Yesterday, my good friend (and resident informant, lol, because she’s informative about things like this) @nrllee posted a link to another site about “PokemonGo…male centric (gamer perspective)…love line shoehorned in…”
I’m not going to post the link here so just search @nrllee’s comment yourself. (Big Hint: On Flashbacks, #1)
I have to warn you all to be careful before visiting that site. If you must read the article, take it with a grain block of salt. I find that often the blogger’s writing style doesn’t usually separate the facts from her opinions so it would often seem as if she’s attributing a statement to the writer, when she’s merely stating her own personal view. 😀
For instance, in that post, it would appear as if the writer herself called HeeJoo a “plot device.” No, that’s the blogger’s interpretation of Heejoo’s character. To me, it would be unprofessional of the writer Song Jae Jung to call Park Shin Hye’s character a “plot device.”
Instead what I think happened is that the writer originally created a story about a man’s personal growth and development from, let’s say… neanderthal male to goldfish with two dimples.
She didn’t intend the script to be a love story — which is fair enough. (That’s my #3 pet peeve about kdramas, anyway: police stories are love stories, ghost stories are love stories, medical stories are love stories, legal stories are love stories, historical stories are love stories. When do these police officers, ghosts, doctors, attorneys and dead people ever have time to do their job without finding romance along the way??)
However, when the writer discovered that Park Shin Hye was cast, she recognized PSH’s talent and knew that she’d be worse than neanderthal if she wasted this marvelous opportunity. She had, not one, but TWO talented actors on the project who are guaranteed crowd-drawers.
Hence, SHE REWROTE part of her script to now include a love story for PSH.
See that?
PSH isn’t an afterthought. I prefer to say that she’s the catalyst for the love story. Without her, it would have just me watching HyunBin, HyunBin’s left dimple, and HyunBin’s right dimple. Oh, wait! Does he have dimples on both cheeks?? I fail as a HyunBin’s fangirl.
To say that PSH was “shoehorned” into the script not only demeans both the writer and actor, but also shows ignorance of the writing process. The writer was compelled to rearrange her script for PSH because PSH was a BONUS, or a JACKPOT that the writer didn’t expect in the first place. She knew that PSH’s addition should be capitalized on.
That’s why she’s apologizing to PSH. After all the ruckus from PSH’s fans/antifans, she feels that her own talents didn’t measure up and do justice to PSH’s talents. Although there’s a silent majority who either liked or was indifferent to the romance, the agitated and much noisier fans were on the headlines, artificially creating the buzz. Fake news!
As for that comment in the blog about PSH taking a role in an all-female cast, I can easily interpret that in the OTHER way, too, @nrllee. It could also be said that after working with this female writer, PSH was influenced and INSPIRED to support women in the industry.
Really, I think PSH’s fans and antifans should stop stirring the pot and chill. For what it’s worth, she’s on netflix! Isn’t this her first drama shown on netflix? How many Korean actresses are on netflix anyway? It’s always a good career move to reach a wider audience.
But to calm PSH’s fans/antifans, I can parody that original write-up and give it a different slant. Here goes:
As usual, a few vocal critics watching Memories of the Alhambra pounced on screenwriter Song JaeJung. Antifans and misguided fans of Park Shin Hye, joined by the usual militant feminists, decried a story without a female lead who’s kick-assing her way through NPCs with swords and guns. (Recommended names for her weapons: Dumb and Dumber).
Sour grapes, they pointed out that fans of Hyun Bin are enjoying the content of this drama because of the strong be-dimpled male lead in story. (because yes, discriminating viewers like me can’t enjoy a thriller without testosterone. /sarc)
Ironically, one critic said, “Pffft. He should be grateful to the Park Shin Hye! His character would have been so fucking one-dimensional if it weren’t for the female character balancing him out to deliver the emotional connection.” (Precisely, Genius! If you want her character as another dominatrix to JW’s dominator then just watch “Mr and Mrs Smith” … because THAT film is definitely an aspirational love story with lots of bonding, on and off camera.)
As the world turns and the kdrama broke 10% ratings in its recent episode, the omniscient Writer Song finally addressed the whining from the peanut gallery and sat in an interview to answer questions of the befuddled viewers. (Tsk tsk tsk. They should have been following this blog instead.)
According to soompi news:
“She came up with a story about a man from the future, and that was Yoo Jin Woo (played by Hyun Bin). At the time, the story involved Yoo Jin Woo staying at a hotel room and opening the door to a stranger and who would shoot him with a gun.
