@seeker and whoever else might be interested: I am adding to my previous contemplations on emotional portrayals in K-Drama and its universal appeal.

When I referred to the 4-part interview of the scriptwriter for My Dearest — Ms. Jin-young Hwang — in these Fanwall pages, I noticed her “starting point” of writing :
It was a statement made by a former MBC controller who had apparently said that the portrayal of Prince Sohyeon and his family and their tragic end was too difficult a topic to cover in Korean filmmaking.

Of course he referred to this crown prince’s highly suspicious, ominous death and that of his family (by possibly his father’s, the king’s condoning), the “shame” Korea felt for centuries (until today?) being invaded by the “barbaric” Jurchen usurpers (now in the People’s Republic of China) and to the so-not-at-all Confucian sensibilities the Joseon class system provided until well into the 19th century.

Korean scriptwriters have, so far, written for a Korean audience with topical sensibilities aligned to this audience.

However, with the advent of Netflix and other international streaming sites wanting to get onto the financial bandwagon this is something which faces the danger and opportunity of eroding. I mention «My Dearest» because it did hold, in my view, a lot of the appeal, of a historic portrayal with great depth and merit in any culture’s filmmaking (and I found the heavy nod to Gone with the Wind not so illegitimate as others have done).

I noticed, there are a myriad of web novel or webtoon adaptation in K-Drama nowadays. Some are ingenious, but others …. Hmm …

Ultimately, my question is probably : what is filmmaking if not a reflection of present and past in a cultural setting ? And how do we want it to be brought into life ?

I would argue that to my mind, Korean television drama filmmaking is still leading the pack internationally — although I do also see elements which start to make me be more critical, such as : why do actors/actresses have to shave off their particular Korean features to be more appealing? If I compare the lead actor in Full House (2004) who is extremely handsome, to the current version of, for example, the wonderful Kim Soo Hyun (who is also extremely handsome), would latter have been much less successful in his years of fame now if he had not had plastic surgery? And what’s with this persecution of his personal life’s information?

I recently read something in this tone of mind about Chinese actors and actresses, who are virtually all apparently bulimic or anorexic respectively (I am paraphrasing, it was said that they were too thin).

So, do the emerging generations of 20somethings and 30somethings film watchers now expect their filmic idols to look a certain (standardised) way? Is this Gen-Z across the world? (You can tell I am not.)

For women actors —actresses— this seems to be even more the case. Jang Nara, who would probably nowadays be termed a «veteran actress» (though she is only in her early 40s) is an example of an actress I have come to love, but for whom roles are more and more difficult to get it seems. I remember having read comments on that also with regards to American filmmaking ; Sandra Bullock for example said something to that effect in the past, or Susan Sarandon, too, if I remember correctly. So it is not a “Korean” phenomenon only.

I watched on “older” K-Drama in my binge-watching frenzy in the last months, Viki Europe has it as You’re Beautiful (2009) with the lead actor being Jang Keun-suk, a Hallyu singer and idol of the time. I felt it was an interesting drama, I liked it and I looked up the actors/actresses. Apparently Mr. Jang was a big star in the late 2000s but when he organised a fan meet in 2021 or so, only two people showed up (exaggerating a bit, but you get what I am saying).