Jang Hyuk 장혁

[phoenix24]

5 hours ago, dramafan33 said:

@Biology Lesson Thank you for sharing your story again! 
 

About being intimate before marriage, I have the feeling that JHs generation was still a bit more convervative but the newer generation might be less. But even if they have intimacy before marriage, they try not to be too obvious about it. I have read women are delaying marriage too. It’s even considered some sort of crisis over there. 
 

What JH did, eloping with the wife and conceiving the baby (he said he did it on purpose right? To get the parents to accept his marriage) anyway, I think that action was probably frowned upon and a bit of risk when he did it. But it all worked out. 

I heard the same thing from my Korean friend about the "crisis"  That's why some men look for women out of country,  Yea I think it's frown upon in my country to get pregnant before marriage definitely and you don't broadcast the sexual stuff.  My mom was pretty innocent about those stuff like sex before marriage nah.  Then again in her generation she was told just touching a guy can get you pregnant.  I was shocked she believe it.

 

I don't think they expect us to believe it, but it is left to our imagination in kdrama the sexual/intimate stuff.  In regards to extreme with Kmovies isn't it for more mature audience?  

[fiesty8001]

5 hours ago, budgerie said:

 

 But I must say, I find k reporters not so harsh as compared to c reporters. C reporters are very harsh when they question the actors rumoured to have an extra marital affair. And these poor actors are forever being rumoured. 

 

I don't know much about C reporters but I don't think they can be as bad as Indian reporters. Indian media is probably among top three when it comes to peddling fake news. 

Although Indian entertainment reporters have become much more lame as compared to past. I think these day celebrities just pay them money to shut their mouth. Good thing is Indian people are in general thick-skinned and have this devil-may-care attitude so 'yellow jounalism' doesn't affect their mental health too much. Bad thing Indian celebrities are not afraid of repersussions and get away with most horrendous scandals. 

[fiesty8001]

24 minutes ago, phoenix24 said:

 

I don't think they expect us to believe it, but it is left to our imagination in kdrama the sexual/intimate stuff.  

They probably didn't know that their kids need to study 'reproduction' in biology class.

[fiesty8001]

On 4/28/2020 at 8:05 AM, budgerie said:

 

 

Not that. If the baby isn't warmed up to you, don't carry. Instantly sure cry. Baby that age already can tell the difference between stranger & familiar face.

 

He was with this family for quiet a while and chef ajjushi held the baby girl when her family feasted. I was waiting for JH to take turns but he didn't. I've held many babies in the past so I believe most of babies(when they are in normal mood) are managable.

[budgerie]

1 hour ago, phoenix24 said:

Yea I think it's frown upon in my country to get pregnant before marriage definitely and you don't broadcast the sexual stuff.  My mom was pretty innocent about those stuff like sex before marriage nah.  Then again in her generation she was told just touching a guy can get you pregnant.  I was shocked she believe it.

Your mum might be my generation then...I was told by my mum that you will get pregnant if you are on the same bed with a man. And I recalled shooing my dad off my bed. No man allowed to sit on my bed.

 

35 minutes ago, fiesty8001 said:

He was with this family for quiet a while and chef ajjushi held the baby girl when her family feasted. I was waiting for JH to take turns but he didn't. I've held many babies in the past so I believe most of babies(when they are in normal mood) are managable.

@azureblue7said JH stole the baby's toy (hahaha) no wonder baby doesn't want to look at him.

 

47 minutes ago, fiesty8001 said:

I don't know much about C reporters but I don't think they can be as bad as Indian reporters. Indian media is probably among top three when it comes to peddling fake news. 

Although Indian entertainment reporters have become much more lame as compared to past. I think these day celebrities just pay them money to shut their mouth. Good thing is Indian people are in general thick-skinned and have this devil-may-care attitude so 'yellow jounalism' doesn't affect their mental health too much. Bad thing Indian celebrities are not afraid of repersussions and get away with most horrendous scandals. 

I didn't know Indian media is as bad as C media. Once, an actor used to thank his wife/daughter whenever he wins an award. Over the years, instead of thanking wife/daughter, he thanked his family. Like what JH does when he gets award, thank his gajog. JH doesn't say thank my wife, thank my sons, thank my daughter.

 

Media reports that this c actor probably has marriage issues (maybe already divorced) because he doesn't mention his wife/daughter anymore. Like that also can.

