You're right about 1 thing. In the West, they don't live in the 'collective' like they do in Russia & China, and…
BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO! Thank you for this. I am an American, but not necessarily proud to be a citizen of the U.S.A. because this country is in MANY ways deeply fucked up. Good god, Donald Trump somehow was president for four years and might be again! There are millions of imbeciles, bigots and religious fanatics here. We have mass shootings nearly every week.
All that said, however, and as much as I LOVE Asian cinema/drama, especially the gay stuff-to the point I rarely watch anything out of Hollywood or New York anymore, in the three years since I discovered the rich universe of Asian music, movies, and drama, I have become increasingly horrified by the vindictive power of the insane "Netizens" and especially psycho-conservative Korean society which enables them. Most horrendous of all are the frequent suicides of young Korean entertainers who are driven beyond the point of being able to cope and choose suicide as an escape. It's just unspeakably heart-breaking.
I found Jonghyun-era SHINee on YT by accident and was enthralled with their music videos and concerts for two weeks, then discovered that Jonghyun, who had become my favorite of the five, had taken his life nearly three years earlier. I was wrecked, sobbed like a child more than once. Only then did I begin to learn how devastating is the scourge of suicide in Korea as a whole and K-Entertainment in particular. It's nearly impossible to believe what hateful idiots on the Internet can do to people's lives.
In the U.S., as fucked up as it is, at least for the greatest part, entertainers who have drug/addiction problems, legal issues, private romantic disasters, etc do not necessarily have their careers and reputations destroyed as a result. People can recover, get their act together, take care of their legal problems, whatever and come back stronger than ever. This weird Asian feeling that successful entertainers OWE it to the public to live a perfect, faultless life in return for their money and fame, is almost entirely non-existent here. Drug problems are seen as addiction/medical issues and treated accordingly. Legal problems are dealt with by the court system and oftentimes celebrities continue their work as their situation makes its way through the maze. Then, if they must pay a fine or go to jail they do that, then come out and make a new movie, put out a new album, dance a new dance.
If anything, people who recover/change/pay for their mistakes, then return to a productive life are ADMIRED for what they've done, not destroyed for it. Romantic and other personal problems make for salacious, feeding-frenzy public gossip in the press and on the Internet here but it doesn't have the bizarrely exaggerated weight of Puritanical morality applied to it that it does in Asia.
At times I have considered boycotting Korean movies, music, dramas BECAUSE of this twisted culture of judgmental, intrusive, abusive 24/7 microscope the country puts its artists under which causes so many to take their lives as a desperate means of escape. But I know I will not do that, simply because there is SO much breath-taking talent and so many films/dramas/music from Korea that enriches my life to a huge degree. If I cut myself off from that, in a way I would be handing the Netizens and all other twisted fucks who think like them yet another victory. So screw that and screw them.
So every time another "idol" (I hate that word. It puts entertainers on an implied pedestal that no one should be expected to live on.) takes their own life I mourn for them and hope that little by little, there will be fewer and fewer of these cases as Korea slowly moves its Puritanical cultural leanings out of the Dark Ages and into the light.
One of the sickest things about K-Pop is the comment threads below articles announcing the latest suicide of an actor or singer. The breathless, faux-mournful posts are always the same: "Be happy, my new angel." "You are now my twinkling star in the sky." "Rest in peace, I will miss you." The comments are always the same and extra sickening because it seems this public ritual of performative celebrity-mourning has become part of the overall K-Pop entertainment experience. I left a few distraught comments under Jonghyun videos when I first found out he was gone but after learning how common these deaths were and how trite my messages, though heartfelt, seemed among all the other ones just like them, I took mine down.
I didn't mean to go on this long, but this is a meandering way of saying I hope the actor above finds his way back to great success in his career and much happiness in his personal life. And screw the Netizens!
As far as I'm aware, the controversy was found to be based on lies, just so you know
Good god. Whether or not she had an abortion is no one's business but theirs. And abortion was decriminalized in Korea in 2021. Get a life of your own and leave others and their private matters alone.
What a stupid article. Zero information on what the alleged "controversy" was, which from what I now know of South Korean culture, is likely NOTHING.
The weirdest thing about these unfortunate Korean performers being pressured to make these dumbass apologies, is that they mostly apologize for something like "causing the public to worry and have concerns" or something equally indirect and lame. No one is responsible for the tender fee-fees of anonymous, retarded Netizens.
Kwak Dong Yeon is sensational is this role. Wow. I'm not even a big baseball fan and my heart was increasingly in my throat as the show progressed. Some of these KBS drama specials are really exceptional, high quality stuff, and this is one of them. The atmosphere became more and more airless with every scene. Just the kind of thing I love to subject myself to.
