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Since VIKI doesn’t want to aid me in my Woo Do Hwan obsession 😉 (all his dramas and movies on VIKI are not available in Poland), I decided to check something with Lee Min Ho. And I found the drama Personal Taste, where his costar is Son Ye Jin, whom I loved in Something In The Rain and Crash Landing On You.
Well, ok, I watched three episodes, but I don’t know if I’ll watch more. Son Ye Jin’s character Park Gae In is a kindhearted and good person, but she is also so ditzy and clueless. Thanks to the actresses’ talent I found it cute in the first two episodes, but it started to veer into annoying in the third one.
But the main reason for my hesitation to continue is a different one.
Major spoilers below.
Lee Min Ho’s character Jeon Jin Ho rents a room in Park Gae In’s house. Due to an earlier misunderstanding she thinks that he’s gay, and that is the main reason that she agrees to rent a room in her house to him. She just went through a bad break-up with a complete asshole, and she thinks it would be safer to rent a room to a guy who’s not heterosexual, since she lives alone.
He doesn’t realize at first that she thinks he’s gay, so it’s not like he deceives her on purpose to guarantee room renting (he wants to rent a room in this particular house for plot reasons). But when he finally realizes that she thinks he’s gay, he reacts so out of proportions. And it’s not like she outs him to the whole world, it’s the talk just between the two of them, without any witnesses. He’s so offended that he moves out instantly, and when his friend asks him about the reason for moving out, he can't even say the word “gay”.
Also in the third episode Park Gae In does blurt out loudly that he’s gay in a restaurant full of people when she’s drunk. And it’s treated like this amusing thing. *deep sigh* I know it’s a Korean drama, but it is from 2010, and I guess I expected something better. I watched more progressive western TV shows in the nineties.
I read a few reviews and I don’t know – the rest of the drama doesn’t sound enjoyable to me, so I will probably just stop here and save myself from more frustration. 😊
Ok, complaining done. Now let’s talk positively about other Korean dramas. 😊
I’m thinking about getting back to Prison Playbook. I watched the first episode maybe a year ago, and found it pretty boring then. But it’s made by the same people that made Hospital Playlist, and I loved this drama so much. Also I’ve read that Prison Playbook has a supporting gay character, and after my bad experience with Personal Taste, I’m curious how they deal with it in this drama (I heard the answer is “quite well”, but we’ll see). So I’m thinking about giving Prison Playbook a second chance.
Sad thing is my choice of Korean dramas on Netflix in Poland is pretty limited, and I already watched almost everything that looked interesting to me. Currently I’m in the middle of Mystic Pop-up Bar and I like it a lot. It’s cute and funny and I like all the characters. It also made me cry twice already, true, but in general it is cute and funny and makes me laugh a lot. Which makes it perfect for watching in the evening after a hard day at work.
There are more Korean dramas at VIKI than on Netflix, but a lot of them is unfortunately unavailable in Poland – see my complaint about Woo Do Hwan’s works above.😊
The next k-drama I plan to watch on Netflix is Mr. Sunshine – mainly because it’s written by Kim Eun Sook, who also wrote The King Eternal Monarch. The drama is set in Hanseong (the former name of Seoul) in the early 1900s, and focuses on activists fighting for Korea's independence.
Well, ok, I watched three episodes, but I don’t know if I’ll watch more. Son Ye Jin’s character Park Gae In is a kindhearted and good person, but she is also so ditzy and clueless. Thanks to the actresses’ talent I found it cute in the first two episodes, but it started to veer into annoying in the third one.
But the main reason for my hesitation to continue is a different one.
Major spoilers below.
Lee Min Ho’s character Jeon Jin Ho rents a room in Park Gae In’s house. Due to an earlier misunderstanding she thinks that he’s gay, and that is the main reason that she agrees to rent a room in her house to him. She just went through a bad break-up with a complete asshole, and she thinks it would be safer to rent a room to a guy who’s not heterosexual, since she lives alone.
He doesn’t realize at first that she thinks he’s gay, so it’s not like he deceives her on purpose to guarantee room renting (he wants to rent a room in this particular house for plot reasons). But when he finally realizes that she thinks he’s gay, he reacts so out of proportions. And it’s not like she outs him to the whole world, it’s the talk just between the two of them, without any witnesses. He’s so offended that he moves out instantly, and when his friend asks him about the reason for moving out, he can't even say the word “gay”.
Also in the third episode Park Gae In does blurt out loudly that he’s gay in a restaurant full of people when she’s drunk. And it’s treated like this amusing thing. *deep sigh* I know it’s a Korean drama, but it is from 2010, and I guess I expected something better. I watched more progressive western TV shows in the nineties.
I read a few reviews and I don’t know – the rest of the drama doesn’t sound enjoyable to me, so I will probably just stop here and save myself from more frustration. 😊
Ok, complaining done. Now let’s talk positively about other Korean dramas. 😊
I’m thinking about getting back to Prison Playbook. I watched the first episode maybe a year ago, and found it pretty boring then. But it’s made by the same people that made Hospital Playlist, and I loved this drama so much. Also I’ve read that Prison Playbook has a supporting gay character, and after my bad experience with Personal Taste, I’m curious how they deal with it in this drama (I heard the answer is “quite well”, but we’ll see). So I’m thinking about giving Prison Playbook a second chance.
Sad thing is my choice of Korean dramas on Netflix in Poland is pretty limited, and I already watched almost everything that looked interesting to me. Currently I’m in the middle of Mystic Pop-up Bar and I like it a lot. It’s cute and funny and I like all the characters. It also made me cry twice already, true, but in general it is cute and funny and makes me laugh a lot. Which makes it perfect for watching in the evening after a hard day at work.
There are more Korean dramas at VIKI than on Netflix, but a lot of them is unfortunately unavailable in Poland – see my complaint about Woo Do Hwan’s works above.😊
The next k-drama I plan to watch on Netflix is Mr. Sunshine – mainly because it’s written by Kim Eun Sook, who also wrote The King Eternal Monarch. The drama is set in Hanseong (the former name of Seoul) in the early 1900s, and focuses on activists fighting for Korea's independence.
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Yeah, Korea is still very socially conservative and quite homophobic, afaik. If you can get Itaewon Class on Polish Netflix, that's a recent drama that deals with diversity in a modern, refreshing way. Unfortunately, it's not exactly light and fun ( mean, it has its moments, but...). :-/
What else is available there?
Mystic Pop-Up Bar is in my queue, but I'm currently watching silly noona-romance fluff. :-)
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Psss, Viki works really well with VPNs.
I've had Mr. Sunshine on my list for...longer than I care to admit. I'm looking forward to your thoughts.
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There are a few more k-dramas on Netflix here that I have on my “to watch eventually” list: Romance Is A Bonus Book, My First First Love, My Only Love Song, Hello My Twenties. From what I’ve read they are all more or less on the light and fluffy side. 😊
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Right, I forgot about the possibility of VPN. But I'm definitely too lazy now to learn a new thing just to watch a few k-dramas. Maybe if I'll get more desperate in the future... :D
And when I watch Mr. Sunshine I will definitely post about it.
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Do you have access to Good Manager, Love in the Moonlight, or While You Were Sleeping? Those are among my very favourites. Good Manager isn't a romance, but it's a hilarious office team story, with a wonderful redemption arc (and it gets super slashy towards the end); Love in the Moonlight is a historical girl-undercover-as-a-eunuch, which I adore all the leads of; and While You Were Sleeping is sort of a procedural with Jung Hae In (from Something in the Rain) as the truly adorable second lead. *points to icon* /unsolicited recs :-)
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+1. :-)
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