OK, The Bridges of Madison County or Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner it ain’t, but Korean dramas are apparently getting a bit daring with their subject matters — on tonight’s episode of “A Woman Who Wants to Get Married” (Korean: Gyeoron hago shipeun yeoja), it’s revealed that one of the characters — played by the lovely Byeon Jeong-su (and don’t tell me her voice doesn’t turn you on in a major sort of way) — had an affair while she and her husband were studying in the United States. The proof — she gives birth to a child back in Korea and, wouldn’t you know it, the kid’s white. According to Good Day Sports, this is shocking on two levels. Firstly, while dramas depicting philandering husbands making babies are quite common, depictions of cheating wives having kids are not. Secondly, not only did Byeon’s character (the wife of the son of a chaebol owner, none the less) have another man’s baby, the man in question is an evil big-noser; apparently this is the first time this has occurred in a Korean drama. According to the screen writer, Kim In-yeong:
I wanted to depict [Byeon's character's] revenge affair in an exceptional way… I wanted to show that in the past, even if their husbands had affairs, wives had to bear and live with it, but now, there are women who respond strongly by asking for divorces or having affairs in return…I used as background a true story of a wealthy professional who liked only pretty young girls with money. He met a woman who met with his conditions, but when they got engaged, he asked for outrageous marriage expenses [i.e. the "three keys," I suppose]. That woman went to the U.S. to prepare those expenses, but while she was there, she fell for a local man and slept together. She returned to Korea and got married, but when she had a baby, it was white.
God, what’s this country coming to…
(PS: In case you were wondering, the piece linked above was the 2nd most looked at over at Yahoo! Korea News. And yes, I watched it.)
30 Comments
Uh… we half-Koreans don’t generally look all white (though that depends). Maybe from the Korean perspective we do (few Koreans recognize me as half-Korean, though I’m relieved when some guess correctly), but even in the States, I get people who come up to me and try to speak Spanish with me. No entiendo, muchacho.
I’m also amused by the how the affair is a “revenge affair,” as if implying that “slumming with the yang-nom” is a good way to get back at your Korean hubby.
The late-1960s Star Trek introduced TV to the first on-screen interracial kiss, but you never see actual lip contact, and according to the plot, Kirk and Uhura are being forced to kiss– it’s the kind of stuff that allowed nervous people to excuse the interracial material: “Kirk wasn’t doing it willingly,” etc.
Luckily, TV evolved beyond that, and while Hollywood is still one of the most racist American institutions, American TV is now a better reflection of the constellation of romantic possibilities. I’m optimistic that South Korean TV will also evolve in that direction. So while I have my reservations about how this is being pulled off, I consider this a brave move.
Kevin
No doubt it’s a gutsy move, given social mores.
BTW, the “revenge affair” thing is just how I translated “?짠??째???흸 ??씲??째??짚,” for lack of a better term. You know, to have an affair in response to your partner having one of his or her own.
And if you were wondering how the affair started:
?????쨔???[?쨀???????'s character] ??짢??쨍??? ??◈?????? ?흸???흹 ?쨋??쨋???? ?흸흸?짼???쨈??짚. ?????쨔????????쨌쨔?짚???쨔흹?????쨍 ??쨈??????(?짧???쨍?쨔? ?쨋?)????짼흸 “??짢??쨍??쨈 ????짼짯????짼흸 ?째???흸??? ??씲??쨈??흹 ?????쩌?짠??흹쩌?징흹?쨔흸?짠???째짹??쨍?쨌?????쨍 ??? ?짼? ?????쨈 ????????쑣??? ??흸??쨈??쑣??쨈?쨀?, ??◑??쨌쨍???????쨀? ?????쨈 100?쨌200????????쩌 ????짠???쨈??흹 ‘?????? ????째???흹 ??졻궗??짚??™궗’??쩌?쨀? ?????짚. ????짼??째??????짠???흸?흹쩌?징흹 ????쨔? ????째???흹 ?째???흸??? ??씲????????째 ????????쨈 ??쨈????짼흸 ?????짚”?쨀? ??쨍??쨈??졻?????????쨈??쨈 ??쨈??쩌 ??? ??짚?짧???쨈 ?짚???짚.
