etoks21

I'm American. We get mocked for being fat and uneducated.
America IS fat and uneducated.

Until recently, dog meat WAS commonly served in Korea.
I don't know where the "small eyes" thing comes from. Do other Asians feel that Koreans have smaller eyes than they do, on average?

I just watched the "controversial" trailer. It's cute, silly, and funny, and doesn't deal with anything so serious as small eyes and dog meat.
Many SE Asians DO wear such clothing and dance that way.
Lighten up.

I've seen a few videos and skits mocking Kpop and that Korean obsession. So what? Laugh and get over it.

Finally, I'm American and pretty damn woke, in the original meaning of the word, as any empathetic person would be. People being super-sensitive and looking for things to be offended by play right into the hands of morons like the one above who uses "woke" as a slur.

You use the word "woke" as if you know what it means. You don't.

Episodes 1-4:
Meh. I'm not going to drop it yet, but I'm leaning that way. I've been using the FF button more and more as I go. The show is making the mistake I have seen over and over in BLs, especially since 2020: The setting/business/school/whatever, in this case the salon and what-not happening in relation to it, begins to become the focus, rather than the developing romance. Who cares about that silly intrigue and drama? It's the backdrop, not the main event.

Another huge problem is that Hiro and the actor playing him, are incredibly meh. Please tell me why the handsome, funny, upbeat Natsu would be swooning over the dumpy, grumpy, plain, and depressed/depressing Hiro. There is zero reason to believe he would fall in love at first sight with this person.

So, yeah...meh/whatever so far.

I'm American, and perhaps you are too, and I found the film's take on US domination of whatever it is a part of to be right on the nose. Other countries always defer to the US, regardless of the circumstances. This is a particularly horrifying status quo with the psycho Donald Trump running things here.

Look at how the entire world is looking to the US to solve the Russian-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas wars, even though both are taking place half a world away from us. That is a perfect example of what I am talking about.

Basically, it's because we have the largest economy by far on the planet, and money means everything. No matter how many times the US f**ks things up (Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan), it doesn't seem to matter. This is a direct result of how WW2 went down. America came out of that war as the clear leader of Western nations and that has been the status quo ever since.

I'm not saying this is always a bad thing, either. I believe the US is the primary reason Europe/Asia/Eastern Europe have been stable for 80 years since WW2. It certainly was never that way before. The downside is that a frustrated, despotic moron like Trump has the power to muck things up, as he is doing at warp speed. I'm horrified at the dangerous messes he is making.

So, since WW2, America has been in charge in every organization it is a part of, including the IMF. And rich, ego-driven American males love to throw their weight around to prove their masculine dominance, which is part of what "Default" was critiquing, to my eye.

My understanding, in a nutshell, is that it was the IMF (International Monetary Fund) that stepped in with loans AND harsh new regulations/conditions. Since, whether we like it or not, the US is the largest economy in the world, and basically runs the world in many ways, including Americans calling the shots at IMF, that is where the anti-US vibe comes in. I took it as the IMF kicking ass and unfairly punishing average Koreans, but the humans making those IMF decisions were mostly American.

There's a nice, twisted tale of the dangers of anonymous hookups and sex addiction in here somewhere, buried under the hilariously bad acting and fake-f**king going on.

Worth a laugh though, if you have 15 minutes.

4/10

This is a beautiful, quiet, deeply affecting little film.

Both actors are astonishing. Their performances, under excellent direction, are understated, realistic, and quietly true. I'm unsure what to make of the actor headshots above; they appear to be different photos of the taller of the two, and his bio is empty. wtf?

My second watch. I'm changing my rating from 9.5/10 to 10/10.

There's a strong story and message here, buried somewhere under the horrendously bad execution. This was my second watch. I caught a lot more of what the hell was happening, and didn't hate it as much as the first time. Maybe if I watch two or three more times, I'll love it. :)

For now: 6/10

Thanks! I will check out both shows. I do like sports/politics/business. Heck, anything can be interesting if it's well-written, directed, acted, and produced. :)

Thanks for the tip. I will check out Chicago Typewriter.

My thing about these dramas is also just a personal preference. I haven't been fond of television series in general for a very long time, and the idea of locking into a 16-hour story does not appeal to me. That is a lot of time.

I love movies partly because they tell a dramatic/action-packed/comical story within 90-150 minutes, so everything is intensified. If it's a well-done film, I will be glued to my seat. If it's not, I can bail.

