his business. When he went on his quest for revenge, though, he slowly lost his mind and had a massive nervous breakdown (in epi 18 or 19, I think it was). And he did some bad things in a moment of temporary insanity.
On the other hand, Min Jæ, the uncle ... I found him to be the most backstabbing and treasonous of all three. He was a true psychopath who would do anything to win ... even sell out his own wife, while claiming to love her more than anything. Remember he let her die, when he could've saved her. His allegiance was constantly switching depending on who could take him closer to winning the Golden Empire, then when you no longer served his purpose, he'd exterminate you. He has been trying to sabotage his brother (female lead's late father) from the very beginning and it didn't matter if it was his own flesh and blood, he'd cut down anyone who stood in his way.
To me he was by far the worst and that's why I got annoyed with the ending because I felt if anyone should've committed suicide it should have been him, not Tæ Joo. Tæ Joo was too smart & powerful in his own right to take such a coward's way out. Yes, Tæ Joo had a mental breakdown and did some pretty shitty things toward the end, but I thought he was redeemable. Min Jæ, to me, was not, so why did he get to live? Tæ Joo wasn't totally evil. He just lost his way because he was so blinded with getting revenge and in the process of digging a grave for his enemies he dug one for himself.
For me, the best ending would have been if Min Jæ committed suicide & Tæ Joo went to prison for a number of years for manslaughter ... then he's released after serving at least 10 years and rebuilds his company from scratch. He was the type of man who could've done something like that. That's why I felt the ending didn't quite match the rest of the story or the character of Tæ Joo as we've come to know him. In my opinion, at least.
If Jang Tae Joo wasn't that harry he could win it all . But the feel and the sorry to Yoon Seol Hee destroy his…
I think he actually liked Seo Yoon more than Seol Hee, but he felt an obligation and a sense of responsibility to Seol Hee because she's been with him through thick and thin. She was loyal to him & he in turn was loyal to her, but I think if she wasn't in the picture, he and Seo Yoon could have been possible. I think Seo Yoon was definitely open to the idea of having a romantic relationship with Tæ Joo, but she turned against him when she realized that he'd never give up Seol Hee.
The one thing I'll never get in korean dramas business genre, is how even if a woman comes from a wealthy…
Glad to hear it, but too bad you were spoiled with all the details.
I know for me not knowing all the details made me stay up until the middle of the night because I just had to know what happened next. Anyway, the fact that you were still able to enjoy the drama despite being spoiled is a testament to the solid writing here. I can't wait to watch The Chaser & Punch which are also written by the same writer. Have you seen any of these?
By the way, what did you rate GE? I gave it a 9.5 ... I took off a half point because of the ending.
1 
Now, when I read about a movie or drama and the leads happen to have a child, I find myself thinking 'Just this once, make the kid a boy!' LOL It's insane! Even in the West, where the preference is mostly for boys being the firstborn, you'll recognize that a close to equal amounts of drama or movie children are girls. In Korea, however, every trend always has to be one-sided until a new trend erupts and overthrows the current one. SMDH!!!
This doesn't happen only in Korea, though. I've noticed the complete opposite phenomenon in Chinese dramas & movies, where the firstborn child is always a boy! And I'm like ... here we go again, a country with over a billion people, and the firstborn is always a boy!!! REALLY???? It's only in Japanese dramas I've noticed that they'll make an effort to mix up the genders of the firstborn child ... although I perceive a slight preference for boys.
Both of them are well known and well respected actors in the industry and are so deserving of whatever attention they get (unlike most other K-actors :/ ). Be sure to check out their other works, esp their movies! People might recognize Yoo Ji Tæ as the antagonist in Oldboy, but some of his best roles are in lesser known independent flicks such as One Fine Spring Day, Secret Love, Midnight FM & Hello Schoolgirl. He also recently debuted as a writer/director and I loved his first movie, Mai Ratima. I loved that he used the movie as a form of social commentary, to shade light on some of the shadier aspects of South Korean society as opposed to the glitz and glamour of Hallyu.
As for Jun Do Yeon some of her best movie roles - for me - are Secret Sunshine & The Housemaid. I loved her in those! But she also puts in phenomenal performances in everything else I've watched her in. The Shameless was just an average movie, overall, but she stole pretty much every scene she was in! Untold Scandal & Happy End were also really well played (but beware, if you're a prude the nudity in these movies might offend some of you).
Like most South Korean actors, she started out in dramas but seemed to have mostly focused on cultivating her movie career over the years. For me, she is absolutely THE best actress working out of Korea today, and is fully deserving of more and more fans. In terms of female actors, no one else is even in her ball park, imo. I've pretty much loved her in every movie role I've seen her in, and I'm not at all surprised she totally owned this drama ... I wouldn't expect anything less.
If you're into movies, check her out in Secret Sunshine. Her performance here was absolutely heartbreaking, but soooo well portrayed! First time I came across her and I was so impressed because I've long been unimpressed with South Korean female actors. Many of them are so vapid and don't really know how to act! I suspect it's partly due to the idiotic, underdeveloped roles that are written for women in Korean showbiz, but it's also a lack of deep understanding for the craft of acting. So I've long struggled to find a favourite Korean actress ... until I came across Jun Do Yeon. Later, I found out she won the Best Actress award in Cannes for her role in Secret Sunshine ... not surprised and well deserved!