[Biology Lesson]

1 hour ago, fiesty8001 said:

He was with this family for quiet a while and chef ajjushi held the baby girl when her family feasted. I was waiting for JH to take turns but he didn't. I've held many babies in the past so I believe most of babies(when they are in normal mood) are managable.

I'm confused- why was he supposed to hold that baby? She was OK, why should he go out of his way to carry her? I think we saw JH is not the cuddliest person... I can attest about myself, that if a baby is not from my family, I don't go out of my way to hold that baby. If I need to I will, I won't object to it, but I won't initiate it.

 

1 hour ago, fiesty8001 said:

I don't know much about C reporters but I don't think they can be as bad as Indian reporters. Indian media is probably among top three when it comes to peddling fake news. 

Although Indian entertainment reporters have become much more lame as compared to past. I think these day celebrities just pay them money to shut their mouth. Good thing is Indian people are in general thick-skinned and have this devil-may-care attitude so 'yellow jounalism' doesn't affect their mental health too much. Bad thing Indian celebrities are not afraid of repersussions and get away with most horrendous scandals. 

Oh, I completely agree! I've seen how nasty Indian entertainment media can be! They would say the nastiest things to the face of actors- they will ask them about their exes, they will focus on their flops, say that they are not as successful or talented. Really nasty. I remember an actress that gave a baby was attacked for not returning to her original weight in time. They wrote she owed it to them ! I was shocked! 

1 hour ago, phoenix24 said:

I heard the same thing from my Korean friend about the "crisis"  That's why some men look for women out of country,  Yea I think it's frown upon in my country to get pregnant before marriage definitely and you don't broadcast the sexual stuff.  My mom was pretty innocent about those stuff like sex before marriage nah.  Then again in her generation she was told just touching a guy can get you pregnant.  I was shocked she believe it.

But we're talking about modern K dramas...

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I don't think they expect us to believe it, but it is left to our imagination in kdrama the sexual/intimate stuff.  In regards to extreme with Kmovies isn't it for more mature audience?  

So Kdrama are for whom? Pre-teens? I'm a mature person...  Again, I don't want Kdrama to go where some K movies go. I just want normal human behavior... Am I the only one?! 

[fiesty8001]

10 minutes ago, budgerie said:

 

I didn't know Indian media is as bad as C media.

 

 

Media reports that this c actor probably has marriage issues (maybe already divorced) because he doesn't mention his wife/daughter anymore. Like that also can.

Press is free in India unlike China so reporters here can become as much unruly as they like and there are other factors too but I won't excavate them because it's not related to topic of this thread. 

From my experience local(vernacular) media outlets in India are much more reliable and respectful than biggies.

 

I don't follow C celebrity news but I've read a disgusting news(on a K-pop site) that some people were questioning paternity of child of a C celebrity couple.

[fiesty8001]

17 minutes ago, Biology Lesson said:

I'm confused- why was he supposed to hold that baby?

My comments are long-running joke about JH's reservedness. 

 

17 minutes ago, Biology Lesson said:

 I remember an actress that gave a baby was attacked for not returning to her original weight in time. They wrote she owed it to them ! I was shocked! 

 

I was not shocked at all. Indian reporters get daily bashing from Indian netizens.

On a different note that actress needs to explain her illegal involvement with offshore entities.

But reporters will never raise this issue because money laundering is apparently less relevant than weight gain. 

[dramafan33]

8 hours ago, budgerie said:

Frankly, I don't know is it I'm a JH fan so therefore I'm watching his drama even though the plot sucks at some point. But in all honesty, if without JH in it, I wouldn't even be bothered to watch quite many of these drama. I try to imagine these drama of his without JH & it's unbearable if another actor took this role.

 

I know most c drama are taken from novels, the scriptwriter only needs to change the storyline here & there but even then, some scriptwriter really do a bad job. Why can't it be filmed according to the novels? But I think k drama, the scriptwriter write from scratch so it's even more challenging.