She shared, ‘However, I didn’t feel motivated, and that’s probably because I had already written so many [time-slip stories]. While I was searching for ideas to write about, Pokémon Go was the new craze, so I got curious and tried it out.’
‘I didn’t think of doing a video game theme because it didn’t seem possible to recreate a virtual reality like the movie ‘Avatar,’” she continued. “But if it were to involve augmented reality with items [on the screen] like Pokémon Go, it seemed doable. That’s when I dropped the time-slip theme and decided to only keep the character Yoo Jin Woo.’”
source: pokemon go
Furthermore, the writer explained that she based the character JinWoo on the electric car company Tesla’s CEO and billionaire Elon Musk (lol, doesn’t she know that Elon Musk is the Donald Trump of technology? Widely regarded as outrageous, paranoid and narcissistic?)
“I found Elon Musk intriguing after coincidentally reading his autobiography. I drew inspiration from his life and created Yoo Jin Woo.” A few similarities between Yoo Jin Woo and Elon Musk are that they both have PhDs in engineering and that they are both self-made CEOs of extremely successful IT companies.
source: musk
Avoiding an auto-da-fé, the writer then groveled to PSH for damaging her reputation in the creation of this kdrama. “Alas,” she said, “my talents are inadequate! I was over-ambitious! I cannot do you justice! Mea culpa!!!!!” She sincerely regretted her decision to rewrite her story for PSH. In hindsight, she should have just left her as a cameo with that shower scene. Now both of them are doomed never to achieve another mega-hit in this entertainment industry. And worse than that! They won’t get another endorsement from Swarovki and Subway ever again. NOooo, don’t take away, my subway!
Oh, the hubris!!
😂 insightful as always PM3. I haven’t watched MOA to pass an opinion that I can reasonably substantiate. Suffice to say that I have been reading on the sidelines and find the story fascinating (mainly your take on it of course) and how writer Nim has woven ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ into the fabric cleverly enough for me to be left satisfied that despite me NOT watching, it has been a worthwhile intellectual exercise all the same 😊. So props to her for writing a good script (from what I can see anyway). And major kudos to you for your posts on MOA…the end is nigh for the drama. Back to the real world. 😂
PS the other interesting little tidbit is that during the Press Con, I believe PSH was asked why she signed up for it and she said when she got the script (which I assume was half written and with none of the embellishments her character got post sign up), she read ALL of it from start to finish. She couldn’t put it down. So even with the raw script without the loveline and other bits to appease her fans she was hooked and signed up immediately. It was the story that prompted her to sign up, not so much the character?
honestly, i expect those SJJ tirade from PSH antifans/ bashers but not from PSH fans. They should have known PSH better. she’s not a selfish artist who’s only concern on her character focus or screentime rather, she understand how is her character connected to the story, how her character can make the story better.
If they think Shinhye’s role in the story is small or undeservedly treated, then that reflects how little they think of Park Shinhye.
Agree on what you said @nrllee, It was the story, not the character that prompted her to sign up. I’m sure she has idea how are SJJ heroine are, but she said she wanted to work with SJJ. @packmule3, i like that Shinhye can appreciate SJJ writing in terms of kdrama directions. SJJ is not your typical drama and romance writer. She’s out of the box writer.
True, that’s what @nrllee told us here. That PSH accepted the role because of the story, not the character. I interpreted that to mean that she was looking at the “big picture” (i.e., the story) and how she could contribute with her skills to create that big picture. I doubt she’d demand the writer to change her character so she’d get a “better image” (is she image conscious??) and/or get more screentime. lol. If word (or false news) gets around that she acted like a diva on set, then she’s screwed.
Yes, the writer is definitely an out-of-the-box thinker. I wouldn’t worry about her critics. THEY complain ad nauseum about the problems in the story like characters not being “fleshed out” and the story not having logic. It’s become apparent to me that THEY are the ones with the problem. It’s like …. hmmm… if I use a computer analogy, their system is slow to buffer and download an app called “i-understand.”
https://i.gifer.com/7Pzx.gif
#suffering
@packmule3 It hurts knowing Shinhye’s thoughts on the ending of MOA. She felt happy while filming but she has lot’s of regrets for not being able to show what she’s good at. If it wasn’t for the fans, she didn’t think she could have put up with it accdg to her. She thanked her fans for always supporting her no matter what she do.
