John Smith

I suppose it is possible that my words could be seen in a less than flattering light. I specifically tried to avoid using words or terms that might be offensive. Especially since other people can read our conversation. After trading a few words with someone, you start to get a sense of what you can or cannot say to them. If you drew a line with your speech, I have at least tried not crossing it. Disagreements and misunderstandings can make for some rough patches, and if you have encountered that and feel slighted, I will try to do better.

About the petitions and population, I think it does not tell the whole story. How many have televisions? How many watch dramas? How many care what they do or do not watch? I think the 51 million should be lowered just as I feel the 200k might need to be raised. I do not think it would amount to a majority or even a large minority, but it is something to consider.

About censorship, I would prefer it as little as possible and only when needed, and certainly if needed, then justified.
As far as the petition, again, I want to say I think it should be heard and responded to if that is what the laws state. I think those who created the petition might have been thinking about Joseon Exorcist, and certainly with the time until airing, could have used other methods to voice their displeasure. Given what is known about the drama (which is very little as of 4/10/21), I think it should air. Let the viewers determine what they want to see or not see and what they want to complain about.

You just do not let up on insulting others, that is not nice. You might be against censorship, but certainly a little self-censoring cannot hurt from time to time.

" In a country of 51 million people, who cares what 109,000 censorious idiots on the Internet think about anything? " Those are your words, not mine. I made it clear that you used statistics in an effort to forward the thought that their voices should not count. If "who cares what they think" is different from not counting, then I misunderstood you.
Where I am from, if I tell you that I do not care what you think, you do not count. To be clear, I do not go around telling people that I do not care what they think. If someone told me that they did not care what I thought, I would assume what I think does not count. That has happened more than a few times.

I do think that more people supported the petition (or the idea of it) for Joseon Exorcist than signed the petition. Either that or those who were working to cancel Joseon Exorcist had powerful, wealthy, influential, and/or knowledgeable people working for them. Probably a bit of both. That ship has sailed, only lessons learned for both sides and everyone involved.

There is no perfect democracy so no democracy is going to function perfect. I have found that the size of any group's influence is tied more to how loud they can be, and the financial support that is behind them versus sheer numbers.

Quick math lesson. You want to find the percentage of 1 signature out of 10 total signatures. Doing the math of 1/10 is 0.10. To get the percentage which is by/for the hundred, you multiply by 100 (move over two decimal places to the right) and add the %. In the case of 1/10, it would be 0.10 to 10%.
Using your numbers, that would be 109000/51000000. That gets you 0.0021372549. To get the percentage, you need to multiply by 100 and add the percentage sign. That would be approximately 0.21%.
If you are going to insult me or try to embarrass me and point out faults, you have to make sure you have your facts, logic, and math right, especially in a public setting. I try my best not to delete or edit my comments and words. I have been wrong. . . a few times. When it happens I own it and try to learn from it. If it requires an apology, I have been known to do that as well.

I never said their small number of voices are not being heard. You said they should not matter. I said that I did not find it unreasonable that Joseon Exorcist got cancelled. I also did not say I agreed with it.

I understand that you are passionate and you probably really want to at least have the chance to watch dramas and make the decisions yourself, but that is no excuse to say harsh and insulting things towards others.

Over 200,000 have signed it so far. I read 109,000 about two weeks ago. I know you probably read the article and did some quick math (incorrectly), but that is not a proper use of statistics to forward the thought that the petition signers' voices should not count.

You said there is a lot more to the cancellations and threats of the same than we know. I was asking are you going to elaborate with facts or just going to leave it as a cliffhanger?

The reason why my response to you is different than the response to others is that I make an effort to meet the person halfway. Usually that means a more complex and thoughtful response looking upwards. I seem to have to meet you on a somewhat different level than I am accustomed to on here. That is not to say that you are not intelligent. I just read your comments with weak math skills and inflammatory language and tried to keep it short and casual.

I live in the US. How do you know how many complained about the show?
I suppose the same problems that exist in other countries, exist in South Korea. Just because you disagree with them, you do not have to insult them. That is not how you solve issues, but simply create more problems.
How much more? Or is it one of those things that you don't know but know, and there is proof but you have none? Or if I asked for an example would you say there are too many for you to recall?

