kdrama: Vineyard Man eps 1-16 (complete)

[meganbmoore]

Vineyard Man is a less-known romantic comedy from a couple years ago. I’m not sure why it’s unpopular as it stars Yoon Eun Hye of Goong ,and is one of the few modern kdramas I’ve seen where the hero actually isn’t a jerk. Then again, heroes who act like jerks seem to be a requirement for most kdramas, so maybe that’s it.

YEH plays Ji Hyun, a young

Comments

[ladysaotome]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. His falling for her yet holding himself back just hit all my quirks that I enjoy. And they were so cute together afterwards it almost makes you want to gag. :)

I liked YEH much better here - she didn't cry nearly as much (there's way too much crying in Goong).

Btw, I got the book in the mail. Thank you! I'm so excited - now I need to but that third one that just came out.

[meganbmoore]

I have a lot of prpoblem with Goon, but my main problem with YEH there is that the actual character is minimally written (I often think that both leads were basically playing themselves with window dressing) with sympathy bids and cutesy mannerisms piled on to the max. There's still a bit of that problem here, but now much.

The 10 years later bit had me going "What? Really? You're doing this?"

[ladysaotome]

No kidding, how often does that happen in a kdrama. I liked it though - & the whole "little grape" thing. It's a good drama for relaxing cuteness, not too much drama/angst - & I enjoyed learning what we did about vineyards, too. When I was in 3rd grade, my class went on a field trip to a vineyard (my dad was stationed in Italy) & I remember we got to pick grapes & eat them & they were so delicious. So the drama brought back memories, too.

I also really liked that he wasn't a jerk. Even when he thought she was a spoiled snot in the beginning, he was still a nice guy out swiming in the pond at night to find her stupid shoe.

[thistleingrey]

I really like the fact that Taek Gi isn't a jerk, but I wondered whether it were part of the whole "the rural countryside is better than Seoul in every respect!" thing. Kind of an odd romanticization.

I am pretending that the ten-yrs-after thing doesn't exist, much like the epilogue to Deathly Hallows. :P Ji Hyun and Taek Gi can be happy and together with kids, yes, but that's way too much.

[meganbmoore]

I was looking at the apparent ages of kids and adding them up, and realizing that the 3 older ones had to come about a year apart at the most.

I think it bordered on saying the countryside was better than Seoul, but barely saved itself. Not vilifying Su Jin-the cuty girl trying to lure him to the city-helped a lot, and they had Ji Hyun become a fashion designer again, which was a nod to her city life still being a part of her.

[thistleingrey]

That's possible, yes. I hadn't put Su Jin on the Seoul Sucks end, since the research facility where she works is a smaller town, not too far from the vineyard.

[meganbmoore]

Su Jin is very clearly "city girl," so, while not quite Seoul, there's still the urban/rural bit with her.

[dangermousie]

I know I never checked it out because I don't find farm-related stories very interesting (they are going to have a wine-related drama with Bae Yong Joon, and much as I adore him, I am skipping even that one). So that was automatically a no.

Plus, to me, the lead guy was incrediblu unhot, and while I can overlook such shallow :D considerations in a period drama, revenge story or something with more heft in general, in a romcom I demand sex appeal.

Kdramas have plenty of career women being praised (see YEH's own Coffee Prince). The ones who are put down are the ones who are personally selfish. But we are never going to agree on that one :)

[meganbmoore]

The only ones I've ever seen praised are the heroines of Lovers and Fantasy Couple (though that's a different kind of career.) Every other woman in a modern kdrama who I've seen who's collected, confident, and has a career or goals has been MADE to be bad to make the heroine look good. So yes, they're selfish, but the narrative makes them selfish to make the rest look bad, and the heroine look good. The narratives of most kdramas want to you dislike pretty much every female expect the heroine, her (typically annoying) BFF, and sometimes a mother. Other females are deliberately made to look bad to make them look better. I'd mind a lot less if the same standard was applied to male characters.

[dangermousie]

Well, anything in a story is 'made' by the narrative. So yes, e.g. the Tennis Girl in My Girl is 'made' by the narrative to be selfish, but if we assume the fictional world is real in the story, then she *is* shelfish otherwise the meta-Moebius strip is going to make my head hurt

[meganbmoore]

Demonizing the romantic other, IMO, is rarely anything other than lazy writing. "I need conflict...ah, I'll just create a horrid Other to attempt to interfere." *yawn* It's also why so much shoujo loses me. Too many "conflicts" aren't real conflicts, just shallow shortcuts meant to avoid any conflict that actually takes effort and complexity.

Saying "of course the other girl has to be demonized" is the same as saying "of course you have to hate all female characters if you like slash." Neither is true.

Part of why I prefer period dramas is that they are far superior in characterization and conflict, both romantic or otherwise. Every one I've seen has had the opportunity to take the easy road, and avoided it.

ETA: And while I can't say much about the others you listed off because I either haen't seen them yet, or tried them and was bored (the melodramas and i are very much not friends, though I enjoy peoples' posts on them) i do know the Goong expected us to sympathize with Yul, which isn't true of Tennis Girl.