men: a jerky history
30 Day KDrama Challenge
2. Your Favourite Male Lead Character
I was really tempted to skip this one and just go onto the ladies, because, well - the men in kdramas? Are jerks. A good chunk of the time, anyway - or they're so sugary sweet I want to gargle saltwater in direct response.
Soundtrack: 'Mensch' by Die Toten Hosen
Attempting to approach this pragmatically hasn't worked. I ended up with a list that looks like this:
- Jo Guk, City Hall: (handsome suit-wearing) jerk.
- Teeth, IRIS: (corner-dwelling emo) jerk.*
- Siwon Not Playing Siwon Totally He's Not, Oh! My Lady: (totally not Siwon) jerk.
- Hyun Jin-hun, My Name is Kim Sam Soon: just a plain-ass jerk.
- Whathisface, Athena: jer-zzzzzzzz
- Jo Guk v2: The Eviling, Athena:
Then I got bored and wandered away to get a sandwich. Needless to say, there aren't a whole lot of lead men I'm particularly fond of - but here are the few I don't want to push off a cliff in a fit of "WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT HER YOU JERK!?" rage*.
JANG CHUL SOO
Fantasy Couple
JERK RATING: Not particularly high - he's a hard working stiff who tricks an amnesia patient into being his live-in wife in a fit of revenge...yeah, I'm not making much of a case for him, am I? Just think of Kurt Russell - but Korean! And able to make 짜장면! And played by Oh Ji Ho! You can watch him fix things! dewy eyes
MEARS LEVEL: 3/5
TRUFAX: 'jangchulsoo' in various forms are my passwords at work. Great story, Pieces!
SONG JAE BIN/JANG DONG CHUL
Last Scandal of My Life
JERK RATING: Pretty fucking high. But, like all good kdramas, he grows in face of the new relationship he begins with his high school sweetheart, flowers tra-la-la etc etc - standard, right? Except Jung Jun-Ho manages to make Dong Chul a character full of contradictions and longing for the past he once had. The changes in his character are huge, but beautifully executed - Jung Jun-Ho, you're pretty ace in my book.
MEARS: 3/5.
SUN WOO WAN
Capital Scandal
JERK RATING: Freddie Prinze Jnr in She's All That, Kang Ji-Hwan in Capital Scandal - I see no difference in their sage tales of learning and jerkiness. But I love this jerk so much, it's almost not worth mentioning him here - but I will, because you need your daily fill of pastels and fedoras. Freddie Prinze Jnr, well. You lost me at that movie with Julia Stiles where you drank her shampoo.
MEARS: 4/5. There's some epic mearing. And swing dancing. And pastels. And spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
GOO DONG BAEK, That Fool
JERK RATING: Extremely low. The downside is that his awkwardness and golly-gee-willikers! persona can get a little too much. But Hwang Jung Min is just fantastic, and takes a role that could have been too far in the comedic camp to be effective and makes it work. He's a phenomenal actor, full-stop. (See: Bloody Tie, Shiri etc)
MEARS LEVEL: 1/5. If there were any, I can't remember them.
KWON HYUK JOON, Sweet 18
JERK RATING: He had his jerk moments, don't you worry - but the story was focused tightly on the journey for both Hyuk-Joon and Jung-Sook and you just forgave him for a lot of his faults. His working-stiff-thrown-saddled-with-a-bright-spark was a good match for Jung-Sook's over-the-top teenager and, by the end, you couldn't help but fall a bit in love with both of them.
MEARS LEVEL: 2/5
THIS BEARD and THIS NECKLACE, Athena: Goddess of War
JERK RATING: I've heard a rumour that The Beard was a huge jerk to everyone on set, and I felt The Necklace had little to no character development. But I love them both for the fact they were able to overshadow everyone else's performances and take the show to a whole new level of LOL.
MEARS LEVEL: Don't be silly, beards and necklaces never show their true feelings.