Actually many kdramas are based on existing manga or webtoons. Fated to love you was a manga, Shine or go crazy was a webtoon (Wang So’s personality was not like in the drama at all and the whole first part where he was abandoned in the mountains wasn’t in the webtoon either) 

 

Gaekju is based very closely in a classic korean novel. But they toned many things down in the drama (although they left some horrific things like the testicle cutting etc) In the novel the shaman was a prostitute who held some kind of power , she seduced or somehow coerced Bongsam to sleep with her and then used that against him. She was interesting because she had some power over him. That novel in fact had a lot of twisted sexual situations which somehow were made “boring” in the drama . In the drama we also saw how he and the fl got locked up purposely cause the old man wanted a son. It could’ve been a sexy scene but instead it was meh. I remember when Gumi was reading the novel she told me “They will definitely cut all these. There’s no way they’ll make a TV drama with all these scenes” and she was right. 
 

So yeah for some reason there is a lot of censorship in korean TV, maybe they think all programming should be family friendly. 
 

@fiesty8001 I was never taught “reproduction” in school! Lol! They gave us a class to explain the menstruation process (I went to an all girl school) but I don’t remember if we ever got to the “reproduction” chapter  

 

Anyway, korean society is definitely conservative. It’s what I’ve gathered from my conversations with Gumi and some articles.  I read one where they said modern SK is like America in the 50s. Many things may happen behind doors but they are not acknowledged out in the open. Their TV programs need to be acceptable not just to watch “with the children” but also with grandma and grandpa. My mom for example, loves the fact that sex is so tame in kdrama. It is older people who tend to watch kdrama in Korea btw. They are the ones to are responsible for the bulk of open network TV ratings which mean revenue, which is why dailys and weekend dramas have such huge numbers and why traditional sageuk used to almost always succeed (with the added bonus that it attracts a male audience) 

 

Now, cable would be the place to innovate and appeal to a younger, less conservative audience but it seems their “FCC” restrictions also apply to cable, unfortunately (?) 

 

@corey Going to eat and going to movies is not dating?  I don’t know anything then. No wonder I’m single. Anyway I might as well be asexual in real life because I don’t feel easily attracted to real life people so I’m probably an alien too and therefore I find kdrama people pretty normal but I understand I don’t represent the majority of humans, so I’ll just read you guys in silence, so carry on

 

Park So Dam’s character was criticized heavily during the first episodes of BM because her character was written badly. I don’t think the actress is to blame. This actress actually has range (you should see her in Parasite) She was actually casted in BM after having success in movies. She is called a “rookie monster”. She still has much to learn as an actress (like learn to cry better) but I think she has great qualities. For starters, her acting is natural. Later on her character will become more likable in BM and to me she had good chemistry with JH. Also, her character suited LYO who in many ways wasn’t “mature”. A “normal” woman would have a hard time in a relationship with someone like him.  
 

But by episode 2 there is NO bond between LYO and the female lead yet so, you’d have to wait. They will be and odd couple (and you may never like them because taste is personal) but to me this is one of my favorite OTPs in a JH drama

 

Anyway Ive been watching The big bang theory and I’m thinking of how asexual Sheldon Cooper is and how child-like and anti-social, and how much like an “alien” and I keep remembering LYO, especially when he was extremely hurtful lol I love me some robotic nerds who end up finding their soul through their encounter with more empathic humans. (Dr House falls in this category too) 

[fiesty8001]

57 minutes ago, dramafan33 said:

 

@fiesty8001 I was never taught “reproduction” in school! Lol! They gave us a class to explain the menstruation process (I went to an all girl school) but I don’t remember if we ever got to the “reproduction” chapter  

 

My first introduction to "reproduction" was through my science book when I was only 12. One of the chapter  explained sexual intercourse, orgasm and conception with few but precise words. Next year we had a whole unit dedicated to "reproduction" and it had graphic details of human sexual anatomy. In my class female to male ratio was like 1:5. In my school all of scinece teachers were also male. So I studied "reproduction" from a male teacher while sitting next to male students and I've also given presentations on "reproduction" in class as well as during extracurricular activities.

Reproduction was an extremely important chapter in biology for us and the students who mastered this topic got good marks. 

[Biology Lesson]

1 hour ago, corey said:

ROTFL. I cannot help commenting on that, as I almost choked on my yogurt cheap cookies and coffee when I saw what you wrote. Oh, the countless dramas that I gave up after 20 mins/1 ep/2 eps....

that's exactly my point! I was deceived since I started with JH's shows, so at that point I could actually say that all the Kdramas that I've seen were good!  Only after I started watching the shows of Song Seung-Heon that I understood that most kdramas are not for me. I didn't finish any of his shows, besides Black... 

