DAY 40: ECQ

So on the 40th day of Quarantine, I am concluding by blog series on the popularity and addictive qualities of KDramas and why they are such guilty pleasures for the Filipino audiences.

I am most thankful for the tsunami of comments and observations generously contributed by the readers of this blog as well as my Twitter friends.  As I said, the best people to ask about media products would be the audience who consumes the shows and finds great happiness and delight in what they see and hear.

Focus groups --- or people randomly or specifically selected by research and marketing people in a network --- are often used as a barometer for the reactions to the contents of a show even before it is telecast.  

That is, even in its pilot stage (the very first show to be aired which provides the premise and paves way for all the major characters to be introduced), network executives feed the focus groups with their initial edits of the material to measure their reactions.  Do they like it? Why did they like it? What did they dislike about it? Is the dislike so strong that they would not watch much less recommend it to their friends?

There is nothing out of sync with this practice as this is usually the mode of measurement that producers or even manufacturers utilize to assess how much their product will be "sell-able" to the consumers --- or, in this case, the general audiences.

Focus groups serve a purpose, one that is backed up by statistics and all the mathematics that go with research.  But, most unfortunately, you cannot completely quantify preference and sustainability of any show which projections or past histories.  Consumer behavior is affected by so many factors, most especially in defining what entertains them.

And, at a certain point, despite the stunning popularity of any TV show, it can rise, reach a peak and then go into its natural decline because something newer (but not necessarily better) is on the rise. The introduction of a new star or formula may be a game changer, a tipping point. But this can also be a fluke.

Every show has a life span.  A TV show may run for years (as it did in the past with the likes of the sitcoms I used to write for then IBC-13 entitled Eh, Kasi Babae! or the male counterpart we mounted upon the revival of ABS-CBN post Martial Law entitled Palibhasa Lalake or my personal favorite, the political satire Abangan ang Susunod na Kabanata) but only because they showed once a week on a specific day and time slot.  Shows ran much longer then while not over-saturating the audiences because they only showed once a week.

It is best to remember that before the teleserye trend came in, we had vertical programming which meant every day of the week we had different shows at distinct time slots  Every night was a mixture of shows --- comedies, dramas and variety all thrown into one daily menu.  Thus you had Oki Doki Doc, Okatokat,  GMick, TGIS, etc.

All that changed because of the wiggling hips of Thalia to bring Marimar to the Filipino's popular  consciousness thereby completely revising the way we view our tv shows from once a week to daily across the entire weekday schedule.  

From vertical programming we moved to horizontal programming (meaning we watch the same show from Monday to Friday and only change our choices on weekends).

Genres died because of this: the sitcom died ... so did the weeknight variety shows. Situation comedies (which used to be the kings of primetime) are now relegated to weekend offerings and never given the importance that it had in the past.  Variety shows (which were expensive to mount) also became part of weekend meals usually on late night slots or Sunday noontime programming.   Instead of being shown at night when most of the household is at home engaged in their tv viewing, variety shows become daily noontime meals meant to entertain the housewife, the household staff and the kids.

What we have left in primetime tv are the telenovelas because they are (after all) more practical produce. 

Why? Simple.  (1) You only have one set of actors appearing in five episodes per week with a running time of at most 20-22 minutes depending on the commercial load.  (2) You use the same set of creative and production staff as well to cover an entire week of material.  (3) You tape three times a week to create a maximum of 100 to 110 minutes worth of telecast material.  (4) You can extend the showing as long as your ratings are good ... which means you are (hopefully) maintaining your production cost while you are bringing in the much needed profit OR (5) If the show is not rating after an appointed grace period, then it is unceremoniously axed ... and like some predictable miracle of the Lord, the story ends without much fuss or sense of loss aside from financial windfall.

Unlike vertical programming, every show requires a different set of creative and production staff --- and, man, you only get about 40 - 48 minutes of running time per week (for an hour show)  on a certain time slot.  

Since you have to fill a prime time late from approximately 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM, you need three times the preparation as when you adopt horizontal programming.  That can also mean three times the number of people.

Moreover, since shows change per night, audience loyalty will be more difficult to acquire.  Siyempre: if Aleng Tacing loves the 7:00 - 8:00 show but becomes disinterested in the program that follows, then thanks to the invention of the remote control (o kahit tumayo na siya), she will switch channels and not go back for your 9:00 - 10:00 show.  Of course that also happens in horizontal programming but it is much easier to lose your audience when shows are stand-alones and not continuing series.

A season of a television shows runs for a quarter of a year.  That is a thirteen week cluster whether running once a week or nightly . 

 The thirteen weeks include the pilot  episode or episodes.  Thirteen weeks or a fourth of a year also constitute the four seasons in the Western world and certain parts of Asia blessed with this kind of climate variety.

Koreans have a different season duration running from 16 to 20 weeks or in certain cases 48 to 50 weeks.  But all the episodes are stand-alones running for an hour or a bit over.  They are not broken down into thirty minute units but could be re-edited by a network which purchased the franchise to fill in their programming grids.

As I explained in an earlier blog, unlike Filipino teleseryes --- the Koreans do not have shows that run indiscriminately or indistinctly forever because from the very start they know exactly how their shows will come to an end.  

The narrative arc is clearly mapped out even before the pilot telecast unlike in our country which tends to maximize the popularity of a show by adding layers and layers of subplots to stretch the story for more weeks of showing.

There were shows in the past that also ran for years with the likes of the benchmark teleseryes of ABS-CBN like Pangako Sa Yo, Esperanza and Mula sa Puso even after Philippine television assumed horizontal programming.  But the truly longer running shows were the likes of Chika Chika Chicks, Iskul Bukol or the classic/iconic John and Marsha (which literally showed Maricel Soriano grow as a little Shirley to a beautiful young lady who became the Diamond Star) or Home Along Da Riles.   We do not make shows like that any more.

Having explained the ins and outs of tv programming and the life span of shows, let me conclude my KDrama blogs by answering some questions thrown at my direction to clarify certain points I may have left unclear.

