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Odds and Ends: Why do dramas do that?

girlfriday: Guess who’s gonna be at KCON this year?

javabeans: You get three guesses and the first two don’t count, considering we already totally let the cat out the bag.

girlfriday: Yeah not us. I meant PUPPY!

javabeans: Oh right. Although, Seung-gi isn’t on the concert list, so what’s he gonna do there as featured guest if not sing?

girlfriday: Give out hugs!

javabeans: I suppose he could just be playing the part of supportive boyfriend, or are we not acknowledging certain realities for this conversation? Let’s just say that I did worry for a hot second that girlfriday might not be able to control herself and do something embarrassing for all of us.

girlfriday: You might have to look into a leash of some sort, if you really want to keep that under control. So, now I know what I’ll be doing at KCON this year.

javabeans: Way to leave me with all the work. Especially when we’re scheduled to be on TWO panels this year instead of one. Please don’t make me sit there and talk to myself for an hour. That might get odd.

girlfriday: Strangely, that might be quite entertaining for the audience.

javabeans: Only if we equip you with a puppy-cam too. You could wear it on your head like those miners do.

girlfriday: Done.

javabeans: So, do we want to talk about our panel topics or are we not allowed yet?

girlfriday: Because it’s super top-secret important stuff!

javabeans: Shhh, nobody tell KCON. It’s just that while we know what we want to talk about, KCON hasn’t announced it yet. But since tickets are on sale now, maybe people might want to know, in case that would help make an informed decision? (Although really, “informed decision” for many people in this case might just be: “Seung-gi!”)

girlfriday: What, like you need more information?

javabeans: For now, what we do know is that we’ve got two panels planned, one that’ll be hosted by our friends at Viki, and one that’ll be exclusively for Dramabeans! We’re super excited about that one, and having gummimochi and HeadsNo2 there to be the moderators. So everybody, bombard them with your questions! (Not us, them!)

girlfriday: We’re still fine-tuning our panel with Viki, but the Dramabeans one will be called “Why Do Dramas Do That?”

javabeans: That seems appropriate and totally not lazy of us, to just steal ideas from ourselves instead of thinking real hard of new ones.

girlfriday: But we promise to actually talk about new stuff, and not read from our book.

javabeans: Yes, we couldn’t actually get away with being THAT lazy. On the upside, we do have material for our Parts 2 and 3 that aren’t out yet, so we can totally still steal from ourselves AND be fresh. This is what we call a win-win situation.

girlfriday: And if you hadn’t just said that, people wouldn’t even know we were stealing from Past Us.

javabeans: Well it’s really Past Us’s fault for not finishing the book already, so it’s the least they could do for us.

girlfriday: Good, as long as we’ve cleared up the ethics.

javabeans: So if you’ve got a question along the lines of “Why do dramas do that?” feel free to ask us now, and we’ll see if we can work it into the panel.

girlfriday: For starters, we’ll be talking about some of the latest trends and tropes to emerge from dramaland.

javabeans: So maybe less “what’s with all the dramatic U-turns” and more “why do serial killers get love interests?”

girlfriday: Are ex-husbands the new prince charmings and are halbaes the new flower boys?

javabeans: Basically, if you’re wondering it, we wanna hear it. ‘Cause sometimes you don’t know if a drama is crazy because you’re missing something in the translation, or if it’s crazy because it’s just crazy.

girlfriday: Except Doctor Stranger. That was just crazy.

javabeans: Ack! Get thee away from me, Doctor Stranger! My ten-foot pole just went and hid from me because it didn’t want anything to do with that craziness.

girlfriday: But the middle-ground cases are worth discussing, since as we know, drama logic isn’t always real-world logic.

javabeans: That’s very true, and sometimes those are the things that are interesting to parse—when something almost makes sense but maybe doesn’t make it all the way across the street.

girlfriday: Like challenging your serial killer to a race for the metaphor, or…

javabeans: Or plain challenging him to kill you to prove that he would have killed you if you hadn’t offered yourself up for the killing? You mean that?

girlfriday: Yes, that. Basically, dramaland raises a lot of these kinds of questions, and we’re going to talk about them.

javabeans: We’re still working out details of how the panel will work, and monitoring a simultaneous Twitter feed of questions is an option we’re entertaining. But maybe the better idea is to take questions in advance from you all, rather than trying to tweet and talk at the same time. Because let’s be honest, walking and chewing gum is pretty much the limit of my multitasking ability.

girlfriday: I’ve seen her trip and fall trying.

javabeans: WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS STAYS IN VEGAS.

