thoughts on melodrama & goong.
Since there's Bones to check out today, I thought I'd finally take the time to ramble about Goong, the Korean drama I finished with last weekend. I'll do an introduction post on the show later if some people on my flist got curious but before that, this is lengthy and spoilerous for the whole thing.
Though before I go into this show in particular, I have some general thoughts on melodrama, differences in soaps/melodrama and what works for me and what doesn't. I'll cut for those who aren't keen and spoiler warn for those who don't care for Goong.
I remember thinking during the final episodes of Goong how now in my mind, Asian melodrama > Western melodrama. Meaning that I get choked up watching something like Goong (at the angsty bits, that is) or a good Bollywood film, but can't really get into the Western soap operas or romantic movies in the same way. And I wonder, is it just a case of getting sick of something that's sort of shoved down your throat every time you turn on the TV around a certain time of the day (Finnish TV has a "soap hours" when two commercial channels show soaps for pretty much ~3 hrs) or whenever you go to the movies (in form of trailers or whatever), OR is it that Asians genuinely know their shit better and thus produce better, more appealling melodramatic products.
I mean, I suppose there's a question of target audience (Asian dramas have young characters, ergo the audience is probably also dominantly young) and appeal that comes with it. And just a preference. I could never get into Western soaps, perhaps because of their format. You have Bold & The Beautiful that runs for fucking three decades and some of the cast never even changes. It's insane! You have slow moving plots that just drive you up the wall - I could tune in only once a month and probably still be able to tell what's going on. You have characters who don't change, or change rapidly and illogically. You have pairings who break up, get back together and continue the cycle for a small eternity. One of them dies. Oh wait, she just remembers nothing and is now engaged to a Maroccan prince. How did that happen? Who cares! The only soap I ever kind of enjoyed was Passions, because it took things to the sort of extreme that it became self-aware and funny. But it was still unnecessarily slow-moving and boring.
Then you've got your Finnish soaps, definitely less glam, more of that ordinary lives sort of stuff, but still the same stuff. Some of my friends are into "Salatut elämät" (wow, there's something I never thought I'd have to write about on LJ!) - trans: 'Secret lives', which is about a bunch of people living in the same apartment building. From what I know of Finnish TV history, this is a re-occurring theme - characters living close. I guess it says something about our society, or not. I actually do know what it says about our society but it's long and boring and unrelated to this. Bottom line: Salatut elämät is pretty much the same soap-y stuff as its American counterparts, though perhaps slightly more realistic in terms of plot twists.
I'll admit that perhaps my enjoyment of Bollywood & now this kdrama (that's Korean drama) series is partly about exoticism. I dislike the word and what it implies, or seems to imply at times, but basically there is a certain cultural fascination that comes with watching any entertainment from a country vastly different from your own. (Thanks to cultural imperialism, no, American mainstream culture does not feel all that foreign to me.) The differences in society are clear in Bollywood especially but even in an alternative universe work like Goong, they're still there.
But mostly it bores down to this: I like melodrama with ending. I was somewhat iffy about Goong at first because the length scared me - 24 hrs worth of material, yikes! But once I got into the characters properly, it was fine and I went through the episodes rather quickly. Same with Bollywood movies - some are over 3 hours, sure, but at least there's an ending. I guess I need some sort of a reward for sitting through something that makes my heart ache and my eyes moist. I mean, I do love the emotional experience but all the same, I also want a happy ending.
In Latin America they have telenovelas, which I suppose is close to the idea of doramas (Asian dramas). Like mini-soaps, but the story actually ends and they get a new one on the air, possibly with some of the same actors involved. I'm not sure if I could get into telenovelas but the idea is certainly more appealing than watching any of the American soaps or the Finnish ones.
Wow, that was longer than I thought. Anyway, SPOILERS FOR GOONG HEREON.
Well, what's there to say about Goong? I really liked it. I'm not sure if I absolutely *loved* it as a whole but I certainly loved bits of it in a major way.
I especially loved the character of Chaegyung. Goofy, hyper, funny - always brought a smile on my face and in the end my heart broke for her. I'm really glad I also warmed up to the character of Shin because otherwise I would've probably really hated her for what his lack of showing any emotion did to poor CG. On one hand it was interesting to see her completely worn down by the heart break and the angst, but on the other, it was just awful to see her suddenly so subdued and not herself anymore. I'm so glad there was a happy ending because otherwise I don't know how I could've coped. I can only deal with so much tragedy.