 

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No, you are not. I also want normal human behaviour. What K-Dramas are showing is not normal. As I mentioned on one or two occasions, the K-Dramas are portraying not humans but aliens from outer space with no sex drive reproducing by pollination.

And I am not talking about explicint sex (I would call it "shagging"). I am talking about man-woman relationships in general - as in "interest" in opposite sex. There are many dramas showing girls in their 30 (sic!) who never kissed or even dated (apparently, "dating" in K-Dramas means seeing a movie together, going for a walk or a having a meal together. This alone is considered "dating").

Exactly! Almost in every show the fl character has to be pure as the driven snow. But it's not like we don't characters that are not as pure, so it can't be said that in Korea only pure girls exist. For instance, in Healer there is a character that was a small time actress that was exploited sexually by rich people. I actually really like the actress and the character much better than the lead FL character, but of course a character like her can never be a lead. The same goes for the prostitute in Chuno (never mind that I didn't like that character). The closest that I've seen is the fl character in Tazza. She was actually a really cool character- she had a plot of her own and her own revenge story. But still, this girl was working for criminals and still she managed to keep her virtue, cause we can't have anything but pure girls as protagonists... 

 

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Also - I have finished ep 2 of BM. And I thought, am I the only one who cannot stand the FL? She looks about 12 and behaves as if she is 12 and someone thoguth her a good OTP with JH??? As I watched her, I think PSY should be much, much better as an opponent/partner for JH rather than the fake love interest. And Park So Dam should be much better as Mo Hyun in MF - the role of a bland almost-impossibly good girl who believes in marrying for love. Oh well.

 

Aaah, and JH has a shirtless scene in ep 2! I have forgotten about it!

As @dramafan33 said, it takes time to warm up to her, but as soon as you do, you realize what an amazing character she is. But even in the beginning I appreciated that she didn't act as a little girl nor was she a mess, like most cops girls are in Kdrama.

As I was rewatching the show this week (I think this was my fifth time rewatching it  ), I was trying to think whether she was actually badly written, and would I change anything in her. And now, after rewatching, my answer is- no! I actually think almost every single thing about her made sense, she was consistent- start to finish.

 

Also, I wouldn't change any of their interactions, as every single one of them led to the next and further development. If she wasn't so "annoying" and self righteous in the beginning, LYO wouldn't have seen her, he wouldn't have noticed that she even existed! It was her saying to him "Cops are supposed to stop crimes while Doctors are supposed to save lives. Do you job!"  That made him angry, and made him want to show her that she was a hypocrite. She became a challenge. He thought he knew exactly who she is, but he didn't, and this is what led to them having a relationship.

But I do agree with @dramafan33- her crying scene was awful. It actually ruined a really great scene for me! Whenever I rewatch that scene, I have to mute her so I won't hear her horribly fake sobs.

So, @corey, I won't spoil anything for you, as this show is not something you can predict, and I don't know if you'll end up loving this show as much as I do, but I will only say that LYO was in danger of being consumed by darkness, and then she came, his sunshine...  

BTW- if you've seen ep2, that means you saw the scene between LYO and his father at home. What did you think about the acting there? I thought it was amazing! 

[dramafan33]

@fiesty8001 That’s the best way to learn. I know even the girls who were only a few grades after mine already had classes that were more informative. Many things evolved rapidly. I think I learned the worse way, through friends who were ignorant and made everything seem creepy and disgusting and TV/movies. But nowadays parents talk to their kids about it (even if its still uncomfortable) I think openness about the subject is best. Personally I was sort of inadvertently “exposed” to it as I wasn’t too curious about the subject. But other kids, especially boys, its all they think about once they hit puberty and it made me annoyed and uncomfortable. So if I had a kid I’d prepare them for what’s inevitably coming as early as they might “understand”. Kids also need to be aware of things because there are many predators out there, unfortunately. 
 

@Biology Lesson This whole female characters are either virgins or prostitutes, but nothing in between is not just a korean thing though. It’s an issue present in most fiction. It’s a “macho” notion perpetuated over centuries in different cultures. The more chauvinistic/sexist the culture, the more you will see this. 
 

