Musings of the Obsessive Kind

I don't normally condone violence to women (or anyone else) but in this scene in ep 13 I wanted Jae Bin to punch Secondary Girl out.



( My incoherent rage behind the cut )

I don't normally condone violence to women (or anyone else) but in this scene in ep 13 I wanted Jae Bin to punch Secondary Girl out.



( My incoherent rage behind the cut )

$^*()*(*&^%#$@&*&!!

Or is it *^&#!%*(OI(J?

Seriously.

What am I talking about?

A certain Korean drama, Friend. You can go to darkeyedwolf for visual examples but the summary of the issue is such: the Korean network which is showing this arthousy drama decided, in its infinite wisdom, that it would blur out anything that could inflame the children - any shots of violence, knives, or even cigarettes have been blurred out.

The topic of this drama? GANGSTERS AND HOODLUMS.

Ahahahahaaaaaaaaa.

Yes, that's right.

It's not a fluffy romcom, for whom this bizarre bowdlerizing would result in a minute of blurred time over entire run, tops. This blurring restriction turns the gorgeously shot, excellently-written, and well-acted Friend into an impressionist blur for a decent chunk of its runtime. I am wondering why on earth they bought this drama at all if they blur out so much of it - this entire drama was preshot and completed prior to airing, so it's not as if they did not know what they were getting.

Yup - now we have men attacked by The Blob.

I am laughing so I wouldn't cry. Whose brilliant idea was that? Not only am I wondering why they think the kiddies would want to watch a drama about gangsters, set in the 1990s Busan (yeah, that's a teenybopper hotspot topic, that one!), but I am wondering at how schitzophrenic the censors are - are they having an episode? They are blurring out cigarettes in Friend but they are OK with this:



(Kingdom of the Winds, full of similar scenes - here our hero is being brutally tortured on screen)



(courtesy of East of Eden, a.k.a. a 'beatdown per ep' drama. One of the main characters, Dong Wook, is getting waterboarded on screen)



(the hero of Time Between Dog and Wolf, after one of many scenes of torture from the drama - each of which is fully shown in great detail on screen)

Seriously, the entire career of Lee Jun Ki should have been blurred out - have they seen Iljimae or Time between Dog and Wolf!

Not to mention - have they seen Lobbyist, with its different kind of torture in every ep, All In? Or Hong Gil Dong? Or Eyes of Dawn or Damo or Lovers. Are they going to blur the enitirety of IRIS as it's about assassins?

I could freaking kill someone at the Korean network except I think they would blur out my knife.

I HATE HIM DIE BURN DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE HATE

Who am I this rabid about? Is it a psycho Secondary Guy, an Evil Parent, or a Scary Stepsibling?

No. Not all.

It's the lead of Brilliant Legacy (otherwise known as 'Shining Inehritance').

I want to BOIL HIM IN OIL. Or maybe his Grandma's beef soup.

I have no problem with the drama itself at all - I am enjoying it immensely - it doesn't intend us to take Hwan (the hero) for anything but a spoiled, rotten, violent jerk.

But Hwan himself? I hate with visceral hate I haven't experienced since happy happy days of Shin's parents or My Girl's Tennis Girl.

All he did (in the first two eps, only, mind you):

* Make a total stranger pay his bar tab, in order for her to get back her bag that he took by accident
*Be snobby, snooty, violent, and jerkish to anyone - from a waitress who he doesn't feel like bothering to talk to so just signals like to a retarded deaf mute to a manager of a place he's been ordered to work at - he does nothing asking him 'do you know who I am?' and when the guy insisted he do his job, Hwan punched him in the face
* Awful to his family - they are worried where he is (he just got back from US) - too bad, he'd just party and ignore any calls

And that does not even start on what he did to the heroine - dragging her around violently (thankfully she punched him out), refusing to give her bag back thus leading to her not being easily found and missing being able to look at her father one last time before he is cremated and later dragging her again and humiliating her in public and during all of it, stepping on her phone thus her lost autistic brother can't contact her.

Oddly enough, the two worst, unforgivable things he did are not really, objectively, the worst - he was being a jerk about the bag but he did intend to return it and he had no idea her father died, and the phone thing was an accident and he had no idea the whole thing with her brother would happen. But even if you take that into account, he is still a classist, shallow, violent, useless jerk who thinks of nothing and nobody else but himself.

I hope he has to crawl over broken glass while being set on fire before the heroine even considers looking at him.

The last time I hated a male lead so much was years years ago, when I first discovered Hana Yori Dango. Hwan and Domyouji should hang out (of course, I eventually ended up loving Domyouji so who knows how I will end up feeling about Hwan).

Part of the reason I am so interested in this drama (in addition to the plot being interesting and Han Hyo Joo my huge huge girlcrush) is I have seen Hwan hate all over my LJ in the early eps and now (I think 20 eps are out) I see my flist collectively swooning over the Hwan/Eun Sung ship and I am just dying to find out how on earth that could happen!