 
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hehehehehehe

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i'm sorry. What did you say/write? You lost me at PUPPY!!!

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Yep, I'm gonna be lining up all day to get into Seung Gi's panel, if he has one. Anyone want to join me? lol

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He probably will have his own panel. Henry was the special guest last year and he had his panel for Final Recipe. So yeah, probably he'll have one. Im guessing that maybe that one with viki. Lol! Too bad I moved to the east this year and I won't be attending kcon this year

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Haha, The last line. And no way?! Seung Gi is going to be there!? This isn't a joke right?

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No Joke, he's there.

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Pupppyyyyyýyyy

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Oh so Lee Seunggi is gonna be a K-CON too? Girls' Generation is also attending.. hehehehe i hope they can do something there XD.

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The whole concept of KCON seems fun. I'd like to have it here.

Anyway because I can't go to KCON, here's my questions:
1. Why do dramas spare people who says ready to be killed and kill people who begs for live?
2. Why almost all sageuks become fusion (and not really follow historical events) in the recent years? Is it because people don't want to watch pure historical sageuk anymore?

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This is similar to:
Why do the good guys have to be punished if they stray from the moral path, but the bad guys get to be evil and be forgiven in the end?

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Indeed. It makes me want to be super evil. Well, at least I did make up some evil plots in my mind to torture who ever writes that plot.

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And why is it ok for the female characters to get slapped? No response from bystanders or from the character herself sometimes. It's like they think "I deserved to just get slapped." Where is the can of whoopass that needs to be opened after such an event???!

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Seung Gi should totally sing at KCON cos he's just absolutely charming and charismatic when he does. My sis who wasn't a fan became one after listening to him sing live. Can't wait to read more about your encounter with him, GF!

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Why does a drama (that I am still watching and want to LOVE so badly) have a guy who is trying to hide his identity, make him return 3 years later and in the FIRST SCENE of his new identity make him show off his gun shooting skills? (I mean, it looks like the guy we thought we killed. It sounds like the guy we thought we killed. And all of a sudden there is a new "unknown" gun toter. Geez, could it possibly be that guy who just stepped off the boat and showed everyone he was a crack gun shot?

Sorry if this is off topic. But I really, REALLY wanted to love this drama, but why is it doing this?

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THANK YOU! I'm so with you on this one! I'm still watching it but that point really gets to me! Just Why? Why?

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Ah ! It sucks to live continents away !!!!!!!

And that last line, ha haha haha haha ha, am sorry JB, but I totally pictured you doing that in my head and crying out 'Omona'!!!!! :'D
?????????

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I'm not submitting myself to that torture for the 3rd year in a row but you guys have fun!

Don't make Seunggi's security hurt you

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Ooh! You have been? Can you share any info/experience you have?

It does seem like K-Chaos from the lack of information available. I bought my tickets for my daughter and me, but I have no idea when anyone will be doing anything except the concerts.

I am hoping there is something that will allow us to plan when to go and see the panels we want.

I read that last year JB and JF were there early.

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And I'm counting on you Jomo to get all the juicy and exciting stuff later on ^_^

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LOL I thought about GF when I First heard Seung Gi would be there. Have Fun

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I wish I was there I would have waited for seung gi all day all night all my life ! Ahhhhh puppy ! Does he even know he has such a hugr fan base ! Not just in us but in middle east and euorup ??

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In the middle east?! As in HERE?! I would LOVE to meet these people cause it's hard to find other fans of puppy and kdrama/pop in general :p

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Im Airen_Ph but im living in Dubai so im one of the Seunggi fan who live in one of the Arab Country. We Airen Philippines always do meet up once in awhile.. Where are you from Aida?

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there are a lot of kdrama/kpop fans in ME. i'm from Iran.

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Aww Lee Seung Gi why does it have to be you?!

anyway, since I'm also oceans away from KCON,

Why do dramas love parallelism? (I'm not really sure about the term but it's when scenes from a character are going to happen to some other character in the future)

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LOL you have loads of fun with Lee Puppy!
Q:
Why does fate ruin everything when that's NOT necessary at all? Like the end of a great drama from SBS.

