Review: 19

Nineteen is one of those “in-between” ages that just kind of passes by without anyone noticing. For most people, 19 is simply another bump in the road between 18 and 21. There’s just nothing really special about it…and that’s essentially what defines it.

Nineteen is that awkward stage in one’s life that is no longer childhood but not yet adulthood. It’s when you still depend on your parents but also want as much freedom from them as possible. It’s when you’re figuring out your future and who you ultimately want to be.

That’s what South Korean film 19 (2009) is all about. It follows three 19-year-olds who get caught up in a murder and are forced to run away together. As fugitives, they learn important lessons about life, love, and friendship, and they also face the problem of being at an age where they’re technically adults but still treated as kids.

What I really liked about this film was how relatable the characters were. Each of them came from a different walk of life, and thus had his or her own problems to deal with. One was a sheltered rich boy who had yet to pass his college entrance exams. One was in college but was majoring in something that “wouldn't get him anywhere,” thus rendering him useless in the eyes of his family members, and the third was struggling to feed herself while paying for her dying mother’s medical bills.  For me, the relationship between these three characters really made the film.

Another neat thing about the film was that two of the leads were played by Big Bang members Seungri and T.O.P.  Both displayed their musical talents in the film, giving it a sort of star quality that showed the k-pop artists outside of their normal field of work.

What I didn’t love about the film, however, was the execution of the story. While the premise of the film was interesting, the execution of it left something to be desired. Some things in the film just didn’t make sense while others had too much of a deus ex machina feel. For example, when the leads were trying to figure out who the real murderer was, one of them just happened to have captured the culprit in his stalkerish photos of the victim, and he only happened to notice it just then. It’s like the writers of the script got lazy and threw in the simplest solutions they could think of.

Overall, I’d say this film is an interesting watch, but certainly not a “must-see.” It’s entertaining while it lasts, but doesn’t leave a strong impression.

Common Tropes in Kdramas: The Evil Mother/Grandmother

We’ve all had one. That one relative who’s always breathing fire down our necks because we’re not good enough. The one who criticizes what we eat and who we date. The one who thinks that the only people good enough for us are those of equal or higher social status. The one who meddles in our affairs and sets us up on blind dates. Yes, dear readers. I’m talking about that person: the evil mother/grandmother in the family. Or maybe that’s just in Korean dramas.

I don’t know what possesses all the mothers and grandmothers in the Kdrama world, but there is almost always an evil mother/grandmother in any given Kdrama. I have no idea if that’s a cultural thing or just something Korean drama producers picked up and went wild with, but in any case, it makes me glad I don’t have one.

These mothers and grandmothers aren’t just mildly unpleasant or grouchy, either. They’re downright sinister. Perhaps one of the worst cases of evil mother I’ve ever seen was in the drama Secret Garden, a romantic comedy about a rich male heir and a poor stuntwoman who swap bodies and fall in love with each other.

...I know that storyline sounds like somebody was snorting something illegal when they wrote it, but it’s a really good drama...I swear.

In the drama, the male protagonist's mother despises the fact that her son has fallen in love with a stuntwoman, and she pulls repeated antics throughout the show in order to separate the two. She even threatens to destroy her own son’s career. If that isn’t the definition of an evil mother, then I don’t know what is.

I do not come across evil grandmothers as often, but they’re still lurking out there. One of the most recent ones I came across was in the drama Rooftop Prince. The male protagonist's grandmother ends up working with the evil daughter/sister in order to get rid of her grandson’s love interest, Park Ha. In the drama, the evil grandmother is somewhat subsumed by the even more evil daughter/sister, but the grandmother is still controlling and oppressive throughout the drama.

So there you have it. If you didn’t learn anything else from this post, you at least now know that all the evil mothers and grandmothers in the world are located in South Korea.

Review: Arang and the Magistrate

As most kdrama fanatics probably know, the popular drama Arang and the Magistrate just finished airing last weekend. A historical fantasy about a female ghost searching for her killer, this show essentially combined all of my favorite things.

It had drama, romance, action, mystery, magic, suspense, folklore, comedy, and Lee Jun Ki…need I say more?

The man in command

In terms of story, Arang and the Magistrate did a fantastic job of leaving viewers guessing while still giving up enough clues to keep the story engaging. Nearly every episode ended with a nail-biting cliffhanger, and even when I thought I had everything figured out, there were still twists and turns in the plot up until the very end.

What really made this show for me, though, were the intricate relationships between the characters. There was, of course, the main relationship between Arang and the magistrate, which slowly developed into a full-blown love story by the show’s finale.

There was also the endearing bromance between the magistrate and his manservant, as well as a romantic side story between the manservant and shaman Bang Wool.