(1) The stories of KDramas are very similiar to that of Filipinos.  Those who say that Pinoy dramas are all about kabits should also find the same story lines among Korean telenovelas. So what is the big deal?

It may surprise people that there are only so many plot lines that exist and constitute the universe of narratives.  But let us leave the whole idea of Master Plots to our Literature classes and writing workshops, shall we?

Of course there are also stories about mistresses.  Hindi exclusive property ng Pinoy ang kabit.  Kabits come in all shapes, sizes, colors, nationalities and religious beliefs.  The difference is how you characterize them, how you depict their existence and define their role in the context of a convoluted relationship.  And let us face it, because of our obsession for the so-called "limited comprehension" of Aleng Tacing, we oversimplify our understanding of the telenovela mistresses into Venus Flytraps whose sole purpose in life is to annihilate the legal wife's existence.  

In Korean dramas, the other woman may not necessarily be a misguided saint or sorts.  She can sometimes be shown in a lampoonish manner as well but she is never presented in an over-the-top manner as if she is actually the daughter of Beelzebub.  Instead, we are also made to understand her much like, well, we understood Glenn Close's obsessive behavior leading to insanity in Fatal Attraction.  Even the other woman or the alternative choice is given enough flesh, blood and mind for us to experience a human being and not a screaming banshee.

(2) Aren't the stories of KDramas also recycled?  Don't you see the same stories repeated again but just brought to a different context?

Totoo ka. Koreanovelas also repeat plot lines:  warring families seeking dominance and revenge, rivalries between the powerful and the humble.  But these are universal tropes.  They can be found in all cultures whether of the East or the West.  Americans employ these same story lines as well, so do the Mexicans, the Turkish and Thais.  

The difference lies in how you treat or present these familiar stories to make them look new to your audience.

Koreans always carry the stereotypical heroes: with my limited consumption of Koreanovelas we always see the gregarious spitfire of a heroine go head to head with the cool, reserved but ultrasensitive male lead.  The Korean heroine fights back: she has a mind of her own ... but over and above everything she values love as a core of her existence.  The male lead, on the other hand, is cool, reserved even stoic.  But do not be deceived: deep inside he is a little boy seeking affirmation and care. He cries uncontrollably if he has to ... and will never turn away from acknowledging an emotion.  Like his female counterpart, he values family, dignity and honor above all the rest.

Koreans emphasize the value of loyalty, family and honor. Taka ka pa why Pinoys lap these up because these are the same condiments that they seek for in their native dishes.  These are new as they are familiar. And they are repeated tirelessly.

Having summarized the entire gamut of popular heroism in their Koreanovelas, the punch is in the treatment.  Kahit magkakapareho sila, hindi sila magkakamukha when they are laid out in a beautifully designed narrative.  Their core values may be the same but they are not cookie cutter bida versus contravida in a universe of cliches.

And if the stories tend to be repetitive, it is only because these are the same universal tropes that all stories of popular media are made of.  When you come to think of it, they are all watered down and popularized versions of the Shakespearean plots dealing with star crossed lovers, untamed women, deadly ambitions ... all whittled into small screen adventures.

(3) What's the big deal about these Korean actors?  In real life, Koreans do not look like that.  They don't even dressed like that.  It's all fake.

Uhm, for the record not all Filipinas lining up at the MRT near SM North EDSA look like Marian Rivera, Bea Alonso or Liza Soberrano, 'no?

Not all Filipinos walking down Bonifacio High Street look like Alden Richards, Piolo Pascual or Matteo Guidicelli, di ba?

No, the Korean actors do not look like your everyday ordinary Korean because they are not meant to be. They are actors.  Their looks is their office.  Of course they will not look like the rest of us mortals because they are aspirational (that word again) ... and whether male or female, we want to look like them ... if not end up with a reasonable facsimile amidst the sea of mortals who are available to us.

Uhm, for the record again ... they are dressed to the nines because they are in a show, remember?  A show reflects reality, captures reality but is not real!  

Koreanovelas are fantasies, remember?

Said one to me, " Boss, hindi ganyan magbihis ng mga pangkaraniwang Koreano!"  

Well, I should THINK not, right? 

I do not think your regular Korean chap looks like Park Seo Joon in What's Wrong with Secretary Kim? ( all spiffy, uptight and ... uh, buffed) or Itaewon Class  ( bomber jackets, jeans and that hair they call chesnut).  That is because he is in front of the camera portraying a role and is not Park Seo Joon in real life.  We must get over the fact that the actor is only portraying a character ... and the character is not the actor.

That is the reason why love teams are anomalous in Korea --- because there is a very definite line that divides the personal from the professional.  As I wrote before, this gives a lot of room for actors to grow, work with many actors, create characters that show the extent of their acting shops and not be trapped by stereotypes to cater to their careers as celebrities.  They are  after all actors who studied acting and not merely two-dimensional cutesy creatures catering to the vicarious lives of fans.

(If you want to see the real Park Seo Joon as himself, then look for the video of his visit here in Manila and his adventure into the wonderful frontier called Greenbelt.  Here you see the actor as your everyday baseball-cap, t-shirt and shorts sporting young man enjoying his vacation in Manila, thinking of pasalubongs for his nieces and dreaming of Boracay.  And if you get a chance to see this video --- he is still good looking but it is an everyday Korean tourist having fun.)

Well, come to think of it --- even our Filipino telenovela performers are not exactly dressed like Tessie and Maife waiting for their P to P buses in Makati.  Our telenovela actresses are also dramatically dressed (sometimes over the top making them look two notches lower from looking like female impersonators especially if they are performing that bitchesang mayaman role --- Sidebar: Dapat kulot. Kasi pag diretso ang buhok mabait ... pero pag kontrabida, may natural affinity for perms.)

And yes, for the record, in Korean telenovelas --- walang nagigising in full make-up, eyeliner, glossy midnight blue eyeshadow, false eyelashes, Marlboro red lipstick with lip liner and a face that looks like an abused macopa sa kapal ng foundation.  Bagong-gising yan, ha? Or worse, nag-aagaw buhay sa ospital. 

Now speaking of aspiration.

