translator

You’re just misinterpreting it. Numerous people have responded to you and made it clear that they aren’t confusing reality for fiction, it’s just that you can’t extricate the work of fiction from the original source material or the real acts that the actors will perform to create the work of fiction. You’re basically the same age as the younger actor, right? So I can understand why you don’t see a problem. But it doesn’t mean many adults won’t think there is an issue with such a young actor in this role and specifically paired with an older actor. And I never mentioned laws; in all of my comments I only mention developmental stages. Laws change over time, you know? It’s best to take a stance based on what you think is ethical/unethical. Your example also entirely misses the nuance of the situation.

So—your acceptance of another country/culture only extends as far as what you consider ethical. So what you’re seeing here is others finding the pairing unethical due to scientific studies on development. You might not agree but it doesn’t make sense for you to say “others shouldn’t be concerned” when it’’s a pairing they consider unethical; of course there is concern.

It’s not that anyone “must follow [our] rules”. It’s that we disagree based on the science behind development. And there are some of us who won’t watch because we don’t want to see a 16 and 27 year old paired up for a show like this. Are we not allowed to express that we disagree with it? I mean, most of us who disagree aren’t just here to complain but came here because we know of the original source material and were excited, made a comment when we found out the age and now come back to the page when we get notifications for responses.

You’re quoting me incorrectly so it doesn’t really matter that you quoted me at all. How did you extrapolate me saying that I, MYSELF, can’t support it to me saying YOU can’t support it? Do I disagree with supporting it? Yes, sure, but where did I say you COUDLN’T support it?

Yes, the reality of the situation is that a 16 year old has been paired with a 27 year old. THAT is what people are taking issue with given the nature of the relationship that will be acted out. It’s really not confusing.

Who is meddling in another country’s laws? No one here. We are just saying we can’t support it and feel it is a poor choice. Me bringing up the other example was to show that just because something is accepted in a specific country or culture, it doesn’t make it ethical in the context of biological, neurological, physiological development. Ethics come above all else. The only reason you disagree in this case is because you don’t mind the pairing/age difference between actors. But again, you didn’t answer my question anyway; do you agree with killing gay people? Because that is the law and part of culture in some countries. Of course I am not suggesting this actor pairing is a similar situation but I am wondering to what extent your “it’s law/it’s culture” argument extends. I would imagine it only extends as far as your ethics. And if so, you should be able to see why others are taking issue with this pairing. It isn’t wrong for us to not want to see or to not think it’s appropriate for a 16 year old and 27 year old engage in a story with the plot and themes this one has.

P.S. Of course they won’t utilise all of the source material—seriously, that basically never happens so it should go without saying—but you’re acting as if the whole plot wasn’t heavily influenced by extreme themes. Also, no, I’m not trying to cause problems; I just disagree with your opinions.

How is it not media competent to disagree with a 16 and 27 year old being paired for a series with explicit original source material? You mention “media competency” but frankly usually characters are aged down compared to their actors, and if not, still rarely are minors paired romantically with adults. So again, “media competency”—what do you mean?

None of the people you’re copying and pasting this reply to thinks the acting is real. You really are missing all of the nuance in this situation.

A child acting vs a married person acting is not the same… The issue with the child is viewed from the perspective of neurological development. Also you keep saying people shouldn’t worry/concern themselves with what happens in other countries—but there are countries that still kill people because they’re gay, so do you really believe that? Do you not care about that because they aren’t people of your own country? Anyway, it’s fair to say that someone other than a 16 year old could have been matched with an almost-thirty year old, especially if they are going to include ANY explicit scenes at all. Are you familiar with the original material? If yes and you—even if you don’t agree—still don’t understand why some people think this was a bad choice, I really don’t know what to tell you.

eito on twitter is subbing this. you can click the link in their bio :-)
https://x.com/konpeitosubs

i love Lee Jung Eun in this… her acting is so hilarious! i initially started watching because of Choi Jin Hyuk (and to a lesser extent Eun Ji) and i’m not disappointed there either. i’m only on ep 3 so far though :-)

Disagree… This is literally a page to comment about the show… So we can only comment good things? A lot of people who came to this page likely came here because they have seen/read the original and so legitimately were interested. Also it’s not really true that things definitely won’t change—if no one says anything, some viewers might not know about an age gap between actors that they wouldn’t have been okay with. If the viewership is lower than the production company expects, they will want to find out why which might mean casting like this doesn’t occur again.

