Random Thoughts Largely Related to Boys Over Flowers

[dangermousie]

1. It's rather neat to see Jun Pyo growing up in this latest ep. Since Ji Hoo is already a grown-up, that will bring the total of grown-ups in F4 to two. Heh.

2. My liveblog for ep 14 got quoted on soompi (and dramabeans comments). I feel famous :D Of course, now even more people know I am obsessive and immature :)

3. Darth Mama could really benefit from being exposed to dramas. I bet she doesn't watch any, but somebody should do her a favor and give her a copy of 'What Happened in Bali.' Then she will realize that keeping your rich but dysfunctional off-spring from the poor, spunky girl he loves and who is his sole outlet to sanity, isolating him from his friends, and ignoring signs of obvious break-down is bad bad bad bad. Well, I suppose as long as Jun Pyo doesn't buy a gun. (Seriously, I know I said it before, but Bali is such a more grown-up and much much darker Hanadan).

4. You know, I think I realized why the whole "pushing someone away while secretly loving them" trope is so popular and successful in dramas - it's sort of a secret wish of a lot of women, IMO. Because come on, gals. I am sure we have all had a bad break-up at one point and/or been dumped. Anf then you so want to think that you didn't misjudge the person, didn't waste your emotions. And you might even still like them, too. And can't help but hope, however absurd you know that hope is, that he didn't mean it, or has good reason for it, or whatever - that he is not a stone cold jerk.

5. Apparently Korean Broadcasting Commission is having a special hearing because it is so concerned with all the violence and sex (sex????? There was sex???? LEAD ME TO IT! Can we take it as governmental confirmation that Jandi and Jun Pyo did the deed in the cabin? :D) in Hanadan. You have gotta be kidding me. There is more violence in one episode of (Return of) Iljimae or Time Between Dog and Wolf than there is in the entirety of Hanadan. And as to sex, unless they are watching some different version (which I desperately want), there is none! And also, I don't remember any outcries about dramas like La Dolce Vita or Que Sera Sera, both of which had some serious sex scenes! Come on, people! Or maybe they think teenagers don't experience violence or hormones and only magically come into acquaintance with both once they turn 21 or whatever the age of majority is in Korea?

6. I really want to watch Hyun Joong's eps of 'We Got Married.' Are there any downloadable versions with subs?

7. And now I am off to watch more of '(The Return of) Iljimae.' I got a number of eps to catch up with.

Comments

[filmi-girl.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're catching up on your drama watching!!! I hope you're getting some sleep, too... :)

You're going to have to let me know when we're going to hang out!!!!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am getting sleep :)

I'll call you today!

[miss-dian.livejournal.com]

Heeee... I saw you being quoted in Dramabeans ;-) BOF is like, the hype in all my f-list. And I love it. I love it :D

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I love BOF fever! *happy sigh*

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEEE! I am so glad the world is discovering you!!!!!

Apparently Korean Broadcasting Commission is having a special hearing because it is so concerned with all the violence and sex

Hmm, I remember there was a goo-ga about "Coffee Prince" too. I have read somewhere that there seems to be a double-standard of dramas about adults and teenagers. So, no-one really worried about "Que Sera Sera", but in dramas for teens ANYTHING is a no-no. Korean HAnadan is a very subdued version, but still - imagine something like this type of bullying in RL!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

So, no-one really worried about "Que Sera Sera", but in dramas for teens ANYTHING is a no-no

Makes sense. I suppose I should be glad it's only limited to contemporary teens - In the Return of Iljimae, the hero and his first love totally have sex when he is supposed to be 16 or so. Not to mention all the mentions of his being a product of his Mom's rape by her master. hmmmm.

[ilonga.livejournal.com]

I don´t think there are ''sex scenes'' either but probably they are making a big deal because is a teen drama and they are suppose to be underage, right?...

lol, they'll probably die of a stroke if they see an american teen movie :p

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Hahahaha! I see their eyes bulging out if they ever watch American Pie.

[uisceros.livejournal.com]

Yay! Congrats on being quoted! Don't worry, I'd be ridiculously happy if they quoted me too!

