On heroines in dramas and why I like WW so far

[dangermousie]

I am about half-an-episode into Worlds Within and so far I like it. Now, this means little - there have been plenty of dramas which I started out by liking and ended up loathing and vice-versa.

But what I will always like about WW is the existence of Song Hye Gyo's character - a young woman who is (a) professionally ambitious and climbing the ladder and (b) not horribly unappealing/desperate for a man and/or (c) "cutely" clumsy.

I confess a big reason I do not like dramas about professional women (usually 30+) is because most of the heroines of them fit into the above mold and I cannot identify with it at all - someone stalled in their 30s, with no career ambition/drive and in no stable romantic relationship of any sort is rather alien to me. Whenever a drama's heroine is a professional woman good at and committed to her job, it appeals to me much more - Brand, Sapuri, what little I have seen of WW so far, etc. Alternatively, a heroine like that of Last Scandal - a housewife and mother is also someone I find appealing. But a cutesy, dead-ended, scatterbrained or weird, single heroine who is old enough to know better is not someone I find appealing - a behavior I am willing to overlook or even find cute in a character who is 19 becomes much harder to overlook in a 29-yr-old - that person should have matured by then! (One of many reasons I loathed Kim Sam Soon was the fact that she acted like an immature 20-yr-old who thinks she is such a grown-up).

And here we have a woman who is working hard at a demanding job, who has a boyfriend (even if that relationship isn't the most wonderful ever), who has dated people before, clearly (including Hyun Bin's character), who is competent and not little-girl cutesy or maladjusted. That just makes sense to me.

And also, I often have problems with heroine of such dramas ending up with a younger man because all too often it comes across to me as if they are saying no intelligent competent woman would be attractive to her equal - an intelligent, competent man- only a 'weaker' moldable guy can take her. Boo! In WW they both appear to be professionally driven and the same age.

I have no idea whether I will love the drama btw, at all, but I do love that aspect of it.

Comments

[popaddict.livejournal.com]

Hear! Hear!


The heroine of 9 End 2 Outs...argh.
I stopped after 1 ep.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

9I2O heroine wasn't so bad but Dal Ja's Spring heroine really was way too much!

[syrenstar.livejournal.com]

I'd class her more lost than ditsy but the female lead from Sweet Seoul annoyed me no end.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I did not even check out SS because it sounded like it would irritate me to no end.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Hmm, it is interesting - the fact I didn't like about WW was that I couldn't for saving my life understand who the main herouine (and hero) are. They came across to be like those paper figures that don't have any individual traits whatsoever. I didn't understand what the herouine was all about. Did she like her job? I wasn't sure. Was she ambitious? I wasn't sure. Did she like Hyun Bin's character? I also wasn't sure.

"Cutesey" clumsy female characters annoy me to no end. But again - I think the herouine of "Hong Gil Dong" is just that (back to our eternal discussion).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hmm - to me, the heroine of WW is the most relatable heroine I have seen in a kdrama - with some tweaks she could be me or one of my friends. I do think she is reallty dedicated to her job (overly perfectionist, in fact), not very emotionally empathetic or open (not dysfunctionally so, but quite in contrast to a lot of saintly heroines). I also like her relationship with Hyun Bin - I know a number of people who are friends with their exes and I do see a potential for spark in their relationship to rekindle but now they are friends with potential.

Of course, I only watched a bit more than one ep so far so my opinion can change but I think it just might be that rare kdrama (like Hong Gil Dong) where we disagree :)

[filmi-girl.livejournal.com]

Ah... And I tend to love the dramas about the women in their late 20s and early 30s who have drifted along to end up somewhere that isn't quite what they expected because I really identify with those!

Give me a serious woman won over by a puppy dog of a younger man any day!! I don't see it that she ends up with somebody less worthy than her but with a different mix of personality traits that compliments hers. I like being with people who are peppy and can cheer me up out of a somber funk. :) Matsujun or Kame or (especially) Gong Yoo would be a good match for me, I think.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

You can have Kame or Matsujun only if you promise to feed them :P

I think I don't mind younger man/older woman even when the man isn't too high up in the world except that it gets done so much that I really get the impression the makers think that any high-powered, intelligent, rich and mighty guy would rather have an uneducated young and sweet Cinderella (other type of drama out there) and not someone his equal.

[filmi-girl.livejournal.com]

I hate most of the older man/younger woman ones for just that reason - perhaps because I can never quite picture myself as the Cinderella. And there is a nasty undertone of "older women are too complicated" that underlies a lot of popular culture of all types... :(

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I would love to be a Cinderella - to be married to some hot guy and never have to raise a finger in my entire life :P

This said, I do find some older man/younger woman dramas creepy because of the power imbalance - I never like one party to be subservient to the other.

[filmi-girl.livejournal.com]

I think I'm way too cynical to be a Cinderella... ;D

That said - I wouldn't mind being able to devote lots of time to charity lunches, etc.... LOL!