Siwon's indignance at being left off this list thanks you for your time.
* okay, this might be my tin-hatting talking more than him actually being a jerk-jerk. Fierce/Teeth forever
** some would take these comments as some sort of indication I have an anger management issue, but - you've watched City Hall. He stares out of a window while she gets pelted with eggs then stares out a car while she laments her future, then stares around a corner as she gets consoled by The Nice Secondary Guy who she'll then accept the hand of on a live television - wait. Wrong show.
Day 01: Your Favorite Kdrama
Day 02: Your Favorite Male Lead Character
Day 03: Your Favorite Female Lead Character
Day 04: Your Favorite Male Third Wheel Character
Day 05: Your Favorite Female Third Wheel Character
Day 06: Your Favorite Song from a Kdrama OST
Day 07: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Lead Character
Day 08: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Lead Character
Day 09: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Third Wheel
Day 10: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Third Wheel
Day 11; Your Favorite Dialogue
Day 12: Your Favorite Story
Day 13: Your Favorite “I Love You”
Day 14: Your Favorite Kiss
Day 15: Your Favorite Ending
Day 16: A Kdrama you started but can’t finish
Day 17: A Kdrama you’ve watched more than once
Day 18: The Worst Kdrama that you’ve watched until the end
Day 19: Your Best Actor
Day 20: Your Best Actress
Day 21: Your Worst Actor
Day 22: Your Worst Actress
Day 23: Your Best Couple
Day 24: Your Worst Couple
Day 25: Your First Kdrama
Day 26: Your Recently Finished Kdrama
Day 27: A Kdrama loved by many but you don’t seem to like
Day 28: A Kdrama not loved by many but you seem to like
Day 29: A Kdrama which made you so happy
Day 30: A Kdrama which made you so sad
Day 31: A Kdrama you plan on watching next
Drinking Game! One shot every time the word "jerk" is mentioned. Voila!
Tomorrow! ~the ladies~
2. Your Favourite Male Lead Character
I was really tempted to skip this one and just go onto the ladies, because, well - the men in kdramas? Are jerks. A good chunk of the time, anyway - or they're so sugary sweet I want to gargle saltwater in direct response.
Soundtrack: 'Mensch' by Die Toten Hosen
Attempting to approach this pragmatically hasn't worked. I ended up with a list that looks like this:
- Jo Guk, City Hall: (handsome suit-wearing) jerk.
- Teeth, IRIS: (corner-dwelling emo) jerk.*
- Siwon Not Playing Siwon Totally He's Not, Oh! My Lady: (totally not Siwon) jerk.
- Hyun Jin-hun, My Name is Kim Sam Soon: just a plain-ass jerk.
- Whathisface, Athena: jer-zzzzzzzz
- Jo Guk v2: The Eviling, Athena:
Then I got bored and wandered away to get a sandwich. Needless to say, there aren't a whole lot of lead men I'm particularly fond of - but here are the few I don't want to push off a cliff in a fit of "WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT HER YOU JERK!?" rage*.
JANG CHUL SOO
Fantasy Couple
JERK RATING: Not particularly high - he's a hard working stiff who tricks an amnesia patient into being his live-in wife in a fit of revenge...yeah, I'm not making much of a case for him, am I? Just think of Kurt Russell - but Korean! And able to make 짜장면! And played by Oh Ji Ho! You can watch him fix things! dewy eyes
MEARS LEVEL: 3/5
TRUFAX: 'jangchulsoo' in various forms are my passwords at work. Great story, Pieces!
SONG JAE BIN/JANG DONG CHUL
Last Scandal of My Life
JERK RATING: Pretty fucking high. But, like all good kdramas, he grows in face of the new relationship he begins with his high school sweetheart, flowers tra-la-la etc etc - standard, right? Except Jung Jun-Ho manages to make Dong Chul a character full of contradictions and longing for the past he once had. The changes in his character are huge, but beautifully executed - Jung Jun-Ho, you're pretty ace in my book.
