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Chika Muna:
BY MEL FERNANDEZ
Photo credit: Facebook
When the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the globe the public’s appetite for distracting online content started spiralling out of control. And by happy chance multitudes in Asia and even around the world were fed with a steady diet of mesmerising Korean soap operas that were ratings smashes right out of the box.
The now global Korean wave peaked when the hyper-violent thriller ‘Squid Game’ rocked the world and became Netflix’s most watched show in 2021. Following on the heels of Squid Game’s runaway success came another massive hit – ‘Crash Landing on You’ – the most successful Korean Drama (K-Drama) of all time.
The onslaught of K-Dramas on Filipino entertainment and their extraordinary appeal prompted one local politician to advocate that they be banned during a budget hearing for the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).
Senator Jinggoy Estrada felt that extreme measures were needed to safeguard the local industry and ensure its survival against K-Drama fever. But before long he got a backlash from Filipino fans who slammed him for his controversial take on K-Dramas and Estrada later backtracked on his proposal to ban them.
In the aftermath of this controversy, actress and filmmaker Bela Padilla took to Twitter to throw her weight behind the debate. She said that: “Filipinos love K-Dramas because of their high production values and quality. On the other hand, many Filipinos in the film industry are underpaid for their efforts. But to ban certain programs because they’re doing better than us is such a petty move. Be happy for others and learn from their success.”
Social commentator Alyanna Margaret Patiag, 23, from Nueva Ecija, feels that there’s no value in banning K-Dramas. “VPNs (virtual private networks) are so popular and are practically the norm; people will still find a way to see Korean films and dramas one way or another.”
The solution, she says, is to make better quality local productions which can rival K-Dramas. On the question of funding local productions, she said: “Right now I don’t think it’s necessary, but eventually I think the government should support local moviemakers, but I hope for better writers and directors with a clear and unique niche who are worth investing in. We can’t just support artists who might misrepresent or disgrace our culture.
“Korean culture is so popular because we can see how wholesome and unique their culture is through K-Drama. If new Filipino filmmakers can deliver a better representation, then why not invest in that?”
Similarly, in an interview with CNN Philippines last month, Senator Estrada also admitted that he personally favours increasing the budget of FDCP to incentivize directors and artists who produce quality films.
This begs the question: what do K-Dramas have that local productions lack?
“I haven’t watched Filipino dramas since high school,” shares Alyanna Patiag. “I have seen some episodes on YouTube and it just frustrates me. There are only a few productions worth watching nowadays.
“Filipino TV has gotten quite toxic and repetitive. It wasn’t always like this when I was younger. The shows were more wholesome, creative and family oriented.
“These days it’s always about infidelity and heart-broken people going crazy. It’s just not inspiring in a good sense at all. It’s plainly distasteful. The only wholesome thing that they’ve retained are the dramas about love teams, but there is so much more to TV than love teams.”
Another impassioned commentor on this topic is Erik Paolo Capistrano, an ardent K-Drama fan and an associate professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. He is also the principal investigator at the UP’s Korea Research Centre (KRC).
In a recent webinar organised by the UP KRC he said: “I believe that the success of K-Drama is a result of not just the creativity of Korean entertainment companies, but also of aggressive promotions and loyal fan bases.
“Korean entertainment companies have been effective at creating new and disruptive content, like the recent hit ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay’, which tackled mental health among males. It’s very rare to see males expressing their suffering about mental health and this drama is having a big impact,” he said.
“K-Dramas give a refreshing take on common themes such as ‘Hospital Playlist’, which is one of my personal favourites. It’s not the first time that a hospital drama has been broadcasted, but we see something like this and it’s a very fresh take.”
Capistrano added that the South Koreans are very creative and produce shows that can be both entertaining and informative. “You have several themes like in ‘The World of the Married’, it’s a very serious and heavy drama; you have your ‘Crash Landing on You’, which is a take on North Korean versus South Korean lifestyles and you have current dramas like ‘Do You Like Brahms’ and ‘Alice’ that tackle topics that we would not know about otherwise.
“The point is that regardless of the topic or the theme of the drama, they have a very robust system behind it that enables it to be executed in such a way that it can communicate to us, to various audiences.
“On top of creating binge-worthy content, Korean entertainment companies are forward-looking and open to moving to different platforms and genres.”
