Jang Hyuk 장혁

[azureblue7]

10 hours ago, dramafan33 said:

 

@azureblue7 He might be a history buff in general. Remember that variety show where they travelled to Mongolia and they showed him giving an impromptu long winded lecture about Gengis Khan? Lol  They fast forwarded him and all (I wanted to listen to the lecture from professor Jang *sigh*)

Yes! I remember that! Here's the clip .

 

 

[azureblue7]

More pics

 

[budgerie]

2 hours ago, azureblue7 said:

Yes! I remember that! Here's the clip .

I think when he retires, he can go teach History lesson in school. And the students will all fall zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[The Reel Life]

1 hour ago, budgerie said:

I think when he retires, he can go teach History lesson in school. And the students will all fall zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Or fall in  hahahahaha 

[fiesty8001]

21 hours ago, The Reel Life said:

 and JH’s one doesn’t seem as prominent. Wonder if it’s just his way of speech (Pronunciation) that sometimes lacks clarity or he lost the accent abit. 

Do you remember JH's drams Tazza? I've heard that his Busan accent in that drama was criticized.  He has lost his native accent but it is still distinguishable from typical Seoul accent.

 

19 hours ago, Biology Lesson said:

I think I hear the difference- it sounds more guttural, maybe less refined? It seems that "normal" korean that we hear in Kdramas has a sing-songy feel, kinda cute. The busan dialect doesn't sound as cute.

 

I think Busan accent sounds kind of funny. Busan dilect has tones like Mandarin so it may sound harsher(as compared to non-tonal languages) to untrained ears. 

 

[fiesty8001]

10 hours ago, azureblue7 said:

Yes! I remember that! Here's the clip .

The girl....

[Akhmatova]

Thank you to everybody about the dialect explanations, it has been really interesting. It's a pity he's lost his accent, but I suppose it's understandable, him being an actor and having lived in Seoul for a long time. And thank you for the WinWin clip, I'm not able to notice the accent at all, but seeing him singing Creep has been a, how can I put it, charming experience  He has a very good taste in music, I can see 

 

Musings about Money Flower in spoiler: 

Spoiler

 

It has been a fun ride, very entertaining but profound at the same time. Both my mum and I have like it very much. I especially loved the ending, because IMO it was the most perfect “happy ending” the story could get. Pil Joo accomplished his objective, and although he lost (maybe “sacrificed” would be a better word) very important things in his quest ( ia the people he loved, BC and MH), he won something a lot more important: freedom and peace. He’s not longer a slave of his hatred nor his need of revenge, so he can have a real fresh start. It was a perfect ending. In that sense, I would like to imagine that he didn’t get the CEO position in Cheong A, because I really really want him to leave everything Cheong related behind and to start a really NEW life, with other people in his life and doing something he really likes, something related to ecologism, for example. Come on, Pil Joo, let’s go and save some forests, boy, that you can do it!!

 

About the characters:

 

Pil Joo: I would have liked him to be a little more controversial, but that’s a pure personal taste. At the beginning I thought he would be a very morally ambiguous character, but he isn’t. He’s very complex, but he isn’t controversial. He’s essentially a good guy who (sometimes) does wrong things but for the right reasons and always against the bad guys (except for some collateral casualties such as my poor B-chan and MH). I loved the final conversation with B-chan, when he stood for his actions and said that he wouldn’t change anything and would do everything again. That’s one of the reasons I couldn’t root for him and MH to be together at the end. Despite knowing how much she had suffered because the Jang family, he would sell her again for the sake of his revenge. Oh boy! Lots of longing glazes and such, but ultimately, she (like everybody else) was only a disposable mean for your aims. And the same can be said about his relationship with B-chan. 

So my opinion about those three main characters is that each one of them should walk their own path alone. Because it’s obvious that they love and care about each other, but they have hurt each other too much to mend matters. Their relationship is too broken and it wouldn’t be realistic to resume it in the future. Lots of healing is needed here. So I like to think that each one of them is going to live their own lives and maybe, in the distant future, after ten, fifteen, twenty years, they would meet again and maybe have a dinner together and be happy about how well their old friends have rebuilt their lives. And that’s all. 

 

And I’m not going no say anything about JH’s performance, because well, it’s absolute perfection. 