Hehe, the thing about the violence and sex amuses me terribly. I can kinda see the violence, but the sex?! There's been nothing even remotely sex-like on the show. Maybe they're protesting that Yi Jung and Woo Bin are players?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOL, maybe they should repent and become monks?

[uisceros.livejournal.com]

HAH! That'd be the day...

[timescout.livejournal.com]

I loved you livebogging of EP 14. So you are famous now, eh? ;P

Sex and too much violence?! Is there an 'uncut' version of BoF circulating somewhere? Goodness, Korean teens must be helluva sheltered if they don't come across either before they hit the age of majority.

HJ's WGM episodes may be downloadable in some of the SS501 sites but I haven't come a cross any. If you can make do with Youtube cuts they are all available subbed starting here (from ep 9 onwards): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrTs8jWehfs
I'm almost done with them myself, save for the last few episodes. LOL! He's rather an interesting young'un.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

The whole thing about showing school violence is insane - apparently there is plenty of it in rl in Korea.

And thank you so much for the link - can't wait to watch!

[timescout.livejournal.com]

You are welcome! Have fun - looking forward to your comments. If you care to post any that is.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am pretty eager to check it out :)

[er-mused.livejournal.com]

You have to watch it! KHJ is crazy adorable...he's like a little kid who loves to read manga! How cute is that??? And oh, I don't wanna spoil it for you, but he plays the piano in an early episode, I think I nearly died there...cos the song he played..oh, go watch it!! haha!

My friend and I have decided that he is a cross between Bae Yong Joon and Yamapi! Seriously, in his earlier days with SS501 he really looks like Yamapi...and since I think Yamapi resembles KimuTaku, does that mean that...by extension, Hyun Joong looks likes KimuTaku too? haha!

BTW, I think Hyun Joong shld never have lost any weight for BOF!! What is wrong with being tall and muscular?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I just dled the first ep. Am excited. LOL, it seems everyone looks a bit like KimuTaku :)

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I'd guess that the problem with the violence is that the initial violence is the harassment of a young woman that takes on both physical and (intended) sexual forms, unless the kdrama seriously toned it down, and that the romance is between the victim of the violence and the person who instigated it, even if what was actually done wasn't always his intent.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

You are being a lot more thoughtful than KBC, trust me. I got the sense it's any violence in general - in the latest ep there was a pickpocket who got out a knife (until being kicked in the face by Shigeru) and they blurred out the blade. LOL. Oh, and kdrama did seriously tone it down - the one bit of violence that was bad was after the fake photos or when that model with a grudge had his goons beat up JP in front of Jandi and it was fairly typical in set-up of various kdramas: i.e. heroine gets mistreated and hero goes to the rescue. Nobody objected to A Love to Kill when Shin Minah got in between Rain and gangster and got kicked in the ribs until Rain rolled over and protected her with his body - that was a heck of a lot more graphic and violent than BOF (not to mention that half the set-ups for kdramas are a lot more 'disturbing' than anything in BOF - take ALTK again - Rain decides to get close to SMA to wreck her life and then they fall in love and there are attempted suicides and God knows what).

Plus, the complaints are fairly recent, not from first few eps. You know what they obect to? Not goons trying to rape Jandi, misinterpreting JP's orders. No, the object to the mutual and quite normal kiss btw JP and Jandi in ep 10 - they had to cut it way down because oooooh, immoral - teens might actually move their mouths a little when they kiss.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

No, the object to the mutual and quite normal kiss btw JP and Jandi in ep 10 - they had to cut it way down because oooooh, immoral - teens might actually move their mouths a little when they kiss.

Ummmm... Gasp, I didn't need TV to know how to kiss properly. Does this mean I'm a bad, bad girl?

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

LOL - I learned it on my own (well, with help :) too. Clearly I am going to hell!

ETA

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am so amused that at the end of NGs at the end of ep 14, the director is telling LMH (during the filming of cabin kiss scene) to close his mouth and yells cut when that doesn't happen. LOL. Clearly, normal kissing patterns and kdrama kissing patterns are in two different universes.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I suspect some of it is that HYD's target audience is probably 15-18 year olds, while ALTK's is 20-30~ year olds. While it's (I hope) true that most teens won't see that behavior and decide that it's OK and accept it (or any sort of more likely RL equivalent) in their own lives, there's a greater chance of a 16 year old imprinting on bad behavior being ok than a 23 year old.

