Reading this article reminded of how weirdly proud I am nowadays to declare myself a K-drama lover to my friends, simply because they didn't expect me to like "that kind of entertainment". It's also kind of funny how determined some of them are to label dramas like Secret Forest, Mother, or Signal as an exception when good dramas has been around longer than my measly 7 years as K-drama watcher. But we love what we love, and sometimes my unabashed love for it left them curious enough to know what's the fuss about K-dramas and turn them into a bigger fans than I am.😉

“a South Korean television show about a 400-year-old Harvard-educated alien who falls in love with an arrogant actress.”

Makes me wants to rerun You From Another Star :D

your title is what i find myself saying all the time!

i tell people Kdramas are NOT like All My Children, General Hospital and As the World Turns (yes, i'm that old)... i try to equate Kdramas to
American evening drama serials like Dynasty, St Elsewhere, Chicago Hope, Greys Anatomy....

but for the uninitiated, they like to say "So, you watch those Korean Soap Operas?"

: [

This probably goes without saying, but I am truly thrilled to see once again how much thought is being given to these kinds of cultural phenomena here at Dramabeans, and the analytic skills used to present those thoughts - great article! And great image next to the title :D

This is an excellent article.

Where I come from (not the western part of the world), kdramas are 'disregarded' in a lump as cheesy romances, with the typical cinderella tropes where the wealthy and/or handsome heroes rescue their damsel of a heroin. So when some misinformed people, especially men, learn that i'm a kdrama fan, they will react with something along the line of, "ah, you are the kind of girl/woman who enjoy unrealistic, unattainable cheesy romance and kpop pretty boys", basically, a romantic fool with her head always in the cloud. I always wanted to give a lengthy explanation of what kdrama really is, that it's not only romance, but instead, being the introverted person i am, i just ignore them and leave them in their cave of ignorance, and enjoy dramas all to myself. but when i do stumble upon worthy ones, i'll bestow them with kdrama recommendations that will blow their minds.

To me the statement "Kdramas are soap operas" is as true or as false as the statement "all American [or British, or any other country for that matter] dramas are soap operas". Soap operas are one type of drama, but not every drama is a soap opera. Many countries make soap operas as well as other types of dramas.

I haven’t watched an American soap for decades but I can’t imagine the formula has changed that much. To me these are the distinguishing features of a soap:
- They air daily. The pace is quite slow, events drag on. You don’t miss much even if you tune in only occasionally.
- They are broadcast before nightly news, pre-primetime.
- They are cheaply made, shot in studios, always indoors. There are no location shoots.
- They have comparatively crappy acting, awful close-ups etc.

In contrast some primetime dramas (American, Korean or other some the countries) are cinematic quality both technically and in the level of acting and can get very expensive with even extended foreign location shoots, A level movie actors, fancy special effects. They are broadcast primetime, one-two hours/week and are fast-paced, depending on the drama you miss one week you don't know what the hell is going on.

I never watched a Korean daily, maybe they are the equivalent of soaps but to me Korean dramas are more similar to a longer version of British miniseries, they have a one season story to tell in a limited number of episodes and a good writer plans it all ahead from the beginning.

My folks here don't even call it soap. It's worse because many here don't see kdrama's difference with Chinese movies and the Chinese movie they like includes Jackie Chan's, jet li's and the likes, so if you are watching drama it's likely to hear "are you still watching your chun chin chun?" (when they are trying to imitate the language).
But not to worry because many of my friends are now kdrama convert. So when someone makes fun of us we just take it in and plot our comebacks because we are so cool like that. Yay us😎!!!

If there's anything I regret about my kdrama watching experience is 'why I didn't start it sooner?' 😄
I'm not going to talk about quality because I understand nothing about it. I just watch what I feel good and most kdramas make me feel content.
To me kdrama is a great companion for any occasion. I can watch drama while doing my laundry, working out, grading students homework, commuting to work. So many apps/websites to watch them. There's so little or no sex scene at all so it's safe to be watched in the public area. I can enjoy my commuting since I watch kdrama. I can give better and relatable examples in my classes because of kdramas. I can understand my family better since I learned it from kdrama.
Thank you kdrama, I don't care if you're soap operas or anything. You've given me happiness and life lessons in two years of existing in my daily life.

