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.