So what is the point here? Koreanovelas focus on the efficiency of characterization faithful to the plot and not the wish-fulfillment of some to look great regardless of chance, circumstance or narrative.

And finally ...

(4) What's the big deal about Korean actors?  All of them of marvelous examples of cosmetic or corrective surgery.  You will not recognize them if you saw them in their original forms.

Point taken.  Point of argument: And so?

If I love Koreanovelas, it is not because I want to develop a meaningful relationship with the actors and actresses portraying roles.  I am relating to the character they are portraying and the story that I am consuming.  The actors are the vessels from which characters come to life. I appreciate their acting ... and looks alone do not constitute great talent, right?  The same holds true for Filipino performers, is that not so?  

Don't we have naturally gorgeous women and dashing men with minimal talents that we know will only get them by as long as they are new or young?

So they may have had corrective surgery to achieve the looks that they have today. I have no issue with that. Again, I repeat: they are actors. And it is their business to look good. Their looks may be used for branding but it is their talent that is their capital.  

We all have cultural standards about messing around with what Mother Nature has given us ... or takes away.  For the Koreans, it is an accepted cultural norm that they go under the knife to improve their looks or to fit into a template of beauty.  Even the art of make-up for men is accepted in Korea --- and it has got nothing to do with whatever aberrant behavior one may be imagining.  It is simply an accepted norm which we may not necessarily understand by our standards ... but definitely it is not their problem.

Then there is this thing about using science to change one's looks with the hope of improvement.  Uhm, are we Filipinos exempted from that from something as ordinary as your liposuction to your non-intrusive thermage to your collagen injections or even ... mainlining on Gluthatione.  Don't tell me our local actors and actresses have not had their noses fixed, their chins chiseled or their eyes pulled, stretched or even popped?  Or the Botox regimen, the fillers that make women look like chipmunks or the collagen injections on the lips to make them resemble trouts?

I am not even going to talk about the enhancement of mammary glands into rock hard pointed long distance nuclear missiles turning what were once supple samples of femininity into weapons of mass destruction.

It's all in the game, Folks.  Let us not say that we do not play the same sport out here.

I never realized my newfound love for Koreanovelas should warrant such flattering attention.  I will shamelessly admit that I am fascinated not only studying but enjoying the popular form, finally understanding why my countrymen as well as citizens from all over the world.  It is easy to see why KDramas can be addicting: they worked hard to capture an audience over and beyond their country but the rest of the world.

With the unwavering and focused support of their government, Korean popular culture --- movies, popular songs, television --- soared because they dreamed big.  Now they are bigger than big.

Maybe it is about time we challenge this generation of Filipino creatives to also dream bigger --- and start thinking of the world and not just this underrated estimation of an imaginary audience member named Aleng Tacing.

DAY 32: ECQ

One thing is for sure: Koreanovelas are not only impressive.   They are not only substantial in their content but are visually stunning.

I am not even talking about the grandeur of their production design in historical dramas.
I am not even including the excellence in the way their KDramas are photographed, the choice of locations and costumes and even details including food props and atmosphere characters.

I am talking about television materials which are of world class caliber.  If Filipino viewers are in awe of the amount of investment plonked into these productions compared to the local counterparts, then let us explain.

It is all about the market.

(10) Production value is given utmost premium in Koreanovelas because it has got everything to do with branding.

You know you are watching a KDrama because you can immediately identify the look.  Money is funneled into giving worth and value to every scene shot.  Sure, you've got these terrific actors who are focused on delivering varied roles per project, exquisitely written plots that make familiar tropes look new. But all these are topped by a look ... a brand ... that makes the Koreanovelas distinct from their other Asian counterparts.

The cross-cultural invasion began with Chinovelas crossing borders and claiming a chunk of what used to be (for instance) the lion's share of Latin telenovelas in our tv landscape.  When the Taiwanese series Meteor Garden (2001) brought in the world of Dao Ming Su and friends to Filipino audiences, the focus suddenly swung to Asian soap series which are as identifiable and emphatic to an audience that is suddenly turning regional if not one-global.
But it was 2009 that Boys Over Flowers introduced Lee Min-Ho and squad to Filipinos that Korean popular culture (together with music) penetrated contemporary cultural consciousness.

This is primarily why production value equates with branding.  In a highly competitive market you have to look expensive.  

Locations in Koreanovelas are idealized, shot like tourism ads highlighting both the qualities of the metropolis like Seoul or the richness of its modern architecture. For instance, in Itaewon Class, a specific district of the city is highlighted as the center of trendy urban culture, showing shops, restaurants and pubs which give you a glimpse of their millennial lifestyle.  

Similarly traditional architecture and scenery are shown to emphasize the culture of Korea, whether it is in modes of dining, choice of cuisine or even simple depictions of traditional ceramics and folk art.  This is craftily embedded in scenes  to remind us that what we are watching is also a celebration of an evolving culture.

But again we also have to understand why they spend so much for these productions for technical excellence, polish and impressiveness.  Remember, their market is not Korea alone.  Their market has become regional --- to say the least --- and international, at most.

Notice that Netflix in the Philippines is literally stuffed with Koreanovelas.  No one can deny that their audiences are not native Koreans alone --- but Asians and perhaps to a certain extent those who belong to other races all over the world.

That is also why it is useless comparing Koreanovelas with our local productions. Mga madlang people, they have transcended national boundaries to provide worldwide entertainment.  It is only necessary that they up the ante.  Not that I am belittling local productions as there are certain Filipino telenovelas that have also crossed national boundaries and are aired in subtitled versions in other countries both Asian and otherwise.

However, we have not reached that league wherein Filipino telenovelas have achieved a brand that would warrant a substantial audience of non-Pinoy viewers.  In order to get there we must advance if not evolve into thinking beyond Aleng Tacing and her baranggay and start imagining that ... uh, there is a bigger world out there that should be given a better taste of what Filipino talents can still accomplish.

We cannot keep getting stuck like flies on sticky paper on what we predict as the papatok taste of the masa ... or better yet, belittling the 

(11) Production design is of premium importance.