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Could you, by any chance, get your panel filmed and publish the video for us who are unable to teleport ourselves to K-CON, please? Pretty please?

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I second that!

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someone please make (allow) this to happen!!

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when i heard that puppy will be there i was jumping up and down in behalf of girlfryday. ( let's ignore a ceritain reality for just two days)

so fangirl dreams do cometrue!!!

both of you make sure to get hugged by the most adorable lee puppy and get cute selca's and ask about his future plans in acting .

yunno he's gonna do a movie with moon chea won next. what about another drama before enlisting for two years .

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Where does Dramabeans get those high quality screen caps? I would like to make some of my own, but whenever I look it up, I get websites that assume I am already so web-savvy that I don't need detailed explanations!

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They d/l the raw and screen cap from there.

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Ah! This is what is what I was talking about. What is "raw feed," what format is it in, and what software allows one to screen cap from it? Everyone on the Internet seems to know how to do this but me.

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I don't know about raw feed, as in watching it live online from the networks as they air.
I do know that you find a site that has the.avi or .mkv files of the episodes that you can d/l. (Google the episode name and download to find the sites.) There is a word I am not typing but if you go to the soompi threads, they wlll mention this word. It rhymes with zorrent.

The files are usually about 1.2G in size for a typical 720p 70 minute episode. The player I use is VLC and available as a free d/l. It will play the associated .srt subtitle file with the video. I can do constant screen grabs just by hitting option + command + s They are pretty clear.

If I am watching viki or dfever or any other streaming on my mac, I do ctl+shift+3 to screen grab whatever is on my screen. It isn't as fast and they don't come out as hi-res as when I do the VLC grabs.

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Aha! I see . . .

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*boooooow* Very kind of you to be so generously informative. <3

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OMG. I want to go to Kcon SO BAD. TT
PLEASE tell me that you'll make someone tape it this time and put it up on your site? Pretty please? It's the closest we international fans can get to watching you guys live.

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OMG. I want to go SO BAD. Can you please make someone tape it this time and put it up on your site? It's the closest we international fans get to see you guys live. Pretty please?

My question : why does it seem like the actors who get a lead role in cable channels only end up playing the second leads in major networks? despite being quite popular?

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Didn't mean to send it twice ! Slow internet problems.

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The last line :))))))))))
Here's my question:
Why do characters (esp the otp) always encounter each other in the past -then forget that- and meet again in the future and fall in love? Why can it not be TOTAL strangers falling in love? Fate is annoying...

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Wut? Lee seung gi??? ... I usually brag I'm proudly African... but guess who isn't so happy to be in Africa right now

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My WDDDT question is why sageuk heroines are so very badass, while modern heroines are so infantilized.

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I second this question!

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This is a great question. I also want to know.

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Great question, I've begun to become annoyed at the childishness of drama heroines.

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The "Puppy-cam" ...... *laughing*

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Does this mean that you can't talk about Yoona's casting as Nodame so as to not put LSG in hot spot? Otherwise, I think reasons for casting choices would make good topic and eye-opener for us not in the business. Much like what King of Dramas did.

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James94131 ~

Nodame shouldn't be off limits. Someone needs to tell Yoona that she's ill suited for the role. She's getting bad advise from money grubbing agents or studio executives.

If her oppa can't give her the truth, then he's not a very good oppa at all.

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It's very likely that Yoona has little real choice in whether or not she ends up with this role. This is not her decision to make. Don't underestimate how much control her management has. There's a reason being an idol means giving up the majority of your freedom (and this issue exists in varying degrees in every entertainment company, not just hers).

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Agreed that this is not Yoona's choice. This casting is product of deal put together by financial investors, producers, and management companies who don't really care about the quality of the product. Only how much money can be made.

On the flip side, Yoona's stunt double and hand double for keyboard shots might get just as much air time as Yoona.

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Someone should tell her or like you said, give her the 'truth'. How did you know her oppa give her this 'truth' or not if she's still going to do it in the end anyway. If you implied about the decision, as someone who had fight over career decision, I don't like it.

Some people may think differently, but for me, my oppa won't make my decision. My oppa can give me advice, pro and con, but please, let me decide for myself. If I failed I'll accept it as my regret or maybe mistake, better than pushing the regret and hate to someone else for making decision for me.

