Sunday, September 5, 2010

The Psychology of Coffee House (Final Part)

So why do we watch kdramas?

I think most kdrama viewers are romance fans, seeing as regardless of genre, romance generally plays a huge role in the plot. I don't know if it's because of precedence already set in this genre or just the nature of it, but most of us like to know who the ultimate pairing it.

Kdramas, particularly the miniseries, differ from American dramas in that there's only one OTP. So unlike in American television where you can watch a character embark on a number of relationships over a series of years, with kdramas, it's usually limited to one relationship over the course of 16-20 episodes. So the audience, in general, needs to know who the OTP is so we can know which characters to emotionally invest in.

Because Coffee House decided to have a pair that followed the usual kdrama patterns even though they weren't the OTP, many were misled into thinking that they were and ended up emotionally investing in the wrong couple. Now, I don't know what was in the director's or writer's mind but I don't think that these people were intentionally misled by the drama. I think many allowed their preconceived notions of what a kdrama is cloud their judgment. So instead of focusing on the real story unfolding, they were fixated on following kdrama paths that would lead to their preferred ending.

As many say, Coffee House twisted a lot of kdrama cliches. And as someone who's seen enough romantic stories from all over the world, I think it's fair to say that I'm pretty much familiar with every romance cliche out there. Once Dong Wook was introduced, I pretty much believed that the final pair would be Jin Soo and Eun Young with an open ending for Dong Wook and Seung Yeon. This was way before the kiss and what not. But the journey to this predictable ending wasn't as smooth as I expected. I'd predicted that the JS/EY contract would be nullified and for JS to come begging for it to be reinstated. But I didn't expect for him to get nutso and insist that it was later on. I'd expected Grandpa to set EY up with Lawyer Park so that Jin Soo would die of jealousy and while Grandpa did set EY up with the dude, he turned out to be a very lame, possibly gay, Jin Soo fanboy. LOL. Now, did I appreciate my cliches being turned upside down? Well, while watching, instead of appreciating the twists, I was frustrated that the story wasn't going the way it should - the way I wanted it to.

Now, Coffee House isn't a perfect drama, however it followed its own internal logic that made sense. While it might have taken the usual kdrama path, in a few instances, it led somewhere else. So doesn't that mean that we should all be grateful for this freshness?  Well, it depends.

I think a lot of us want to know what to expect when we start watching a drama. If a story is billed as a romantic comedy, I don't want to start watching and find out that it's really a horror movie. Now, depending on one's personality and how open minded and easily adaptable they might be, one might deem that movie to be the worst they've seen even if objectively, it's a great film. As we all know, a huge part of enjoying a movie or a drama is based on one's prior expectations. Hype can kill a movie while low expectations can make an otherwise average movie quite enjoyable.

So watching a drama for 18 episodes only to discover that a couple you were convinced were the OTP doesn't end up together can turn an objectively good drama into the stupidest thing you'd ever seen. Suddenly, you feel like you've been taken for a ride, misled and/or betrayed. That's a huge difference from rooting for a couple you knew weren't the OTP like say Shin Woo Hyung and the chick in YAB. Even if you thought they looked cuter together or that he'd be better for her, seeing her end up with the main dude doesn't offend you because always knew it would be the case. So that fact doesn't turn a good story bad because, the story followed the path you'd always expected it to. And ended right where you knew it would.

To cut a long story short, I think many people who watch romances are comfortable with all the cliches. I don't know if this is the culture that evolved over time or shared characteristics between fans of the genre but many people like to watch a romance drama knowing exactly what to expect. This differs from those who like mysteries or thrillers. So when the drama starts to take unexpected turns, turns that make sense for the story but not necessarily follow the usual romance patterns, it can get uncomfortable.

Personally, I don't think Coffee House was really that unpredictable. When that guy disappeared for two years, I expected Eun Young to be engaged when he returned. But to Ji Won of all people? Come on! Even though her explanation made sense as she couldn't be with the one she loved so she just chose to be with the one who loved her (and she couldn't find anyone better)... and it makes sense in their world and even the real world, it was very annoying for me as a viewer. So does my dislike deem this bad writing? I don't think so. And what is bad or lazy writing as many accused Coffee House of when the story didn't flow the way we wanted it to? Well, that's for another day's discussion.

I'll end this by saying, while I enjoyed the drama, the whole culture that evolved while watching it was very interesting to me. Shipper Wars aren't new to me but I'd never seen any this intense in an Asian drama and I think this was due to never having a case where both camps were convinced theirs was the OTP. In addition, reactions and reviews have also piqued my interest. I've noticed that most reviews by those who began to watch the drama after it aired in its entirety have been  positive. Is this because those who watch now know who the OTP is? Probably. And I also think that there's far less time to spend predicting the future episodes so there's far less disappointment on that front. 

What have I learned from all of this as viewer? I think the most I've learned is I should just sit back and enjoy my dramas :D lol... if I think it sucks, turn it off. If I enjoy, then I should just sit back and enjoy whatever story is being told to me instead of expecting too much or waiting for different plot points I expect to materialize in some future episode.  If I'd written Coffee House, there'd be no episode 12 disappearing act and it would have been a lot more focused on the journey of a couple from being friends to lovers. That's probably why I enjoy the beginning of episode 9 so much because it was what I hoped the drama would be. Instead, we got a time skip, a marriage plot and a love triangle. But even though that wasn't what I'd hoped for, it still had its own merit.

What can a kdrama writer or director learn from this? It's not that easy to create a new genre. Having a character with so much screen time not participate in the main love story is confusing.  The audience is not a clean slate and will always expect your drama to do the same dance others are doing. If it's not, some might consider it a "flaw" or think it's senseless even if it's not. Make the OTP clear (although I think they actually did during the promotion of the show). And if you decide to follow your own rules, understand that you might be sacrificing some of your commercial success.

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