MEARS: 3/5.
SUN WOO WAN
Capital Scandal
JERK RATING: Freddie Prinze Jnr in She's All That, Kang Ji-Hwan in Capital Scandal - I see no difference in their sage tales of learning and jerkiness. But I love this jerk so much, it's almost not worth mentioning him here - but I will, because you need your daily fill of pastels and fedoras. Freddie Prinze Jnr, well. You lost me at that movie with Julia Stiles where you drank her shampoo.
MEARS: 4/5. There's some epic mearing. And swing dancing. And pastels. And spoiler spoiler spoiler spoiler.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
GOO DONG BAEK, That Fool
JERK RATING: Extremely low. The downside is that his awkwardness and golly-gee-willikers! persona can get a little too much. But Hwang Jung Min is just fantastic, and takes a role that could have been too far in the comedic camp to be effective and makes it work. He's a phenomenal actor, full-stop. (See: Bloody Tie, Shiri etc)
MEARS LEVEL: 1/5. If there were any, I can't remember them.
KWON HYUK JOON, Sweet 18
JERK RATING: He had his jerk moments, don't you worry - but the story was focused tightly on the journey for both Hyuk-Joon and Jung-Sook and you just forgave him for a lot of his faults. His working-stiff-thrown-saddled-with-a-bright-spark was a good match for Jung-Sook's over-the-top teenager and, by the end, you couldn't help but fall a bit in love with both of them.
MEARS LEVEL: 2/5
THIS BEARD and THIS NECKLACE, Athena: Goddess of War
JERK RATING: I've heard a rumour that The Beard was a huge jerk to everyone on set, and I felt The Necklace had little to no character development. But I love them both for the fact they were able to overshadow everyone else's performances and take the show to a whole new level of LOL.
MEARS LEVEL: Don't be silly, beards and necklaces never show their true feelings.
Siwon's indignance at being left off this list thanks you for your time.
* okay, this might be my tin-hatting talking more than him actually being a jerk-jerk. Fierce/Teeth forever
** some would take these comments as some sort of indication I have an anger management issue, but - you've watched City Hall. He stares out of a window while she gets pelted with eggs then stares out a car while she laments her future, then stares around a corner as she gets consoled by The Nice Secondary Guy who she'll then accept the hand of on a live television - wait. Wrong show.
Day 01: Your Favorite Kdrama
Day 02: Your Favorite Male Lead Character
Day 03: Your Favorite Female Lead Character
Day 04: Your Favorite Male Third Wheel Character
Day 05: Your Favorite Female Third Wheel Character
Day 06: Your Favorite Song from a Kdrama OST
Day 07: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Lead Character
Day 08: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Lead Character
Day 09: Your Favorite Line/s by a Male Third Wheel
Day 10: Your Favorite Line/s by a Female Third Wheel
Day 11; Your Favorite Dialogue
Day 12: Your Favorite Story
Day 13: Your Favorite “I Love You”
Day 14: Your Favorite Kiss
Day 15: Your Favorite Ending
Day 16: A Kdrama you started but can’t finish
Day 17: A Kdrama you’ve watched more than once
Day 18: The Worst Kdrama that you’ve watched until the end
Day 19: Your Best Actor
Day 20: Your Best Actress
Day 21: Your Worst Actor
Day 22: Your Worst Actress
Day 23: Your Best Couple
Day 24: Your Worst Couple
Day 25: Your First Kdrama
Day 26: Your Recently Finished Kdrama
Day 27: A Kdrama loved by many but you don’t seem to like
Day 28: A Kdrama not loved by many but you seem to like
Day 29: A Kdrama which made you so happy
Day 30: A Kdrama which made you so sad
Day 31: A Kdrama you plan on watching next
Drinking Game! One shot every time the word "jerk" is mentioned. Voila!
Tomorrow! ~the ladies~