Arranged marriage is clearly better than prozac!

[dangermousie]

Drowning in the somber, historical dramas (I love them but it's nice to have a change), I finally decided to check out Golden Bride and so far (one ep in), it's every bit the sparkly delight I have been promised.

One word of warning: it's a pretty long drama. The original run was supposed to be 50 eps but it did really well and got extended to 64.

But if you don't mind that, then it's purely awesome.

The protagonist is Nguyen Jin Joo (Lee Young Ah), a half-Korean, half-Vietnamese girl who lives in Vietnam with her mother, her Korean father having done a runner a long time ago. Jin Joo works as an interpreter in an agency which arranges marriages for Korean men with Vietnamese women (apparently an existing cultural phenomenon). Arranged marriages with Vietnamese brides are often a sort of a thing of a last resort for Korean men who might find it hard to find a bride in Korea for economic or personal reasons, as the Vietnamese ladies are more inclined to marry a problematic individual because of Korea's higher standard of living.

Jin Joo is money-fixated (she needs money because her mother's health is not good), charming, perky, cheerful, and delightful. Which is just as well because her future husband Kang Jun Woo (Song Chang Ui) is a total basketcase. Yes, Jin Joo decides to follow the steps of her clients and marry a Korean man of her own because she needs the money and because she is trying to locate her missing father. And through drama machinations, that Korean is Jun Woo.

Jun Woo is young, good-looking, and has his own hair. So why is he looking for a Vietnamese bride? Well, where do I start? Even though he was incredibly intelligent and graduated with honors from Seoul University, he's been unemployed since, for three years. Jun Woo's problem is that he is mentally ill. Oh, not insane or anything like that, but due a traumatic event in his past (his fiancee walking out on him and him receiving a pretty bad beat-down on the head during that event) he couldn't even leave the house for a long time, and even now if under stress, he will have fits and faint. Which, needless to say, precludes any form of gainful employment (there is a scene in ep 1 where he has a fit during an interview and awwwwww). Not only that, but since Korean society stigmatizes mental illness he is a pariah and no woman would ever want to marry him. So his mother, at her wits' end, arranges for him to go to Vietnam and find a bride who will be less picky. Enter Jin Joo, desperate to get to Korea...

And the story goes from there. There are a lot of other characters (this is a 64 ep story after all) and fun ensues.

For one, I can't wait until the harpy who ditched poor hero comes back and tries to ensnare him back. Because I bet she will!

It also promises me multiple ships! Look at this adorable MV for Hero's younger sister and the younger brother of the guy who married the harpy who ditched the Hero.

Comments

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

Arranged marriages with Vietnamese brides are often a sort of a thing of a last resort for Korean men

That's...pretty insulting. But then again, does it only apply to Vietnamese women living in Vietnam? XDDDDDD

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Not my opinion, since I know nothing about the topic, but what I read on-line.

It only applies to Vietnamese ladies living in Vietnam. It's sort of like the phenomenon of the Russian bride we have in the US. Because the woman is from a country that is much worse off economically, a guy from the better-off country will be able to get a bride that would normally be way out of his class.

Didn't mean to sound insulting, sorry...

[boycottbananas.livejournal.com]

Lol, it's okay. XD I was just joking a little, anyway. :]

That actually makes sense. ^^ Thanks for clearing it up. :D

I'm watching the third video you posted, and it looks cute! The relationship between the Hero's younger sister and the younger brother of the guy that the harpy married is kinda one that's forbidden, isn't it? :]

[calixa.livejournal.com]

I am stuck on the name. "Nguyen Jin Joo"? Why didn't she take her father's last name? I thought he was korean? And she would have been teased something awful for being called "Jin Joo" in Vietnam. Sorry, I am half-Viet and this stuff always sticks out to me.

[calixa.livejournal.com]

It's definitely true. A few relatives of mine (and family friends and friends of friends - well, basically everyone knows somebody who's done this) have married very young, pretty Vietnamese women from Vietnam and immigrated them here. These girls don't seem to realise - and I don't mean to be insulting, either - that the men who resort to marrying overseas isn't always exactly a catch in his country and a lot of these marriages fall apart.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't think her parents were married or anything. And if the clips are anything to go by, she was teased as a kid.

However, even I can't explain her perfect Korean but faltering Vietnamese :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that happens with Russian brides all the time, too.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup, they are forbidden because their families are enemies. SQUEE.

[animeshon.livejournal.com]

Oooh, adding this to my list! :D

[village.livejournal.com]

You make this show sound all kinds of awesome. But 64 episodes. I'm still traumatized by the neverending Yi San (I've been stuck on episode 65 for like six months now) but it sounds like it could be a winner.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, GB is neat now (though who knows if it keeps up) but that is very very long...

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yay!

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

It's pretty common in the military, too. It seemed like 1/2 the woman on the military bases I grew up on where Vietnamese. Only then, it seemed a lot of the times the girls were simply using the guys to get over here, then they'd dump them.

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

So it's sparkly delight, not anguish & heartache? *hopefully*

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup. Everybody gets a happy ending!

[ladysaotome.livejournal.com]

Then I may watch it. A happy ending is always worthwhile.

(Have you seen Corner With Love? I'm going to post a big review & music video in a couple of days but I'll just say I was blow away - it was much better than anticipated.)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen it but heard it was v. cute.