Beans of Wisdom: What’s in a name?

by DB Staff

This week in Beans of Wisdom…

insa asks in “Team Dramabeans: What we’re watching” (#27):

just a question,
how did you guys move on from a show that disappointed you because you feel like you wasting your time watching it all?
*the healthy way is preferable

I should add the information, it’s when you watched all the episode till the end, hoping to get some feels back so you hang on it but you don’t and you feels really bad for yourself…

pigsnout replies:

Just curse it really hard and let out all your feelings, then pick up something new. That’s the best way.

Nanoo adds:

Watch other show. There are bunchs of other good drama that can make you forget the drama that disappoint you. Try this out 🙂

kanz

I would just curse the show, like GG14Days and GFB, then finally move on with new dramas of course!
I usually watch several dramas a week so one disappointed show won’t deter me to watch any ongoing or upcoming dramas.

lunatic4kd’s question in “Jealousy Incarnate: Episode 8” sparks an interesting discussion on names and translations in comment #18:

I must have missed something in the first episodes but I just don’t get why the two moms are suddenly fighting over Palgang (why don’t we call her ‘Red’?). It must be about money, ultimately, because I missed why she was taken out of her stepmom’s house and has to be hidden. This part of the story annoys me because it feels so disjointed….or maybe I’m the one disjointed!

Peeps replies:

Palgang (why don’t we call her ‘Red’?)

Why don’t we call Susan “lily” or why don’t we call Charles “man”? We call her PpalGang because that’s the name she recognises and identifies with, whatever it may mean in English. Even if she’s just a character, it doesn’t sit well that we change her names for our convenience.

It’s like asking an east asian kid, or an indian kid or an arabic kid: “why don’t you have an English name?”

Frankly, I hate it the most when English speaking people go, “wow, chinese/japanese/korean/indian/etc etc names are soooooooo difficult to remember!” or “I can’t pronounce it!” without really trying. And then the worst is “imma call you Elizabeth”.

snailshell:

Discomfort is where you GROW, and people need to be pushed. They do just fine with long-up, complicated European names, but they ‘struggle’ with the so-so-foreign two-syllable (it doesn’t matter how many syllables tbh) Asian or African names. It’s just another kind of racism/colonial thinking, and it needs to be challenged.
I read this a while back (also about an Arab girl), it’s good: http://the-toast.net/2014/01/15/the-names-they-gave-me/

snailshell replies again:

[T]he struggle to have your name respected is real. I don’t think it’s okay to tell people not to be offended when you say their name wrong/decide to call them something that isn’t their name. (see:https://youtu.be/Dd7FixvoKBw)

DF subs are the only ones that translated Ppalgang’s name out, and I really don’t see any good reason for them to have done so, because it’s *not* English. I’d keep the name looking like a Korean name just to make it work in the English, so you don’t end up with an Aerith-and-Bob effect.

If you were really to translate the name out, it works better to go for ‘Scarlet’. People aren’t really called ‘Red’ (or ‘green’, Entertainer) in English, even if it’s technically ‘possible’. And since we’ve arrived at Scarlet…should Scarlett Johansson’s name be translated into the local language for ‘red’ wherever she goes? Should she be called Ppalgang Johans-adeul in Korea? Just because it can be translated?

irmar replies to snailshell:

I fully agree with you. In my country we have many immigrants who choose to adopt an easier to pronounce name. If I meet any, I always make it a point to ask for their real one, learn how to pronounce it and use that.

However, Geu-Rin in “Entertainer” was called Green by the bandmates, and there was this symbolic thing about the green umbrella. So in the show itself there was a wordplay about her name – therefore in that case, and only in that case, I think the subtitlers were possibly justified in writing that.

And LUNATIC4kd comes back to clear things up:

Please know that I meant NO disrespect when asking about Palgang vs. Red. I am actually obsessed with the correct use of correct names. It’s just that I haven’t heard the name ‘Palgang” as spoken by the characters probably because it is going over my head and I am just looking at the subtitles as I see them. I am committed to the correct use and pronunciation of all Asian names – and all non-Asian names. Our names are important! That’s why i was asking – because I wasn’t hearing (or seeing) her correct name! For instances, my real name is Christina – and absolutely NOT Christine – which people lazily use when first meeting me. I will gently correct when possible. So I just wanted to know why we’re seeing the name “Red” instead of ‘Palgang’ – when most drama subtitles tend to try to be correct with the right name.

DramaMama writes in “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: Episode 8” comment #40:

On a more general philisophical note, I was struck by the contrast in the reactions of the people to ugly So vs pretty So. I thought how sad it was that people “back then” valued a person’s looks so much that they would throw rocks and mud/poop at someone they deemed ugly. But remove that blemish, and suddenly they are bowing down because that same exact person is now considered worthy. I even shook my head in dismay at how shallow people like that were – looking only at outward appearances.