And (regarding Iljimae or various other sageuks) it may also be that the violence is domestic, and more "real." The chances of getting involved in a swordfight or stumbling across an assassin today are very, very slim, but your chances of getting mugged or being the target of bullying or sexual harassment or having a physically or emotionally abusive boyfriend, etc., are pretty decent.

And, of course, I'm partially just regurgitating my own reasoning on various things, too.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Iljimae's most disturbing aspects so far are pretty realistic though - a helpless woman's rape by the man in power. Police brutality and beaurocratic indifference. Picking on others because they are different, etc. Oddly, it's a lot more realistic drama than BOF.

I think all your points are super-valid btw. I just don't see the censors thinking it through that much (or even if they did, I don't believe in censorship unless there is no artistic merit anywhere. Not to mention that this version is super-tame compared to the Japanese or Taiwanese ones).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I don't believe in censorship, but I do believe that creators should be aware of the messages they they send, and that the audience should try to be aware of the messages they receive. People take a lot from fiction, usually subconsciously. (But both ends are responsibility for your own actions, not someone else controlling them.) But, then, as you said earlier, I doubt they're actually thinking on the level of "What if some 15-year-old ends up in an abusive relationship over this?" (though that also has the old standard of 'women can't think for themselves" going) but are probably thinking of the level of "Oh noes! What if they think premarital sex is ok!" or some such.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

People take a lot from fiction, usually subconsciously

Oh God, and now I am reminded of creepy fanbrats thinking the rapist hero of Haou Airen is romantic and desirable. Ugh.

Btw, if this version of Iljimae ever comes out on discs with subs, it is very much your thing - the vibe, oddly, reminds me of Damo. And there are strong women galore! (Side note: why are women uniformly awesome and strong in period kdramas but a much more mixed bag in contemporary ones? I have no idea).

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

I have PLENTY of thoughts about your sidenotes. A lot of them boil down to the fact that modern things just go with the status quo and don't really think much about how they're writing and portraying women because, being set in modern times, well of course they'll automatically being writing them as strong and equal and blah blah blah. But something (or at least, something decent) in a historical setting is usually aware that they're operating in a setting where there's a huge power and social imbalance, and so they take conscious steps to make sure the women don't fade into the background or be treated as secondary. Like, I don't think Dae Jang Geum is particularly feminist or anything, but part of what makes it interesting (though probably not for you) is that it deliberately takes a setting where the plot would normally be all about men with beards and hats sitting around and plotting and makes the focus all about the unimportant "domestic" roles of women.

But that's a large part of why I'm largely drawn to things in a real or fictional historical setting. (Which, if you think about it, is somewhat sad.)

I plan to check out the new Iljimae, at least partly because I try to check out as many sageuks as I can, though I still need to check out Capital Scandal, Hong Gil Dong, Kingdom of the Winds, Strongest Chil Woo, Yi San, Seo Dong Yo, The King and I, The Painter in the Wind and the other Iljimae. And then the rest of Dae Jang Geum, not to mention that I have but have yet to watch Hansungbyulbok and the first set of Jumong. (Not watching many dramas last year set me back a lot.)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

If you watch Hansungbyulbok, let me know how it is - it's short and I heard such excellent things about it.

One of the things I love the most about women in period kdramas is that the strength comes in all kinds - you can have women warriors like the heroine of Damo or Sujini from Legend, but you can also have women who are strong in other ways: power of their conviction and strength of character (Capital Scandal) or their intellectualism and smarts (like Iljimae's OTP in this version or the heroine of Emperor of the Sea, which I need to finish) or their skills (like heroine of DJG it seems like or the doctor heroine of KOTW), or even pure strength of character (like Iljimae's mother). There isn't a 'one mold fits all' approach.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

One of the things I like about EOTS is that, as the series evolves, Jung Hwa's relationship and eventual rivalry (that you can be powerful and successful without being corrupt) with Lady Jami, the woman who raised her, becomes just as important as Bogo and Yum Moon's plot.