I have watched a few Netflix series, most recently "Black Doves," which was six one-hour episodes. I can handle that because it was spectacularly well-done, and because Keira Knightley. :D

P.S. I did watch "My Mister" from start to end because I adore Lee Sun Kyun, but it too dragged on and on. Could have been cut by a third. Preferably all of IUd's scenes. ;)

Did you know words mean things, and that the way you put them together in sentences, and then sentences in paragraphs, makes a difference as to what their meaning is? Really...it's true! Pointing out that your words continually betray your either/or mindset is not "nitpicking." It's pointing out a fact.

So, yeah, Onsens exist and have for hundreds of years, but Japanese men are desperately afraid to see each other shirtless, or...something/something. lol Got it. What the writers/director seem to have done there is to apply the ancient BL trope of the bottom as the "woman" in a gay relationship. It's women who are endlessly portrayed in Japan as shrinking, timid, shrinking violets who faint at the sight of a bare-chested man. Which leads one to wonder how on Earth they would ever allow a man to place his icky thing in their hoo-hoo. Which then leads one to wonder why you'd see that bottom=woman=weak/timid/prude trope as a positive thing in gay romance.

BTW, who's "defending BL" in this convo? Not me. More made-up nonsense.

That last, bitchy little adieu is telling.

"I’d rather have the romance highlight through emotional growth than fetish physicality."

Again, it's EITHER "emotional growth" OR "fetish physicality" with you. lol Do you read your words before posting? It does not have to be one or the other.

And what's with the "fetish" in there anyway? Including sex in a love story hardly makes a "fetish" of it. It acknowledges it as one of the most powerful driving forces humans experience, and as one of the most powerful ways to express love between two people.

We can make a "fetish" of anything. You seem to have made a fetish of sexless romance.

So, yeah, you were completely wrong about Japanese cultural modesty between men, but won't say so. Got it.

Where did I say "gay" men are horny 24/7?
I didn't. I said MEN are horny 24/7.
Your eagerness to imagine the "gay" in there reveals an eagerness to feel victimized and offended. I don't play that game.

This comment also shows an either/or mentality. I didn't "brush aside" anything. You seem to be one of those who make up stuff, then react to what you made up. That's another game I don't play.

Oh, you also made up, "porn level intimacy." I asked for no such thing. What I said, and I will repeat it, is that gay men can have romance AND intense sex. No either/or about it.

Your deep sensitivity to Japanese cultural quirks, including men feeling embarrassed in front of each other because they're shirtless, especially after a night of schtupping each other, is nonsense.
Ever hear of Japanese Sentos or Onsens? Educate yourself.

But yeah, Japanese men are terribly shy about nudity in front of each other. lol

Give me a break. What exactly is it that he did, in your mind?

What, exactly, in your mind, is it that he did to this person? I mean, precisely, physically?

Yeah, cause public humiliation, a ruined career, and personal devastation are "easy" as pie.
You got your conviction on this bit of nonsense.
Go drive some other celebrity to despair.

Thank you.

Please help. I don't understand your comment. Thank you.

Your perspective on sex is sadly twisted.
Is there some reason a couple can't grow emotionally, develop their characters, AND have great, passionate sex?
No, no there isn't, though you'd like us to think so. It's not an either/or thing...real people like sex and love, not one or the other.

I blame sex-phobic fujoshis for the de-sexualization of gay relationships, in which two men in love and supposedly having sex, reluctantly lay on top of each other like two, unmoving planks of wood. I blame the same group for stupid things like Kanade acting embarrassed to see Kosuke shirtless and in pajama bottoms, least of all the morning after knocking one off the night before.

The problem here is that some members of the audience have never HAD a tongue down their throat. And though they love watching BLs, it's only when the couple is presented as sexless Teddy bears that they are comfortable with two men loving each other.

Men are horny af 24/7. Put two gay men together, and you double that reality. Deal.

Episode 9:
Lame, predictable, and boring, which adds up to disappointing, as I had enjoyed the first few episodes.

The bit with Kanade, the morning after a night of (supposed) sex, acting embarrassed to see Kosuke shirtless with pajama bottoms on, was beyond stupid. Enough with the vestal virgin bottoms, who become MORE prudish after getting laid than before.

I'm slogging through at this point.