 

Boo Cheong: it’s funny but he became my absolute favourite character in Money Flower. I have a soft spot for tragic characters, and IMO he’s the real tragic figure in MF. Even more than MH, and way more than PJ. Even if what happened to his family was terrible, at least PJ knew. He knew what happened, he knew who he was, he knew who his enemies were. So he knew what to do about it. Knowledge is power. B-chan, on the contrary, knew nothing. He was lied by those around him all his entire life. All his existence and his identity as an individual was a complete charade. His father wasn’t his father, his family wasn’t his family, his company and his surname wasn’t his, Pil Joo wasn’t Pil Joo. It must be hard to discover that your entire life is based in a lie, and even worse, in a lie basted by those you loved and trusted. So I could understand why he was so shallow and stupid. IMO he was sabotaging himself because of self loathing, because in fact, at the bottom of his heart, he always suspected he was a complete farce, so he acted as the farce he was. So I loved his character arch. How, once he starts learning the truth about himself, that truth doesn’t destroy him, but it makes him stronger and he becomes a real decent man (well IMO he was a decent man all along, but he wasn’t showing it). Knowledge is power as well for my B-chan. And kudos to the actor, because he was excellent in his performance as well. 

 

And now the female characters. Here comes the problem. I don’t know if I’ve been unlucky with the kdramas I’ve watched, but I’m discovering I don’t like female representation at all in Korean dramas. There have been some exceptions, but in general I found it to be deeply patriarchal and misogynistic. All of the female characters are variations of the dichotomy of the pure woman/the fallen woman, the female lead being always the “pure woman”, of course.  And Money Flower wasn’t so bad, but, eventually, JMR - who could have been more interesting -  ended being another variant of the evil scorned woman (who should be punished, of course), and MH a modern version of the stoic, supportive, understanding, forgiving, gentle and good hearted pure woman who always will walk on the hero’s side (despite all his flaws and deeds). And my problem is that I don’t find that touching or romantic but somewhat nauseating. The fact that MH was willing to forgive everything PJ did to her “in the name of love” makes me angry. And that Mother Teresa of Calcutta air always around her. I couldn’t stand it. I had my only moment of happiness when she went all “I was sold for money, so I going to get all the money I can from the Jangs”, but alas, my happiness didn’t last for long. In the next scene she was all again all saintly, stoic and forgiving with her father and PJ. I can’t, I really can’t with Korean female leads. They get on my nerves. I would want, for once, to see a really flawed female lead in a Kdrama. Not flawed in the sense of “she’s too nice”, “she’s too naive”, “she’s too impulsive”, those are not real flaws, those are cute flaws that don’t taint the character or makes her controversial. I would want for once to see a female lead to be uber ambitious and ruthless and sleep her way to the top; or to be weak and addicted and doing despicable things for that. Or whatever. Something different that being a good strong, gentle, pure girl. It’s becoming boring for me. 

 

But overall, I’ve liked it a lot. Despite the female character lead and Pil Joo’s coats, it has been a very interesting watch. 

 

 

Now, and more after reading @Biology Lesson post, I feel like watching Empire of Lust, but I'm not able to find the film 

 

BTW, my mother has started to watch Fated To Love You. She likes romantic dramas, so she’s going to give it a try. And according to her, JH looks really handsome in it and she’s loving the hairstyle. I think she’s a greater JH fan than me. I feel ashamed 

[dramafan33]

@Akhmatova Thank you for sharing your opinions about Money Flower. I agree with almost everything except with what you said Bucheon. I agree that he was pitiful but he caused a lot of his own pain. We can’t blame everything on how a person is brought up and while he had his own brand of loneliness and pain he was also very privileged, entitled and spoiled. He was a bona-fide spoiled brat. He was perfectly ok with the status quo so long as the status quo benefited him. He was ok with Piljoo going to jail for him. He was ok with setting the trap for NMH. He was ok with having two women and never taking responsibility for the one he supposedly “loved” first. He was ok with being the CEO when he knew he wasn’t the heir nor he was qualified for the job. And why was he so dumb and unqualified despite having everything at his disposal to have a great education? Piljoo had to work and study and he excelled. BC only wanted to take the easy route in life and have everything handed to him. A “poor rich kid” essentially. Boohoo, I acknowledge his difficulties in life (on the emotional level) but he had so many advantages and opportunities that he wasted. And life gave him a lot of chances to “adult” which he also rejected. So I’m glad he suffered and lost his privilege. Sometimes its what a person needs to wake up.  
 

I think the character was written and acted very well. He is very interesting and complex but I don’t justify him or pity him as much as you do. 