As my middle school health teacher always said, it only takes one time. Nice to see her husband was enjoying the varied flavors of the American landscape as well.
1) I thought already long time ago that in order to get the facial characteristics that many Koreans are aspiring, they should start reproducing with white people instead of using their money to support cosmetic surgery clinics, but I haven’t yet started to promote my idea.
2) It’s so funny (or better: interesting) how seriously many of these dramas are taken. Remember Aein long long time ago, ‘96 or ‘97. It was a story of a married man and a woman sort of falling in love, dating some and barely holding hands, and what a social issue it became, one of those ever-occurring “syndromes”. But they are interesting, definitely.
After all, I think it’s only some 15 years since showing a kiss has been permitted in a tv drama.
It angers me that once again, half-korean children are being protrayed as the result of something inappropriate.
Remember that actress who “confessed” to being “half” and about how hard her life has been having to hide it? (Think Marmot blogged the confession event.) What entertainment figure wouldn’t want to hide the fact that his/her father, Korean or not, had left home never to be seen again?
The way both she herself and the Korean media treated the matter was as if “honhyeora/in” = “orphan” or “illegitimate.”
the one-drop rule still in effect, only now the tables have turned. what, did the baby come out with a full grown honker? or was the little beast already covered in hair? or were there glowing blue eyes….? i’m curious as to what phenotype was used to provide the instant dramatic shock.
Robert,
An even more “gutsy” move would have been to have the baby come out half Korean and half Black. That way all the prejudices and stereotypes could come seething out. In the first “Interracial Kiss” on US prime time, CPT Kirk was forced to Kiss Uhara, and the network didn’t even show them locking lips way back in stardate 5784.2 (1968). Maybe this will start another syndrome in Korea…
Peter,
Lee, YuJin…Half Korean and Half Hispanic. Right after the press interview, people said how they ’suspected’ that she was honhyeora all along and she had just confirmed it.
Oranckay — yeah, but at least they didn’t say the baby itself was inappropriate. I think the shock was more that this was pretty conclusive proof that she screwed around on her wealthy husband. You know, it’s rather difficult to hide a half-white baby. I can see, however, how it re-enforces prejudices that all biracial children are the product of illicit relationships.
chubbybee — in fact, they never actually showed the little mongrel; my guess is that MBC didn’t want to deal with potential lawsuits resulting from elderly viewers having cardiacs. No, they had to have Byeon’s friends explain to the audience that the baby had blond hair and blue eyes. Kinda disappointing, actually.
People have plastic surgery to enhance thier looks not look “half-white.” I personally don’t find biracial children attractive, they just look diluted, watered down and so are their natures which lack any distinct character. Why should you cross a tiger and a lion. Its not natural but its done nonetheless. I think its an abomination. BTW, for the ignoramuses who believe everyone must be envious of caucasoid looks, asians know they have inherent beauty they want to protect.
hey duh,
how do you know you aren’t mixed? even if you are only 1% of this and 1% of that. i suppose you can make the case that because you “look” asian you are asian. there are many people in this world that are quite beautiful and mixed to different degrees. they may look white or asian or black but they are certainly mixed.
i’m sure the japanese planted a lot of seed in korea during their occupation but i bet the korean birth records don’t reflect it. i’m also fairly certain that mixed white/asian babies existed in asian societies for hundreds of years and have been absorbed back into the population. as genetic testing gets cheap and easy, i think a lot of asians are going to be surprised about their real bloodlines so perhaps before you start throwing around insults to biracial people you might stop and consider that you might not be all you think you are.