When you are doing the math to convert to percentages, you need to move the decimal point two spots to the right. It is 0.2%. I thought one of the most important part of a democracy is that everyone has a voice. You disagree so you could care less about it?
I doubt the sky is falling on Korean entertainment.

One of the best modern Chinese dramas of 2021 so far. It seemed shorter than the classic 24 episode Chinese romantic comedies. Episodes just flew by which is good (enjoyable) and bad (ended too soon). If you have seen Descendants of the Sun, it is hard not to compare the two dramas. DOTS was big, flashy, and it seemed a whole different world. You Are My Hero was close knit, heartwarming, and a lot more slice of life and familiar than DOTS. Both were really good dramas. The main leads here acted like they were not acting. Kudos to whomever directed their expressive physical interactions and scripted their playful, yet touching banter.

The drama created such a rich and vibrant cast of characters and left plenty of room for another season. It would be hard to duplicate, but I would be interested in seeing them try.

Dramas are more than just mere entertainment, but I meant discussions on this site usually revolve around watching dramas or actors. In the discussion of the controversy of River Where the Moon Rises might take a different tone in a mental health forum versus the discussion on this site. Not that either are wrong, but both can have their place.

Money might be valuable across different areas but often does not have the same value. Governments and businesses have lots of economic advisors and they still have a hard time understanding how it all works. Being a content providers and having licensing rights and knowing exactly what you are paying for is another complicated set of issues as well.

As far as the bullying goes, the bully could have nipped it in the bud by either not becoming a bully or apologizing the day after it happened or the next day or the next day, but the bully waited until the day after he was found out. Again, not a lot of facts there, so another complicated situation.

I do think that the problems with Joseon Exorcist could have been avoided. That is was not caught during any screening or simply ignored if brought up is probably a collective fault. I would like to think I live in a top 20 democratic country (US), and shows get cancelled here while airing often. Again, another complicated issue.

I agree that these articles and questions raised often stray from the purpose of talking about the love of Asian dramas. I hope it airs and we are able to discuss the drama, not the drama about the drama.

I know what you mean. Sometimes I just feel compelled to share my thoughts. I really do not know much about what the Snowdrop controversy is about, and I mainly just want more dramas so I have more choices. You only get a sharp mind with practice and I thought what you said was meaningful.

I am sure the" not so ugly" ugly girl/guy is common in dramas and movies. Dear Fair Lady Kong Shim is another one that comes to mind where I thought the drama was really good, but just did not see how the FL was supposed to be unattractive.

I have seen/read very few webtoons, but I tend to judge dramas and movies separately from other media. Usually the other media has more time and space to develop, change, and/or warp characters and plots.

You seem to be focused on the dramas themselves as a viewer and there should be nothing wrong with that since this is an Asian drama viewing site. Sometimes the articles on the site veer from the usual ordinary ones and crossover into something that has political, philosophical, cultural, or legal aspects. Those are the ones that everyone might have a hot take on, only to get a more thoughtful response. They are also the articles that generate conflict between commenters even if we all enjoy Asian dramas.

I would like to be able to choose what dramas I want to watch or not watch, but I understand that may not always be possible. River Where the Moon Rises, Joseon Exorcist, and Snowdrop are three different situations. I did not find it unreasonable with the firing from River Where the Moon Rises, nor did I see the cancellation of Joseon Exorcist being unreasonable. So little is known about Snowdrop, so I felt uncomfortable with saying it should be cancelled, but obviously people have complaints. Unless something new comes up, I think it should air first and let viewers see for themselves.

I did not say that authors write lies. I said it would be foolish to think that just because something is fiction that it is harmless.

Yes. Although I implied that they should not, not that they cannot. You agree with me, although it is certainly not phrased to appear you do.

Once again, we agree on this point, although you seem like you want to counter it. There seemed to not be enough evidence or facts to support the negativity the drama is getting. The exceptions being that the negative PR forced JTBC into making a PR statement and the South Korean government has to respond to the petition given a certain number of signers.