One of my Twitter respondents wrote something that had me rolling on the floor with laughter:
"Sa Koreanovela hindi sila natutulog na naka-make-up."
Another wrote:
"May taste yung mga damit nila. Hindi sila mukhang binihisan ng walang class na designer."

One thing that is most notable of South Koreans is their sense of style and fashion.  Distinctly different from the Taiwanese and Japanese,  Koreans carry themselves with an aura of taste and authority --- so much so that even their derelicts look fashionably --- uh, dirty.  If you see their telenovelas and the visual messages they send us, two things are made clear.

First, the characters are all aspirational.  

You look at them and you want to look like them.  The women are always dressed impeccably and the men look like they are about to be set up in a fashion pictorial.  Regardless of station in life of the characters, they are made to look beautiful, almost inaccessible but someone to aspire for.  

This is serves as another selling point of the shows because people do not simply want to see ... they want to look at everything the show has to offer and absorb this visual delight as part of their sense of fulfillment.

Again, one asks why this is important: how can fashion play a major role in the selling of programs.  The answer is simple: these shows, despite the weight of subject matter or the intensity of emotions --- are fantasies.  Fantasies can take you to another world where everyone is beautiful --- including the villains.  You do not mock the ugly but instead celebrate beauty in all its possible forms.

Yet the way characters are dressed or made up are befitting of the characters that they play.  They are never meant to be tacky or kitschy but an extension of the role that the actor is portraying.

Case in point: I was delightfully surprised to find out that two actors from Bong Joon Ho's Parasite was in the series  Crash Landing on You. I did not recognize Lee Jeong-eun as the rich matron in the KDrama whereas she was so well-marked as the scheming replacement maid in the Park home in the movie ... or Myeong-hoon Park as the husband in the basement and the uncle in the CLOY.  Costumes, make-up and the total commitment of the actors make them unrecognizable in every role that they play because production design revolves around credibility and not just presenting something pretty.

Lastly, one very important observation that most the Twitter respondents provided.

(12) Koreanovelas are still basically conservative.

Yes, they may deal with controversial subjects, delve into plot lines of revenge but the crux of the problem always centers on honor and dignity.

The characters do not feel lust: they show love.  There may be passion but it is controlled and emotions are expressed through detail and not excesses of physicality.  The kisses and touches are tender.  And there is a great amount of premium given to respect.

If there is one thing that the Enhanced Community Quarantine has taught me, it is to appreciate a form of popular media which I used to look at from a distance and never completely understood.

I am still a neophyte at this and at the rate things are going, I do not know when the quarantine will be lifted or what kind of normal awaits us when we are all set free from our self-imposed house arrest.  So that means I have more time to consume these brilliant little episodes of Korean storytelling.

I do not have the resilience of some of my friends who can finish sixteen episodes in one sitting. I think that is something for the books. 

I can take as much as four at max ... but then let us see.  I have come to realize that these shows are, at first, engrossing ... and then addicting.  And it all started because somebody told me that I should catch Crash Landing on You ... and somebody insisted I see Pinocchio ... and now I am hooked and I want that hairstyle of Park Seo-joon (called chesnut according to my nephew ) as my post-Quarantine look.

Soon I have to explore Thai and Turkish mini-series as well.  What a beautiful and useful way to utilize confinement: to discover that there is a whole world out there to analyze even from the burden of quarantine and the imperative of social distance.

O, tama na. I have to go back to Netflix.

DAY 31: ECQ

There is no doubt about it.   Each and every episode of the KDrama is stuffed to the max.  To put this in native parlance, hitik na hitik sa bunga.  

To appreciate the Koreanovela, you do not fast forward the show you are watching.  Why?  Each and every scene is interlinked with the progression of the narrative threads.  This means that you cannot just go for those kilig moments by ignoring what each sequence provides as information.  Not only will you be lost in following the flow of the story: you will miss out the experience of enjoying a well-structured blueprint of a plot.

The Twitter survey I posted all emphasized one very important element of the KDrama that stands out: the stories are interesting, unpredictable and yet straight to the point.

All these indicate to the fact that:

(a) The story has been mapped out intelligently episode per episode, from pilot to finale. (Again, because the writers and producers are aware that they have to finish the story after so many episodes and not based on the barometer of audience subscription or ratings.)

(b) The writers know where to bring the characters so that they grow as human beings and not merely as two-dimensional devices to move a plot.

(c) The characters have substantial back stories (which also explains the preoccupation for flashbacks) that illustrate how and why characters behave in a certain fashion or direction.

(d) The characters created are not black or white: they are human beings with histories, strengths and weaknesses.

One thing that great differentiates KDramas from our local counterparts is that even villainy becomes novel.

There is no determinedly and irredeemably evil villain is out there kasi it is fun to be bad. 

There is always a clear cut motive --- and if ever there is ambiguity in the character, some kind of moral dilemma which affected relationships in the story, then the writers make sure that they are comprehensible and accessible to the easy understanding of the audience.

In the end, you understand the villains as to why they have become and what they did what they believed they had to do.

This leads to the first point of discussion:

(7) The plot is so well laid out that the twists and turns and surprises in the story are logical to the entirety of the material.

Bluntly put, the writers do not think per episode. They look at each installment as part of a much larger story, ending each unit with adequate suspense or curiosity to compel the viewer to move onto the next

In other words, there is nothing literally out of the blue happening here.  Every event, every plot development from start to finish has been well-integrated and organically linked with one another.

When a plot twist takes place, you look back and say, "Oh, wow ... I didn't see this coming. "

When a character shifts allegiances or suddenly reveals the dark side, the true self --- you know you are not being taken for a ride but what has been laid out to you is very consistent to what has been developed in earlier episodes.  You just did not see it coming but it was there all along.

There may be instances when there seems to be such evident evil or manipulation taking place (sometimes over the top), but you accept that as part and parcel of the clean and economical way of telling a story straight to the point and with no room for loopholes.

This also lends to the fact that the characters are dynamic because the problems are not predictable.  

They are not the stuff that has been made the core of telenovelas you have seen before.  KDramas venture into what some programmers deem as hindi pang-masa or something that the legendary and iconic Aleng Tacing will not grasp or care for.  This sad underestimation of the Filipino audiences is what may have brought us to this kind of ... uh, creative atrophy.