Sorry for the OOT, but can't help and wanted to get this off of my chest, gonna stop here.

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well, he probably won't be be there listening to the panel ya know..

Even fans don't really know what he's going to do.

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i won't be able to attend your panel discussion but i have a few questions...

(1) how come parents in dramas are always against their child's boyfriend/girlfriend but the grandparents are always for? do parents and grandparents always have different preferences? [i.e. smile you, glorious days, marriage not dating, ... and the list goes on]

(2) how come drama heroines have never been in relationships even though they are already in their mid-20s? [almost all dramas not aired in cable]

(3) how come lead male characters are perfect but flawed but the lead female characters' only redeeming quality is that they are pretty, kindhearted and bright (not bright like smart but bright like optimistic or has a sunny personality)? most lead female characters are uneducated (or less educated compared to the males), poor, sassy at best and with a foul mouth at worst, cannot cook or do chores (but some males have pristine clean bachelor pads), etc.

(4) why do dramas always have ppl of outdoor clothes and materials? is hiking/camping/etc such a big deal in south korea?

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+1 for all your questions, except the last one, because I know the answer :D

Hiking and camping IS a big deal in Korea. You totally need to have hiking gear, even for a short trail (let's say Bugaksan). 75% of Koreans hike with proper gear from head to toes. The remaining are half-equiped or just plain original. Or maybe even Japanese or Korean-Americans.

So there is an estimated remaining 25% that hiking gear companies need to convince they are weirdos. I guess these companies provide free clothes for everyone in the drama. *Social and psychological warfare on*

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I have not a clue about the answer to questions # 2, 3, and 4 but for question #1, this seems to be a common situation in many cultures. As in "a person often has the children his or her own parents wanted". It's like rebellion skips a generation or something. Certainly true in my case.

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Have so many Whys but the main bugbear is:
Why can't the hero and/or heroine be the offspring of a happy intact family with both parents alive/well/still happily married? Most of the time there's only 1 parent or the parents are terrible.

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Girlfriday: Really, really hope you get to meet Puppy in person. And that you'll somehow orchestrate to get a hug from him, if he's not giving them out freely. He's totally gorgeous and charming in person! I've managed to shake his hands thrice, get him to look at me in the eye and smile at me (while I was walking up the stage to hi 5 him) and sneakily turn my hi5 into a hand grasp. All that's left is a hug!

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I hope you get to meet him too, girlfriday, but I also hope that you won't cry or faint because you somehow remind me of two friends that did that when they got to meet their own Puppies.

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0.o lucky!!!!!!!!!!!
Man! I wish i was in the US just for PUPPY!!!!!! And i think i had a question but totally forgot it 'cause i'm so upset over not getting a hug from seunggi oppa!!!!! :'(

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I don´t have a "Why do"- question, but... I´ll repeat my Open Thread question ....or let me rephrase it. I asked if recent /current dramas were snack, what snacks would each of them be?

But instead, if they were different coffee drinks, what kind would they be? which one is the americano (that always gets ordered but gets so repetative), which one is unbearably sweet life caramel macchiato, which one has a lot of fluff, which on is plain, which one is strong, bitter, creamy, gone cold etc.?

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1. why do dramas turn side characters to caricatures so often ?

must admit, lately we get really enjoyable secondary characters (like Spinach or everyone in man From the Stars etc) that it feels like a turnaround

2. why do they insist doing remakes of already perfect and legendary jdoramas or films and why do they insist on casting someone who is just not the type? and why don´t they honestly listen to public opinion about that? Fans know it won´t work (NODAME.)
I seriously don´t understand why the remake is necessary.

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I can answer number 2 for you. Korean companies remake popular j-dramas for the same reason that Hollywood consistently looks to remakes/sequels/other existing properties for movies or tv shows. They want to make the most money they can and it helps if your latest product is recognizable/well known/already acclaimed in one area. Furthermore it makes it easy to craft a show if you don't have to come up with everything from scratch. As for why they cast people who aren't suited to the part, that's because they probably don't have a good understanding and/or respect for the source material (see Kimi wa Petto) so their first thought is to cast people who are very well known, popular and who (they believe) will help hook people who aren't familiar with the source material (so the people who aren't tuning in just off of the basis of their interest in or love for the original).