And then it hit me how I am the same way. I watch dramas and then come on DB to gush over how gorgeous this actor/actress is and get excited to see which pretty faces will be in the next drama. It is the human condition to value external beauty, whether we mean to or not, and oftentimes we choose it over internal beauty. Because I don’t really know the character of any of the actors/actresses I prefer – so most of my judgments are based off of my impressions from their looks.

As one who is not beautiful on the outside, I try, more often than not, to hide my flaws behind a mask or (Goryeon) BB cream. But inevitably, that mask will come off. Hopefully when that happens, folks around me see a positive vision from my internal character, not a menacing one like Su saw at the end.

In the same post, Snowy writes in comment #123:

Nice, BB cream was created in Goryeo. I wonder if they’ll put Subway PPL in this drama and how on earth will they pull that off? xD

“Crown Prince, here is the sandwich you want as to-go.” ~CP starts convulsing like the ajumma in Doctors~ -dead- ALL HAIL CROWN PRINCE SO

manquant

Just to remind you, that “ahjumma in Doctors” and Wang Wook’s queen mother is played by the same actress.

I’ll never not remember Subway PPLs as that patient-killing-sandwich hahaha

A refresher…

silentbeluga writes about a contentious scene in “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo: Episode 9” comment #1.10:

From a narrative standpoint though, that kiss is complete genius. It’s not romantic, so it plays with the viewer’s expectations (who have been waiting for So-Su for a while now) and it accomplishes two major things at once: one the one hand, it makes you feel for So, it really does and on the other hand, you completely identify with Hae Su and you’re horrified. It’s sort of a perfect mash of his period behavior and her modern sensibility, which means that we, the audience, identify with Su immediately, and yet we can’t ignore the layer of compassion and understanding that we developed for So over the course of 9 episodes. I understand her. I understand him. I’m not ok with what’s going on from a personal point of view. I’m totally ok with what’s going on from a narrative point of view. It doesn’t fit my taste necessarily, but it fits both the characters at the same time, in completely opposite ways. It’s the sun and the moon at the same time. It’s actually brilliant. Thank you writer, I didn’t think you had it in you.

While Sinjuma shares the complicated process of watching Moon Lovers in comment #6:

In my k drama obsession, this is the first time I have to (1) watch the live international broadcast; (2) read dramabeans recap; (3) watch the web version again for uncut scenes.

But I am not giving it up \^o^/

bips99 replies:

its become like a treasure hunt … figure out which gold nuggets are missing from your basket and then scour the internet like crazy and try to find them

pogo:

I swear, this drama is the most work.

Only for Lee Jun-ki would I do this.

The Hye-ji problems continue this week, starting in comment #2 of “Cinderella and the Four Knights: Episode 11.” Gem writes:

No face please show up, please, please. You are the only known fictional character capable of handling problems like Hye Ji while breaking drama dimensions, please come quickly.

Curious:

LOL if W and Cinderella somehow did mix, I dont think we would need No-face. Hye-Ji would diappear on her own (like character without their reason to exist) after Hyin-min rejected her the first time. I mean she seriously ONLY exists to day dream about him so…just waiting for her limbs to start flickering and disappering.

And in “Cinderella and the Four Knights: Episode 12” comment #4, PBY writes:

We’ve found our resident emo’s weakness! We only have to put her in a car and she’ll keep driving straight around the globe ;D.
On a more serious note, it shows that her character is extra annoying because she wasn’t given dimension – the only building blocks we got were severe depression, obsession, and needles – not the greatest mix. This tiny flaw of being bad at driving actually made her less aggravating.

Samantha Reed writes in “Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: Episode 9” comment #39:

I just love love love how we all come to fangirl together here.
Ever since I turned 30, I thought that fangirly side of me that squealed and talked and screamed to her tv or a book was dead. However, PBG showed up in my life and I have been squeeing, blushing, laughing, since I first saw him in Hello Monster, and that was when he was a psychopath. Now that he’s a swoony swoony Prince there aren’t even ways to measure my fangirling over him.

maryxiah

I think age don’t matter, we will always be fangirls no matter how old we get.

Regarding the sign-language confession in Episode 9, Celine says in comment #4.2:

That wordless conversation of OTP got me in the heart once again. There were people around them, but they were in their own world where only the two of them understands what is going on. It was poignant.

michykdrama:

Yes. definitely one of the best scenes. So beautiful.

They say a picture paints a thousand words. That scene was definitely a novel in how to confess love in the most special way possible. <3

and

Oh and I want to add that it was extra extra special because of the way the producer decided to splice in Ra On and Prince Yeong doing the hand sign simultaneously. That was just so meaningful and added that extra little bit of perfection to an already moving moment.