This article was awesome. So many things are true that I kept nodding my head like "right... oh, right right".
I felt the same, especially since Netflix categorized some drama under the term "à l'eau de rose" (mushy, sappy). I was kind of vexed because this is so reductive. I particularly like when you wrote "there’s a rather big difference between how something sounds, and what something actually is" - indeed, like first impressions, you are narrow-minded, and eventually stupid, if you are not able to overcome it. In french, we have this saying that says you should not judge a book by looking only at its cover and, that's it, there is more than the apparent - maybe cheesy - storyline in a drama.
That said, I studied litterature and every story is about the same idea: an heroes overcoming difficulties and finding happiness or at least some sort of peace (of course, there are sad endings too). We talked about the actantial narrative schema here in litterature. If we think drama are soap operas because of this, then every story is bound to be one then.

What you said about the one-liners making the shows sound strange is so true. I'm trying to get my mum to watch a K-drama with me, but every time she asks me what I'm watching Ii say something like, "a priest, a cop and a taxi driver team up to kill a demon" or "a policeman talks to a policeman from the past with an old radio" or "a male housekeeper helps a girl clean her house" and she just rolls her eyes and goes back to the show she's watching where a woman's ex-husband shows up six years later with his daughter by her best friend and she tries to keep him from finding out that he's her daughter's father.
I think I'll win her over if I can convince her subtitles aren't the devil.

Thank you, missvictrix! This was a well-thought-out and enjoyable essay.

I would add that k dramas, unlike American soaps, have a defined narrative arc, and end after a preplanned and limited number of episodes (16, 20, etc.). I really appreciate that, and think it usually helps the quality of the story - any story - to have a defined beginning, middle, and end.

It's the endlessness of American soaps that stand out to me: many went on for years, decades even, until falling ratings caused some to shut down for good.

I think the endlessness of American soaps helped many fans to feel like the characters were part of their own lives, so I could see how that would be enjoyable; but it also caused some of criticisms of story-telling quality of the soaps (i.e. boring, convoluted, ridiculous plot twists, senselessness) in the first place.

"There’s no absolute standard for entertainment; anything that makes me feel and react is something to be valued." - a quote from @javabeans that has always stayed with me.

Very interesting article. I think there are all kinds of kdramas- some veer more towards soap opera or telenovelaterritory and others don’t.

Lol, how true is it that it’s difficult to sum up a drama in one line? They often sound ridiculous: “Guy gets kicked out of school so comes back 9 years later to get his revenge.”

But if you add the genre and a few adjectives it sounds better, maybe: “Romantic comedy about a loving and simple guy who gets kicked out of school and comes back 9 years later to get his revenge.”
Ok, maybe it still sounds ridiculous. Oh well. 😂

Going to share this on my non stan twitter account :D

Thank you for writing this! One difference between them is that K-Dramas have a beginning and an ending. Soaps go on for years (some decades, even.) Many times they have no resolution. But (the most important difference for me) I have never watched an entire soap opera. But I have watched many K-Dramas, from beginning to end.

At the heart of the derision now embedded in the term soap opera is the idea that these shows have little intellectual value. They are often repetitive with familiar plot lines, themes, and stock characters. On the other hand, sports, which are also repetitive, what with their rules and all, also have familiar plot lines and stock characters, but yet are not met with the same sneer. Why? Because when something is made for and marketed to the female persuasion it suddenly becomes less culturally and intellectually valuable.

I agree kdramas are not soap operas, but like romance novels, chicklit, as well as other forms of entertainment and craft enjoyed mostly by women they are almost automatically dismissed as frivolous, even a waste of time. Sure, they are not all high art, but then I don't want them to be. Sometimes what you need is simple, cheesy, and familiar, and I will never apologize for that. And why should I? Isn't a baseball game with it's parameters of innings and outs and such, just as simple and familiar at its base? And just like sport fans, kdrama fans are passionate, critical, and as @missvictrix says, smart. Some of the most in-depth critical analysis I read comes from this very site. I'm a student of literature, I read and participate in analysis every day, and you all have cultural and historical insights that often surpass what I encounter in class. So when people dismiss kdrama and kdrama fans with a wave, I know they are wrong, and worse, they are missing out.

Very nice @missvictrix. Actually as I was reading I thought maybe you were settling us up for the conclusion that the kdrama world and soap opera world are closer than we think. I agree we you that the two are not the same.
Thinking back to my youth I used to watch one gothic American soap in the afternoon after school and that was DARK SHADOWS with the late, great Jonathan Frid.

There will always be comparisons between soaps and dramas because they both share elements of basic story telling. Historically, the first American soap operas were serialized, long term, ensemble character driven dramas. They were broadcast live which meant the actors had to have theater backgrounds and the ability to memorize new scripts on a daily basis. Likewise, in current K-dramas, we have heard stories of harsh production schedules and script changes as the series is being shot.