I still remember how the men in telenovelas were allowed to be richard simmons, sleep around, and “still” be considered suitable to be part of a romantic couple. Whereas the female leads were only allowed to have sex with the male lead. Otherwise, it wasn’t seen as “romantic”. Only “bad women” would behave that way. In a way, it reflected real prejudice and stigma on women. Things have changed though. But this wasn’t that long ago. 
 

And yeah maybe I shouldn’t have said the female lead in BM was “badly written”. There were some plot situations that were unrealistic but aside from that, the character was purposely “frustrating”. If she hadn’t been “wrong” at first her later acknowledgment and development wouldn’t have made sense. 

 

 

[Biology Lesson]

2 minutes ago, dramafan33 said:

@Biology Lesson This whole female characters are either virgins or prostitutes, but nothing in between is not just a korean thing though. It’s an issue present in most fiction. It’s a “macho” notion perpetuated over centuries in different cultures. The more chauvinistic/sexist the culture, the more you will see this. 

I actually disagree about that.  only Leads in Kdramas are virgins. but generally speaking, Female characters are actually really diverse these days. Even in Korean shows, the women that are not the leads are diverse. Just off the top of my head-  MY friend- she was neither one. Or the women in Terius behind you- a diverse group of women... Also, if we talk about cultures that are considered to be chauvinistic/sexist-  for instance- Indian cinema you, now get diverse female characters. In Turkish shows they are also diverse... So I don't agree about that assertion.

I will say that one thing I really dislike about American TV these days, is that all the women in them have multiple sexual partners and are the woman are usually the ones that are sexually aggressive. These days a good man cannot initiate anything with a woman. I guess that would be considered sexual assault... 

[dramafan33]

23 minutes ago, Biology Lesson said:

I actually disagree about that.  only Leads in Kdramas are virgins. but generally speaking, Female characters are actually really diverse these days. Even in Korean shows, the women that are not the leads are diverse. Just off the top of my head-  MY friend- she was neither one. Or the women in Terius behind you- a diverse group of women... Also, if we talk about cultures that are considered to be chauvinistic/sexist-  for instance- Indian cinema you, now get diverse female characters. In Turkish shows they are also diverse... So I don't agree about that assertion.

I will say that one thing I really dislike about American TV these days, is that all the women in them have multiple sexual partners and are the woman are usually the ones that are sexually aggressive. These days a good man cannot initiate anything with a woman. I guess that would be considered sexual assault... 

This is not my personal opinion or assertion. You can read about this anywhere, the Virgin Mary vs Mary Magdalene dichotomy. You’ll probably see it better explained somewhere else. 

And I thought you were talking about female leads (who represent the ideal or supposedly the one to root for) and not antagonists or secondary characters. 
 

But anyway, what is your conclusion or theory then? Since you don’t accept any explanation, why are kdrama “heroines” virginal and pure if its not “culture” or “machismo” then, what is it? 

I did a quick search and found this on wikipedia. It might shed some light to the topic of Madonna-w h o r e dichotomy (of course it had to be Freud) but you’ll see how it has been present in mythology, theology and applied in popular culture and literature even by famous female writers 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna–whore_complex

[dramafan33]

@corey You might be dating your neighbor but you are a clueless kdrama character and have not noticed  Please don’t open your eyes wide and blink too fast is she kisses you  (Your poor neighbor, probably so innocent and here we are talking silliness. Sorry Corey’s neighbor!) 

 

This reminds me of one time, a friend (female) took me to the hospital and later on when I saw the report they had written that she was my significant other Lol! WTF!!! 
 

And about BM, yeah true, they had scenes showing and foreshadowing LYO and young cop would be the couple but I was so not buying it at that point that I kinda forgot! But I wouldn’t call that a “bond” yet. 

[Biology Lesson]

1 hour ago, dramafan33 said:

This is not my personal opinion or assertion. You can read about this anywhere, the Virgin Mary vs Mary Magdalene dichotomy. You’ll probably see it better explained somewhere else. 

And I thought you were talking about female leads (who represent the ideal or supposedly the one to root for) and not antagonists or secondary characters. 
 

