Though I explained already the concept of “meta” in kdramas a couple of times on this blog, every time I tackle it, I find myself learning something new. Now, let’s compare it to a matryoshka doll.

You’ve seen this doll before, right?

A meta in kdrama is like a matryoshka doll. We’re watching an action in progress, which shows a similar action unfolding, which in turn depicts the same action in motion. We unearth an “object-within-an-object-within-an-object.” Like a matryoshka doll.

To me, the male lead is being tongue-in-cheek when he says in the final scene, “We could meet again someday in this unending movie.” Essentially, a meta can go on ad infinitum, without ending.

So what’s this episode all about? I say it’s a fictitious documentary of a wannabe director exploring what love is.

The story begins in the epilogue of the previous episode. A camera follows the male lead as he walks through the theater. He flops down on a seat then talks to the air.

ML: Love is a problem. Hmm? Love isn’t at fault.

He leans forward and rubs his chin pensively. He then addresses the camera.

ML: I want to love somebody.

He’s a great actor. When he rubs his chin like this, he’s showing a calculating side.

If we were Koreans watching this show, we would have found his declaration bogus. In real life, the actor Koo Kyun-Hwan has been in a long-term relationship with his girlfriend, a director named Yi Ok Seop. In fact, last year, at a press conference for his movie, “Love Villain” there was a big publicity when he declared his deep love for her.

Q. What is the secret to being able to love someone for a long time even when you are suffering from love?
A. (Looking at Director Ok-seop) When you passionately love someone, it’s hard to say why you’re in love with one particular reason, but one thing’s for sure: I still love and love you so much.

Credit: 이플 (@1eefs) July 10, 2022
Source: starbiz.net

Note that the press conference was held during the 2022 Busan International Film Festival. The setting for Episode 3 is also the Busan International Film Festival. See the joke?

But even if we viewers didn’t know about this tidbit about the actor, we are instantly alerted that this Episode 3 is different from the previous episodes when we’re shown the film leader.

What’s a film leader?

This…

A film leader is a small segment of film added to the reel so the film can be played on a projector. (What’s a projector? Did I just date myself? This was way before the advent of Netflix and iphones.) The film leader shows the countdown before the movie begins.

To me, this film leader is deceptive.

It leads us to think that the female lead Park HaKyung’s movie is about to begin when in fact, it’s her STORY that’s about to start. And that’s meta. We are watching HaKyung on our laptop screens just as she watches the movie on the big screen. Then, just like she’s embarrassed for that moviegoer who wanted to exit the theater silently but ended up tripping and creating a ruckus, we felt second-hand embarrassment for her when she’s caught staring at a stranger.

She doesn’t mean to stare. But she can’t help spotting his face in the dim light. She remembers the tarot card and wonders whether he’s the lover she’s destined to meet.

But the salacious confession of the French actress on the big screen wrecks her composure. “I like you. You destroy me. There isn’t time. Please, devour me,” the actress says. And upon hearing that, HaKyung self-consciously sinks in her seat. She’s imagining herself saying those exact words to her fantasy lover and she’s embarrassed.

That’s how the meta-romance begins.

We can watch HaKyung fall in love while ticking the boxes of tropes of a conventional romcom. (I’ve included a list below) She thinks she’s encountering romance in an unlikely place, Busan. She imagines that she’s paralleling the French actress who said, “How could I have known this place was where I’d find love?”

But we know that she isn’t really falling in love. She’s just in love with the idea of falling in love since the tarot card prophesied that she’d meet him soon.

Moreover, the title “The Meta-Romance” prepares me to look at romantic clichés in this episode with skepticism.

To me, the title means that characters are romanticizing the romance. Just like HaKyung is entranced with the idea of possibly meeting her “fated” lover, the male lead is more fascinated with discussing and analyzing romance than he is courting her.

His self-introduction in Episode 2 is the giveaway.

It tells me that he intends to create a semi-documentary/semi-fiction about love. He wants to show that love isn’t the problem. Rather, it’s the people who avoid love out of fear of messing up who are causing the problem.

This is the worldview he wishes to convey in the film he wishes to create one day. And ironically enough, in order to prove his point, he has to mess up, too. It’s meta, lol.

ML: That’s why we don’t have many love stories these days.
HaKyung: Huh? Maybe that’s why.
ML: People nowadays are terrified of not being liked back. And due to the fear of messing up romantic relationships, many keep doubting themself. But when you think about it, life is about messing up.

Then, he abruptly leaves her to buy oranges.

This is a red flag. Why on earth would he get distracted by such a trivial thing as oranges if he was really keen on her? His eyes should have been solidly fixed on her, and his attention focused on their conversation.

On a side note: If I were HaKyung, why would I date him if he thinks that life is about messing up? Wouldn’t it be more positive if he thinks that life is about trying harder? Self-improving and self-fulfilling? Being the best one can be? His mindset makes me suspect that he’s some of loser.

Here are the usual romcom tropes I found in this episode.

1. Their second meet-cute: they dance a doorway tango at the noodle shop in Busan.
2. The bookshop meeting: she chances upon him at the bookstore.
3. The foreshadowing: she purchases the same book she spots him reading. The book is entitled, “The Destruction of Love.”
4. Fate giving them a hand: they accidentally meet again at the metro station.
5. Mirroring: they walk side-by-side and mirror each other’s movements.
6. Date night at the movies: they sit together at the amphitheater and watch the silent film called “Le Voyage Dans la Lune.”
— more on this later.
7. Love in the moonlight: they watch over the city under a full moon.
8. The “Kajima! Don’t go!” chase scene: he thinks she left him, so he does laps around the metro.
9. The slow walk home: thank goodness there was no truck of doom or chicken delivery motorcycle.
10. Promises: They agree to meet the next day.
11. Near misses: They miss each other at the noodle shop in Seoul because they aren’t really meant to be.