In addition to those, we had the truly heart-wrenching and tragic story between Arang and Joo-wal, who was Arang’s love interest while she was alive.

We also had the touching relationship between the magistrate and his mother, which was a relationship I think most people can relate to. 

There were certainly more relationships in the drama than these, but that’s just to give an idea of how important characterization was in this series. There were no “throw away” characters. Each one contributed in some way to the overall plot development.

I have to be honest and say that Arang and the Magistrate came across as more of a melodrama than a historical horror/comedy in the sense that there were many heartbreaking moments filled with passionate sobbing. This was not just limited to the female characters, either. More than once I saw Lee Joon Ki’s crying face…and it was not the most attractive thing in the world. It was nice, however, to see the actors really get into their roles.

Overall, Arang and the Magistrate is by far one of the best dramas I’ve seen, historical or otherwise, and I would highly recommend it.

Review: Answer Me 1997

In America, the 90s marked a decade of massive technological, economical, and social change. It was the era of teenage pop groups, the first mobile phones, portable CD players, Tamagotchi pets, Furbies, StarCraft, and the all-time high-grossing film Titanic, just to name a few. I myself am a 90s kid, and I can’t help but feel nostalgic when I think about how different life was back then. I was young, innocent, and optimistic, and the world was a completely different place than it is now.  So much happened in the 90s that it would be difficult to cover it all, but the 2012 Korean drama Answer Me 1997 does just that.

It may seem odd, even impossible, that a TV show focused on Korea's 90s could elicit such a distinct feeling of nostalgia in a full-blooded American citizen, but that’s part of what makes the show so good. Even though it is based in a foreign country, many of the emotions and cultural changes are the same.

Just to give you an idea of how smitten I was with this show, I managed to watch all 16 episodes in less than a week despite schoolwork and other commitments. I was, in a word, obsessed, and after you’re done reading this post, you’re going to be obsessed too.

Answer Me 1997 has a really unique format that grabs your attention as soon as it starts. In the first episode, we’re at a 2012 high school reunion, and we’re introduced to a group of six friends.  We’re told that two of those friends are announcing their engagement that evening, and then we’re transported 15 years into the past, to the year 1997, to see how it all happened and to find out who is getting engaged. The rest of the series flips back and forth between the late 90s, when the group is in high school, and 2012, as they all remember things from their teenage years. The drama keeps you in suspense until the last few episodes as to who all the couples are, and along the way you get to see how each member of the group grows and matures. 

The high school reunion

If you thought that South Korea was a conservative, culturally backwards country, then you have been very, very misguided. South Korea's culture is actually very similar to that of the United States, even back in the 90s. As proof, here are some of the show's major themes:

Pop groups

The girls in the drama are obsessed with boy bands, and interestingly enough, the 90s boy bands of South Korea were very similar to those of America. The drama features boy bands H.O.T. and Sechs Skies, whose American counterparts would be something like the Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC. They even have rivalries between the fans of different groups. We’re also briefly introduced to the girl group Baby V.O.X., which vaguely resembles the Spice Girls.

Fan rivalries: on the left we see Sechs Kies fans and on the right we have H.O.T. fans

H.O.T.

Baby V.O.X

First love and first heartbreak

The happy couples we see at the 2012 high school reunion weren’t always that way. Answer Me 1997 shows us the ups and downs in their relationships as well as how they finally ended up together.

Technology

We also see the first mobile phones, StarCraft (which was evidently extremely popular in South Korea), portable CD players, Tamagotchi pets, and the infamous dial-up internet connection.

Tamagotchi!

StarCraft

Family Dynamics

Family plays a central role in this drama. We get to relive experiences like sending kids away to college for the first time as well as coping with things like family tragedy. The drama also shows how family members in Korea interact. The story, which is primarily centered in Busan and Seoul, depicts the typical "Busan" family, including the use of the Busan dialect.

Watching the Korea soccer match against Japan

The drama even covers homosexuality:

There are also some pretty neat connections made between the past and current Korean legends, something I only discovered after looking those particular characters up. In one scene, we see a slightly overweight, young baseball player practicing. When he turns around, the subtitles translate his jersey name as "Lee Dae Ho." After looking up his name, I found that Lee Dae Ho is now a famous Korean baseball player.

In addition, one of the friends in the group is actually an ex-member of the 90s Sechs Kies boy band. In one scene he's watching himself in a music video, but in the drama he's just a normal character. Pretty cool, eh?  

Friendship

Last but not least, we get to see just how strong, and long-lasting, some friendships can be.

 As you can tell, I really, really enjoyed this drama. Even if you’re not a 90s kid, do yourself a favor and check this drama out. I’m positive you’ll find something to relate to.

Happy watching :)