I have never seen anything related to Nodame, although I heard of it when it was still just a popular anime/manga but I would still rather they not go with Yoona for the role because I actually like Yoona and I would rather she not spend the rest of her acting career being referred to as the girl who ruined Nodame or the reason that Nodame remake sucked. I don't think she's a particularly good actress either (very expressive irl but she has major issues emoting on screen) but it saddens me that should she end up with this role, she'll probably never be able to be taken seriously or be able to work on improving her acting without people immediately shooting her down because she helped ruin this show that they love so much. This should be a good opportunity but I feel like this will just end up being a black mark on her career and image and that's really unfortunate.

However this is just my two cents as someone who likes Yoona and who has no interest in or intention of watching this show whether she ends up in it or not.

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Send my warm regards to Seung Gi, GF. :)

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My greatest wish is for Seunggi to sing 내 여자라니까 and switch "noona" with "Yoona." He'd make everyone freaking squeal more than ever.

윤아 내 여자니까~

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well, NOTT his noona fans including girlfryday noona .

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well they SHOULD be happy for him. *grumps to myself*

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I am soooo envious and happy for you both! GF, I hope you get your hug.

As for my question - Why does everyone take the blame for one person's actions, EXCEPT (usually- I think there was one exception) the person who is actually at fault?

This can sometimes irritate the &@$$ out of me! I think there was one where 4-5 people kept saying it was there fault he was such a @$$, when it was totally NOT! This drives me crazy: people should be responsible for their own actions, especially after 25!

Sorry for the rant. Have lots of fun for those of us who can't go. Also, try to video it so we can see.

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Awwww!! Seung-gi's gonna be there?? I've been busy the last few weeks so I haven't been up to date with his recent activities but I'm kinda ecstatic for you GF! Wish I could've gone this time around, but it's a little late to plan that out. Hope there's a next time.

Hope you guys have lots of fun in KCON. As a consolation for those who couldn't go, can we get a podcast/write-up on your experience?? Specially how it was to meet Seung-gi. I'm excited to hear about it!

P.s. What realities? I know none at all that involves a certain SNSD member. I dunno what you're all talking about *shrugs innocently*

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Nooooo! Bluegrass festival that weekend. I'll make it one of these years. You guys have fun, and try not to scare Puppy too much with your unswerving devotion!

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how lucky you guys are!!! to realllyyy meet seung gi. gahhhh.

maybe this is the karma's way of
repaying you guys for the hardwork you two do.and i totally owe it to gf for her 1n2d recaps for introducing me to the worlds most precious bias to fangirl over and also the world
best variey show.

and about the question why every romcom turn melow and makjang by the end???? and the cheabols . do sk really have those drama cheobals in real life?? the kind inherit the world at 18. and are most of the time are jerks.

and why is current drama ratings getting low? is double degits the new 20's for real now? or is it just a phase post the tragedy?

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Aw, I wish I could go to K-Con! To see you guys, not LSG, ha.

I have a question: I've heard that the marriage rate in Korea is low (and decreasing) and yet parents in dramas are always obsessed with marrying their kids off. I'm sure you can't speak for all of the parents in Korea, ha, but how does that jibe with the real expectations that Korean parents have for their kids and/or the attitudes towards marriage that are currently held in Korea by younger people and also their parents?
I'm sorry if this is a little too broad, lol. If you can't answer it, I completely understand.

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Basically TV dramas do not reflect reality - they commonly present some idealized version of reality.

And in this particular case that you brought up - I suspect that there is a social message there also. The South Korean birthrate has once again fallen to an all time low (like many developed countries), so "they" (we all know who "they" are, right?) are pushing for more babies.

Some subjects in k-dramas are totally avoided, which of course makes them by definition not truly realistic. For just one example, watch this http://youtu.be/yAxhsI4jLoA

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Sounds like KCON will be a blast!

Here are my questions for the panel:

1. Why are lead females often so childlike, almost infantile despite their age, and the second lead female is sexy and attractive?

2. Why are evil characters almost always forgiven and embraced by all at the end - despite poisoning people, stealing, attempted murder, etc. etc. Perhaps forgiven can be understood, but embraced by those they tried to kill?????

3. Why do the heroines take all kind of shit and NEVER stand up for themselves or point out the injustices that have been done to them even though they see them and could easily state what is going on?

