SongofSixpence

The issue with incels isn't that they're "unattractive", it's that they're men who think they're owed sex, gratification and acknowledgement by women. When they don't get it, they turn to supporting reactionary ideologies that would remove the socioeconomic independence of women that allows them to chose a partner rather than be forced into marriage as a means of subsistence - like they would have 50 or 100 years ago. And the only women who sympathize with that POV are those already part of those reactionary ideologies, which is a small group and getting smaller every day.

Incels have effectively excluded themselves from society. It's hard to pity men who are determined to die bitter and alone rather than treat women as equal partners. And it's not women's job to uplift or fix men, especially those who want them subjugated.

PS: Thanks for posting your own comment instead of hijacking someone else's. I may not agree with you, but I applaud good forum etiquette.

The only incels are in the comments - be thankful you missed the shit show.

I'd honestly recommend r/Kdrama over MDL these days for friendly chatting about dramas. The mods are strict but they aren't ban happy and there's weekly discussion posts for airing series. Downside is you'll be down-voted to oblivion for even mild criticism if a majority of viewers are enjoying a drama, but so it goes.

MDL has shit moderation and some users have forgotten the cardinal rule of the internet - don't feed the trolls. Ignore, block or report but do NOT engage. If you want to refute a comment post your own instead of replying - don't give trolls attention or legitimacy.

But also, Kdramas are unique in that they're a form of mainstream media written by and for women. To a certain vile subset of the internet that makes them a prime target.

So you rated Hidden Love a 10/10 - which has a 18/19 year old FL and a 25/26 year old ML - but came here specifically to state you don't like noona romances?

Respectfully, gtfo.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with Aramintai. FL isn't all that unique - early 2010s noona romcoms (and some recent ones like Branding in Seongsu) have the same sort of taming-of-the-shrew premise with the cynical, worldly FL being won over by the snarky yet noble ML. Neither are the societal issues or trope subversions - also often a feature in noona dramas.

Not that it effects my enjoyment much personally because it's fun to compare and contrast different iterations of the same formula as long as the writing is good. But it's undeniably tropetastic.

Yep, but it's unspecified so far - ML is 26 and FL is in her thirties.

City governments in South Korea are so desperate for population they're paying people to date, giving them a bonus if they marry and offering partial down payments on homes or subsidized rent. Private companies offer their own incentives too.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2024/06/262_377501.html

South Korea is in a panic over the birth rate/pension crisis and they're willing to try almost anything - except actually address the socioeconomic issues causing the birth rate crisis. Which tbf is the state of affairs in many developed countries right now.

https://time.com/6836949/birth-rates-south-korea-japan-decline/

TLDR: Developed countries with greater gender equality, less wealth stratification and more support programs have higher birth rates. South Korea is near the bottom in all three metrics.

Anything but that! Everyone else is worried about the past connection trope but my kryptonite is ML being rich or a chaebol. Please just let him be a normal guy working a part-time job at a convenience store.

Usually in foster care there are short and long term placements with foster parents limited to a certain number of both at one time. FL's foster sisters were probably long term placements, the other kids shown were probably short term.

Happiness! Not a romcom or pure romance drama, but both friends to lovers and contract marriage.

That was the tipping point, but the two scenes of ML overhearing conversations about FL's mom's health (one right before the phone smash) and the flashback of ML in high school assuring his grandmother he was being taken care of but not in an orphanage makes me think there's more going on in his backstory.

No, we know ML is 26 and FL is older. We don't know by how much (which is why there's no tag - it has to be 5+ years), but from the timeline it's probably 6-8 years.

Why are y'all so obsessed with virginity?

Plenty of older dramas have FLs with exs and references to sex, especially noona romances - My Lovely Sam Soon, Dal Ja's Spring, I Do I Do, I Hear Your Voice, Witch's Romance, I Need Romance 3, Secret Love Affair, etc. All pre-2016.

From the hints: ML was likely one FL's mom's foster kids but after FL left home, so he assumes she's a deadbeat daughter. That's why he's mean to her but also agreed to be the groom, thinking that she wanted to get married while her mom was healthy enough to attend the wedding - he's doing this for her mom, not her.

MDL in general takes issue with both noona romances (scroll back a few pages to see some very uncomplimentary opinions on the age gap) and complicated FLs that don't fit the sweet cinnamon bun or boss bitch archetypes.

The good news is it had great on air ratings and hit Prime's top 10.

https://kisskh.at/article/shin-min-ah-and-kim-young-dae-s-no-gain-no-love-premieres-with-strong-ratings

Omg, thank you! 💖 I don't know how I missed that.

The exact age of the leads isn't given, but FL has said ML is younger and started addressing him as someone younger. I'm not a Korean speaker but I think she's calling him 애/kid (though it's translated as "young man").

Loved almost everything about this episode - especially the continued digs at the social status quo like the reminder from FL's ex that a married man is more "trustworthy" than an unmarried woman. There's also an interesting point of comparison between the paper marriage and FL's parents fostering - the relationships that develop in those circumstances aren't meaningless or inauthentic just because they're contractual. And still a good balance of seriousness and silliness overall.

I'm low key annoyed by the makjang chaebol drama though. Not at all interested in who the affair baby is and they seem very flat and undeveloped compared to the other characters.

PS: To anyone criticizing FL's past negative reactions to fostering - it hurts to believe you're not your parent's priority and she was still a kid. The fact that she has good relationships with her foster sisters as an adult says a lot.

That whole scenario was so ridiculous from a professional standpoint! One of my main issues with the show is it hasn't stuck a good balance between the OTT tropey romcom parts and the more low-key slice of life - I think the cast really shines in the latter but the former is written and acted much more artificially.

I haven't seen Hometown ChaChaCha by the same writer yet but a lot of the reviews point out the same issue - great slice of life, hammy with the romcom bits.

Same! I thought that scene also did a good job showing it's a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for women in the workforce when it comes to marriage.