Both follow a serialization format, but soaps last more than one season and plots are slower to develop. In some respects, K-dramas follow more regular American night time episodic dramas where there is a secondary conflict in each episode which gets some resolution, but the larger overriding story conflict continues through to the end of the show.

For me, the standard k-dramas are simply limited episode tv shows. However, SOME but not all wkend family dramas/daily dramas are soapier so to speak and this is true not only in the stories they tell but often times a more limited production value. Many of these shows do not get licensed. Regardless, I like what I like and see no reason to apologize for it other than to say I do have a guilty pleasure/so-bad-it's-good type drama come around every once in a while but this is true for Western entertainment as well.

However, I believe it's Netflix that has a section that they call "soapy Asian dramas" that irks me.

I think it's also the name. When I tell people I watch kdramas I think they latch onto the 'drama' part of the name and makes assumptions that the drama means soaps. I have started telling people I enjoy Korean TV (or Asian TV) and it seems to have stopped that assumption that they are soaps. But like others, I get annoyed when people assume kdramas are soap operas and have to explain they are nothing like that (atleast the ones I watch, because, let's be honest, some of those weekend dramas are basically soap operas).

To call soup opera a K-drama (even one that is really bad) is an insult. 😂😂😂
I come from Latin America. Our soaps are pathetic. Like... really really pathetic. Most of them, if not all of them.
One exception, maybe, could be "the ugly betty" (yo soy Betty, la fea -in Spanish-), from where so many adaptations have been made, and yet, that soup failed in which it was dragged too much and too long, unnecessarily.

Kdramas for me is like watching a 15/16hour movie over a series of days. Soaps don't provide the beginning, middle and ending of a story and plot as neatly as a kdrama. I am one of the last people to ever be addicted to anything but Kdramas have that "some" thing that is so unique

Gosh, I've come to detest the word "soap" and nearly bite off the heads of those who ask, "so are you still watching your Korean soaps?" while I shout back, "DRAMAS!" I try to explain that they're the same as any BBC or HBO miniseries, or a memorable production like Roots and feel like watching a very long, multi-part film. Most people at least now ask about my "Korean shows" LOL.
But I admit that back in 2005 when I initiated my first web search for more after seeing Hotelier, Phoenix and Rooftop Room Cat, I googled for "Korean soap operas" 😂

Thanks for the interesting and accurate article!

Basing on my brief experience (less than an year), I can say that people tend to judge K-dramas badly only because... they're K-drama, I mean, without watching a single episode.
I have devoured TV series for at least 15 years, mostly American, and it wasn't something to talk about. But now that I'm devouring K-dramas, I'm odd, according to people surrounding me.

The term "soap opera" actually came about because early shows were sponsored by soap companies who were targeting housewives since they were the ones who were listening (in the beginning they were on the radio) and then watching since they were home during the day. Now the opera part I get because of the amount of drama involved in an opera, but anywhoo...

I call them my "shows". I grew up watching CBS "stories" as my Grandma would call them because I went to her house instead of nursery. I haven't watched in years, but I know if I were to go to "Y&R" right now it may take me a day or two, but I could pick right up. K-dramas and C-dramas are more nuanced than soaps and they are not serialized. But they have a beginning, middle, and usually an end (Signal, I'm looking at you). Just like most shows/genre/network, sometimes you have to defend what you love and some people will get it and some won't. You just have to find your "tribe"!!

I grew up watching a lot of Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese dramas. So the only format I knew was this mini-series/one that ends at a reasonable length. When I migrated to the US as a teen, the idea of "soap opera" or even primetime shows that run on for multiple seasons was so strange to me. (Looking back, I definitely had watched a few Amerian TV shows that were translated and broadcasted in my home country and was always unpleasantly surprised when they ended abruptly. In retrospect, it was probs bc of this multi-season format and which season managed to be aired. lols)
I never really thought of Kdramas as soap operas, and do get kind of annoyed when heard them being described as such. Sure, there are overused tropes and melodramatic/over-the-top tactics but there are also amazing, jaw-dropper/heart-stopping ones. I won't stop showering my love for my favorite Kdramas :D

I think also it takes incredible skill to be on a show that tapes every day and has new lines everyday. Actors who start out on soaps have such skills. They can memorize lines and understand character beats quicker because of the daily work they do on soaps. Underappreciated indeed.

I had this discussing with a friend.
He labeled everything a "soap opera" if it forces you to 'feel feelings', which he apparently considered an affront. He also didn't like books that involved people 'feeling feelings'. So the 'soap opera' label isn't about the art form at all, its about closed-off people out of touch with their emotions. A joke of mine is American guys talk sports because they're afraid touching on any other topic will bring those pesky 'emotions' to the surface.