Because watching isn’t the same as acting in the role alongside a significantly older counterpart. Also as an adult, it feels wrong to watch especially if they are going to follow the original themes which are quite heavy.

he kind of looks like a mix of ji changwook and and lee minho! i love him in marry my husband~

the first Kim Rae Won drama i watched was Attic Cat and he instantly became a fave of mine. he was also great in Punch. I’m glad that especially w The First Responders many more viewers have been introduced to him 😌

Eh, you say that but if the viewership is lower than predicted because of the casting choice, perhaps there will be more consideration from the production team next time. I don’t really care if you personally miss me LOL.

Sungjae and Kim Ji Hoon? Sign me up 😌 😌 😌

Of course abuse can occur in any pairing, whether related to work or not. But again, a 16 and 27 year old being paired up is different to a 27 and 37 year old being paired up at the very base level, even if no abuse takes place. I’m not sure why you keep ignoring that. Being able to recognise this doesn’t mean I think there is no potential for abusive power dynamics where difference in age is not a factor… This is, again, a straw man; you’re responding to an opinion I never posited as if I had posited it.

I don’t think I will respond to you again. I’m not sure if there is a communication barrier of some sort here or if you are being disingenuous; because you are “responding” only to things I have neither said nor even implied, we’d both probably get just as much out of this conversation if it were just you responding to yourself lmao

I’m sorry but, having also worked with young people, I can’t get behind “I have to accept that in the end there are certain things that if they have capacity even their parents can not prevent them from doing” in relation to this kind of actor pairing. I also can’t get behind “I have to accept when some return to their home country the laws and cultural norms are different.”

At the end of the day, a 16 year old acting alongside an almost thirty year old is not something that no one can prevent. And you don’t have to accept/ignore things you think are immoral, if indeed you think they are, just because of laws, culture or tradition as if none of that has ever changed over time.

I’m going to stand by a 16 year old being paired up with a 27 year old being a weird and frankly inappropriate choice. I mean, think about how many people likely auditioned for these roles and whether the ONLY option was to pair a 16 year old and a 27 year old to film romantically together? You might think it’s fine—which whatever—but comparing this to just any old age gap between adults, to adult actors making informed decisions to better their character portrayal, to detrimental beauty standards(??????), etc. is just disingenuous. Like, yeah, I’m not going to ignore well-documented neurological development phases to pretend a 16 year old’s decision-making capabilities and an adult’s decision making capabilities are on par/are each just as informed as the other. If your parents have to sign off to say “yes, my child can film this series with sexual content”, it’s a hard pass for me and, in my opinion, it is inappropriate.

Pray tell, what kind of adult wants to see that play out on screen? Especially with the kind of plot this novel/show has.

That is to say, I didn’t miss the point you were trying to make. It’s just that I disagree with you and think that the examples you keep providing become further and further from the actual case at hand.

In Never Have I Ever, the FL was 18/19 when filming started though… It’s because one is literally 16 and one is almost 30. There are even people who don’t like 18 year olds paired with older counterparts. Your username is really apt because that was truly the most glaring straw man I’ve come across

No one thinks 16 year olds have no concept of sexuality or idea about sex. No one thinks 18 year olds are “completely mature” (with the exception of young children and 18 year olds themselves, haha). But you’re very mistaken in underestimating the difference between a 16 and 18 year old; there is no shortage in research studies about how quickly the brain develops through childhood (particularly) and adolescent years.

I do not mean to be demeaning but many people your age think age gaps like this are okay. Like, everyone older than you was your age once, too, and at one stage or another has either thought it was at least fine or at most “cool”. When you get older and look back, especially if you have children or have knowledge about development, it doesn’t seem okay at all.

Even in terms of pairing actors together, you cannot believe there was not a single older actor more or just as fit for the role of Poppy. It begs the question—WHY pair a young teen with an almost 30 year old?

Even from a financial perspective it isn’t a wise choice; if this is anything like the novel or first tv adaptation, I don’t think most people who are 20+ will be wanting to see such scenes involving an actual 16 year old.

So… the two listed are actually the main leads? I get that they’re actors, they’re just acting, but I find it hard to believe that there was no one more suitable for the role of Poppy than a 16 year old…

If this follows the original novel/first tv adaptation, 16 is really too young—and even more so to be paired romantically with a 27 year old. I don’t care what the age of consent is in Thailand, I think a different pairing with a smaller age gap would have been better. It’s a shame. For all its faults, I loved the first tv adaptation and was excited when I heard about this; now I almost certainly won’t watch it.

You already posted your dislike for the relationship on Tul’s page, saying you will no longer support him. Why comment here too? Mew and Tul have been friends for a decade already but because they date you suddenly will no longer support Tul (not mentioning Mew because you obviously weren’t supporting him anyway)? Sorry, it’s too weird…