ETA1: Ahahahahaaaaaa - I was watching Brilliant Legacy on viikii and for some reason the link for ep 2 jumped from that ep to end of ep 20 (!!!!). I didn't realize it for a minute or so and it was incredibly jarring - I mean, all of a sudden Hwan seemed like a human being!

ETA2: I must be dense, why did Stepmonster abandon autistic brother instead of calling Eun Sung to pick him up? I hope she burns in hell.

ETA3: You know what is so weird? Hwan is an incredible thoughtless bastard to every single person in his life except for Secondary Girl. And I can't even use the excuse that he's in love with her, he is not - it's sort of a little sister thing. He is almost human with her and that little flashback to their high school day made me boggle-boggle-boggle: I mean, he didn't know who she was and he rescued her from bullies and then piggybacked her home. I am not sure what boggled me more - the demonstration that there is something human in Hwan after all or the fact that he picked Secondary Girl out of this whole world to be nice to - he does not normally strike me as a defender of orphans. Hmmmm.

ETA4: Please tell me Hwan gets to suffer for the hell he put Eun Sung through in eps 1-2 - her desperation at having lost her little brother is so horrible to watch.

ETA5: It's funny, Spring Waltz imprinted on me so much that I keep expecting Woobie Pianist to show up and rescue Eun Sung from her situation - and then they can cuddle and make musical babies. Ahhhh, Spring Waltz = LOVE.

ETA6: You know, in some ways it's a much better Korean take on Boys over Flowers than the kdrama adaptation of BOF itself was. Hwan is certainly more of a Domyouji that poor Jun Pyo was ever allowed to be :P

ETA7: The Secondary Guy helps out at a soup kitchen. You know who was the last kdrama guy to do so? Yes, that's right - the serial killer lawyer in Mawang :D

I HATE HIM DIE BURN DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE HATE

Who am I this rabid about? Is it a psycho Secondary Guy, an Evil Parent, or a Scary Stepsibling?

No. Not all.

It's the lead of Brilliant Legacy (otherwise known as 'Shining Inehritance').

I want to BOIL HIM IN OIL. Or maybe his Grandma's beef soup.

I have no problem with the drama itself at all - I am enjoying it immensely - it doesn't intend us to take Hwan (the hero) for anything but a spoiled, rotten, violent jerk.

But Hwan himself? I hate with visceral hate I haven't experienced since happy happy days of Shin's parents or My Girl's Tennis Girl.

All he did (in the first two eps, only, mind you):

* Make a total stranger pay his bar tab, in order for her to get back her bag that he took by accident
*Be snobby, snooty, violent, and jerkish to anyone - from a waitress who he doesn't feel like bothering to talk to so just signals like to a retarded deaf mute to a manager of a place he's been ordered to work at - he does nothing asking him 'do you know who I am?' and when the guy insisted he do his job, Hwan punched him in the face
* Awful to his family - they are worried where he is (he just got back from US) - too bad, he'd just party and ignore any calls

And that does not even start on what he did to the heroine - dragging her around violently (thankfully she punched him out), refusing to give her bag back thus leading to her not being easily found and missing being able to look at her father one last time before he is cremated and later dragging her again and humiliating her in public and during all of it, stepping on her phone thus her lost autistic brother can't contact her.

Oddly enough, the two worst, unforgivable things he did are not really, objectively, the worst - he was being a jerk about the bag but he did intend to return it and he had no idea her father died, and the phone thing was an accident and he had no idea the whole thing with her brother would happen. But even if you take that into account, he is still a classist, shallow, violent, useless jerk who thinks of nothing and nobody else but himself.

I hope he has to crawl over broken glass while being set on fire before the heroine even considers looking at him.

The last time I hated a male lead so much was years years ago, when I first discovered Hana Yori Dango. Hwan and Domyouji should hang out (of course, I eventually ended up loving Domyouji so who knows how I will end up feeling about Hwan).

Part of the reason I am so interested in this drama (in addition to the plot being interesting and Han Hyo Joo my huge huge girlcrush) is I have seen Hwan hate all over my LJ in the early eps and now (I think 20 eps are out) I see my flist collectively swooning over the Hwan/Eun Sung ship and I am just dying to find out how on earth that could happen!

ETA1: Ahahahahaaaaaa - I was watching Brilliant Legacy on viikii and for some reason the link for ep 2 jumped from that ep to end of ep 20 (!!!!). I didn't realize it for a minute or so and it was incredibly jarring - I mean, all of a sudden Hwan seemed like a human being!

ETA2: I must be dense, why did Stepmonster abandon autistic brother instead of calling Eun Sung to pick him up? I hope she burns in hell.