Portrait of a young athlete losing his mind and the ending provided no answers as to where he is headed. But for an increasing sense of isolation, dread and bewilderment, this can't be beat.
KBS Drama Specials continue to rock. I especially like that the outcomes weren't all sweetness and light as one usually gets in these types of stories. Much more realistic. The casting of the brothers was especially good in that to me they bear a resemblance to each other. A couple minor but UNrealistic plot elements could have been handled better but overall I enjoyed the ride.
KBS Drama Specials continue to rock. I especially like that the outcomes weren't all sweetness and light as one usually gets in these types of stories. Much more realistic. A couple minor but UNrealistic plot elements could have been handled better but overall I enjoyed the ride.
Yeah...no. I realized after beginning to watch this film that I had watched it before and it's pretty good. But the premise in the beginning is SO weak I can't take the rest of the story seriously for another watch. In what world does someone go to prison for defending himself when there are multiple beaten and bloody victims, and a room full of eye-witnesses? And why does the bullied kid admit in court to something he did not do? "Akin to murder," my ass.
The entire first fifteen minutes is a great setup, immediately negated by the stupidity in the court scene. The writers should have given this a lot more thought. There are countless reasons a kid could go to prison. This one is lame.
This is quite good. Tsumabuki Satoshi is excellent as the ML, an ethical, caring doctor placed in a horrible position by the vagaries of war. I was riveted for the entire 73 minutes of the movie. Infinte shades of gray. The FL is very good too. All of the actors are.
I liked it! Slow pace, but interesting Japanese historical fiction. And certainly not what I expected from another Miiki Takashi flick. No gore, blood, or sex. lol
While I respect your opinion on Krist but I don't think people should judge him without knowing the full story.…
The "Krist is a homophobe" so-called controversy can be summarized by the title of one of William Shakespeare's greatest comedies: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Internet losers search desperately each day for something, anything to blow out of proportion and get all self-righteous about. When I finally looked into what this tempest in a teapot was all about, I was shocked at how lame and meaningless the incidents being used against him are.
I'm gay and I thought his response to the "are you gay?" question, which was "absolutely not" across his distressed-looking face and a couple rows of angry emoticons, was funny. He was sick of being asked and so he made his feelings about it clear. So what? People are sooooo hyper-sensitive these days, hungry for anything to destroy a celebrity over.
Though I don't think he should have bothered, he made a very gracious and groveling apology to all the supposedly offended people and that's the end of it.
I'm enjoying this watch. It's far from being the greatest, but it's the first Thai series I've been able to stick with since Midnight Chicken.
To some extent I am getting a kick out of watching Krist play this OTT goofball role. However, to me it seems he is playing a stock character-the zany boy/man, awkward, quirky buffoon-not a distinct, actual PERSON. So it's fun to watch the craziness but a lot of the potential zing is missing because I'm watching a TYPE, not an individual. His goofiness is generic. I would have liked to see him bring some mannerisms specific to Gawin rather than playing your basic clown.
Fluke is hot and I like the way he's playing his part. A guy who one assumes is arrogant because of his looks, confidence and popularity, but is in reality a kind, considerate dude. He and Krist make a nice pairing physically. Tall and lanky but graceful against short and a little bit soft makes for a nice contrast.
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1 
Plus, clearly you're on this thread trolling for reactions with your Morality Police act. F**k off.
Thank you for this. I am an American, but not necessarily proud to be a citizen of the U.S.A. because this country is in MANY ways deeply fucked up. Good god, Donald Trump somehow was president for four years and might be again! There are millions of imbeciles, bigots and religious fanatics here. We have mass shootings nearly every week.
All that said, however, and as much as I LOVE Asian cinema/drama, especially the gay stuff-to the point I rarely watch anything out of Hollywood or New York anymore, in the three years since I discovered the rich universe of Asian music, movies, and drama, I have become increasingly horrified by the vindictive power of the insane "Netizens" and especially psycho-conservative Korean society which enables them. Most horrendous of all are the frequent suicides of young Korean entertainers who are driven beyond the point of being able to cope and choose suicide as an escape. It's just unspeakably heart-breaking.
I found Jonghyun-era SHINee on YT by accident and was enthralled with their music videos and concerts for two weeks, then discovered that Jonghyun, who had become my favorite of the five, had taken his life nearly three years earlier. I was wrecked, sobbed like a child more than once. Only then did I begin to learn how devastating is the scourge of suicide in Korea as a whole and K-Entertainment in particular. It's nearly impossible to believe what hateful idiots on the Internet can do to people's lives.
