Korean dramas theme

It has been a really busy week and I’ve been struggling to find some personal time to write. Miane….

In the midst of all the insanity, I found relief in one of my favourite past time…watching Korean dramas and eye candies (they normally go togetehr). Hehehe!With ’49 Days’ ending next week and ‘Lie to Me‘ just started this week, it got me thinking about the trend in Korean dramas.

Once upon a time, the recurring must-have theme for any Korean drama was a terminally ill lead- normally with either cancer or leukemia. Inevitably, at one point, you would see the intended ‘victim’ fainting/ bleeding (either through the nose or the mouth)/ cluctching their stomach/ head. We knew how it would end but still we carried on, holding our box of tissues close to our heart as we cry our eyes in the middle of the night. We go to work the next day, with puffy eyes and sunglasses, only to rush home at the end of the day, to ‘weep’ all over again.
Examples- ‘Winter Sonata’, ’90 Days to Love’, ‘Autumn in My Heart’

Autumn in My Heart

And then there was the lover who may or may not be your sister/ brother theme. Of course, we all know it’s drama, however the sheer coincidence that the person could be your long lost sister/ brother/ son/ daughter is really astounding. But do we as the audience stop watching just because it was silly? No…. of course not. And so we bite our nails and clutch our bozes of tissues even more tightly and lament together with the lovers, how unfair the world ….. of Korean dramas is. Of course, you could even combine both the terminally ill theme + the brother/ sister related them together in the same drama for added effect.
Examples- ‘Winter Sonata’, ’90 Days to Love’, ‘Damo’

90 Days to Love

And then there’s loss of memory syndrome. Yes, yes…this was a most popular and convenient plot. The man/ woman looses his/ her memory and starts a new relationship with another. Worse of all, he/ she appears in front of the old lover (who is the real true love) and totally ignores him/ her. The real true love suffers and weeps and tries all ways and means to revive the old memories whilst we restain ourselves in wanting to pick up a stick and knock some sense into the amnesia-ed lead. And still we continue watching and our husbands wonder why.
Examples – ‘Stairways to Heaven’, ‘Last Dance is with Me’, ‘Boys Over Flowers’

Kwon Sang Woo, Choi Ji Woo

And if the scriptwriter is really good, can even combine the above 3 themes and make one good weepie to break everyone’s hearts.
Classic example- ‘Winter Sonata’

Winter Sonata

But you know, after awhile, there is only so much weeping we can take. There comes a time where no amount eye cream would take away the puffy, swollen eyes. That’s when we say enough was enough. And so there was no more dying patient, long lost brother/ sister plot though the I-Forgot-Who-I-Love story still surface occassionaly.

With the popularity of K Pop soaring to a record high, it’s no wonder that music/ entertainment is a big draw now. Especially as with so many singers entering the acting scene, in particular boy/ girl bands. And when you have actors becoming singers as well, there is no clear line now who is a singer and who is the actor. And so we have ‘On Air’, ‘You Are Beautiful’, ‘I Am Legend’, ‘Dream High’ and the upcoming ‘You Are Into Me’. Now not only do we get a full dosage of the K Pop fever in our real life, we get them in the reel life on the small screen too. No boy/ girl bands written into the storyline? Never mind, can always put an aspiring/ inspiring singer in the drama somehow like ‘Marry Me Mary’ and ‘Midas’. Not that I’m complaining much as it’s great to see these singers sining and acting in the drama. But sometimes, one does wonder it the dramas may just end up being a musical…Wait…it’s almost like a musical already with all these singing by the singers who are actors acting as singers….. Confused? ^^

Well, I’m sure none of their fans are complaining. Not only does it help in the viewership rating of the drama, it also helps in the sale of the ost cd.

Strangely, after so many idol singing dramas, I ahve this strong urge to have a good cry. Perhaps it’s time to take out Winter Sonata and have a rewatch? Hmm…

But there is one theme that seems to remain popular all these while- contract marriage/ relationship. From ‘1% of Something’ to ‘Full House’ to ‘Marry Me Mary’ to the current drama ‘Lie To Me’, all involves some sort of fake relationship contract. Of course, the whole point of this ‘çontract’ is so that the 2 intended leads can actually fall in love whilst pretending to be in love. But I must say this strange syndrome seems to unqiue to Korean drama. I just wonder….it is often said that art imitates life. Does that mean contract marriage is actually for real in Korea? If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be fantastic if a tall, handsome Korean guy can be contracted during the Chinese New Year? Ok, now I’m talking nonsense so it must be late.

But I’m guessing this theme must work well with the audience too since it’s been used over and over and over again. Still, if the storyline is good and there is great chemistry amongst the cast, there is no reason not to use it right? ^^

So will ‘Lie to Me’ do well?

Will have to wait and see. So far , the vibe is good and Kang Ji Hwan is providing the eye candy. Hehehe!