I can only attest to what I see, and i don't see what is being said in this article. I will say- there is this trend today, to look at women in TV and in film like they have been victimized and objectified for years, a premise that is completely false. There are these people that are talking about women in action like it's a new thing, when in reality we have had Ellen Ripley in the 1979, Sarah Connor in the 80s (neither one a virgin or a prostitute, by the way...) characters played by Gina Davis, Kill Bill... Sure, women as action stars are not that prevalent, but that is just natural as women are not the usual audience for action movies. Also I can name numerous female characters that I grew on, again, none of which fit the Virgin or Prostitute label- Laura Holt in Remington steele, Maddy in Moonlighting, Kate and Lyn from Alf, Angela from Whose the Boss, the women from Cheers... shall I go on?! I'm not saying that there aren't shows in which women were objectified, but to say it is true in all of them is not true.

These days the situation is much better, but there are extreme examples in which the women are presented in such a different way that they are almost masculine, which is I why I don't really like shows these days. 

 

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But anyway, what is your conclusion or theory then? Since you don’t accept any explanation, why are kdrama “heroines” virginal and pure if its not “culture” or “machismo” then, what is it? 

 

That was actually my question- you guys have been telling me that it's cultural, but then I gave the example of K movies... So I don't know.

But notice, that I didn't make this about women- I spoke about lack of sexuality from both men AND women. In KDramas both the male and female protagonist are presented as sexually pure. I already mentioned many examples for that- Dae gill, PJ, JH's character in TWDR, the boss in Secretary Kim, the guy in I'm not a Robot, the guy in Black, the guy in Healer... Even characters that were or are in a relationship- like LYO and  LG, their previous relationships were presented as asexual. Also- JH's character in Bad papa, OHJ, the guy in Voice- nothing sexual about these guys (except being sexy, of course...  ).

So I don't think it's a chauvinist thing...  I guess it's a combination of a cultural thing and an insane overactive TV censorship... 

55 minutes ago, corey said:

I have absolutely nothing against the actress. But the age disparity is also really jarring for me.

However, maybe I did not make myself clear, I am re-watching BM, so I know how it developes, I only watch it for pleasure of seeing JH (and Park Se Young after seeing MF). I just want to see if I react differently to the drama.

Oh, I didn't realize you were re watching it... 

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And I respectfully disagree with you that there is no bond between LYO and FL as early as ep. 2! She is attracted to him! At one point she throws herself in and brings LYO to the ground to save him from being hit. And then she comments on her beating heart! And she remains a little to long spread across JH's chest and he jokingly picks her up by her hospital robe as if she were a piece of lint. I did not notice this scene on first viewing but now that made me warm up a little to FL, despite the earlier handcuff scene (now I know there are two scenes where she handcuffs him, there is one later in the show - maybe she likes it kinky LOL). A woman whose heart beats faster when being close to JH is definitely one of us

you are right, she was attracted to him in ep 2, as she tackled him to the ground! Forgot that...  I meant his connection to her- he felt nothing for her, as he did treat her like lint  (that was hilarious! ).

 

55 minutes ago, corey said:

Well, I am also re-watching but I definitely differ from you here - the second handcuff scene was so cringeworthy and I am almost too embarassed to see it again. I also need to find the scene where she cries, I can't remember it , but apparently it was very bad, as you were all saying.

well, in my 5th viewing I didn't mind it that much... I think it was important to see his reaction in that scene... but yes, her crying scene is awful (when LYO tells her that she can ignore him as he feels nothing and she can cry in front of him over the doctor she had a crash on)

 

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I think that all JH acting throughout the drama was incredible. HIs smile, slightly sarcastic, the face which is seemingly set in stone while the eyes speak volumes - it is worth enduring the cringeworthy scenes just to see him act.

Agreed. I especially love that scene as it was the first scene that made me realize this is not a character like in House. This guy is much more complex. Just amazing acting!

[dramafan33]

@corey Yeah I knew they were supposed to eventually be the couple but I wasn’t buying it and I was waiting to see if I eventually would but if I never did, I was already enjoying LYO so it wasn’t too important for me. First time I became interested in them as a potential couple was when they met by chance and someone’s house, they were both investigating something, she was fixing a light and almost fell from a chair and he caught her. That’s when I thought “Oh, that’s something I may get on board with” Its also the first time she was nice to him? Did she apologize to him? I don’t remember exactly but I liked that moment. There was a certain vibe between them that I liked

 

@Biology Lesson I don’t think I said “all” female characters are objectified but to say that the notion is a “trend”, well, I have to disagree. In fact I only mentioned it because you said that all korean drama female leads are virginal and pure and I was following the thought by saying, “It’s not just a korean thing”. It has been there throughout history in different cultures to portray such women as “ideal”. Sorry but that’s not really an “opinion”, it is a fact. 
 