In the U.S., as fucked up as it is, at least for the greatest part, entertainers who have drug/addiction problems, legal issues, private romantic disasters, etc do not necessarily have their careers and reputations destroyed as a result. People can recover, get their act together, take care of their legal problems, whatever and come back stronger than ever. This weird Asian feeling that successful entertainers OWE it to the public to live a perfect, faultless life in return for their money and fame, is almost entirely non-existent here. Drug problems are seen as addiction/medical issues and treated accordingly. Legal problems are dealt with by the court system and oftentimes celebrities continue their work as their situation makes its way through the maze. Then, if they must pay a fine or go to jail they do that, then come out and make a new movie, put out a new album, dance a new dance.
If anything, people who recover/change/pay for their mistakes, then return to a productive life are ADMIRED for what they've done, not destroyed for it. Romantic and other personal problems make for salacious, feeding-frenzy public gossip in the press and on the Internet here but it doesn't have the bizarrely exaggerated weight of Puritanical morality applied to it that it does in Asia.
At times I have considered boycotting Korean movies, music, dramas BECAUSE of this twisted culture of judgmental, intrusive, abusive 24/7 microscope the country puts its artists under which causes so many to take their lives as a desperate means of escape. But I know I will not do that, simply because there is SO much breath-taking talent and so many films/dramas/music from Korea that enriches my life to a huge degree. If I cut myself off from that, in a way I would be handing the Netizens and all other twisted fucks who think like them yet another victory. So screw that and screw them.
So every time another "idol" (I hate that word. It puts entertainers on an implied pedestal that no one should be expected to live on.) takes their own life I mourn for them and hope that little by little, there will be fewer and fewer of these cases as Korea slowly moves its Puritanical cultural leanings out of the Dark Ages and into the light.
One of the sickest things about K-Pop is the comment threads below articles announcing the latest suicide of an actor or singer. The breathless, faux-mournful posts are always the same: "Be happy, my new angel." "You are now my twinkling star in the sky." "Rest in peace, I will miss you." The comments are always the same and extra sickening because it seems this public ritual of performative celebrity-mourning has become part of the overall K-Pop entertainment experience. I left a few distraught comments under Jonghyun videos when I first found out he was gone but after learning how common these deaths were and how trite my messages, though heartfelt, seemed among all the other ones just like them, I took mine down.
I didn't mean to go on this long, but this is a meandering way of saying I hope the actor above finds his way back to great success in his career and much happiness in his personal life. And screw the Netizens!
The weirdest thing about these unfortunate Korean performers being pressured to make these dumbass apologies, is that they mostly apologize for something like "causing the public to worry and have concerns" or something equally indirect and lame. No one is responsible for the tender fee-fees of anonymous, retarded Netizens.
Portrait of a young athlete losing his mind and the ending provided no answers as to where he is headed. But for an increasing sense of isolation, dread and bewilderment, this can't be beat.
Bravo!
8.5/10
8/10
8/10
I realized after beginning to watch this film that I had watched it before and it's pretty good. But the premise in the beginning is SO weak I can't take the rest of the story seriously for another watch.
In what world does someone go to prison for defending himself when there are multiple beaten and bloody victims, and a room full of eye-witnesses? And why does the bullied kid admit in court to something he did not do? "Akin to murder," my ass.
The entire first fifteen minutes is a great setup, immediately negated by the stupidity in the court scene. The writers should have given this a lot more thought. There are countless reasons a kid could go to prison. This one is lame.
9.5/10 Naturally, the MDL rating is WAY too low. What's wrong with this place?
Tsumabuki Satoshi is excellent as the ML, an ethical, caring doctor placed in a horrible position by the vagaries of war. I was riveted for the entire 73 minutes of the movie. Infinte shades of gray. The FL is very good too. All of the actors are.
Highly recommended.
9/10
Recommended
8.5/10
I'm gay and I thought his response to the "are you gay?" question, which was "absolutely not" across his distressed-looking face and a couple rows of angry emoticons, was funny. He was sick of being asked and so he made his feelings about it clear. So what? People are sooooo hyper-sensitive these days, hungry for anything to destroy a celebrity over.
Though I don't think he should have bothered, he made a very gracious and groveling apology to all the supposedly offended people and that's the end of it.
To some extent I am getting a kick out of watching Krist play this OTT goofball role. However, to me it seems he is playing a stock character-the zany boy/man, awkward, quirky buffoon-not a distinct, actual PERSON. So it's fun to watch the craziness but a lot of the potential zing is missing because I'm watching a TYPE, not an individual. His goofiness is generic. I would have liked to see him bring some mannerisms specific to Gawin rather than playing your basic clown.
Fluke is hot and I like the way he's playing his part. A guy who one assumes is arrogant because of his looks, confidence and popularity, but is in reality a kind, considerate dude. He and Krist make a nice pairing physically. Tall and lanky but graceful against short and a little bit soft makes for a nice contrast.
I don't block people.