For instance, who cares about divided loyalty between North and South Korea?  Is the exaggeration and manipulation of broadcast news the stuff that will keep the masa hooked?  Or maybe a lifelong competition among restaurant owners?  Or the joys and disappointments of plastic surgery?  

One thing that is very distinct about KDramas is their ability to make relevant, timely and intelligent subjects become the core of a popular entertainment.

A serious subject matter they can embellish with familiar and consumable tropes, engaging characters and crafted plots to make them accessible to the audience. You are being fed a story that is intelligent without being pretentious because the issues are so well interwoven to the familiar movements of plots and characters.

But what makes these stories endearing: these are values and familiarity.

(8) Plots may deal with significant or even larger than life (controversial, historical) but the core is always the heart of the story and the audience.

The core of the stories is the heart.  But heart here is not necessarily just romance.  Yes, every story has its romantic angle but that is not the be all and end all of the story.  It is only part of something bigger.  That bigger context is the larger theme of the KDrama that deals what many have cited (who are better experts than me, as I said):

- It is about family,  There is always the element of family love, loyalty to elders, sibling devotion and commitment to the clan.  This serves as both asset and liability as families demand loyalty, require devotion and tends to be source of major tensions when territory is threatened or when someone within the fold is offended or cheated.  

(And if you throw in the family as the center of the store, you've got to Pinoys hooked, right?)

- It is about destiny.   Every character has a role to play in life inasmuch as every one of us is expected to find out way in the various pathways of the world to find where we belong. 

 In KDramas, this is of utmost importance.  Heroes go through a series of obstacles, heartbreaks and life-threatening tests in order to measure not only their physical strength but also their dignity, their character.  This is all because they have to fulfill a role in human existence which is their destiny.

But destiny here is interpreted not with the Cinderella or the Snow White Syndrome.  Fate plays a role but it is not a convenient escape hatch wherein the poor kinakawawang bidang babae find her happily ever after though the mayamang guwapong Prince Charming.  No, the Koreans do not believe that.  They believe in destiny fulfilled only if you work for it.  

Fatalism is not an alternative in the same manner that happily ever after happens when dignity is brought into the pursuit for happiness --- not predictable martyrdom.

- It is about calmness in the face of adversaries.  The idea of calmness and being centered can be best illustrated by the characterization of the male hero.

He is generally calm even stoic.  Whereas the heroine is a cute bundle of energy who is feisty and energetic, sometimes too brazen in speech, forward and a fighter, the male hero is her foil because he barely speaks his mind, would translate his emotions through looks --- and most importantly, illustrates his focus to reach his goal,.

But the hero is not a slab of stone devoid of emotions or completely incapable of vulnerabilities.  Of course not!  

This is what makes the Korean male hero special --- because he is capable of tears , he is a pressure cooker of emotions and when he shows it, he will hold back nothing to reveal that underneath that granite front beats the heart of an honest to goodness human being who also wanted to be loved and cared for.

- Revenge is a common motif in Koreanovelas as in most narratives of this genre.  In a way, there is a certain predictability about how the plot will go but trust the Koreans in adding twists and turns that can still jolt you out of your seat because (as someone placed it) they can turn cliches into something new.  As an audience you know that in the end of sixteen or twenty episodes the hero will get his comeuppance, his enemies will eat crow as they undergo the punishment that they deserve.

But it is not getting there that is important: we know what constitutes the satisfying outcome.  It is how the revenge is unfurled, the vents the lead to the final showdown that makes the narratives interesting.  Of course the hero will win ... but it is the ingenuity of the Korean writers which make the journey fresh all the time.

As one of the Twitter respondents said: Hindi lahat nadadaan sa kidnappan, attempted assassination ... tapos ending with a wedding celebration.  

But all these seem to point to one very important element.

(9) Stories are not built around studio love teams.

This is what basically differentiates Koreanovelas from the way we do our stuff out here.  

Productions in Korea are not pegged on the actors but the stories.  Moreover, actors are shuffled and reshuffled for there are no permanent combinations of  male and female stars sold as a single unit as a love team.

Thus each drama series offers an opportunity for something fresh.  Every actor has the chance to reinvent himself, to create a character --- and the to hone his craft as an actor and not as part of a tandem as commodity.  KDramas show the versatility of their performers because they are not limited by demands of being celebrities: they are first and foremost, chameleons who portray a variety of roles to capture the fancy, imagination and admiration of the audiences.

Those familiar with KPop know that these boy and girl bands just do not sprout of nowhere  They are trained, polished then branded before they are brought to the public for consumption and appreciation.

The same goes for KDramas.  Actors are trained to be actors.  They are branded as themselves and not half of a love team.

As a result of this, the romance element of the KDrama may be strong, even memorable.  Characters stick to your mind and imagination for a long time because they are drawn so well but actors who have nuances and originality.  More important, you remember the love of the characters and not the actors who portrayed them in an attempt to transcend the work of fiction into a real life scenario.

To be continued.

Why are the productions of such grandeur in scale?  Why do productions SPEND so much?  Why are all the actors aspirational?

DAY 29: ECQ

When I posted my Twitter survey three days ago asking what makes KDramas the favorite of Filipinos and what makes them different there were two who gave unique  answers from the rest.

One said that Koreanovelas are not any different from their Filipino counterparts.  They are both one and the same.

But another pointed out that Pinoys only like Koreanovelas better because they are imported.  

The second respondent pointed out that Filipinos by nature will always find something from a foreign culture much better than their own.  This is not because it is necessarily true.  Rather our brains are wired in such a way to think that anything made outside our country is unquestionably better.  That includes these foreign soap operas which are only better in the eyes of Pinoys because they are imported.

I believe a whole squad will disagree with these two respondents.

Yes, Korean culture is far different from ours --- in the same manner that our adoration for Taiwanese telenovelas also reflect a disparity between our traditions with that of the Chinese.  Instead, what is remarkable to point out that both Taiwanese and Korean ( with now Thai and even Turkish soap operas) are being placed in the same menu as that of Mexican and Spanish continuing series.