So yeah, naturally the OTP of the show was a total delight. I think my top favourite moments with the two would definitely be, based on how I feel about it right now (meaning the order could change in my head in the future but whatever)...
1. The "night together" in episode 13. Hilarious, hot, heart-warming and plain just lovely. Definitely among my most re-watched bits of Goong. I love CG is elaborate palace clothing and how he helps her out with removing the headgear. And then poor Shin getting uncomfortable because of the closeness and beginning to exercise... and of course, the culmination with the kiss. Squeee.
2. The kiss in, gah, episode 23 or 24. You know the one. Yeah, hot.
3. Sleepover in episode 7... Backperving included. Just so much hillarity and cuteness and Shin finally opening up and CG's family. LOVED IT, all of it.
4. The sunrise trip ..episode 16, I think. So much cuteness. <3
5. Sharing-a-hotel-room bits in episodes 17 & 18. Shower!! And the video-tape kiss! Nothing beats accidental male flashing...
6. Shin's speech in the beginning of episode 21. Great in that angsty, heart-breaky way. Poor boy.
7. Happy ending bits in episode 24. Especially Shin's "I'm your husband, not your boyfriend!". Awww.
8. Every time Shin is all adorable and vulnerable and asks CG to never leave his side or never leave him or something along the lines. Guhh.
9. Every instance of the angry/smiling Shin puppet CG made. Especially when she beats it up. Hilarious & cute.
I think I've talked about why the CG/Shin dynamic is so great before so I won't get into it, but yeah, there are very definite reasons on why they are OTP.
To talk about the antagonists for a bit, I'm still undecided on Yul. Okay, yeah, kind of sweet and as damaged emotionally as Shin in a way, and yeah, suppose he's okay, but still I had so many moments in this series where I just wanted to stab him in the face or found him annoying. I think dangermousie made a good point about the romance in Goong being somehow 'realistic' in that actually the antagonists would've made okay couples with the protagonists and it's only the circumstances that make them so unable & wrong to be that. Essentially I totally agree and CG/Yul would've been okay etc etc, I have nothing largely against the pairing, but I just can't really like Yul a lot. I don't know why that is.
Hyorin had a fair share of "OH JUST DIE AWAY!" moments of annoyingness but I still warmed up to her more for some reason.. I sort of understood the suckiness she was going through and hated how she became a pawn in Yul's mum's games, without knowing it - another thing that makes me like Yul less, he knew exactly what he was doing most of the time. Sure enough I still disliked her a lot occasionally, other times I just disliked her stupidity and how she should've known she was better off without Shin.
Parents. Well. Hate, obviously, except CG's - though they too had that slightly questionable moment of her mother using her palace connections to move forward in her career. But that was only for a while, so whatever. I really like how Shin's sister became the Queen, it seemed so appropriate.
Other random things I liked about the final episodes; how one of Shin's friends got a huuuuuuge crush on CG's BFF. It was sooo adorable and a nice little bit of hillarity amidst the otherwise very angst-ridden episodes. LOVE. And how CG dressed up her maid in regular clothing. Aw. And the baby pic with CG&Shin is one of the cutest Goong "commercial" screen pictures ever. Aw.
Which brings us to the "future". I'm not terribly hyped for Goong 2, which I suppose reflects views of many other Goong fans.. I'm curious on how it connects to the first Goong but on the other hand I can't really care. So that "new prince" character is probably Shin/CG's kid and then, bleh, again 4 central characters, one of them is the OTP and there's probably much palace drama stuff to make sure the OTP doesn't get together. I don't know. Sounds like too much of a reprise. Looking at this page, I'm not feeling too yay about it but I suppose once it airs I'll check out the buzz and see whether it'd be worth watching at all.
Hmm, oh yeah, complaints/criticisms on Goong.. I do think it could've been a little tighter. There was quite a lot of repetition. I'm sure no one would forget Yul's mother's motives for doing what she's doing, so she doesn't need to hint at it or plain speak it in every scene she's in. Same with Yul and his "CG belongs to me" blabber. Hooookay. I admit browsing through some scenes that didn't seem one hundred percent necessary, or like I knew what was going on so I didn't really *need* to see them. Then again I suppose it's just nature of television shows of this kind, of course nowadays we have shows you really need to *sit down* properly to watch but some shows you can do something else while still following them.
And haha, some of the bad fashion (surprisingly never on the girls, always on the boys) was just hurting my eyes. Some of it was funny or goofy, but some was just, Christ. Eyepain.