4. Should we add Noble Idiocy? I am so tired of it - don't the writers have any other ideas? Enough already!

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I second all your questions.

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All of the above are common tropes that just aggravate the hell out of me. They are some of the most over-used tropes in k-dramas, especially on broadcast TV (as opposed to cable).

But by far the most aggravating is #3 - sadly because to some extent it is true, though much less now than even 10-15 years ago.

For some interesting insight, read this http://smudgem.blogspot.com/2013/05/avoiding-conflict-and-korean-in-laws.html

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Holy crap! Seung Gi! I looked online, and it seems B1A4 will also be there. UGHHHH, I wanna go so badllllyyyyy. Lee Seun Gi is sooo beautiful, stab me in the face.

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Lee Seung Gi? As in the person? Attending? For real??

Wonder what needs to be done to get him to the dramabeans panel. Of coat he would totally steal the show but I don't think you would mind. Would you? Closer proximity? No 10m pole, no ruler. Only crazy glue cos y'know it sticks better.

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My question: why are the old rich guys always short and broad and toad-like, while the young ones are beautiful, tall and willowy? Do the heart-throb actors shrink as they age?

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I've always wanted to go, but none of my friends like kpop or kdramas so i can't go with them. My sisters like it, but not enough to go ugh!

I hope LSG has a panel and meet and greet of some sort

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Ugh, me too! I think I'll drag my boyfriend there, but he's going to complain all the time, so I don't know :)

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Here's my question--
What's with all the contests/competition at work? We had a really insane long drawn out example of it in Doctor Stranger, but it's definitely not the first time I have seen it. There were at least 3 or 4 in Baby-Faced Beauty, Cunning Single Lady, and even Trot Lovers has had two already, although the "faux Immortal Song" competition has some actual relevance to the heroine's profession.
Is it common when working in Korea (or other Asian companies according to my viewing experience) to suddenly find yourself forced into a contest, where you must put your job on the line and your opponent (who will definitely cheat) has little to no consequences? Can't you just say, "No thanks, I'll just keep doing my JOB!?"
Luckily we know that pluck and/or fate will win out, but the pointlessness of it all still rankles at times.

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In some Korean newspapers there have been a few editorials about "drinking contest culture" at many companies, so at least some people in South Korea see it as an issue.

And you see that used in drama all the time - where people feel obligated to drink themselves to the point of falling down drunk to keep up with the boss or some other authority figure. Sadly, it has a lot of truth to it.

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My question is why is it cute/funny for the heroine to get falling down and/or passing out drunk?

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Some Korean sites are now calling it a national epidemic, so it has some basis in reality. Why it is considered "cute" is totally beyond me though. It seems like there is no Korean girl that can get through more than a couple of episodes without getting falling down passed out drunk and then puking all over (usually on the hero).

It is not just that dramas show it so often that bothers me, it is that they almost seem to glorify it.

"As the world’s leading consumer of hard spirits, South Koreans love to drink. Hard. According to the World Health Organization, South Korea is the leading country in heavy spirits consumption. Soju, the country’s unofficial national alcohol, is the best-selling sprit worldwide, outselling vodka, whiskey, and rum with a commanding lead of 90 million cases sold every year."

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Windsun33 Thanks for all your replies. As much as I enjoy(ed) the dramas, the "glorifying" of drunken stupor bothered me in "Lie to Me" and now "Married, Not Dating" and countless dramas in between. Too often it's used as a way for the hero to see the heroine in a "new" more genuine positive light. It's like: get drunk, get the guy.

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I hope Girlfriday and Javabeans get to meet and hug Puppy.And please do wear those miners camera for our benefit :)

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GF, please write us 1 full long page about how charming our puppy seunggi at KCON. Can't wait..

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It's weird how I was at peace with never meeting Puppy-oppa when he was in SK, but now that he will be in the US and I still can't see him I am increeedibly depressed :'( So close and yet still so far....

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1. I want to know the evolution of the White Truck of Doom as being chosen to be drama's favorite vehicle for killing pedestrians.

