Penchant for Korean dramas?

If I am going to give you a glimpse of my younger self, what I could share is that I have a strong liking for Korean dramas way back in high school. I also liked watching animes and Taiwanese dramas too. And since streaming sites like Netflix, Hulu, Prime, etc are not invented yet at that time, you could purchase a pirated version in a CD in Quiapo for as low as 50 pesos/piece. Sometimes these CDs come in low quality. This is illegal but being a student with a limited budget, you have no choice. Fast forward, I'm lucky that I could set aside a budget for purchasing a membership on a streaming site because it is one way of supporting the work and the artists without breaking your pocket. 

Anyway, I think it started with Endless love Summer which I watched in the television. It was dubbed in Filipino language. The cinematography, outfits, makeup weren't as natural looking as today but it was the story line that what made me hooked up. Spoiler alert: Who would've thought that the female lead would die in the end? I cried lots of bucket. Maybe it was a breath of fresh air from the usual telenovelas that we had in the Philippines. We've had the same plot and line all over: Female lead/Male lead is good, villain is oppressing the leads, both male and female leads in love at first sight, the villain tries to separate them both and then in the end, the male and female leads get together and live happily ever after. To add it up, telenovelas that could rake a high rating would go on air a very long time. A good example of this is the original Maria Clara series which is around 1,167 episodes!

Why do I like Korean dramas? This is for our older people in the Philippines that doesn't get why a lot of Filipinos became hooked on Korean dramas. One is the fact that they have lesser episodes. A Korean series can range from 10 with an average episode of 16 in total but historical dramas can have more.

Story plots are usually well-written. The female/male lead has his/her share of flaws. You can also empathize with the villain and sometimes get where they are coming from. And I think that is lacking in the Philippine set-up. Character development in their story lines. They should've invest more on writers like those working in the indie films. I don't want to trample what's ours, but sometimes our mainstream plots are trash. What's worst is that the total episode you could watch would be at 15-30 minutes only. We are too much bombarded with commercials in the television. 

Next, I feel that the actors and actresses are there for the art and they are taking their work seriously. It is not base on the face value only. That is why idols turning into actors/actresses are much more in scrutiny. They are bashed harshly if they are putting a so-so performance. If you are going to dig a bit on these actors/actresses, you will find out that almost all of them have a background on arts, film or theater. They pursued a bachelor, masteral or even proceeded to a doctorate degree. Did you know that Song Il-kook who was the main lead for Jumong and was dubbed as the nation's Appa (father) due to the famous cute Song triplets has a masteral degree? I heard Lee Young-ae who portrayed the female lead of the Jewel in the Palace (I'm drawn by her eyes by the way, are you too?) is pursuing a doctoral degree.

I don't take pride in putting our entertainment industry down. But there are a lot of things that needs to improve and it needs to be called out for in the mainstream television. The industry had gotten better since the indie films became popular, but we have a long way to go. We have talented people here in the Philippines. Give them a chance to flourish the craft and not too be greedy with profits.