And here’s one romcom trope we didn’t get to see: iced coffee.

Since this is a meta-romance, the characters are self-conscious that they are acting like characters in a kdrama. Like, when they recognize each other at the underground subway but they hesitate to acknowledge each other. Instead, they just begin walking in sync and stealing glances at each other. They’re meta-romanticizing or romanticizing the romance of meeting as strangers.

Anyway, here are the other fun elements that I found in this episode.

1. The meta about the male lead’s ambition to become a director.

ML: My name is Lee Changmin.
HaKyung: I see.
ML: One day, I’ll also… (grinning shyly) If you stick around for the credits, I’m embarrassed to say this, but you might catch my name. (chuckling) I’ll also make a movie of my own one of these days.

Yes, we know that this actor’s name will appear in the credits after this episode. But it’s also a known fact that Koo KyunHwan has directed, written, produced, and acted in many indie films. Some of them were collaborations with his girlfriend.

2. The silent film shown in this episode is fake.

And so is the poster with a female face on the moon.

The real silent film “Le Voyage Dans La Lune” (1902) is considered a landmark in cinema history. And this is the iconic image from that film. (This picture gave me the willies when I first saw it.) 

Source: filmschoolrejects.com

It was created by the French visionary and genius, Georges Méliès. It was the first science fiction movie ever made. And because Méliès was an illusionist (or magician) before he became a director, he understood and appreciated the ability of the camera to trick the eye. He realized that the magic tricks he did on stage (e.g., making people disappear/reappear) could be easily done on camera by editing the film. He improvised with the camera and film, and his discoveries became known as special effects.

He showcased these special effects in the movie “Le Voyage Dans La Lune” and they’re now considered standard in the industry.

To me, the scene when the male lead suddenly disappeared on HaKyung while they were standing under the moonlight was an homage to Georges Méliès’ disappearing magic trick and special effects.

She couldn’t understand how he could’ve disappeared like that.

ML: (running) Park HaKyung! You! Wait! There you are! I’ve been looking for you. You simply disappeared on me. So I did countless laps around here.
HaKyung: You were the one who disappeared.
ML: What? No! I was worried that I messed up.
HaKyung: No, it was you who pulled the disappearing act. That got me scratching my head.

His disappearing act is an homage to the camera trick that Méliès popularized.

ML: (still gasping for air) Maybe we took different paths in that short moment. Then we lost each other.
HaKyung: That’s interesting.
ML: I was just thinking this, “It’s possible to lose someone right before your eyes.” How fascinating!
HaKyung: That could really happen.

Yes, it could really happen with a camera trick.

ML: You’re such a great listener.
HaKyung: Yes.
ML: When people hear me say such stuff, they just brushed it off as nonsense.
HaKyung: I’m intrigued by your story.
ML: Seriously?
HaKyung: Mmm. Where do you suppose I went when you lost me?
ML: That’s how the story begins.
HaKyung: Indeed. What genre would it be?
ML: Science fiction romance.

He was channeling Georges Méliès who created the first science fiction.

HaKyung: (burst out gigling) I hadn’t pictured it that way.
ML: (earnest) It was romance from the start.

I doubt that. As a I said, he was making a semi-documentary on love. He’s meta-romanticizing, or romanticizing the romance.

3. More on Georges Méliès’ special effects

Aside from the appearing/disappearing trick, Méliès also invented the dissolving technique as seen here in this segment. The man in white, seen on the left, is waiting for his girlfriend. On the right are two girls leaving the amphitheater. Their images will dissolve and fade out as the girlfriend’s image emerges. The couple leave together.

The director was definitely having fun with this episode.

4. More on the mandarin oranges

He bought the oranges, saying that he liked them. But then he handed her the bag and ran away. He shouted, “Let’s cross paths tomorrow!”

I don’t know if there are any Korean superstitions associated with mandarin oranges. All I do know is that in one drama that Koo Kyo Hwan directed and starred in, “Where’s My DVD?” (2013) his character also unexpectedly brought a bag of mandarins. He meant to gift his former director with the bag of oranges, but he ended up eating it anyway.

5. The meta about silent film

At the end of the French film that HaKyung and ChanMin were watching, the man turned into a bat and (I’m assuming) flew away. The words, “Pense a moi!” or “Remember me!” showed up on the big screen.

Similarly, HaKyung didn’t expect that in less than 12 hours after watching that film, ChanMin too would ghost her and fly away. We didn’t need captions to know that she was thinking about him on her train ride home.

But what I like about that whole scene when HaKyung was waiting for his reappearance at the theater was how effective the VISUAL language was.

She didn’t need any words to express her feelings. It was as if she was in a silent film herself.

6. “Cut!”

ChanMin shouts “Cut!” while facing the camera to signify the end of his semi-documentary/semi-fiction on love. In film jargon, his move is called “breaking the fourth wall.” It means that the character is not just acting within the story, he’s also interacting directly with the audience, e.g., talking to them, smiling at them, or nodding at them.

To me, there’s also a bit of meta. The actor, as I’ve said, is a director, screenwriter, and producer himself. From what I read, he wrote, directed and acted in a movie called, “Now Playing” which is a meta on directing films.

There’s a review of that movie: https://www.hancinema.net

There are more things to write about but I’ve to stop here and review other dramas. I had fun dissecting this episode…as much fun as the writer and director who created it.