After several years of resistance, I finally broke down and binged a K-drama show last week.
Now, for starters, a K-drama is a Korean drama TV show – basically Korean-language shows made largely in South Korea and streamed through any number of platforms.
My show just happened to be newly released on Netflix and after watching the trailer, I decided to give it a try.
Now, it’s only taken me a handful of years to make the jump to K-dramas mostly because my sister Ashlee has ranted and raved about this particular wave of entertainment since the height of COVID.
I can’t exactly pin down a reason why I fought the trend other than I’m very picky about my live-action series and my interests don’t always align with what’s popular either.
I’m a Sci-Fi and supernatural nerd that also enjoys historical settings and modern ones alike.
Also, I’m technically used to always watching subtitles that scroll across the screen because I watch a lot of Anime and other international films.
But, my main initial problem and what caused most of my hang-ups centered on unfairly equating K-dramas to the garbage soap operas we used to have on daytime TV.
I could never get into them because they were always such a waste of time for me – too many convoluted storylines, weak characters and crap dialogue.
I think that the other factor was that when I used to sit through soap operas it was with my grandmother – she was an avid fan of soap operas and was especially concerned with spanish-language ones called ‘telenovela’ – or just her “shows” if you asked her about them.
My grandmother was fairly religious when it came to catching her shows and staying up to date on them while somewhere finding the time to also watch the Houston Astros games as much as possible.
When she passed away in 2015, I tried to avoid things that reminded me of her too much because I missed her.
But, as the grief has changed over the years, I have started indulging in those things that remind me of my grandmother more and more.
Even if these indulgences are bittersweet and can cause my whole mood to dip, I’ve learned that easing myself back into those moments and memories with my grandmother has also given me the chance to rind out for myself if I can find a telenovela for myself!
However that wasn’t the goal for me last week.
Honestly, it was more like boredom and curiosity won out for me last week and I decided to see what all the fuss was about according to my sister.
Once I finished the show and let her know that I enjoyed it, she is now compiling a list of shows that are similar to the mini-series I just completed.
She seems to think that I’ll become an avid K-drama watcher just like she has and I have to remind her that I’m slowly exploring this cultural phenomena and she shouldn’t expect me to complete her entire list in a month or less – I’ve got to pace myself.
After all, there are other shows, series and movies that I’m looking forward to more than just ticking off titles on her list.
Plus, I don’t want to be quizzed or talking about them all the time like a rabid fan.