Is it really the Korean netizens that are the problem or is it anyone who does not take the time to research issues for themselves? Maybe the petition creators were a bit premature in their action or maybe there was some misunderstanding, but certainly some of them felt it worth the effort. Do all those who signed up (192k as of 4/7/2021) really do their homework before signing on? Probably not.
I hope and think that in the end, the drama will air. If the petitioners believed the early leaked plot, why not believe the JTBC recent synopsis? In that case, the government can say they will be watching and respond in an appropriate manner, while potential viewers can watch it and decide for themselves. With Joseon Exorcist, it was cancelled as it was airing, so it is not like there are no avenues if there are still issues with the drama.

I do not think that simply labeling something as fiction prevents it from being problematic (hurtful) in the eyes of others. I know it is an unfair comparison, but it is like saying that a lie is okay because it is not true. That simply is not how lying and truth works. Without knowing too much about the history of the events that the petition refers to, it is still obvious that it is a wound for some to this day.

I think equally as important as being a consumer of Korean products is having an informed opinion about what is going on with those products. All opinions are not created equal and they do not deserve the same treatment. Another unfair comparison would be thinking that buying a car means you should have a say in designing a car. Of course that would be silly unless the consumer is an engineer or in a related field.

Respect is a good foundation for building all those positive attributes like love, trust, and well-being. I do not think it should be a reason to have to pay attention to every thought or opinion that is out there. Some people say hurtful things and/or make factually incorrect statements. I am not sure how right it is to respect someone for thinking different, but I do think that you should treat that person with respect in your interactions.

Asian dramas have a tendency to use frumpy hair, thick glasses, freckles, heavy handed rouge application, and/or oversized and outdated clothing to symbolize ugly. Ju Gyeong's face did not say "ugly." It screamed "take me to a dermatologist!" The way Asian dramas portray females pretending to be males is often poorly done as well. I am trying to remember if My ID is Gangnam Beauty even showed a pre-surgery Kang Mi Rae since that is the drama that came to mind as I was watching True Beauty.

I do agree that the cast did not sell the message that "beauty is on the inside." I do think that the mains and most of the supports looking like models made any message about beauty hard to relate to. Even the plot seemed kind of shallow.

In the spirit of being fair and balanced, I will say that the drama had some really good moments and the actresses did a great job with their roles.

That is probably what you wanted to say, but that is not what you said. I do understand that it is an emotionally charged controversy and there are those who are loud all across the spectrum of views. It is pretty easy to type first and think second.
This is an English language Asian drama site, so it is not surprising that a majority of the commenters are more focused on the drama itself and want to see the drama rather than miss out on it.

I am a little disappointed in the petition, but not the fact that people might have had issues with the drama. For a drama that has months until the planned air date, was a petition to the government the most effective tool to use right now? You cannot undo the act of the petition and undo a signature. You can only remove them, but even that is a matter of perspective. I think it would be fair to say that the recent scandals, and the petition and cancellation of Joseon Exorcist played a role in the seemingly rush to petition for Snowdrop's halt. Unless there was concrete evidence of something that required government intervention, I would have rather let PR and viewership determine what should be produced and aired. My fear is that even if there turns out to be no large issues, there will be a group that is so entrenched in their position of "something must be wrong" that they will never let it go. My hope is that whatever happens with Snowdrop, that the next drama, the entire film industry, and entertainment itself can be judged on its own merits,

I would much rather see petitions, freedoms, rights (etc.) used as shields to protect ways of life rather than swords to attack them.

I do not think that being Korean entitles you to a valued opinion about Korean history. Everyone may have an opinion, but certainly Koreans are not the only ones to be able to grasp the historical or cultural significance of an event. If you have an informed opinion, backed by facts, and willing to defend it, why not welcome those opinions instead of discrediting them because they were not born in a particular country or time.

If censorship is bad, no matter the reason, how come there is no government with absolute protection against it? You would be hard pressed to find any non-government entities that have absolute protection against censorship.

I would hope to live in a place where government responds to even just one, especially if that one is me.

Hyun Bin got beat up, slapped, and kicked a lot. I do not recall the exact episode, but he got slapped and you could see the hand print on his face. With the way Hyun Jin Heon's mother treated him, I was not surprised that he did not seem to mind Kim Sam Soon's physicality.

I will do that. Thanks.