2. Why are nosebleeds the symbol for working too hard?

3. Why do I never see anyone flinch (or try to block) when they get a glass full of water tossed at them?

4. Why are non-lip kisses always on the forehead? I almost never see the heroine get kissed on the cheek.

5. Why is the Americano the go-to coffee order? Is it that popular in Korea?

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LOL re #2: a generation ago nosebleeds were a sign of incurable cancer or brain tumor. I guess the writers finally realized how really stupid and medically misleading that was. Too many mothers must have freaked out every time their child got a nosebleed.

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and in mangas they are a sign of overwhelming sexual desire sometimes....

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Good Lord! Those KCon ticket prices are no joke!

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I have just started watching dramas the past few months and have been watching sooooooo many dramas. And I love to read all the stuff on here and it makes me laugh a ton. But I kind of switched to some taiwanese shows because their physical interactions seemed more natural (for example in city hunter when they get the call about Lee min Ho being a bone marrow match and they are SO excited that they stand and smile at each other. I mean seriously why couldn't they HUG?) so my questions are these:
1. After enduring all kinds of crap to be together, making all kinds of sacrifices, defying all the people, why in the last episode do they then say they have to be apart for 1, 2, or however many years? After not being able to tell the truth about whatever because they were so afraid of losing whoever because they couldn't take the risk of not seeing that person for even a day, but now that everything is good they are going good to leave for a super long time?
2. Is there such a thing as call waiting on Korean phones? Soooooo many problems could be avoided with that one feature. Also is it pay per text or pay per call and so people would rather never call but just wait around constantly?
3. There should be some sort of rule that the lead characters need to spend at least 15 ( or whatever amount of time) minutes per episode interacting with each other; since that is one of the main reasons I am watching. And also, at least, at some point, to have them have some sort of happy/laughing fun time together. I enjoy a bickering couple as much as anyone but there needs to be laughing too with the main couples or else I think they SHOULD end up with the perfect second lead (coming from a been married 14 years perspective).
4. The evil second leads: what rational person would look at a person who is in love with someone else and think "oh I can MAKE them love me even though he/she really likes this other person." I can jump more on board with people just liking to mess things up for someone else just because or revenge rather than thinking I can force that person to feel something if I just work hard enough at it.
5. Noble idiocy must end. How can they use the justification that i have brought too much pain and unhappiness into their lives so now I am going to leave.......and make them even more unhappy......or push them to be with someone they really don't want and make them unhappy in that way.
6. More awesome heroines! Please make them smart and tough and calling those rude/cold chaebols out when they talk about how ugly they are or how fat they are. And just because they had some dramatic event in their lives that made them this way and the heroine can understand where he is coming from doesn't mean they should be treated so terribly.
7. It kills me when they finally kiss and then they never hug or kiss again until the end. They start the relationship off with a bang and then it is like they go back to nothing.
8. The clothes. I don't...

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And quickly.....
I forgot about the fainting fevers where they are unconscious for five hours and rainstorm colds where they get wet once and become ill......

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And get pregnant the first there is an allusion to sex.

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I could not agree more with you on nearly all of those. For a while a lot of the dramas took sort of a vacation from some, but they have been back in full force lately.

4, 5, and 6 are my biggest gripes. To me it indicates that the writers are (one or both): stuck in a rut and afraid to try anything new, or stuck in a cultural mindset and somehow those stupid thing actually make sense to them. Lately it seems only maybe one in ten dramas are not just some rehash of 20 previous dramas with different actors.

I have watched probably 250-300+ dramas, frankly I am getting really tired of some of those same old tropes repeated time after time in drama after drama.

I have been watching a lot more Japanese dramas lately, not just because they have a much wider range of subjects, but because mostly people ACTUALLY ACT LIKE REAL PEOPLE and do thing that real people would. The mother does not start setting wedding plans because she saw her daughter standing next to some stranger.

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#4 is my most hated trope of all time! Especially when the second lead keeps telling the girl who doesn't want him that he is determined and won't quit. He thinks this will make the girl like him? And why can't the girls just reply "sorry, I will never like you, leave me alone?"

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Just wanted to show my excitement for my first KCon this year! Whoop whoop!

I know that KCon will probably be the worst place for my question to be discussed, but why can't primetime K-dramas get anything other than idol music for their OSTs? I just started watching Potato Star last week, and there are a lot of great indie artists and bands on the OST (including its star Jang Kiha, of course). It's the first show that hasn't had a heartfelt moment ruined by a poorly timed idol song.

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