I love how Ra On unintentionally always manages to move Prince Yeong into confessing his feelings. Previously it was also because she asked him if unrequited love was not worth confessing, and that spurred him to confess the first time.

I love how the 2 of them are so intertwined with one another and how much Ra On affects Prince Yeong, and how they visually showed that in the scene with the hand signs.

Jenny notes at #8:

I love that Raon just didn’t give in to the confession. She has this inner struggle where she can’t even live as a woman so how can she love as one? That’s just so poignant throughout and it just really stays true to the drama’s coming-of-age arc.

When she was recalling her mom saying that she can only stop pretending being a boy when she can finally protect herself. Ugh. *tears*

And of course, I love the fact that she is brave enough now to be herself as she wears the hanbok infront of Yeong.

sancheezy:

agree . . . she didn’t just accept him and that gives her moments to be herself by her own decision in the classic thinking,

“when I can protect myself”, isn’t this a very good message?

Flightey Gazelles:

I really love that we were shown her personal and inner struggle. It wasn’t easy for her to come to such a decision. But I loved that it was a choice she made, after much struggle, deliberation and angst.
I also love that she came, not knowing how they will proceed from now on, hell, its still going to be a challenge for them to be together( not even factoring in the marriage). But just like Crown Prince, who was ready to confess his feelings, knowing that there was almost no way their love could ever be (he thought she was a man, plus she is also a eunuch, a servant) but wanted to tell the truth anyway, not expecting any breakthrough or solution, its the same for Ra On. She’s facing her identity, its not going to be easy. Its not some breakthrough for them to be together, but its the truth. Its brave and its open and sincere. I’m sure they will find a way forward… THEY MUST!! Victory shall be ours!!!
That little Princess is so adorable!! I loved her story and was so touched when she went back to open the door her self! It was such a brave step. Say what you want to say, let the words come out. Honestly I just want you to be brave!!!

We have another name discussion in Episode 9’s post, at #37, starting with MikoDee:

That last line where he calls her real name was incredibly sweet. Let me bask in their sweet, yet forbidden romance for a second…

O_o, at #37.3:

I think KYJ deserves so much praise acting this scene to perfection. Having lived all her life as Hong Samnom (“nom” itself means guy, dude in Korean) you could see how strange she thought her name sounded pronounced by herself to introduce herself to another person. Like she was thinking “but who is this Raon person? Doesn’t the name sound awkward, even ugly? Does this person really exist?” But when the CP called her “Raon-ah” so lovingly, all her doubts were gone and she felt for the first time how sweet her name sounded and how lovable this girl called Raon was.

And here’s Chandler at #70:

I love that our leads respond to each other’s facial expressions, not just the words they say. It’s part of what makes me feel so much along with them. After Ra-on told him her name, you could see her nerves and uncertainty over appearing as a girl before him cloud her expression. I love that I could see Yeong taking note of all this, and that moment of dawning understanding before he came out with just the right thing to say: her name, intimately. Ahhh, just perfect.

I’m actually really excited to see where this step from Ra-on will lead so I hope they wait on the royal wedding angst until next week or, at the earliest, the very end of next episode. I want a chance to see if claiming her identity as a woman will change her behavior. And, now that she’s onboard the romance, I’m really excited to see how she’ll respond to Yeong’s swoony advances now that she has nothing holding her back.

In response to the prince’s “punishment” kisses in “Moonlight Drawn By Clouds: Episode 10,” Apluszee says at #4:

I’d defy the Crown Prince’s order anytime just to get that kinda punishment ?

crazyahjummafan:

I’m surprised at Raon’s lack of rebellion!
CP: “I would like to have my lunch now.”
RO: “No, you can’t.”
KISS

CP: “Pls go to the library and get the books I need.”
RO: “No, I won’t.” KISS

CP :”Don’t let anyone disturb me in the garden.”
RO: “Hello your majesty! I’m here!” Kiss.

I can think of many more ways to disobey him, many times a day!

Michykdrama writes in comment #9:

Beanies I am exhausted after watching. I had a whole body work out! This show is pushing all my emotion buttons non stop!

[…]

? Angry Rage Button
This is like a personal button for the useless King- he ALWAYS activates this!
He makes me so fuming mad! He is such a scaredy cat.

To which Chiisan replies:

Pffft I feel the same about the King. He isn’t meant to be a bad guy, he’s just…so incompetent. We get it, he wanted to create changes and failed, hence the paranoia, but in the present state, he’s just a lazy written character who asks his son the Crown Prince the same questions episode after the episode.

Prime Minister Kim: “We don’t like your idea because we no likey you.”
King: “Yeah my son will have better ideas. Son?”