ETA3: You know what is so weird? Hwan is an incredible thoughtless bastard to every single person in his life except for Secondary Girl. And I can't even use the excuse that he's in love with her, he is not - it's sort of a little sister thing. He is almost human with her and that little flashback to their high school day made me boggle-boggle-boggle: I mean, he didn't know who she was and he rescued her from bullies and then piggybacked her home. I am not sure what boggled me more - the demonstration that there is something human in Hwan after all or the fact that he picked Secondary Girl out of this whole world to be nice to - he does not normally strike me as a defender of orphans. Hmmmm.

ETA4: Please tell me Hwan gets to suffer for the hell he put Eun Sung through in eps 1-2 - her desperation at having lost her little brother is so horrible to watch.

ETA5: It's funny, Spring Waltz imprinted on me so much that I keep expecting Woobie Pianist to show up and rescue Eun Sung from her situation - and then they can cuddle and make musical babies. Ahhhh, Spring Waltz = LOVE.

ETA6: You know, in some ways it's a much better Korean take on Boys over Flowers than the kdrama adaptation of BOF itself was. Hwan is certainly more of a Domyouji that poor Jun Pyo was ever allowed to be :P

ETA7: The Secondary Guy helps out at a soup kitchen. You know who was the last kdrama guy to do so? Yes, that's right - the serial killer lawyer in Mawang :D

I am enjoying ep 3 of Lawyers of Korea but something Min Gook said (i.e. 'how can a married man only be satisfied with his wife') made me really need to know something - did he cheat on Ae Ri during their marriage? I really need to know because if he did, I am out. It's one thing I won't forgive in a fictional character.

ETA:



I have never changed my opinion on a character so fast.

I finished ep 3 and I sort of want Min Gook to die. Very badly. I hope Ae Ri gets every freaking cent off him - we see her memories and fine, he demonstrates no interest in her career and is snappish about housework, that's usual domestic squabbles stuff. BUT also she sees him with floozies repeatedly (once he is drunk and another it's even in his office!). This, however, all pales compared to this: she has a miscarriage and he comes into her hospital room and asks her what is wrong with her that she can't keep a baby?

RED RAGE BURNING FLAMES.

Seriously, I was cursing at my screen.

I think I might be dropping this drama because the thought of a man actually saying this to a woman's face, and this man supposedly this drama's hero? I get so mad I start seeing spots.

I WANT HIM TO DIE.

I also kept thinking Lawyer Byun looked familiar and I finally realized - he is the lead of Seoul 1945, a historical drama about 1940s Korea I own and have been dying to watch (it got the Baeksang award for best drama, apparently). The crazy thing? The actress who plays Ae Ri is his OTP in that one! Yup - he is an intellectual from poor background who becomes a Communist and eventually is disillusioned and she is a poor peasant woman. Mmmm. Now I know why LoK thread had Ae Ri/Byun shippers before the drama even got going.

Seriously, here they are in Seoul 1945:




This is kinda insane - seeing that I only know them as slick lawyer and fancy movie star of LoK. I am now imagining Lawyer Byun getting almost beaten to death in a prison camp as he tries to reach to Movie Star AeRi and *boggle boggle boggle*

Also, I have a whole new appreciation for Lawyer Byun after seeing this from S1945:



Now, that's a good lawyer - he will clearly defend his client to the death.

Sorry, I need to vent.

Grrr.

GRRRRR.

I just read a post where somebody defends North Korea and states it's all Western propaganda that the place is a hellhole just because it's communist.

I come from a "communist paradise" of former Soviet Union (and lived there while it was still USSR). I am hardly going to be screaming that any communist country = total misery. USSR post Stalin was not the worst place in the world and plenty of people had happy enough lives there before the economy tanked, even with political restrictions, corruption, and ethnic discrimination.

North Korea (which used to be sorta-buddies with USSR - When I was growing up, my best friend's Dad used to work in North Korea) is not the same thing! Leaving aside the cult of personality that makes Stalin's/Mao's/etc seem tame (did you know that Kim Il Sung could walk on water? That Kim Jong Il's birth was profesied by swallows and that he can manipulate time?), the creepy forced political education two times a week, and even hideous labor camps (gulags, NK-style) for anyone accused of slightest unorthodoxy and their entire families, children included!!!! Living in an Asian 1984 is bad enough, but I am not talking about that.

ECONOMY.

I don't mean healthcare and safety procedures still stuck in the stone age or the fact that there is not much one can buy or own.

I mean famine. Yes, under the glorious leadership of Kim Jong Il (who imports brandy, live lobster, and other staples), as many as 3 million people died in North Korea during a famine in mid-90s. Apparently that's 10% of N Korean population! (US, China, and other countries sent food aid, which ended up in hands of political bigwigs and not where it was supposed to go).

