Hanah

Nice mix of genres! Show Window sounds intriguing...

ngl, I have the same feeling! Most GL - if present - are small drama specials. Really makes you thing something doesn't feel right...

They are all by the same author and I know the first two at least take place in the same high school, but different classrooms? Have not watched any of the either but I know that the first two are especially well-known for being relatable and are extremely well-written

Wow! This is so amazingly organized and visually appealing. I will definitely reference it again when I am in the mood for a rom-com style c-drama! If you ever want to expand on this list, there is another pretty famous trilogy that blends school life, friendship and romance - With You, My Huckleberry Friends and Unrequited Love.

I have not watched any of these dramas but I enjoy slow-burn. I think the benefit of slow-burn lets the plot and characters develop so everything, including the romance, feels more genuine and fleshed out. And I think it gives a nice realistic and/or slice of life element because most people do not have whirlwind romances but steady relationships that build while they are also concentrating on other aspects of their life like school, work or family.

No, you are right, most dramas do not push the 'men should tame women' narrative. I was speaking somewhat generically of the ways society/media puts stereotypes on genders - like women needing to 'heal' men, men having to be the breadwinners. And I might have been thinking of more Western stuff (i.e. anything based on Shakespeare's "Taming of the Screw " that is taken at face value) and

But if I think about, maybe many dramas do push the 'taming' message more sublimely with the way so many female leads start off strong/fierce/independent at the start of the drama and seem to lose all their drive or physical or intellectual skills when they fall in love :P?

Good points! As the poster above mentioned, sometimes the SML is antagonistic because it is an appropriate reaction to the ML's cruel behavior. But sometimes it is simply jealousy.

And yes, there is a lot that goes behind SLS. I don't think SLS is necessarily a bad thing but it may be insightful to look into why we get it. Maybe we are justifying Nice Guy Syndrome. As you mentioned, sometimes it is the actor or fan love. In case of the actor, it can be easy to get SLS if he really has better chemistry with the FL compared with the actor playing the ML (Hwarang for me comes to mind). And sometimes, based on the FL's personality or values, the SML is actually a better fit and logically, the ML is not the one the FL would choose. One drama that addresses this is Extraordinary You. That it does not make sense to put together two characters that are really toxic for each other.

Thank you! It makes me very happy this article provided some food for thought <3! You brought up an excellent point - it is not the female's job to 'heal' a man anymore than it a man's role to 'tame' a woman.

Female lead agency is something I think about a lot especially when I realized I was getting what I asked for ("strong female leads") but not feeling satisfied at all. My next article (if I get around to writing it) will expand on female lead agency and may or may not include a test where we replace the female lead with an actual trophy and see if it changes the story :D

There is another MDL article called Are Second Male Leads Actually Selfish? that expands on this - it's a great article!

That one was the only Reply drama I watched. It may not be a liking-jerks thing. I think a lot of people felt like the drama was setting up the FL with Jung Hwan (if that's who you were rooting for) and the actual ML came out of nowhere. He and the FL already had that connection while Fl-Taek seemed like siblings. Personally, I liked who she ended up with and I think their personalities fit well.

Thank you, I'm glad it provided some food for thought!
Have not watched Live Up To Your Name (yet) but it is always nice when a drama makes you root for a couple because of actual reasons couples should be together - respect, understanding, communication and chemistry - and not trope-y things like childhood connection.

LOL, I like the word-play on FL = female (is) led! It is good insight that SLS is personal preference. Something I wish I expanded on more above is why we get SLS. Is it because the SLS is nicer? Because we feel he/she fits the main lead more? Or because we personally like them better?

Thank you! I think the problem is supply and demand. When female leads have the ability to make choices, they run the risk of making a bad choice and having to deal with the fallout. I think it can be hard for a lot of viewers (myself guiltily included!) to watch the FL make bad choices and would rather have her be the victim of unfortunate circumstances.

Thank you! Yes, you're right, BOF did set us up to get SLS (LOL at the hair comment). But I think that goes beyond Ji Hoo being nice and Joon Pyo being a spoiled jerk. This is something I wish I brought up in my last paragraph in why I get SLS and the implications behind it. Am I getting SLS simply because the SLS is nicer (aka am I falling into the Nice Guy trope)? Or do I really think that based on the FL's values/actions/personality, she would have actually picked the second lead and the second male lead is the better fit (no matter how nice or mean the ML is)? BOF (unlike Hani Yori Dango) seems to suggest that Ji Hoo (apart from being nice) understands Jan Di on a deeper level and they share more commonalities . Jan Di even calls him her 'soulmate'. I dunno, if I hear a girl calling someone else her soulmate, they should probably be together :).

As for for the tendency for SMLs to get more sly and pushy as MLs get nicer, I think that fits directly into the Nice Guy concept - that when you take away the favorable circumstances (aka the ML is not a jerk), 'nice' second male leads are not really nice at all! There is a really good article on MDL called Are Second Male Leads Actually Selfish? that also addresses this and how all the nice things SMLs are doing are really for themselves.

Whew, sorry for such a long comment!

I guess that's more like shipping the second leads together? :D Haven't watched Reply 1994 but I heard there was a looooot of SLS for that

Thank you! I have not watched Start Up yet. Unfortunately, bad MLs may be an endangered but not yet extinct species...

This article could not have come at a more perfect time! I logged on today to figure out how to get started on pitching an idea for an article and lo-and-behold, this is the first thing I see. Off to go the Articles Ideas and Discussion Forum to pitch my idea!

That...sounds awful, thanks for the heads up. Looking at the director/writer, it should not be a bad drama on its own, but so much lost potential! The morality of all the characters gives so much food for thought and allows for character development (way vs path, person vs society). A lot of stories 'develop' characters by having them start at level 0 (no intelligence, strength, skills or often common sense) and they way they develop the character is through acquiring those skills. Characters that start off strong just tend to stay that way. Both our FL and ML start off strong in the beginning. What they learn (especially our FL) is an insight into life, which is what I think defines true maturity. Action and political schemes and romance aside, this was also a coming of age story. /Rant over/

Also, yeah, the original story is written with so much detail it will be interesting to see how they avoid the inevitable plot holes. I'm still gonna watch it, so let's see

Yeah, I guess source AS was too brutal for mainstream c-drama. I don't always mind when they make ML nicer since it can be hard to ship them w/ the FL if they are too horrible (i.e. Novel Siege in Fog or Eastern Palace) but in this case, source AS and CG were very tit-for-tat.

Thanks! I guess we shall see the outcome of those changes