I’ll say this again, movies not the same as TV. For movies, you can control what children/older people see. Its a voluntary thing to go watch a rated R movie. Its much harder to control this on TV (even with modern parental controls) which is why FCC rules are much stricter for big and “free” networks. But those rules are not unrelated or completely divorced from a society’s sensibility. And remember who dictates what goes and doesn’t go on TV, advertisers, and advertisers listen to people’s complains and spend millions on research to study consumers behavior, preferences, etc None of this is without a “logic” behind it. 
 

I’ve noticed that korean society is prone to voice their opinions, complain and boycott everything so I’m sure that hyper-sensibility and carefulness of TV shows is not without a reason. 
 

Having said that, I used to work closely with Standard and Practices teams. These are the people who decide what’s blurred, edited out or muted in a show. And since they are humans, you will see varied interpretations of the FCC rules in addition to the internal policy of each company. Its similar to how there is a constitution and different ways to interpret it, one bible and different ways to read it, etc so yeah some censorship will inevitably seem arbitrary. 

[Biology Lesson]

15 minutes ago, dramafan33 said:

@corey Yeah I knew they were supposed to eventually be the couple but I wasn’t buying it and I was waiting to see if I eventually would but if I never did, I was already enjoying LYO so it wasn’t too important for me. First time I became interested in them as a potential couple was when they met by chance and someone’s house, they were both investigating something, she was fixing a light and almost fell from a chair and he caught her. That’s when I thought “Oh, that’s something I may get on board with” Its also the first time she was nice to him? Did she apologize to him? I don’t remember exactly but I liked that moment. There was a certain vibe between them that I liked

Oh, I love that scene too! This was the first time he realized she likes him What happened in that scene was that as you said she was fixing the light and he came behind her and startled her, so she almost fell. And then he said "Don't scream. I'm not happy to see you either", to which she answered something like "can I scream if I am happy?"  The look on his face!  So good! 

 

15 minutes ago, dramafan33 said:

 

I’ll say this again, movies not the same as TV. For movies, you can control what children/older people see. Its a voluntary thing to go watch a rated R movie. Its much harder to control this on TV (even with modern parental controls) which is why FCC rules are much stricter for big and “free” networks. But those rules are not unrelated or completely divorced from a society’s sensibility. 

But OCN shows are clearly not for children, but still the censorship  makes them blur out the knives and anything gory, which is completely ridiculous... Whatever the reason is, I don't like most Kdramas for it. It's boring to me, since I'm not a child, and I do want to watch shows for grown up, but not the soft core porns that are some kmovies. So I guess you could say I'm not a kdrama fan at all, just a JH fan... This is why I wish JH would start doing projects outside the Kdrama realm, so that he'd be able to do more grown up projects...

[dramafan33]

@Biology Lesson It does seem like their laws and rules are applied to both free TV and cable networks which is different from the US. And the blurring of knives and gory scenes is annoying. I wonder why the production companies bother with the makeup and all, if the unblurred version is not even shown on streaming services. Are they expecting that one day the unedited version will be shown somewhere? That is puzzling to me too. 

[Biology Lesson]

1 hour ago, dramafan33 said:

@Biology Lesson It does seem like their laws and rules are applied to both free TV and cable networks which is different from the US. And the blurring of knives and gory scenes is annoying. I wonder why the production companies bother with the makeup and all, if the unblurred version is not even shown on streaming services. Are they expecting that one day the unedited version will be shown somewhere? That is puzzling to me too. 

I have no idea.  I remember at first Voice wasn't blurred, and then they said that viewers complained about it being too gory, so they started blurring the show. I'm sorry, but that's just idiotic, to complain about a crime show being too gory... I guess you guys are right, it is the Korean public that is causing the sterilization and infantalization of their shows. Just now I saw the comments on some of the clips from BM in which international viewers were expressing their fury at the shortening of the show, saying that it was popular with international audiences... 

I wonder if there is a possibility to produce a show for Netflix specifically for international viewers, without broadcasting it on Korean TV, thus circumventing their censorship.