I have nothing against Communist regimes, even if I prefer democracies - China, Laos, Cuba, Vietnam - as long as the population at large is relatively OK with it, there are worse place to live in.

North Korea? COME ON!

Yeah, all those people are escaping to China because NKorea is such a great place.

I get so mad precisely because a person posting this is from a Western country - never had to undergo any financial/political restrictions - how easy it is to be smug. Also, the fact that the place is so horrifically controlled and has turned into a modern dystopia, soon with nukes, is scary as hell.

ETA: And now there is a moron who says people in Pyongyang appear very friendly - some wedding party even took pictures with foreigners. Ahhhh, isn't it precious!

That will teach me to read ONTD_political. (Don't even get me started on some of the posters on Iran who think Ahmadinejad is OK simply because US doesn't like him).

Sorry, I need to vent.

Grrr.

GRRRRR.

I just read a post where somebody defends North Korea and states it's all Western propaganda that the place is a hellhole just because it's communist.

I come from a "communist paradise" of former Soviet Union (and lived there while it was still USSR). I am hardly going to be screaming that any communist country = total misery. USSR post Stalin was not the worst place in the world and plenty of people had happy enough lives there before the economy tanked, even with political restrictions, corruption, and ethnic discrimination.

North Korea (which used to be sorta-buddies with USSR - When I was growing up, my best friend's Dad used to work in North Korea) is not the same thing! Leaving aside the cult of personality that makes Stalin's/Mao's/etc seem tame (did you know that Kim Il Sung could walk on water? That Kim Jong Il's birth was profesied by swallows and that he can manipulate time?), the creepy forced political education two times a week, and even hideous labor camps (gulags, NK-style) for anyone accused of slightest unorthodoxy and their entire families, children included!!!! Living in an Asian 1984 is bad enough, but I am not talking about that.

ECONOMY.

I don't mean healthcare and safety procedures still stuck in the stone age or the fact that there is not much one can buy or own.

I mean famine. Yes, under the glorious leadership of Kim Jong Il (who imports brandy, live lobster, and other staples), as many as 3 million people died in North Korea during a famine in mid-90s. Apparently that's 10% of N Korean population! (US, China, and other countries sent food aid, which ended up in hands of political bigwigs and not where it was supposed to go).

I have nothing against Communist regimes, even if I prefer democracies - China, Laos, Cuba, Vietnam - as long as the population at large is relatively OK with it, there are worse place to live in.

North Korea? COME ON!

Yeah, all those people are escaping to China because NKorea is such a great place.

I get so mad precisely because a person posting this is from a Western country - never had to undergo any financial/political restrictions - how easy it is to be smug. Also, the fact that the place is so horrifically controlled and has turned into a modern dystopia, soon with nukes, is scary as hell.

ETA: And now there is a moron who says people in Pyongyang appear very friendly - some wedding party even took pictures with foreigners. Ahhhh, isn't it precious!

That will teach me to read ONTD_political. (Don't even get me started on some of the posters on Iran who think Ahmadinejad is OK simply because US doesn't like him).

I have seldom seen so many pissed-off people in one place as there are currently in the East of Eden soompi thread (not since Powerful Opponents days - grrrr, PO was such a perfect drama with an ending that made no sense). And I can see why! ( spoiler for the ending )

I shall solace myself with the pretty shippy.



( ="Happiness )

Why is this drama full of awful people?

Yoing Shin spent the whole day toiling really hard to catch some squid to sell for money and STUPID OVER-DRESSED BITCH fiancee of Scumbag is all 'they are so cute can I have one...no one more?' WTF! Without offering to pay. Does she live on a cloud or what? People work hard and should be paid for work.

DIE.

Guh.

I want this whole stupid island to implode!

ETA: THE HELL!!!!

The island doctor should DIE too! Yesterday! WTF! Who walks out in the middle because he is huffy because the guy who is injured and needs abdominal stitching is not being friendly and polite. WTF!!!!!!!!!! Take it up later, moron and also, don't expect chit-chat when a person is in pain. And then he comes back when Dr. Min had to finish stitching himself up. And he is all yelling at him (WTF???? Has Dr. Min said anything to him?) and yells 'you are not so great, you didn't even save your own gf.' I literally yelled 'die' at the screen then. WTF!!! Go ahead, say something hideously unforgivable and cruel to a guy who is injured and who had to stitch himself up because you walked out.

Yes.

DIEEEEE, all of you.

ETA2: I want the stupid adjusshi who is 'suitor' for YS to die TOO!

This whole island should be blown up.

ETA3: Scumbag mother of Scumbag, DIE! Painfully and slowly. WTF! Why doesn't Young Shin tell her where to stick her head! ARGH.

HATE

ETA4: Just looking at Scumbag gives me ulcers.

Seriously, I hate everyone except for Young Shin and her family, and Dr. Min.