But to end on a high note. Goong? Love it. As I do this amusing MV of it:
Though before I go into this show in particular, I have some general thoughts on melodrama, differences in soaps/melodrama and what works for me and what doesn't. I'll cut for those who aren't keen and spoiler warn for those who don't care for Goong.
I remember thinking during the final episodes of Goong how now in my mind, Asian melodrama > Western melodrama. Meaning that I get choked up watching something like Goong (at the angsty bits, that is) or a good Bollywood film, but can't really get into the Western soap operas or romantic movies in the same way. And I wonder, is it just a case of getting sick of something that's sort of shoved down your throat every time you turn on the TV around a certain time of the day (Finnish TV has a "soap hours" when two commercial channels show soaps for pretty much ~3 hrs) or whenever you go to the movies (in form of trailers or whatever), OR is it that Asians genuinely know their shit better and thus produce better, more appealling melodramatic products.
I mean, I suppose there's a question of target audience (Asian dramas have young characters, ergo the audience is probably also dominantly young) and appeal that comes with it. And just a preference. I could never get into Western soaps, perhaps because of their format. You have Bold & The Beautiful that runs for fucking three decades and some of the cast never even changes. It's insane! You have slow moving plots that just drive you up the wall - I could tune in only once a month and probably still be able to tell what's going on. You have characters who don't change, or change rapidly and illogically. You have pairings who break up, get back together and continue the cycle for a small eternity. One of them dies. Oh wait, she just remembers nothing and is now engaged to a Maroccan prince. How did that happen? Who cares! The only soap I ever kind of enjoyed was Passions, because it took things to the sort of extreme that it became self-aware and funny. But it was still unnecessarily slow-moving and boring.
Then you've got your Finnish soaps, definitely less glam, more of that ordinary lives sort of stuff, but still the same stuff. Some of my friends are into "Salatut elämät" (wow, there's something I never thought I'd have to write about on LJ!) - trans: 'Secret lives', which is about a bunch of people living in the same apartment building. From what I know of Finnish TV history, this is a re-occurring theme - characters living close. I guess it says something about our society, or not. I actually do know what it says about our society but it's long and boring and unrelated to this. Bottom line: Salatut elämät is pretty much the same soap-y stuff as its American counterparts, though perhaps slightly more realistic in terms of plot twists.
I'll admit that perhaps my enjoyment of Bollywood & now this kdrama (that's Korean drama) series is partly about exoticism. I dislike the word and what it implies, or seems to imply at times, but basically there is a certain cultural fascination that comes with watching any entertainment from a country vastly different from your own. (Thanks to cultural imperialism, no, American mainstream culture does not feel all that foreign to me.) The differences in society are clear in Bollywood especially but even in an alternative universe work like Goong, they're still there.
But mostly it bores down to this: I like melodrama with ending. I was somewhat iffy about Goong at first because the length scared me - 24 hrs worth of material, yikes! But once I got into the characters properly, it was fine and I went through the episodes rather quickly. Same with Bollywood movies - some are over 3 hours, sure, but at least there's an ending. I guess I need some sort of a reward for sitting through something that makes my heart ache and my eyes moist. I mean, I do love the emotional experience but all the same, I also want a happy ending.
In Latin America they have telenovelas, which I suppose is close to the idea of doramas (Asian dramas). Like mini-soaps, but the story actually ends and they get a new one on the air, possibly with some of the same actors involved. I'm not sure if I could get into telenovelas but the idea is certainly more appealing than watching any of the American soaps or the Finnish ones.
Wow, that was longer than I thought. Anyway, SPOILERS FOR GOONG HEREON.
Well, what's there to say about Goong? I really liked it. I'm not sure if I absolutely *loved* it as a whole but I certainly loved bits of it in a major way.
I especially loved the character of Chaegyung. Goofy, hyper, funny - always brought a smile on my face and in the end my heart broke for her. I'm really glad I also warmed up to the character of Shin because otherwise I would've probably really hated her for what his lack of showing any emotion did to poor CG. On one hand it was interesting to see her completely worn down by the heart break and the angst, but on the other, it was just awful to see her suddenly so subdued and not herself anymore. I'm so glad there was a happy ending because otherwise I don't know how I could've coped. I can only deal with so much tragedy.
So yeah, naturally the OTP of the show was a total delight. I think my top favourite moments with the two would definitely be, based on how I feel about it right now (meaning the order could change in my head in the future but whatever)...