This does not matter, what matters is keeping the majority bloodline intact and pure. For example, If you are 80% african and 20% caucasoid, then the african gene pool is pretty safe and the caucasoid gene will be absorbed and of little consequence. Race is real, not just a concept. These are facts. lol, As for your ignorant statement about japanese, they are essentially the same race and it is japanese that are the most mongrelized of the three northeast asian nations. Koreans (surprising to you) are actually the most racially pure of the three but there are many dynamics and undercurrents at work and it is very clear how the west is slowly infiltrating and conquering the east politically and genetically and turning it into a turd continent.
Duh,
You might just be a troll, or even more scary you might be serious. In the case of the latter, You can’t be serious:
Koreans (surprising to you) are actually the most racially pure of the three but there are many dynamics and undercurrents at work and it is very clear how the west is slowly infiltrating and conquering the east politically and genetically and turning it into a turd continent.
After the Jurchen invasions, the Mongols, the Japanese Pirates and Hideoshi and co., and the Chinese how can you say Koreans are the most pure? If you are Korean go back and ask your mom if you had the little blue spot on your backside when you were a baby….then come and tell me about racially pure. BTW my mom told me about mine, and I’m Korean too. Quite a few of the so-called homogenious fall into this category.
I was waiting for the ugly, biggotted faction to show up in this thread. Thanks for not disappointing me duh!
I am learning a few things here. Since the KimcheeGI and I grew up in the same area, we can relate on mixed race children. Back home, the boogeymen were the Indians and the Poles to my grandfather. He and grandma told me not to bring one home. I think I’d have been better off if I did. I didn’t care what her skin color or ethnicity was when i dated. So i dated not only Indians and Poles, but Jews, Catholics, but never could get a date with a black woman. I guess they were too prejudiced against me. I never could understand such things in other people.
With my daughter, I do get a lot of comments that she has a Japanese nose. Who the hell cares? Brenda is a sweet, loving girl with a wild side and a temper. Her downfall will be her expensive tastes.
what matters is keeping the majority bloodline intact and pure
Ah, enlightened speech. Then there’s this:
I personally don’t find biracial children attractive, they just look diluted, watered down and so are their natures which lack any distinct character.
True, I’m an ugly bastard. But my ugliness is pure and undiluted, not watered down. It’s sincere and robust, like a powerful fart. It’s in-your-face like a sweaty armpit. It’s shocking, like a live parrot somehow jammed inside an elephant’s anus, or a dildo-shaped tumor. That’s the nature of my half-Korean ugliness.
“Watered-down looks” is what happens when the obsession with racial purity starts creating shit like Habsburg chins and noses– you know, the kind of racial purity where you have to wonder whether you’re unintentionally banging a cousin, where you have to keep records to make sure you’re not inbreeding.
As for lacking distinct character… please come visit my blog. You’ll catch a whiff of the free-range turd beasts and realize, “Hey, wait a minute– this guy’s an asshole!” That’s actually pretty distinct, being an asshole. The cool thing about assholes is that they know their own. And they usually greet them with expressions like:
“Hi! You’re cordially invited to munch my rotten dingleberries!”
or
“Hey, man! Your face, your ass crack– I see no difference! Cheerio!”
or
“Good morning! Now please tongue my colon polyps, bitch.”
Or any of a number of pungent expressions along those lines. Yes, we assholes know our own.
Racial purity FIGHTING!
SIEG HEIL!
Kevin
Duh, my dude:
Man, get a grip and calm down, don’t be such a grim, intolerant racist. You can love the Korean people without degrading biracial offsprings of the same people. If someone has one drop of Korean blood floating in his veins, doesn’t he or she somehow also belong to us??? I wouldn’t exclude them because of “lack of purity”. From my experience there are considerable numbers of pure-blooded Korean assholes.
It’s true, the Japanese DNS-pool is heavily mixed with Korean and Han-Chinese blood. It’s also true, that many Koreans always make no distinction between race (racial purity or whatsoever), ethnicity, culture or nationality.