Remember the time when Marimar first landed on our TV sets?

What started out as a minor ripple --- about a Mexican show starring a hip swinging Latina spitfire named Thalia aired on local television in a non-prime time slot --- would eventually change the entire landscape of Pinoy TV programming.  

The significance of Marimar and what happened when it was brought to prime time slots in order to lock in more viewers in the network war changed our entire perspective of what shows to watch and how to watch them.

I will elaborate on this in the final entry of my this series for my blog.

In the meantime, an understanding of the appeal of KDramas reveal not only about how they do things in Seoul but what is it about ourselves --- as Filipinos --- that we give great importance. Passionate for us is pushing scenes to the brink of nervous breakdowns.

Then comes the observation of my Twitter friends about what they think about Koreanovelas and how these offer specific and better alternatives than what they get in mainstream Filipino counterparts.

(4) The scripts are so well-written.  More important, the plots vary.  There is an assortment of genres to choose from and even if they are dealing with things we have heard and seen before, Koreans make them sound and look new.

Whoa! I said to myself In what way do these Koreanovelas differ from the kind of meals Filipinos offer in their menus?

Yes, we are not Koreans.  We are closer to the Taiwanese because of the strong influence of Chinoy culture in the Filipino way of life.  But to a certain extent and because of the four hundred years of Spanish influence, we have imbibed that mutant Asian Latino taste in highly passionate dramatic scenes that require eyes nearly popping out of the heads of the angered characters, screaming, hair pulling, over-the-top, kitschy and campy (even tacky) dramatization scenes.  

Like Mexican telenovelas with these big-haired, over made-up senoritas screaming their throats off until the veins in their necks are about to bust, Filipinos have equated that as a traditional of drama because for us it is not enough to be involved ... we have to be passionate.  

This has become an embedded tradition of drama, whether in the language of the zarzuelas or their eventual evolution into the radio soap operas of the post-War era and then the pioneer Filipino drama series on TV.  We have always equated good drama with hagulgulan to the max, sigawan to the heavens with matching sabunutan, sampalan, suntukan and even tulakan sa hagdanan hanggang mabagok the ulo then dead.

As compared to our local temperament, there is a certain distance, reserve and coolness in the ways scripts are written and played out in Koreanovelas which also has got to do with their religion and  disposition as a culture.  No, I am not saying that there is no major hagulgulan scenes in their narration  ( the breakdown scene of the male lead in the second episode  Itaewon Class is an example) but by nature they are much more subdued, held back and packaged with beautiful cinematography so that it is the emotion rather than the sheer intensity or even volume of screaming that is given focus.

KDramas are what they are meant to be: materials that are meant to make you cry but never in your face to the extent of going over the top or squeezing a scene dry in order to bring about emotional impact.  There is still a certain restraint in the way scenes are written --- so that (here is the clincher) the impact of a sequence is achieved not through words alone but what is visualized in its execution.  And that makes great writing.  

For it is often mistaken that a good film or television script is measured by the brilliance and crispness or wit embedded in lines.  Rather, what makes KDramas so good is that those fleeting looks, those quietly drooping eyes with tears falling or even those looks of longing say so much more than a proliferation of quotable quotes and hugot lines meant for trailers and after a while really turn out to be so artificial.

Thus even scenes that you have watched before in other dramas look new again because they are now treated with subtlety and sometimes even punctuated with a hint of humor.

That is also why --- in their own way --- the Koreans are so good in generating kilig without resorting to the predictable pagpapakyut or the gasgas na pagpapa-corny.

This leads to another important point which so directly linked to their art of writing.

(5) KDramas may use the same stereotypes or templates in the way they create and design characters but they are never diminished to the two-dimensional or the cliche.

After a while you begin to realize that KDramas also use templates in the way they design their lead characters.   Simply put (at the risk of oversimplification), their female leads are spunky, ballsy, gutsy doers/fighters/movers while their male leads are strong, quiet, reserved but equally principled/focused/perceptive types.

Unlike Filipino teleserye heroines whose greatness is measured by her ability to suffer, the KDrama heroine is a fighter.  She has her own mind, she knows what she wants --- and though she may stumble along the way, confronted by her adversaries, she will keep on fighting.

In contrast to the male lead, she is glib, hyperactive and sometimes a bit clumsy and too talkative for comfort.  But she is focused, she knows what is right from wrong and she will fight for it.  Yes, she may succumb to the compromises demanded by love but she is aware of what she is doing and not merely being bulldozed to a situation.  She is not pre-conditioned to be a martyr because this is not what she aspires to become.

Even if the KDrama heroine falls in love, she is not about to surrender all of her being or suppress what she believes is right just to prove how much she loves her man.  On the contrary, she is aware of the limitations of her emotions and relationships but conscious of her dignity and disposition.

The male lead complements the feisty character of the heroine.

If the heroine is palaban, then it is the stoic calmness and strength of her hero that make the perfect match.

Here the male lead is never flamboyant.  He is not out there flaunting his packa-macho.  For him, strength is his quietness. Strength is his ability to embody principle,  a very strong belief in justice, an almost extraordinary dedication to duty and a guiding principle for standing for what is right regardless of obstacles or consequences.  In the two KDramas I accomplished and especially in the third that I am engrossed in, this is becoming a repetitive motif as far as the heroic characterization is concerned.

The male lead will fight to the very end for what he thinks is right.  He will fight to defend his love --- but romance is never the be all and end all of his existence.  Romantic love is only a reward and not the core of his duty to the world --- much unlike what is embodied in Filipino teleseryes.

What is also quite ingenious about the Korean series is that by the end of the pilot episode (the first installment of the entire series), you know the problem in the entire narrative.  You know the core and crux of the material.  Although the plot may diversify or branch out into subplots you know the journey that is to be undertaken by your lead. 

Added to this, the characters integral to the journey of the leads.  Even the supporting characters are well-shaped, well-drawn and well integrated into the blueprint of the plot serving purposes to support or negate the wants and needs of the leads or even provide lighthearted comic relief when the plot gets too weighty with its emotional content.