She's also really good in The Shameless and holy sh*t, you've got to check her out in The Housemaid! Another bombshell performance! You know what, just go ahead and watch all her movies, I don't think you'll be disappointed.
But I digress ...
I tend to research a drama fairly thoroughly (including spoiling the ending for myself because I - mostly - do not care for sad endings) before starting it. If my research indicated that it's a drama I *should* like, and yet it's not living up to my expectation, I tend to believe that if I keep watching it'll get better. Well, sometimes that pays off and sometimes it doesn't. Ha!
I can watch a drama all the way through to the final 1 - 2 episodes and then decide to drop it. It's weird, I know. Why not just finish the dang thing when you're so close to the end? Well, because I AM one of those viewers who keep on hoping things will get better (a weak conscience ... yes, perhaps), but when it's almost the end and I see that I'm not being rewarded for my effort, for sticking it out, I get mad and drop the drama in a fit of rage 1 or 2 epis before the end. LOL It's like saying 'You screw me over by wasting my time with this sh*t!? Well, I'm dropping your ass without a conclusion, how about that?!' Yup, I have arguments with my dramas! I'm weird like that!
Whilst there's no denying that sexism & misogyny also exist in the West, the dynamic between men & women is not as imbalanced as in most of Asia in present times. Western women, esp white women, have far more power in Western society than Asian women in Asian societies -- indeed among all women in the world, white women are the most privileged in all & every aspects of life. In recent years, western white women have been gaining more power, and as is typical of human nature, anyone with power has the potential to misuse it.
I am not indoctrinated with feminist rhetoric (indeed I not identify as any feminist) to believe that women are somehow inherently morally better than men. I absolutely do not believe that, therefore, just as men abuse their power ... women, in the same position, are also capable of & do abuse their own power, whatever of it they have. We know this from the fact that false rape allegations are not (yet) proven to be widespread, but has been proven to be quite common.
Therefore, in western white society, I'm not willing to condemn anyone on anyone's word alone. Once there's an investigation and there's a determination that all possible evidence point to a preponderance of guilt, then and only then will I begin to question the conduct of the accused. There are exceptions of course, Weinstein & Cosby come to mind. I don't know it they're 100% guilty of everything they're accused of, but it's certainly not a boost to their claims of innocence with upwards of 50 odd women accusing them of the same crime.
Anyhow, once you've lived a little & perhaps had a few relationships, it's a lot easier to have a more nuanced view of human behaviour and be truly able to recognize what's actual abuse and what isn't.
This is not to say that there aren't indeed any abusive male leads in dramas. There certainly are, and I've seen a few of them, but it is not all or even most.
Speaking of him, I find it interesting that you thought the female lead in GE was the greediest of the 3. I actually thought the opposite.
I think she was the most humane of the three, but in the effort to preserve her family legacy she was forced to get her hands dirty otherwise she would have been crushed. All throughout the show you could see that she had a moral compass, but when you're involved in high stakes business with enemies at every corner, you end up having to make tough choices that you don't want to make.
Second in line, was the male lead - Tæ Joo. I liked him and of the 3, I was cheering for him the most because he was sort of the underdog. Based on how he treated the people around him, he wasn't psychopathic ... at least not to any major extent. We saw that he had a conscience, that he was capable of being kind and loyal to other people, and not just those in his circle. He was good to and gave back to the people in his community once he found success in his business. When he went on his quest for revenge, though, he slowly lost his mind and had a massive nervous breakdown (in epi 18 or 19, I think it was). And he did some bad things in a moment of temporary insanity.
On the other hand, Min Jæ, the uncle ... I found him to be the most backstabbing and treasonous of all three. He was a true psychopath who would do anything to win ... even sell out his own wife, while claiming to love her more than anything. Remember he let her die, when he could've saved her. His allegiance was constantly switching depending on who could take him closer to winning the Golden Empire, then when you no longer served his purpose, he'd exterminate you. He has been trying to sabotage his brother (female lead's late father) from the very beginning and it didn't matter if it was his own flesh and blood, he'd cut down anyone who stood in his way.
To me he was by far the worst and that's why I got annoyed with the ending because I felt if anyone should've committed suicide it should have been him, not Tæ Joo. Tæ Joo was too smart & powerful in his own right to take such a coward's way out. Yes, Tæ Joo had a mental breakdown and did some pretty shitty things toward the end, but I thought he was redeemable. Min Jæ, to me, was not, so why did he get to live? Tæ Joo wasn't totally evil. He just lost his way because he was so blinded with getting revenge and in the process of digging a grave for his enemies he dug one for himself.
For me, the best ending would have been if Min Jæ committed suicide & Tæ Joo went to prison for a number of years for manslaughter ... then he's released after serving at least 10 years and rebuilds his company from scratch. He was the type of man who could've done something like that. That's why I felt the ending didn't quite match the rest of the story or the character of Tæ Joo as we've come to know him. In my opinion, at least.
I know for me not knowing all the details made me stay up until the middle of the night because I just had to know what happened next. Anyway, the fact that you were still able to enjoy the drama despite being spoiled is a testament to the solid writing here. I can't wait to watch The Chaser & Punch which are also written by the same writer. Have you seen any of these?
By the way, what did you rate GE? I gave it a 9.5 ... I took off a half point because of the ending.