East of Eden blabbings and Lee Byung Hun hotness

[dangermousie]

As I said, East of Eden was a bit too long for my tastes, at least to watch as it aired (I will probably go back once it's done and watch certain scenes with certain characters). But I always adored Dong Chul/Grace. It sort of hit all of my shipping kinks and the great chemistry didn't hurt.

Here is an adorable MV:

Btw, the East of Eden shipper craziness continues. Newest theory? That somehow Song Seung Heon and Lee Yeon Hee (i.e. the actors who play DC and Grace) conspired to get Lee Da Hae's role reduced (she is the one who played a potential love rival) because they are dating in real life, and that is why LDH felt duty-bound to quit: because she wasn't getting her due. Ahahahahahahahaaaa!

My simple theory: whatever the producers did was motivated *gasp* solely by money, i.e. ratings/polls. DC/Grace appear to have been very popular with viewers so they kept it going and turned it into this big soulmatey thing, whatever their original intention was (and who knows what it was). So Lee Da Hae, who thought she was going to be queen bee of the drama, didn't get to be one and quit because she was pissed off. Which is just so stupid! Leaving aside the issue of her getting an unreliable rep in the industry which is bad for her career (once again, quitting in the middle is almost unheard of. I cannot think of another occurence), EoE, whatever its flaws, is quite a huge hit and she got good reviews for her performance. It's not like participating in it would have been a blemish on her resume.

This is not the first time the makers change the story based on popular response and not the last. Take the phenom Beautiful Days. Apparently the hero was initially supposed to be the guy I call "Ugly Brother" but then the makers came to their senses (and saw the audience response) and made the gorgeous (and actually able to act excellently) Lee Byung Hun the main character instead.

And speaking of Lee Byung Hun. I am quite eager to see The Good The Bad and The Weird. Kimchi Western, here I come!

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I suspect she was just offered a potentially better, leading role.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I don't think so -- there are no rumors of it at all. Also, any role she would be offered would be one that would start after EoE ends anyway (the way drama seasons run). They'd wait a month or so for her if they needed to (she is leaving after ep 40 out of 50 ep drama) but it's all academic as I think all the dramas for spring have already been announced and they are the only ones which need to start filmng.

The one consensus seems to be that it's going to make it really rough for her in the future to get good dramas or commercials because the producers will be very skittish.

Seriously -- I am puzzled. It's not the greatest role ever (I confess being bored by the character throughout) but neither it is bad and EoE is certainly a ratings monster which will do the career of anyone associated with it plenty of good *last ep was 32% or so, compared to LDH's latest before that, Robber, which I liked but which was a ratings pit: I think it ended at 5% or so. She hasn't had a hit since My Girl which was in 2005 so I'd think she'd want to stick around even if her role wasn't exactly to her liking.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

It could also just be a case of the character not working well enough to justify financing a high profile actress. The problem is that our information is filtered, rather like how most of the really bad dramas never get subbed, and we only see a fraction of the manga Japan puts out. Granted, news is a little different, but I figure the same principle applies.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I see the point. The one thing, however, that is pretty clear is that LDH quit, not MBC fired her. In fact, LDH posted a message on her official board saying she couldn't continue playing a 'nonsensical' character any longer.

Whatever happened and whichever way it works out, I hope she gets another drama soon because crazy fans or not, I still really like her.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

My interpretation of that would be that no one knew what to do with her character, so she left before it could be driven into the ground, which could still be mutual.

Just not a fan of putting the worst spin on things unless I can't see any way out of it.

[crumpeteer.livejournal.com]

The kimchi western looks pretty awesome.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know some US film studio bought the rights to show here so hopefully it will soon come to a screen near us with subtitles :)

[seven-trees.livejournal.com]

What you said pretty much summed up what I thought was up with the whole Lee Da Hae ordeal. But I love conspiracy theories, so the soompi threads are very entertaining.

And I had no idea the ugly brother in Beautiful Days was supposed to be the main character. My brain honestly cannot process how anyone would EVER thing that ANYONE would choose Ugly Brother over the hotness that is Lee Byung Hun. Jesus, he needs to make another drama fast.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am not sure how true the BD thing is but I did read it somewhere and give it some credence because they established the childhood connection which is usually a dead giveaway for future otp-ing.

Don't get me started on Ugly Brother - even the unappealing looks weren't as bad as his whiny personality.

LBH has an upcoming drama, Iris, about international spying, but who the heck cares what it's about? I'd watch even if it was about finger puppets :)

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

I don't get why LDH didn't just stick with it. There's only a dozen or so eps left anyways right? Plus, it's not like it would hurt her career. It would probably give it a huge boost. And I heard that the characters related to her character are now going to have to be killed and so those actors will lose their job.

But man her fans are just scary crazy.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Just stick with it.

If there is anything that could put me off LDH, it's her crazy fangirls.

[prismatic-star.livejournal.com]

Haha, I just happen to watch this kimchi western two days ago. It is smashing! Two weak points though: there isn't much dialogue (eh, who need them when it's a western!) and the plot is pretty basic. But holy cow, this movie is still a thrill ride. I highly recommend everyone to watch this movie.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I am off to read your lj to see what you wrote.

The movie just looks so pretty! (And no, I don't just mean LBH :))