And please don’t accuse me of being a spineless, unpatriotic toady to the white fellows here.
KimcheeGI,
I don’t know, if I’ve understood you correctly. You’re of Korean ethnicity? Thought you’re a Caucasian (”whitey”, “big-nose”, “blue eye” or whatsoever).
Kevin,
SIEG HEIL!, hahaha, this was a good response.
duh - Koreans are not racially pure, you freaking moron. I don’t get why so many younger Koreans these days spout off with this racial purity bullcrap.
KimcheeGI - Koreans have the blue spot on the ass because they originate from the same region as the Mongols. Some Chinese are born with the blue spot. Some Japanese are born with the blue spot. Even some Europeans are born with the blue spot. But ALL Koreans are born with it, just like ALL Mongolians.
What let you guess, that duh is a YOUNGER Korean, duh is a troll?
When my inter-racial children were babies in Korea, people fell all over them. However, as they got older, the fawning interest changed markedly. Here in Vancouver, nobody gives us a second look.
I know which I prefer.
biracial children [...] just look diluted, watered down and so are their natures which lack any distinct character
Aha. Ask Oranckay whether his daughter is “watered down” or “lacking distinct character”…
Kevin always knows how to make me laugh.
If you think children of mixed heritage aren’t attractive you don’t get out much. One name, Kristen Kreuk.
Half-Dutch, Half-Chinese, and all gorgeous.
http://www.kristenkreuk.net
Your link is broke, Joel. Can’t access the site.
Sorry I spelled Kristin wrong. Here it is again.
http://www.kristinkreuk.net/
these days the concept of mixed race is changing in korea and there’re a couple of star like KIM diana..they’re really pretty.
i heard people only cared their competence and character not by race.
any way
why so many korean men are deceiving their wives?
this is very serious problem and i saw many men were talking there were many temptations and chances for love affair for married man’s case.
this prove korea is still worse place for female.
ramblas,
I agree that korea is still worse place for female. But please do remember that it takes two to tango. Besides, Korea of today is different from Korea from even just 10 years ago, no less 20! Korea has finally become numero uno in the sphere of divorce rate.
In fact, I would go so far as to say that those filandering Korean men are not even deceiving their wives; they are OPENLY committing adultery. Most Korean women are not so dumb or naive to not know what goes on in “Danlanjoojum” or “roomssalong.”
Antti had an interesting post about the statistics related to divorce in Korea. The divorce rate figures might not be as dramatic as they sound.
http://hunjang.blogspot.com/20.....7950781503
Dear “Duh”
There were a bunch of idiots in Europe 65 years ago who talked a lot about “blood purity” and the inferiority of “race mixing”.
My grandfathers - and a lot of others - went over and shot them in the head. Which is all anyone talking the ignorant, dangerous rubbish of “racial purity” deserves…
All humans have a common ancestor. Face that fact and reflect.
duh is either ignorant or a troll. we are all humans - europeans, asians… and even americans
*jk*
If you love someone, race doesnt matter at all.
Maybe duh is in bad mood because his korean girl run away with a white guy.
flo
Geez, have you all forgotten about China Chow?
What the hell’s the matter with you?
“Geez, have you all forgotten about China Chow?
What the hell’s the matter with you?”
I’m not sure if I get your point.
She is really hot? From what he recall she is of mixed racial heritage-German and Chinese I believe.
PING:
TITLE: Living With Race
BLOG NAME: Kamelian X-Rays
Kyle Sing has an earnest article on J-Pop star Crystal K. The Marmot (and check out the Comments section) talks about racism, too, in South Korea. When it comes to racism in South Korea and Japan and the United states
PING:
TITLE: Living With Race
BLOG NAME: Kamelian X-Rays
Kyle Sing has an earnest article on J-Pop star Crystal K. The Marmot (and check out the Comments section) talks about racism, too, in South Korea. When it comes to racism in South Korea and Japan and the United states