He mentioned the move of the big-budget ‘The King: Eternal Monarch’ from television to Netflix and ‘Backstreet Rookie’, a web toon that became a live-action drama, that is also available on Netflix and China’s streaming website.
“Korean dramas have been constantly evolving and are being distributed in channels outside of the usual broadcast channels and are made available to all of us.”
There was a surge in popularity of Korean TV dramas and movies in the Philippines in the early 2000s, according to a study titled ‘Beyond the Fad: Understanding Hallyu in the Philippines’ by the International Journal of Social Science and Humanity. This spurred local television stations to import Korean shows and dub them into Filipino.
Due to this infatuation with Korean soap operas and movies they are now getting Filipino adaptations, for example ‘Descendants of the Sun’, starring Dingdong Dantes and Jennylyn Mercado.
Why are K-Dramas so binge worthy?
By Mel Fernandez
What follows is a break-down of factors that make K-Dramas so binge worthy:
EYE CANDY
Social media is rife with adulatory comments about K-Drama’s good-looking Korean casts and the high fashion attire they display.
In an interview with StarStudio, one of the #MetroSocietyMostInfluential people on social media, Vice Ganda, commented. “Nai-influence nila ako kasi sobra akong inggit na inggit sa kung gaano ka-glossy ’yung damitan nila.” And he couldn’t have picked a more apt term to describe their style: “glossy!” says ABS-CBN News.
EASY-TO-BINGE FORMAT
“The perfect format is debatable and completely up to preference,” suggests social commentator Alyanna Patiag. “For me it depends on the story, however, 21-25 episodes are usually enough to satiate me, because episodes are an hour long. They have enough time to explore the story and not be too repetitive with too many flashbacks. 21-25 episodes is also good since it gives a solid timeline with just enough for each episode to be special and unmissable.”
“Unlike a lot of Philippine shows that last for months or even years, a typical Korean series spans 16 to 24 episodes and then it is done, ending on a high note,” remarks Erik Paolo Capistrano, an associate professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. “This is another factor that may have drawn Filipinos to K-Dramas.
“We have this penchant for, if a Philippine drama is a hit, you extend it foras long as you can, as opposed to Korean dramas that have a definitive beginning or ending. You know you’re only going to have 16 or 20 or 24 episodes. It’s easy to schedule your time around it if you’re a viewer,” he says.
“With Philippine dramas, sometimes it gets so dragged out along the way in an effort to maximize things that the story suffers,” he adds. “So, in that sense, you cannot blame Filipinos for preferring some other content to watch.”
By the way, it was announced recently that Asia’s longest running drama anthology ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’ is coming to an end.
SPOILT FOR CHOICE
Fortunately, South Korea churns out shows that cater to a wide range of tastes. From the popular light rom-coms to hardcore melodramatic tear-jerkers as well as historical, fantasy, science fiction, suspense and action stories.
OTHER PLUS FACTORS
Here are some bullet points of factors that social media fans and commentators say endear K-Dramas to audiences:
- South Koreans excel at choosing perfect romantic soundtracks to enhance ‘kilig’ moments.
- The producers cast relatable characters who possess a great sense of humour and quirky antics.
- G-rated, family friendly themes are the norm – hardly any foul language, a low-level of violence and squeaky-clean love scenes.
- Great cinematography with amazing shots and spectacular locations.
- Fresh factor – the incredible storylines and settings used in K-Dramas are a refreshing change for Filipino audiences.
- Audiences feast their eyes on the mouth-watering food that the actors share on screen.
- Availability on streaming services.
FAVOURITE DRAMAS
Former Vice President Leni Robredo is a long-time K-Drama fan. She mentioned in a Philstar interview that some of her favourite dramas are ‘City Hunter’ (which aired on ABS-CBN), ‘Descendants of the Sun’, ‘Mr Sunshine’ and of course ‘Crash Landing on You’.
For commentator Alyanna Patiag, her top of the pops are: ‘Reply 1988′, ‘Hospital Playlist’, ‘Weightlifting Fairy’, ‘Goblin’ and ‘The Moon Embracing The Sun’.
Filipino News publisher Sheila Mariano’s personal favourites are: ‘Crash Landing on You’, ‘The Extraordinary Attorney Woo’, and ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay’.
