I have refused to watch South Korean TV shows for a very long time. The sudden excitement over Korean stars was a bit too much to handle. I couldn't comprehend the fandom which emerged out of no where. One week you hear about a new TV series called 'Sujatha Diyani' (Jewel of the Palace), and the next week you can't set foot outside without seeing or hearing something about Changumi. And later on I heard of so many different 'diyanis', I lost track of the whole thing.
Few months later, when I mentioned about the American sitcom named Full House to some of my friends they misunderstood it for a Korean TV show under the same name. It was a bit disturbing at that time because I took extreme pride in going against the Korean mania. Also, the story-lines of those two shows were extremely different, I almost felt sorry for them.
So, like that I was able to keep my distance from the Korean TV frenzy and continued my atypical life thinking I'm so cool..... *BOOM*! That was until one day I was talked into watching Heartstrings (AKA "You've Fallen For Me") by a friend. I agreed because there was nothing else to watch and I was tired of repeatedly watching the old movies I had with me.
After watching the first episode I was amazed, because I hadn't started hating it already. Instead I found that it's music was really good (It's about getting ready for a musical and the lead actor is a singer in a K-Pop boy band IRL, so there's plenty of good melodies in that drama)
Enchanted by (mostly because of the traditional and western music mash-up ^) Heartstrings, I started to believe that the Korean dramas are not so bad after-all. So naturally, I started watching another one named "Playful Kiss". It was horrible, I couldn't believe that a girl could steep so low to win over a rude, ill-mannered, big headed jerk. Few episodes later, I started understanding the Korean TV show fandom in Sri Lanka. That craze is not about the storyline, not about the morals or values. I don't think people can tell the plot of two Korean stories apart without getting confused for that matter. But it's all about the following things;
HUMAN DOLLS
People in Korean movies-specially guys-are freakishly flaxen and well-groomed. I'm not being racist here. But I think this is a key point.
KISSES and SKINSHIP ARE NOT AWKWARD
Rather than Hollywood kiss scenes, K-drama kisses are more endurable for the Sri Lankan culture.
FANCY LIFESTYLE
The lead and the supporting characters basically look like the Asian versions of Ken and Barbie with their designer clothes, fancy accessories and high-end hair styles.Who doesn't want to watch that eh? It's like virtual window shopping ;)
And those houses and their rooms... and really really expensive vehicles...
DAMSEL-IN-DISTRESS
The female lead is depicted as a clumsy, weak, stupid girl who is always prone to accidents. And no matter how much of a jerk the boy is, he always comes to her rescue at the right time. (In both the dramas I saw, these situations are in-fact the only scenes where the boy acknowledges the girl's presence) I bet this is super romantic to most people. Actually even I was relieved watching those scenes, as I was feeling so bad about the poor girl constantly getting humiliated and ignored.
CUTE
Pastel colours, teddy bears, romantic landscapes, making hearts with their hands... need I say more?
NICE, WELL-MANNERED PEOPLE & NO VIOLENCE
Korean dramas always depict the characters as refined and well mannered people. This may not be the case in real life. However, even the villains in K-drama plots knows how to show some courtesy. So at the end of each episode, the viewers are not burdened with hatred depicted in the drama.
It's fantasy and unrealistic and a totally different genre; but if you hate that kind of stuff you always have the option of staying away from the k pop paradise. But I'm telling you K pop or K dramas are a nice resort if you want to take a break and escape from the reality for a few minutes :)
