If I was an editor for the Oxford English Dictionary, I would change the definition of "Stockholm Syndrome" to state "see Korean." At this point, Koreans will always support the status quo despite how bad it is. Koreans are people that complain about something but do everything in their power to keep anything from actually changing. A good example is the Sewol ferry disaster. The public outcry has been huge, but I have a feeling not one thing will change as the result of the captain's actions. If anything, I would not be surprised if ferry companies continued operating in the same fashion tomorrow as they are today.
As reported by Soompi, Han Ye Seul has signed with a company to enter the Chinese market. Ever since signing with SB Entertainment last year, the agency has been looking forward to a Korean comeback and overseas activity, the first choice being Hollywood on account of Han Ye Seul being American.
I have written about this issue here and here. I'll just sum both articles up here and focus on one thing from this Netizen Buzz article. Koreans complain about the Korean drama filming conditions and plead for changes, but consistently hate upon the one person who had the potential to be a catalyst for the desired change. Crazy shit, I know.
However, comment #8 actually had me laughing out loud:
8. [+338, -15] So her money must be out... with no work. She ran away from Korea for poor work conditions but she's moving to a country with worse conditions? Don't run away from film sets in China, Han Ye Seul. You'll gain hundreds of thousands of antis.Yes, somehow the Chinese drama industry is worse than the Korean drama industry. The horrible conditions that plague Korean dramas are well documented. Here are several articles courtesy of Dramabeans: Spy Myung Wol #1, Spy Myung Wol #2, Spy Myung Wol #3, Age of Feeling #1, Age of Feeling #2, Age of Feeling #3, Age of Feeling #4, Song Ji Hyo #1. Do you know how many articles I found about Chinese dramas shooting 22 hours a day seven days a week? How many articles about Chinese dramas having to delay episodes because an episode might not be finished on time? How many articles about Chinese actors ending up in the hospital for serious injuries to return to the filming set later that day? Zero. Fucking zero.
It's not just the filming conditions being better, it's the pay. Chinese dramas actually pay their actors. In this NB article, Chinese actors get paid $130,000 USD each episode. Top Korean actors are lucky to make $30,000 per episode. Consider that many Chinese dramas are around 40 episodes in length compared the 16 episodes for Korean dramas. (130,000 * 40) >>>>>>> (30,000 * 16). That is with better filming conditions, as China pre-produces all of their dramas like normal fucking countries.
Assuming that Han Ye Seul even wastes her precious time with these peons, I'm sure this would be her reaction:
I am sure she is so sad about the prospect of making more money while having better working conditions in China of all places. Under the assumption that Han Ye Seul films a Chinese drama this year that ends up airing in 2015 and comes back with a Korean drama in late 2014/2015, she be double trolling Korean netizens. I'll have my popcorn ready while reading salty comments from miserable Koreans that refuse to break free from the Stockholm Syndrome.
This article is great. I thought I'd already pretty much got them sussed out but now I see that Korean netizens are full of shit in ways that I never even imagined.
ReplyDeleteYes, it always surprises me how dumb some Korean netizens can be, and I've been writing about dumb netizens for three years!
DeleteIt's not just Koreans. Aren't most of the tiny minded on NB international apologists? This was posted there last week and the comments were pretty much the same. "She let her team down." "She ran home to mommy and daddy in America." "If she couldn't take the pressure she shouldn't have signed on." "Poor Eric she ruined his comeback drama.". "Working conditions in the U.S. are just as bad." The level of ass kissing and mental acrobatics needed in order to defend this kind of shit is astounding. I just kept repeating the same mantra. The woman had the right to bolt when they were trying to kill her. People do have the right to say enough is enough.
ReplyDeleteYou hit the nail on the head. Most posters on NB are the Koreaboos that migrated from AKP. They tend to repeat Korean comments verbatim to appear more Korean.
DeleteThe thing is, Han Ye Seul originally wanted more humane filming hours at the onset of the filming. I translated this article three years ago: http://yeoshindeul.tumblr.com/post/7929890793/han-ye-seul-5-day-workweek-explanation-no-need-for-all
While her agency said it wasn't true that she didn't ask for a 5 day work week, I'm sure she asked for better conditions since the drama started filming almost two months prior to the air date. The drama went into live filming mode right away (they added in new writers after episode 4, so there wasn't much buffer between what they had filmed and what they needed to film for the future). She was in more scenes than any other actor in that drama, which shouldn't be surprising as she was the main character.
People who use the "if she couldn't withstand the conditions, she shouldn't have signed" bullshit remark fail to realize that she was the main female lead in Fantasy Couple, Tazza and Will it Snow for Christmas before Spy Myung Wol. HYS already knew the demanding schedules of the industry. Therefore, I have reason to believe that the filming conditions for Spy Myung Wol were exceptionally bad for her to do what she did. Did she do the right thing in hindsight? No, but something had to be done rather than continue suffering under the system.
I watched the drama and she also had a physically demanding role as opposed to most Kdramas. I'm beginning to get the feeling that the Korean entertainment industry is pretty much populated with a lot of masochists. Fans are even scarier.
DeleteThe poor netizens keep bitching, HYS keeps rolling in the dough.
ReplyDeleteShe still has endorsements and other venues to make money, so she gets to roll in dough and netizen tears. She's rich in reality and in metaphorical terms.
DeleteEndorsement is the real shit, isn't it? I read somewhere that top stars could be paid US$ 700,000 per year for one endorsement deal.
DeleteYup. They make a shitload from CFs, which is where the bulk of their earnings come from. That's why certain actors like Won Bin and Lee Na Young just do CFs lol.
DeleteIf I were Won Bin, I'd do the same. Who would want to be enslaved by drama production companies when you could earn big bucks by filming CF's for a day or two, some photo shoots and maybe a few fan signings.
DeleteFirst: Han Ye Seul looks awesome in that photo.
ReplyDeleteSecond: I thought they'd be happy to have her back in some markets, considering that she's been gone for some time now. Netizens are so stupid >:(