And since the writers know from the start how, when and where the story will finish, you do not have that tedious pasikot-sikot, paikot-ikot subplots which are evidently added to stretch the story rather than to enrich or embellish with something substantial.

(6) There is an entire array of genres in the KDrama.  They are not obsessed with just love stories per se but innovative ways of creating engrossing narratives.

This is where most of the Twitter respondents echoed in unison.

What makes KDrama so interesting is because they are iba-iba,  You do not get trapped with more of the same kinds of stories because the Korean producers uproot all kinds of possible genres in order to provide entertainment.  

They can be your romantic comedies --- but they can also be your historical dramas.  What about historical romances?  Or even crime thrillers, medical series and funky romantic comedies?  

You are not stuck with the same kinds of narratives that seem to have caused massive havoc in the minds of Filipino viewers who are (as they say) overdosed with stories about:

1. Brazen or sympathetic mistresses ruining ideal/miserable marriage.  ("Puros na lang kuwento ng mga kabit!")
2. Lost children
3. Switched babies
( To which one of my Twitter friends said, "Napakaburara naman ng mga Pinoy na magulang para magkapalit ang kanilang mga anak, di ba?")
4. Victims of amnesia  (Utang na loob, ha?  1960's pa lamang usung-uso na yan, no? 2020 na may na-a-amnesia pa para lang magkakuwento?)
5. Incidences of convenient or dramatic kidnapping 
6. Delayed arrival of agents of the law to respond to emergencies ( Bakit ba laging bano ang pagpoportray sa mga pulis? Laging late silang dumarating!)
7. Kontrabidas who are so evil that you would think they are all version of the Anti-Christ. ( For some reason or another, Pinoy kontrabidas enjoy evil. Wala lang. Kasi they are bad. There is no humanity in them except living a life of spreading evil like a virus.)
8. Kontrabidas who will not die. (Ano ba yan?  May anting-anting ba yan at hindi mamamatay-matay?)
9, Evil rich people.  They are evil because they are rich because they are rich because they are evil.  Gets mo?
10. Heroes who are not noble or ennobling because they seem to enjoy suffering (especially the leading ladies) to the point of romantic masochism.  (Hindi na sila mabait. Mga tanga na sila.)

KDramas, because they are divorced from our cultural roots of deifying romantic agony provide alternatives that do not only amuse but challenge our audiences.  In other words, they offer something new.

For those who have stayed long on a tired and beaten path, no wonder they are now taking another road all together to satisfy their craving for entertainment.

To be continued.

The question of production value and why Filipinos are mesmerized by the technical quality of the KDramas.

DAY 28: ECQ

Twenty-eight days of self-imposed house arrest.

If there are three things that have changed in my life since the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (Oo na, lock down na nga!), then these are the following:

(a) I have learned to sleep seven to eight hours every night --- something I have not done since I was in Grade Six.  And believe me, that was a long, long time ago.

(b) I have not used a single credit card for a month.  I have not bought a stick of clothing,  not even a shoestring or a swatch of shirt ... and it did not matter.  I am still OK.

But most important ...

(c) I have been "eaten by the system" as one Facebook friend said: I am now addicted to KDramas or Koreanovelas.  

I know that a lot of my friends and a certain percentage of the population of the Republic of the Philippines are Kdrama fans.  The younger among us are KPop addicts.  Whereas I, with my limited leisure time and somewhat  narrow taste, have limited my appreciation of Korean popular culture to its most available cuisine --- namely kimchi and bulgogi.  

ECQ has changed that.  

From a frenetic life that begins at 10AM and ends approximately 2AM the following day whether on location shooting, in air-conditioned meeting rooms for preproduction or in a classroom or my office in the film program, suddenly I find myself home for the past twenty-eight effing days with a sense of tentativeness of what is to come right after.  And I, like the rest of the world do not know when that "end" will happen ... or what will be left after it.

So in an effort to keep my sanity or not think about how this Third World War against a microbe will alter my life and the rest of the world, I gave in to Netflix and the KDrama.  

How would I know, for instance, that after watching my first series entitled Crash Landing On You that my curiosity would be piqued and I would go straight into a second series recommended by Roselle Monteverde entitled Pinocchio?  

So after so many hours of each predictable, more-of-the-same day of quarantine, the KDrama has suddenly become part of my survival kit.  I am not an expert nor a hundred percent Koreanovela authority but watching all these shows made me slowly understand why this form of entertainment has created major addiction for a substantial number of Filipinos.  Now I see why this has become an important addition to the daily menu of human existence of so many.

Out of even more curiosity, I posted a Twitter survey among my followers who I assumed would have a great number of KDrama fans.

I was not prepared for the response:  overwhelming would be an understatement.

My question was simply: 
       " Just wondering because I want to know your thoughts:  WHAT MAKES
         KOREANOVELAS SUCH FAVORITES FOR FILIPINOS? What makes
         them DIFFERENT? "

Since I posted this two days ago, it has been Retweeted ninety-four times and I have received a total of six hundred seventy-three responses.

I was and still am overjoyed with the learning that I am getting because who is the best to know how a media product works than the consumers themselves?  What particularly struck me was the keen mind and observation used by those who responded.  I was not getting hogwash answers: I was getting answers from thinking members of the audience who are reacting to what has been given to them not by Koreanovelas alone but by the local products in the form of mainstream teleseryes.

I realized that a number of us working in media were right.  The Filipino audience is not and was never that docile sponge that merely accepted anything rammed down their throats.  The Filipino audience is not composed to zombie idiots who will devour anything which they feel violates their sensibilities and, yes, intelligence.  With the exposure to Korean, Taiwanese and even Thai and Turkish soap operas through cable as well as streaming platforms, the wide range of products has introduced this sector of the audience to the possibilities of innovation or simply leveling up to a more worthy international standard.

What I received was a whole list of what makes Koreanovelas different ... and, worse, what make them more noteworthy than their Filipino counterparts.