Prime Minister Kim: “The Qing demanded more gifts and stuff.”
King: “What do we do with them, son?”

Prime Minister Kim: “Your son wants to throw away the exam!! The exam!”
King: “My son knows best. Son?”

People: “You’re lame and this country belongs to us.”
King: “Halp mee, son?”

In “Lee Shi-un joins My Sassy Girl as Joo-won’s pal,” Littlecat writes a whole show for our favorite dramaland sidekick. In comment #15:

Subong-ie!! I wish Lee Shi-un’s role in W would turn into the role that elevates him to leading man status? Haha, if that’s something the actor wants, anyway – maybe he likes his comedic side-kick niche?

They should make a drama about a comedic side-kick reluctantly elevated to leading man status due to some cosmic behind the scenes mishandling, starring Lee Shi-un.

Plot synopsis: Drunk heavenly being accidentally puts Truck of Doom in wrong place, puts Lead in coma… whoops! They beg comedic-side kick to take over the lead role (or you know, provide some filler content) while they try to fix things. A magic walkie-talkie/mirror/book/tablet/PPL is provided for side-kick and main lead to communicate while they are in different planes of existence.

It takes some time (and a some hilarious shenanigans) for Lee to get used to his new role, but once he gets into it, somehow he starts fixing all the drama that the original lead (his best bro) was in. You know, instead of best bro angsting about relationship/daddy issues alone in his car, ex-comedic side-kick just communicates what’s going on, because he ain’t got time for that dramatic nonsense.

The entire time, ex-comedic side kick just wishes his best bro would come out of the coma, because this lead thing is HARD.

In the end, due to ex-comedic side kick’s intervention, annoying second lead girl gets sent swiftly away, original main lead girl is found to be nice but mostly just friend material. Ex-comedic side kick may have a budding romance, but the true focus is the ultimate bromance between ex-side kick and lead which is solidified by their supernatural adventure together and maybe a birth secret or two discovered while original lead is in the Other world (gasp, could they be actual brothers?!).

Layle shares something that is worth pondering in “Shopping King Louis: Episode 2” #24:

I also like that Oska is 40 in this drama. I know people are sensitive about age difference. And I’ve seen countless commentators on DB feeling icky about it. But as someone with parents with 20+ in age difference and nearing 30 years of loyal and supporting marriage, I’m glad that kind of romance gets a chance to be portrayed in dramaland.

seo in guk and ji chang wook, welcome back! replies:

Oh, I’m so glad I’ve read your comment. T___T I’ve also seen many comments on this site discussing the age difference as if it was something wrong. I never replied back, but tbh, those comments really hurt me on a personal level. My parents have an 18-years difference in age. And I swear you’d be hard-pressed to find a more harmonious couple. Of course, they quarrel but I’m 23 now, and they’re still together. It really hurts me to see that outside of my sheltered world, people view their relationship as something to feel disturbed or icky about. People never say things to your face, but reading comments online, I’ve come to learn that the majority of people disapprove, or find it uncomfortable. It shouldn’t hurt me, but it does. Knowing that something I’ve come to admire and treasure so much can be viewed by other people as strange or even disturbing by default.

On a positive note, what I’ve learned from this is that I always try to be open minded with other taboo relationships. I’ve realized ascribing your own prejudice to love and judging it when it’s something so beautiful for the people involved really narrows your understanding. T_T

In “Fantastic: Episode 6,” odilettante ends the recap with a note about a certain horrible character:

I suppose I could just refer to him by his actual name, Jin-tae, but that just seems so toothless, like the way you’d refer to a hideous monster as “Steve.” So if someone has any suggestions for an appropriate name for the worst husband in the worst family ever, feel free to let me know!

purplefan writes in comment #4:

Jinpoop would do! Ugh!!! I hate him and his family so much!

To which Sparky adds:

Jin-turd? Jin-tallywanger? Jin-Dick. Yes, that family earns the Worst K-drama family ever award. What happened to the father? Did the evil mother and her spawn roast him on a spit? Or was he so evil, he just descended straight into hell?

Or hanie‘s restrained response in #10:

I have a few in my minds but there is a reminder to stay civil before I add a comment, so, can we sort of change the rating for this thread? My suggestion would require PG tag on it cause that family makes me feeling murderous!
I never so much feels the need to set the whole family on fire and watch them burn while cackling.

ET:

Thank you! I was feeling lonely and criminal, LOL!

For now, I have to be satisfied with Sul sticking out her foot to trip Jin-sook’s man. Last week I wanted Sul to put laxatives for the family’s meals. This week I was thinking arsenic but a quick death is too merciful.

angieya

This family makes me want to pull out some methods of tortures from the Qing Dynasty and considering their state of mind resembles more of Joseon than 2016 I think it’s quite apt. ?

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