There seems to be a much better understanding in sageuks that not everyone is the same and you don't have to code exactly one way to be strong. Now for other things to catch on to that.

[marspeach.livejournal.com]

Make sure you send me a link if you ever find those missing sex scenes! LOL... I think they're so worked up because these kids are "high school students" and that's why they censored the kiss in ep 10 having the sunset behind it. Now the F4's graduated so they better hurry and get Jan-di out early or something so we can have some hot action!!! hahaha

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I know! Send them all to college so they can make out!

[scanky-chops.livejournal.com]

Re #3. I was wondering that as well. I mean, does Darth Mum not realise that by taking away her son's only link to happiness/sanity she is pretty much dooming him to an end that would probably involve him, her, a bottle of whiskey and a gun. 'Cos JP has SERIOUS potential to go nuts. I mean, see him in action before Jandi came along. :/

Well, I suppose as long as Jun Pyo doesn't buy a gun.

Dear, i imagine the man has a whole cupboard full of them and antique ones at that.

Re #5. I'm thinking we should mount a petition asking for more realism in the show therefore there should be loads more sex and violence 'cos it's pretty much given. Then again, i live in a country where a 15 year old girl and 13 year boy have a baby and then NINE other teenage boys are saying they're the father. BEAT THAT KOREA.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh God, I forgot his gun collection.

And yeah, he really was borderline uncontrollable already: forget the bullying, the whole reckless driving and shooting thing or the violence is even more disturbing. If she keeps it up, he will be a nice little automaton signing business documents and then he will finally snap and go on a rampage and she is not likely to emerge out of it in the same shape she was before.

i live in a country where a 15 year old girl and 13 year boy have a baby and then NINE other teenage boys are saying they're the father. BEAT THAT KOREA.


Ahahahahaaaaaa!

[sodahands.livejournal.com]

THE SEX = CABIN! I KNEW IT!

It's so silly for the government to get involved though. I mean BOF is pretty tame compared to some other kdramas. I bet it's because BOF is just so incredibly popular and the crazy netizens made a big deal out of nothing.

As for We Got Married, this page has every episode of WGM on it listed complete with dl links. Hyun Joong is hilarious. You love him as Ji Hoo but I bet you'll love him more after WGM.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, netizens are insane. Seriously. Go worry about global warming, or something.

Thank you for the link, I dled ep 9 :)

[booknerd14.livejournal.com]

whoo, you're falling for Hyun Joong huh? lol, i only started loving him after watching him in WGM. his marriage is my fav. if you just want Hyun Joong's marriage parts, this page has them compiled. there's streaming links and download links for his cuts.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

oooooh, thank you for the links!

[er-mused.livejournal.com]

On your comparision of BOF with What Happened in Bali...I'm not really seeing it. In fact, I didn't even like Bali as a drama. I was wondering why it won so many awards when I thought it was kinda contrived, and Jo In Sung's character had a one-sided obsession with the girl (forget her name...) for the most parts...I don't know... While I adore angsty, screwed up dramas, I felt that this one gave the impression that it was trying to be different just to be different. Of course there is nothing wrong with that, but SOMETIMES I actually want to watch something intelligent (like Legend)... haha!

Or maybe I just really shallow, and don't like Jo In Sung very much...
I much prefer my angst to be of the...erm....Kwon Sang Woo variety? haha

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I adore Bali quite a lot (but then I am a JIS fangirl).

I do see the Hanadan similarities though - the poor girl who becomes the 'one way out' for the rich, overpassionate guy with no social skills/behavioral stops and no family support. And his family is dead-set against it. Only since this is more realistic, no happy ending but descent into obsession and death.

I wouldn't have liked it so much if it was one-sided but I loved it precisely because she loved him back but both of them were too much of a trainwreck to make it.

[je12-vz09.livejournal.com]

6. I really want to watch Hyun Joong's eps of 'We Got Married.' Are there any downloadable versions with subs?

i just finished watching JoongBo's WGN eps. you can look up at youtube for the eps. theirs started from ep.09 till ep.38. enjoy watching!