[Akhmatova]

1 hour ago, dramafan33 said:

@Akhmatova Thank you for sharing your opinions about Money Flower. I agree with almost everything except with what you said Bucheon. I agree that he was pitiful but he caused a lot of his own pain. We can’t blame everything on how a person is brought up and while he had his own brand of loneliness and pain he was also very privileged, entitled and spoiled. He was a bona-fide spoiled brat. He was perfectly ok with the status quo so long as the status quo benefited him. He was ok with Piljoo going to jail for him. He was ok with setting the trap for NMH. He was ok with having two women and never taking responsibility for the one he supposedly “loved” first. He was ok with being the CEO when he knew he wasn’t the heir nor he was qualified for the job. And why was he so dumb and unqualified despite having everything at his disposal to have a great education? Piljoo had to work and study and he excelled. BC only wanted to take the easy route in life and have everything handed to him. A “poor rich kid” essentially. Boohoo, I acknowledge his difficulties in life (on the emotional level) but he had so many advantages and opportunities that he wasted. And life gave him a lot of chances to “adult” which he also rejected. So I’m glad he suffered and lost his privilege. Sometimes its what a person needs to wake up.  
 

I think the character was written and acted very well. He is very interesting and complex but I don’t justify him or pity him as much as you do. 

 

In fact, I don't think we desagree. I think I didn't express myself well (sometimes writing in English is very frustating to me), because I also agree with all you wrote. He was a brat, and spoiled, and lazy, and weak, and he did a lot of despicable things knowing what he did, and he needed to suffer and I'm glad he lost his privilege. It was necessary for him to grow.

But at the same time, it still think he was sabotaging himself. When you hate yourself, you don't even try. And I always had that feeling with BC, that under all his "happy-go-lucky spoiled brat bravado", he deeply hated himself, and that he would given anything to get out of his (fake) life. But at the same time, he was too weak and a coward to do anything about it. He had to learn it the hard way. But once he learnt it, I'm glad he did the right choices. I loved him in the last chapter. For me, his character arch was the more interesting, even more than Pil Joo's. But I have to admit I had a soft spot for my B-chan from the first episode, and with him, I am like MH with PJ, I'm willing to forgive him everything no matter what  I don't know, maybe it was the actor's ears, there isn't any other rational explanation 

[budgerie]

18 hours ago, The Reel Life said:

Or fall in  hahahahaha 

Er...since they're students, let's concentrate on studies first. Fall asleep in class is ok, don't fall in love with Teacher. Lol..hahaha!

 

12 hours ago, fiesty8001 said:

Do you remember JH's drams Tazza? I've heard that his Busan accent in that drama was criticized. 

I don't understand why does people need to criticise about everything under the sun? Actors are human as well, like anyone of us. They're not perfect people. The people who likes to criticise other people, should look at themselves first.

I read in chinese article recently that a c actor was criticised because he had put on weight during the lockdown. I mean, can't people put on weight when they're not filming?

Can fans/audience not be too unreasonable?

 

 

 

[budgerie]

10 hours ago, Akhmatova said:

All of the female characters are variations of the dichotomy of the pure woman/the fallen woman, the female lead being always the “pure woman”, of course. 

IMO, I think the actress isn't suitable for this role. Her role here is bland. Not sure is it the writing or her acting is bland. I never noticed that k drama FL is always the "pure woman" but I noticed that k drama FL are "heavy sleeper". You carry them when they're sleeping, they won't wake up. They'll still be dead asleep. (I know this is possible with children but I've never come across adults who sleep like a log).

[phoenix24]

[Biology Lesson]

Boxing today...

 

[Prettysup]

1 hour ago, Biology Lesson said:

Boxing today...

 

Guess they have finished the filming in Busan 

 

[Akhmatova]

8 hours ago, budgerie said:

IMO, I think the actress isn't suitable for this role. Her role here is bland. Not sure is it the writing or her acting is bland. I never noticed that k drama FL is always the "pure woman" but I noticed that k drama FL are "heavy sleeper". You carry them when they're sleeping, they won't wake up. They'll still be dead asleep. (I know this is possible with children but I've never come across adults who sleep like a log).

 

But that's the ultimate proof that they are really genuine "pure girls"  You know, their hearts are so so pure that nothing troubles their dreams so they can sleep like a log and be carried around by the hero. Everything is connected!! 

 

I don't know about MH either. IMO it was the character writing more than the actress. 99% of her role in the drama was her being there looking ethereal for a) Pil Joo to stare longingly at her b) B-chan to stare longingly at her c) PJ and BC to confront each other about her. It was utterly frustrating  She was Un-nyun 2.0. 