I was engrossed with the way the audience --- not the head of Research in charge of focus groups in the Creative Department of a network --- pinpoints the problems and reaffirms what has already been echoed for years.  This is coming from the real audience,  not a random sample selected as focus groups made to view a show then given a pencil and paper to jot down their thoughts, give a grade or rate the marketability of the material.   The observations sent as replies to my questions were candid as they were sincere --- and apparently these are from people who know far more than me about the art and craft of the KDrama.

Thus, I will blog about what my impromptu Twitter survey revealed ... and compare/contrast the making of Koreanovelas to that of Philippine mainstream television to reveal why the Filipino telenovela has evolved into what it has become today ... and what are the similarities and differences between the same genre interpreted by two distinct cultures and produced by very unique studio practices in the formulation, production and screening of the continuing series.

On the offset, there are twelve points cited by the Twitter folks who are apparently faithful fans and followers of KDramas.

Let me deal with the first three here:

(1) The approach or style of narratives of KDramas is not over-the-top dramatic: they are light, warm, innocent when romantic --- fast-paced, cutting edge and suspenseful when dealing with crime and mystery.

Well, yes.  This is the first thing that one notices in KDramas.  with my limited references to Crash Landing on You (CLOY) and Pinocchio (PIN) is that the dramatic element is never pushed to the limit of people screaming at each other, lashing at each other for catfights or even exaggerated and somewhat obvious choreographed punch-by-number fight scenes or even over-stretched hagulgulan and buwis-buhay ngawngawan.

KDramas dramatize through tenderness.  Tears fall sweetly in  the right moments with beautifully shot close-ups both from female and male leads.  The emotions are never held back but are never exploited to the point of stretching a scene to squeeze its dramatic intensity.  That was immediately noticeable in both CLOY and PIN.  You are fed an emotional scene but then it is cut right at the time when you know exactly how to react to that moment --- followed by, strangely but effectively, a light moment involving comedic elements.

Yes, cinematography and music play such vital roles in the mounting of scenes but that I will explore in greater detail later on.  But what is even more distinct is that romance  is illustrated with innocence and fragility --- and not with lust or passion.  One respondent from my Twitter survey said that kissing scenes in KDramas are inosente at walang libog,  That much I can ascertain mainly because the producers know exactly their target audience.

There is a well thought-out orchestration of images, music and emotions to make tender scenes enticing but not titillating. 

I will return to this point at the end of this blog to give my five cents worth of observation as to why Filipinos treat love scenes in a certain way which is very different from the way our Korean brothers handle the same material.

(2) The stories are straightforward, narrated to the point with no excess and redundancy.

Now that is very true.

Here we are not only talking about the fast pacing or cutting of the scenes.  It is the precision in the way the narrative is laid out per episode.  You are aware of the primary narrative thread or the main problem ( In CLOY, it the heiress who wants to return home after being literally blown away by a twister to North Korea.  In PIN, it is a pair of brothers seeking revenge and redemption for the defamation of their father's honor due to a frame up by media) but the subplots never get on the way of the focus of the story.

In other words, the writing of KDramas are ... how can I put this in a politically-correct way? --- on point, studied, blueprinted, rendered with precision and never resulting to redundancy of plot points, wholeness in the arcs of character development ... but most important, capable of engrossing the audience without taking them for a route devoid of direction just to stretch the story.

This too is understandable and leads to the next point.

(3) All the KDramas have limited runs.  Others may be shown in stretches but the average is from sixteen (16) to twenty (20) one hour telecast episodes.  They are not ratings-dependent to determine the length of broadcast life.

This makes a whole world of difference.  When a KDrama is launched, it knows exactly how and when it will end.

Seeing the production value and content of these dramas, someone who is familiar with the workings of television can decipher that the episodes are canned before they are telecast.  In TV parlance, canned means pre-taped and prepared for broadcast quality distribution before the date of the telecast.  They are not written as the show is being taped or in progress based on other factors outside and aside from the needs of the narrative.  

This means that the writers have control over where the story will go and how it will get there.  The plot is pre-determined, mapped out then elaborated into subplots from beginning to end even before the day of the pilot telecast.  This keeps the story lines succinct, clear, precise --- therefore uncluttered.  This is because the creators of the KDrama know that they have so many episodes to tell their story and not an eternity to challenge time stretching the narrative as long as the audience wants the story going.

But the tradition of the long-running soap operas have been around even before the advent of the Asian continuing mini-series.

In the United States, daytime programming has Guiding Light (57 years), General Hospital (55 years and adding), As the World  Turns (54 years) and so on and so forth.  Right here at home, the earliest soap operas were those written and directed by Jose Miranda Cruz entitled Hiwaga sa Bahay na Bato starring Ben David and Eva Darren (1963-64) as well as the later Gulong ng Palad of Marianne de la Riva, Ronald Corveau, Caridad Sanchez and Romnick Sarmenta --- derived from the successful radio soap opera of 1950 then directed by Consuelo Osorio --- which ran for eight years (1977-1985).  

Years later, there was the late afternoon soap entitled Flor de Luna  (1978)  starring Dindo Fernando, Laurice Guillen and introducing Janice de Belen,  This was followed by Anna Liza (1980) starring Ray PJ Abellana, Leni Santos and Julie Vega. 

One this was notable though: soap operas (not yet called teleseryes) were aired daily but never on a prime time slot. Prime time refers for TV shows aired from 6:00 PM until 10:00 PM on weekdays and week nights.  By rule, only episodic shows ... including weekly anthologies occupied the privilege of prime time.

Thus, like American soaps, daytime and late afternoon TV viewing were appropriated to teleseryes or soap operas.  Dramatic anthologies ranging from the early Balintataw  (1970-72) , Panagimpan (1968) to Maalaala Mo Kaya? (1991 - ) had always been enthroned in primetime.

The Pinoy teleserye can go on and on forever and ever as long as the audience responds to it.  And until this very day, we know that is how the game is played and how the deal is done.

Thus this takes its toll in the manner the stories are told ... and where the story goes ... or worse, how the long drawn narrative will end.

More on the KDrama or Koreanovela tomorrow.

How are their characters different?  What is the importance of production value?  What kind of stories do they tell?