Odds and Ends: Inheriting the drama gene

by javabeans

javabeans: So my parents are newly Roku’d and Hulu’d, which means they have finally discovered the joys of watching dramas at will, after decades of only watching whatever was on the TV every night (which, in LA, is pretty plentiful as the shows stick to the Korean broadcast schedule for dramas, only about a month behind).

girlfriday: Up until now they never watched anything that wasn’t just on at the time? That’s nuts.

javabeans: Well, my mom says she was afraid to get with the streaming program because she has an addictive personality and would get sucked in. Gee I wonder what that’s like.

girlfriday: But that’s like… WHY we watch dramas. To embrace the addiction.

javabeans: I know your parents are way more savvy than mine, so maybe this is no big deal, but for my parents it’s a huge step forward into the 21st century! Plus, now they get a choice of everything — for years the LA market was shut out of MBC dramas, so they weren’t able to watch those. Then in recent years it was SBS that was the holdout, so they’ve missed a lot of great shows.

girlfriday: Even though my parents have all those channels too, they were always the ones going to the video store every week (yunno, back in ye olden days of VHS) to pick the shows they wanted to watch. So now of course they have accounts with all the streaming sites available, in Korean and otherwise.

javabeans: I set up the Hulu queue with all the shows they’ve said they want, and some recommendations based on what I know they like. (So for my mother that’s Secret Garden and Queen Seon-deok and A Gentleman’s Dignity and You From Another Star.) They’re all there in the queue… and what does my mom beeline for first? Winter Sonata, for the thirtieth time.

girlfriday: LOL. She likes what she likes?

javabeans: What she likes is Yonsama.

girlfriday: One day your daughter will laugh at your love of Lee Min-ho. It’ll happen.

javabeans: NEVER! He will age like Jang Dong-gun — that is to say, gracefully and gorgeously — and nobody can mock Jang Dong-gun! Not for his looks, for sure. But surprisingly it’s been my dad who’s super into the Roku, apparently, and every night is glued to the TV for a couple more episodes of Dong Yi. I recommended Empress Ki to him since they both like Ha Ji-won and historicals, but my dad waved his hand and was all, “Nah, that one’s all wrong. They just make up history!”

girlfriday: Yeah that’s a no-no with dads. Why is it so predictable that dads watch sageuks (the dry boring ones are best, according to them)?

javabeans: They don’t even MAKE sageuks that are boring enough to please my dad anymore. They’re all too “flashy” and “exciting” and “entertaining” nowadays. Psh!

girlfriday: Ha. That’s like telling me it’s too good to watch. But then, I have equally confusing arguments with my mom too, because she likes Love Rain and Mary Stayed Out All Night. Hm, maybe my mom just likes Jang Geun-seok.

javabeans: My mom, circa You’re My Destiny: “This is the wooooorst drama I have ever seen, in my entire life! It’s terrible! Nothing makes sense! I can’t believe it’s a drama!” Me: “Are you going to stop watching?” Mom: “Well I want to know what happens.”

girlfriday: Both our moms liked Heirs. I was a snob to her all throughout dinner when she told me that.

javabeans: I couldn’t argue with my mother because she acknowledged every single complaint I had about the show, and then replied with, “I know, but it’s so cute!” And “I know, but I don’t care!” And “I know, but I like it!”

girlfriday: I had this really surreal experience a few weeks ago when my mother told me all about how she liked this band, and it was called CN Blue, and how they were so clean-cut and cute, and they were all in dramas and stuff. I died laughing.

javabeans: That must have felt like how I felt when my mom told me there’s this really cute pop star named Justin Timberlake who dances real good. With my dad, it’s like the conversation in the most recent episode of Witch’s Romance where he’s all about the old-school pop and trot songs and I’m the punk going, “Oh, didn’t Big Bang remake that?”

girlfriday: Ha, I loved that sequence.

javabeans: But taste is taste, I guess. My parents regularly ask me for recommendations since I know about stuff before they do, and they’ll nod and say, “Oh, that sounds fun, I’ll be sure to watch it.” And then I check back with them and they’re watching, like, Hundred Year Inheritance instead.

girlfriday: Right after Winter Sonata for the thirty-first time.

javabeans: Well, that Yonsama sure isn’t going to sit around appreciating himself. Okay actually, maybe he would. But there’s nothing quite like an ajumma’s adoration.

girlfriday: We should bottle it, like how celebrities make their own perfumes and stuff. Ajumma’s Adoration: The Official Pick-Me-Up to the Stars. We’ll be gazillionaires!

 
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