[Biology Lesson]

1 hour ago, Akhmatova said:

 

But that's the ultimate proof that they are really genuine "pure girls"  You know, their hearts are so so pure that nothing troubles their dreams so they can sleep like a log and be carried around by the hero. Everything is connected!! 

A very interesting insight, you have there... Those purer-than-pure girls cannot perceive of anything unpure around them...

 

Quote

 

I don't know about MH either. IMO it was the character writing more than the actress. 99% of her role in the drama was her being there looking ethereal for a) Pil Joo to stare longingly at her b) B-chan to stare longingly at her c) PJ and BC to confront each other about her. It was utterly frustrating  She was Un-nyun 2.0. 

Un-nyun 2.0 is a very good way to describe MH. It was especially frustrating as I already knew these actresses could act, as I've seen PSY in BM, as I've seen LDH in Robbers. Interestingly that in BM PSY's character was much more complex than the normal "pure" female lead, fierce and flawed, but obviously that was because she wasn't the lead... . 

[budgerie]

15 minutes ago, Biology Lesson said:

Un-nyun 2.0 is a very good way to describe MH. It was especially frustrating as I already knew these actresses could act, as I've seen PSY in BM, as I've seen LDH in Robbers. Interestingly that in BM PSY's character was much more complex than the normal "pure" female lead, fierce and flawed, but obviously that was because she wasn't the lead... . 

There's also another drama which she acted as a bad scheming person. I can't remember the title of the drama. I only saw a little of it but her performance there was better than at MF. Personally I feel she's better at fierce role because her eyes are big enough to stare fiercely at people. Lol.

 

[Akhmatova]

1 hour ago, Biology Lesson said:

Un-nyun 2.0 is a very good way to describe MH. It was especially frustrating as I already knew these actresses could act, as I've seen PSY in BM, as I've seen LDH in Robbers. Interestingly that in BM PSY's character was much more complex than the normal "pure" female lead, fierce and flawed, but obviously that was because she wasn't the lead... . 

 

That happens to me as well, I usually find the secundary female characters more interesting than the "pure" female lead, since they usually are more flawed and controversial, and that's appealing to me. 

That's one of the reasons why I'm curious about TWOTM, to see how the Korean version has handled the female lead, because in the Brit original, she's a pretty controversial character that even uses sex in a very questionable way to get her goals. But alas, I will have to wait to see it, because I've been so lazy and I've procrastinated so much during the lockdown, that right now I'd need to have my own private Pil Joo to solve everything for me  No more Kdramas for me for a while! 

[dramafan33]

3 hours ago, Akhmatova said:

 

But that's the ultimate proof that they are really genuine "pure girls"  You know, their hearts are so so pure that nothing troubles their dreams so they can sleep like a log and be carried around by the hero. Everything is connected!! 

 

I don't know about MH either. IMO it was the character writing more than the actress. 99% of her role in the drama was her being there looking ethereal for a) Pil Joo to stare longingly at her b) B-chan to stare longingly at her c) PJ and BC to confront each other about her. It was utterly frustrating  She was Un-nyun 2.0. 

They do that “ethereal” thing in kdramas a lot. It is a turn off. I hope PDs start to realize that and stop it. 
 

In the case of NMH, I appreciated the times she asserted herself in front of Jang Mal Ran but, there were many other moments where I didn’t understand her character. And I wonder if the writer sort of abandoned this character (it happens) I wish she had been angrier in general, I think it would’ve been more relatable. I was ok with her being “cold” sometimes because a hysterical person would be no match for that family and I have to give credit to NMH that she was at least strong enough to have the willingness to play their games (even if she wasn’t too good at it) and she also “understood” PJs anger towards them (but she should’ve been angrier at him, it would’ve made her more human in my eyes. Like, I’d still cooperate in his revenge, cause come on! That was delicious but I would still make him feel my wrath lol a person can do both at the same time. NMH was unnaturally calm, in general) 

 

Don’t we all want a personal Piljoo in our lives? The man could solve any problem! 

[The Reel Life]

On 6/14/2020 at 11:00 PM, Akhmatova said:

BTW, my mother has started to watch Fated To Love You. She likes romantic dramas, so she’s going to give it a try. And according to her, JH looks really handsome in it and she’s loving the hairstyle. I think she’s a greater JH fan than me. I feel ashamed 

So are you gonna join her watch or not? That is the biggest question!