As much as I appreciate SJJ, i felt that she could have done better on Heejoo/Emma character. Shinhye as smart and sensible as she is, surely discussed it with SJJ but we know how the character continued. Shinhye felt her character needs more flesh and somewhat disappointed herself.
Anyway, i get where my fellow PSH fans are coming, what i don’t like are cursing and below the belt remarks. I just feel like they need to pause and see the positive side before they hit the send/ rage button.
Problem is, I saw more antifans posting on He Joo and how she cries all the time, which was more disturbing to read. Like you know on dramabeans. When you go on the site, all I see is them joking about her tears. And it gets tiresome after a point. I get that they don’t like the character[ they need to read PM3’s wonderful posts explaining the reasoning behind her actions first before ridiculing her I guess.] , but that doesn’t mean they have the right to make joke of the character lol. Half of the comments are about hyun bin’s dimple which kind of shows how biased they are towards handsome male actors lol.
I think more than PSH’s fans [and I am no fan of her haha], it’s the party who dislike her, are more active in this case.
@Nearsea Heejoo’s cryfest in MOA will go down history as much as Jinwoo’s layered hero. As a PSH fan, it upset me reading those nasty comments but i don’t let it affect me much. I know myself where HJ tears are coming from, how valuable and central Heejoo is as much as Jinwoo, to the story. Like what @packmule3 stated, Jinwoo is the driving force while Heejoo is the steadying force of the story.
Just because the majority are saying this and that about Heejoo doesn’t make them right. How many of them had opened their mind and understand Heejoo’s characterization? They are shallow. They judged her based only on what their eyes can see and not by looking deep into her heart. If they did, they will know that Heejoo, having that solid faith is a total badass.
It’s sad that a lot of people remembered Heejoo as boring & weepy heroine. They had missed their mark, had missed the wonderful message of the show, which is BELIEVE, TRUST & FAITH.
Shinhye expected this kind of dissatisfaction from viewers and i think that’s what saddens her. I hope Shinhye herself knew the impact of her character in the story no matter what the public’s reaction. What she showed in MOA, is better than she’s good at 🙂
La scénariste a été critiquée pour avoir intégré à postériori l’histoire d’amour, comme si c’était quelque chose qui allait affaiblir son script. C’est une façon de voir qui est totalement fausse, mais compréhensible.
Il se trouve que j’ai également eu un problème similaire dans l’écriture de W Saison 2. Plusieurs facteurs concourraient à une histoire d’amour inattendue à un moment de l’histoire, et je n’avais pas décelé cela. Hors, cela intervenait à un moment de l’histoire pauvre en émotions. Donc, j’ai fait la même chose que Song Jae-Jung, j’ai incorporé une romance là où il n’y en avait pas.
Qui dois-je remercier ? Le ciel ? Ou l’entité obscure que j’appelle “L’histoire” et qui s’écrit en mode automatique à ma place, osant tout braver ?
La qualité de mon script s’est très nettement améliorée après cela.
Alors au lieu de voir cela comme un ajout inopportun dans le script de Song Jae-Jung, il vaut mieux voir cela comme la pièce maitresse qui manquait, pour rendre son drama parfait ! Je suis certain qu’elle a du le ressentir. Sa propre histoire a également du la surprendre. En fait, je rêverais d’un diner avec elle pour pouvoir lui poser toutes ces questions…
The opinion of fans and anti-fans is generally bad, so much so it is guided by their exacerbated desires rather than what is offered to them.
As for the opinion of the actual feminist leagues, it is even worse, as these people know nothing about the nature of men and women, and the psychology of the depths. They look like crazy, screaming witch hunters. All their ideological edifice is a house of cards. It’s simple, if you want to know the truth, just listen to them, you know as soon as possible that it’s in the opposite direction!
Sorry to be so incisive! This is just one of the flaws of our time, and an unfortunately popularized flaw. The series that follow their precepts are polluted, becoming pathetic, clichéd, unwatchable, and doing much more harm to the female condition, as well as to the male condition. This is one of the reasons why Western series are so bad, since they often serve as a propaganda vehicle on this subject.
Park Shin-Hye’s role is wonderful in terms of perseverance, inner strength, and a large number of feminine qualities. The actress has a heightened sensitivity in this drama, as she has never been, and touches the viewer’s heart so well. She offers her best interpretation, what could be wrong with that?!!! A true fan should be grateful.