Of ageism, angsty vids, and canon sanity

[dangermousie]

I have just realized something amusing. I was wondering why Loveholic wasn't giving me an instinctive 'I need to get used to it' vibe on seeing the lead pair together (he is a high-school student who is supposed to be 18 or so and she is a teacher in her mid-20s). After all, I had that with jdrama Forbidden Love. (alexandral, it's not because they aren't declaiming the wrongness of societal restrictions in this one, though they don't :D). And then I looked up the actors' ages. Kang Ta, who plays the student, is only a year or so younger than me! He was 26 when he did this drama! In fact, he is only a couple of months younger than Kim Min Sun, who plays his love interest! Yay! No wonder I was finding him hot. I don't generally go for teenagers :D The thing is, the age difference for purposes of the story is believable: he does look younger than she does. But not the instinctive subconscious wtf thing which it took me a bit to overcome with Forbidden Love, where Takizawa Hideaki was 17 and Matsushima Nanako was 26, just like their characters. (And he does have to be older because of the time jumps, in Loveholic).

I must admit, kdramas and twdramas are much better for my self-respect. Guys in them are at least in their mid-twenties or older and some are even *gasp* in their thirties. In jdrama, with the exception of Kimura Takuya and Takeshi Kaneshiro, this isn't the case. I can't think of anyone I like over 25, though there are a bunch of guys who are getting close.

Oh, and in semi-related news, the security in canon is wonderful.

Why?

I was over at one of the drama forums reading the Hana Yori Dango thread and someone mentioned that Inoue Mao (who plays Makino, the heroine of HYD) did an interview where she says she prefers Rui (her first love) over Domyouji (the bad boy she hooks up with). It sort of reminded me of those Kristin Bell interviews in the context of Logan/Duncan.

But you know what was wonderful?

No one went mad. Everybody was 'heh, amusing' and wondering in a laid-back way if it means she prefers Rui/Makino over Domyouji/Makino.

And then it struck me why (because sorry, dorama fandom isn't much more sane than VM fandom).

Not only is Rui someone fandom generally loves (see, RT! It's possible to write a third person in the triangle as this guy who really is awesome as opposed to just the characters thinking he is), but unlike with VM where all the shippy stuff was up in the air, everyone knows how Hanadan ends (hello, manga adaptation!). People have either come to terms or squeed with glee over the fact that Makino/Domyouji are THE otp of the drama. So they don't have this anxiety or worry or anything. Which is nice.

Comments

[calixa.livejournal.com]

I'm still in the age bracket where popstars are appropriately aged to crush on without feeling guilty, but instead of them being older, they're all my age now.

In real life, I think most sane girls would go for the Rui's rather than the Domyouji's. We just want to watch the latter happen on our tv's ;)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Well, in rl life, Rui would definitely be the best bet. Not the least because his parents aren't insane as far as we know. But OTOH, none of us are Makino ;)

Re: popstars. I was very relieved to find out the ages of F4 :D

[calixa.livejournal.com]

Don't forget his amazing CUTENESS. I have a blinding crush on Rui now. It's not quite as intense as the love I have for Kimura, but still :P

Oh, yeah. F4's in their late twenties, right?

When I went into the Soompi threads for some of the Korean popstars, and found out they're all between the ages of 17-24, I was pretty floored. Not the actors, they're a bit older, but the singers all seem to be teens. They start 'em young over there... and then it's like 50 pages of OMGZ _______ OPPA IS SEW KAWAIII I LUV U OPPA and I just feel old. It's definitely not as bad in Taiwan, or even Hong Kong.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Yup. Meteor Garden guys are all around my age. Except for Vic who is a little younger (but likes older girls, so that's OK ;D). It's lovely.

I am not much into any music, so haven't encountered the yong singers phenomenon. Though 'I luv my oppa' posts are prevalent in the actors threads too. I just squeeze my eyes tight and concentrate on the pictures :D

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I agree - he doesn't look 17.

I have been talking with many people about this - I am much much older then most of the dorama actors. HEE! I am even older then Takuya, though not as much older as in comparison with JE guys. I don't feel guilty about my crushes; how to explain this - I don't really want to meet any of them in RL, they represent for me a collection of their characters and may be I will be disappointed if I see the "real" person (who is not math genius :D). I have Mr. Alexander who is awesome and we are totally suited. :D

The fiction for me is an opportunity to live more then one life :D. I am pretty happy with my own life, but one gets to live only one life and there are so many other interesting ones. Because of it in fiction I like strong female character I can identify with (and this is where one of my BIG Problems with Forbidden love lies). And I like to see a gorgeous guy who will fall in love with the heroine I identify with.:d

Sorry for the long essay , I want to make a post about this sometime, but it is too navel-gazing.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I agree - he doesn't look 17.

Which is what makes him so attractive :D

Yeah, I am basically into the fictional characters, not the actors. Don't want to ruin that fantasy image.

fiction I like strong female character I can identify with

You should love Loveholic then. Yool Joo is strong and decisive and awesome.

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

Like alexandral, I'm several years older than most dorama actors. On occasion, I've felt absurdly happy to find out that some actor is in his thirties (though still younger than me), since every now and then I feel a bit pervy with obsessing over some 20+ pretty boys :P (Yamapi being an excellent example).

But, who cares. This is all fantasy anyway, and women of all ages can always appreciate the looks of handsome/pretty men whether they are willing to admit it or not :).

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

But, who cares. This is all fantasy anyway, and women of all ages can always appreciate the looks of handsome/pretty men whether they are willing to admit it or not :).

Exactly.

[allbloomedout.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm lucky that I don't feel at all gross for obsessing over these actors since they are all older then me. I think most are at least 2-6 years older than me. I find it really interesting how much younger j/k dramas actors are. I grew up on Hk dramas and the actors in there are always about mid 30s-40. Inoue Mao (who plays Makino, the heroine of HYD) did an interview where she says she prefers Rui (her first love) over Domyouji (the bad boy she hooks up with). That's really interesting. I would got for Rui in a heartbeat (probably less if possible) :) Tomorrow is episode 4!!!! I think this time I'll watch the raw since I'm just dying to know what's going to happen. I really need to watch Loveholic too. It sounds so good, I want to squee with you! :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I would go for Rui too, but I am very different from Makino personality-wise.

And yay on watching raws and on watching Loveholic!

[allbloomedout.livejournal.com]

Your icon is so cute! I haven't seen it before! I sure miss Shin. Goong S is so boring/disappointing. :(

I'm very different from Makino too. Except the part if Rui would have came close to me I would blush and heart skip beats (maybe more of stop thumping all together) would be the same. lol ^_^ I unfortunately had too much school work to do today I didn't get to start Loveholic but I will this weekend. Then I could finally read your posts on it :)

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

Oh RUI.

I think one would have to be dead not to love him. Makino/Domoyuji are the otp because they are so compatible and I would hate R/M, but oh, the Rui love!

And I am so glad you are going to try out Loveholic! I want someone to squee with!

The goong icon is from syliasyliasylia icon post yesterday (just as this one).

[allbloomedout.livejournal.com]

I think one would have to be dead not to love him. Makino/Domoyuji are the otp because they are so compatible and I would hate R/M, but oh, the Rui love! I agree! I don't know if i would hate R/M. I would like a test run if possible. Actually starting to think as long as he keeps getting lots of screen time (and he's happy too-even though when he's sad with his violin he looks beautiful)I'll be happy. :) Thanks for showing me where the icon is from!