1. The "night together" in episode 13. Hilarious, hot, heart-warming and plain just lovely. Definitely among my most re-watched bits of Goong. I love CG is elaborate palace clothing and how he helps her out with removing the headgear. And then poor Shin getting uncomfortable because of the closeness and beginning to exercise... and of course, the culmination with the kiss. Squeee.
2. The kiss in, gah, episode 23 or 24. You know the one. Yeah, hot.
3. Sleepover in episode 7... Backperving included. Just so much hillarity and cuteness and Shin finally opening up and CG's family. LOVED IT, all of it.
4. The sunrise trip ..episode 16, I think. So much cuteness. <3
5. Sharing-a-hotel-room bits in episodes 17 & 18. Shower!! And the video-tape kiss! Nothing beats accidental male flashing...
6. Shin's speech in the beginning of episode 21. Great in that angsty, heart-breaky way. Poor boy.
7. Happy ending bits in episode 24. Especially Shin's "I'm your husband, not your boyfriend!". Awww.
8. Every time Shin is all adorable and vulnerable and asks CG to never leave his side or never leave him or something along the lines. Guhh.
9. Every instance of the angry/smiling Shin puppet CG made. Especially when she beats it up. Hilarious & cute.
I think I've talked about why the CG/Shin dynamic is so great before so I won't get into it, but yeah, there are very definite reasons on why they are OTP.
To talk about the antagonists for a bit, I'm still undecided on Yul. Okay, yeah, kind of sweet and as damaged emotionally as Shin in a way, and yeah, suppose he's okay, but still I had so many moments in this series where I just wanted to stab him in the face or found him annoying. I think dangermousie made a good point about the romance in Goong being somehow 'realistic' in that actually the antagonists would've made okay couples with the protagonists and it's only the circumstances that make them so unable & wrong to be that. Essentially I totally agree and CG/Yul would've been okay etc etc, I have nothing largely against the pairing, but I just can't really like Yul a lot. I don't know why that is.
Hyorin had a fair share of "OH JUST DIE AWAY!" moments of annoyingness but I still warmed up to her more for some reason.. I sort of understood the suckiness she was going through and hated how she became a pawn in Yul's mum's games, without knowing it - another thing that makes me like Yul less, he knew exactly what he was doing most of the time. Sure enough I still disliked her a lot occasionally, other times I just disliked her stupidity and how she should've known she was better off without Shin.
Parents. Well. Hate, obviously, except CG's - though they too had that slightly questionable moment of her mother using her palace connections to move forward in her career. But that was only for a while, so whatever. I really like how Shin's sister became the Queen, it seemed so appropriate.
Other random things I liked about the final episodes; how one of Shin's friends got a huuuuuuge crush on CG's BFF. It was sooo adorable and a nice little bit of hillarity amidst the otherwise very angst-ridden episodes. LOVE. And how CG dressed up her maid in regular clothing. Aw. And the baby pic with CG&Shin is one of the cutest Goong "commercial" screen pictures ever. Aw.
Which brings us to the "future". I'm not terribly hyped for Goong 2, which I suppose reflects views of many other Goong fans.. I'm curious on how it connects to the first Goong but on the other hand I can't really care. So that "new prince" character is probably Shin/CG's kid and then, bleh, again 4 central characters, one of them is the OTP and there's probably much palace drama stuff to make sure the OTP doesn't get together. I don't know. Sounds like too much of a reprise. Looking at this page, I'm not feeling too yay about it but I suppose once it airs I'll check out the buzz and see whether it'd be worth watching at all.
Hmm, oh yeah, complaints/criticisms on Goong.. I do think it could've been a little tighter. There was quite a lot of repetition. I'm sure no one would forget Yul's mother's motives for doing what she's doing, so she doesn't need to hint at it or plain speak it in every scene she's in. Same with Yul and his "CG belongs to me" blabber. Hooookay. I admit browsing through some scenes that didn't seem one hundred percent necessary, or like I knew what was going on so I didn't really *need* to see them. Then again I suppose it's just nature of television shows of this kind, of course nowadays we have shows you really need to *sit down* properly to watch but some shows you can do something else while still following them.
And haha, some of the bad fashion (surprisingly never on the girls, always on the boys) was just hurting my eyes. Some of it was funny or goofy, but some was just, Christ. Eyepain.
But to end on a high note. Goong? Love it. As I do this amusing MV of it: