Is this proof I should be a kdrama writer?

So sometime after watching episode 8 (Dec 9), I made this comment on soompi:

Or  if they really want to get the melodrama in here, since some were being  morbid, as Ra Im lies in bed, hours from death, Joo Won will go to  weather.com and look for the closest city with forecasted thunder and  lightning. Then fly over there and just before Ra Im's body is about to  give up on her, she switches with Joo Won and then he'd have made the  ultimate sacrifice for the one he loves.

And that seems to be happening. LMAO. I was being tongue-in-cheek and over the top but looks like the writer seriously wrote something along those lines.

But of course, they will still have a happy ending.

Oska is too cute

The straw that broke the camel's back?

I finally saw the bed scene and frankly speaking, it's not as bad as the previous kiss scenes - even the foam kiss. So I understand those wondering why some suddenly have an issue with this bed scene if they've tolerated even worse (the kiss at his house was just ugly IMO).

Perhaps it's a case of the straw that broke the camel's back? Perhaps they'd been slowly getting fed up with his selfish nature and the fact that he turns a deaf ear to everything she says and always insists on having things his way. So this was just the thing he did to push them over the edge.

What he did was very much in character and most have been squeeing so I'm not surprised that many defend his actions. I think the location (the bed) was what increased the ick factor for many.

Kdrama has a lot of sexist undertones and we always have this Cinderella plot going on with an alpha male and a weak female. Just because they made Ra Im a stunt woman doesn't mean she's strong - she's still very much a typical weak female character. We often call such characters kind hearted and sweet but that's just a positive way of looking at someone who isn't strong enough to truly stand up for herself. But standing up for herself means she'll never succumb to the stalking and the harassment and "fall in love" with the male protagonist.

It's funny cos Secret Garden has so many of the elements that made me switch to jdramas (Parental Disapproval, assholey arrogant lead males, weak women, repetitive dragging scenes etc etc) that it makes me feel like I'm watching a '90s drama.

I do love me some Oska so I want to see his happy ending but I just saw episode 13 and while it is the same stuff going on over and over again (I've been saying this for ages), it's gotten more tolerable, to be honest. Or maybe I just readjusted my expectations. Episode 14 is supposedly where a lot of good stuff happens so I'm looking forward to seeing something new. To be honest, I find these episodes more pleasant than the previous  6 or so.

Secret Garden Controversy

Interesting. It's funny how what some of us have been talking about for ages is finally coming to a head because of JB's comments. I already mentioned that I disliked all his forced kisses and how Joo Won tries to force himself on Ra Im and this stalk-to-love plot.

A criticism of the drama isn't a criticism of the actors. And surely, positive comments aren't the only welcome ones, right? Anyway, I probably won't be able to watch the episodes till the end of this week but it's all so interesting.

Secret Garden Episodes 9&10

What are my thoughts?

I really enjoy the Oska-Ra Im scenes but I want it to stay a friendship. I really hope they are not trying to make Oska fall for her. He probably doesn't have any friendships with women so he doesn't now he can have a platonic one but hopefully he'll realize that soon because I hate when ALL the men in a drama like the same girl. It's irritating.

As for Joo Won, the less said about him the better. I could manage the hug but the kiss was too much. What does he want from her in the next three months? To date him, sleep with him and love him then disappear? And he won't take no for answer? Give me a break. Unlike with Lee Jin Soo whom I both loved and hated, with Joo Won, I just dislike him. Right now, there's nothing about him that I like.

I feel that by the time he does change, I will feel nothing but indifference towards him. 

Oska is gay or bi?

Come on, now. Someone blogged about it saying that according to a source, the actor playing Oska was told by the writer that he might be involved in a love affair with the guy he wants to produce.

I have nothing against Oska being in a gay relationship but if that was the case, they should have introduced it in episode 1 and not have this whole failed love relationship with Seul. As I blogged on couch kimchi last week, the idea was somewhat planted in my head in episode 1 when Oska spotted Tae Sun singing at the lounge but none of his actions afterwards have shown any attraction to this kid - especially as he's going through some emotional stuff with Seul.

We already have a bunch of stuff going on with the drama already - why add this? Although the guy's role in this drama would be made a lot clearer if he were to be in a relationship with Oska seeing as he's had a bit of screen time.

lol, oh well. There's nothing I can do if they decide to take this route but I hope they don't.

Given the last 8 episodes, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. 

The kick to the curb

Yep, I've been there. Except for me, it was at 3am on a highway in Toronto (I'm not from Toronto). To be fair, I was being annoying but that's no reason to drop off a woman in clubbing gear on the highway in a strange city in the middle of the freaking night.

So I refused to get out and he refused to move till I got out so we sat there for like thirty minutes. It's a good thing it was during the summer otherwise, that would have been a rather cold wait. I guess thirty minutes was what he needed to cool off cos when he got tired, he turned on the engine and drove on. LOL. Life can be funny sometimes.

But to give a full picture, I wasn't being that bad. There were four of us in the car (two girls, one guy, one idiot) and the girls were being annoying. LOL. hahaha... but the idiot went too far. Come on, now!

Dating The Enemy

The characters in Secret Garden have switched back to their original bodies and I must say that it's a tad disappointing because very little has been achieved. Yes, now Joo Won knows that his mom is a meddler and some weird things have happened with Ah Young thinking that Joo Won likes her, the incestuous kiss, Joo Won getting confirmation that Jong Soo likes Ra Im and other stuff but very little has occurred in terms of Joo Won becoming any less of a jackass. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait to see what else the writers have for us.

Anyway, that ended up making me look for a body swap movie where much does happen which led me to Dating The Enemy. It's a 1996 Australian romantic comedy about a couple that swaps bodies on the night they break up. Synopsis from imdb.

One messy science journalist (Tash) and a neat television host (Brett). Two very different people whose relationship is nose diving to get the opportunity to experience life in their partners shoes when they wake up one morning in each others bodies. Valuable lessons are learned by each as they both have to adjust to very different lives.

It's a pretty good movie, IMO. There's a sexual aspect to it and while I think that as a woman, if I switched bodies with a man, I might be curious about what sex is like as a man, I'm not sure that I'd choose a woman to test this out on. Not that I think I'd choose a man either. Or maybe I'd just become a monk. LOL. Anyway, it's on youtube.

Secret Garden So Far

It's fun, it's enjoyable, it's wacky etc..
Good actors, interesting premise etc...
But what I need now is for the romance to really begin. Right now, we have stalker dude's obsession but he doesn't know her. She doesn't know him. They have good chemistry but I want to understand why she would fall for him and why he would fall for her (for real) so I HOPE that this drama delivers. Truthfully, I don't trust these writers too much. lol. Maybe because there's so much going on:
Oska and Seul's failed romance (I like this though)
Director's crush on Ra Im
Secretary Kim and Ah Young's romance
Director Park gunning for Joo Won's job
Grandpa's daughters worrying that his new wife will bear a son
Oska and possible new protege
Ra Im's father's angle
Switcheroo
Joo Won's claustrophobia
Ra Im's possible illness or whatever it is that puts her life in danger
And probably many more. The plot is so busy these days.

Secret Garden Ep 5

I still have to watch with subs to understand it fully but Joo Won's behavior reminds me of this song's chorus:



He does a nice thing, acts like he might care then is a JERK. I think this is really because at this point, the drama has a thin plot. It's fun but it's really all been: "I like you, but I shouldn't like you. I like you, but you're not good enough for me. I really like you, but I can't like you." That's what all the scenes between Joo Won and Ra Im have been about since episode 2. Except he gets jerkier and jerkier and Ra Im hasn't got enough sense to make sure he stays out of her life completely cos she "likes" him. LOL. Kdramas kill me.

But we had the body switch at the end of the episode so tomorrow's episode should be loads of fun. And then hopefully, the story can move forward. A drama often falls into this kind of rut when characters "fall in love" very quickly. If the main plot of a drama is the romance, not much to do other than go round and round in circles once love has been established. Either break up and make up all the time or just when the characters should move forward in their romance, an obstacle will be thrown in. I actually don't mind the version where they meet different obstacles because at least it's a different obstacle... although it can get rather tiring too. But the Jekyll and Hyde act can get stale quickly.

So is Secret Garden = Pride and Prejudice + Persuasion?

I know loads of people have this sneaking suspicious than Secret Garden is like a Pride & Prejudice remake. It doesn't help that Joo Won is like an especially mean Darcy and he stole Darcy's first confession. But there are other things like his mom being like Darcy's aunt. His sister kinda "bonding" with Ra Im, and a bunch of other things with the plot.

But then Seul's plot... we don't know much about her yet but she comes off as a combination of two characters from Persuasion. LOL. The Seul-Oska story is clearly more like the main love story in that book but her scheming wannabe Joo Won's lover kinda comes off as the scheming woman in that book.

I am probably way off but this drama really does seem to draw a lot from other works.

Aside for this, one thing I'll say about the drama is that I think they brought the angst on a little bit too quickly. My heart should be twisting with them as they scream at each other but it's not because I don't feel connected to them yet. Maybe it'll happen later but I think we need to know the characters a bit more before we go on an emotional journey with them. But perhaps that will come later.  Cos right now, there was no falling in love in this drama. Joo Won became a bit obsessed so perhaps when they switch bodies and really spend some time together, it will all come together.

Secret Garden week two

I wasn't planning to review this weekly for Couch Kimchi but that mofo, Joo Won, has made me want to do it. Now I just have to wait till subs are released for ep 4.

But to sum it up, my feelings are this: Joo Won is a douche's douche's douche. He needs to die in a fire. Really. His arrogance is like unbelievable and he acts like he's not the one chasing after her and he can't deal with the fact that she's not like all the other rich women who are after him. Maybe that's the problem. He feels he's a prize and is pissed as hell that she doesn't recognize it.

They are not in a relationship, but he's already begun to have expectations of her. "Why can't you dress up for me?" "Why don't you melt when I do nice things for you?" "Why don't you understand me?" And he's a mean sonofabtich because not only is he rude and condescending to his employees, he doesn't treat Oska like his hyung. Oska should kick his ass one of these days.

EDIT:
It's up now. 

The same cover artist?

Maybe it's just me but I feel it was bad enough the first time around. Whose bright idea was it to redo this theme?

In other news, I'll be reviewing Letters to Juliet in a day or two. Or maybe I should just review it now in two words: Not Good.

Secret Garden is a go

At least, based on the first two episodes. If it ends up being a bust, it won't be the first time that's happened. I wrote a review on Couch Kimchi.

I don't know if the neurotic male lead is now a trend. We had it with Coffee House and now we get it with Secret Garden. The neurotic male lead and the insane second lead. lol. Both in Coffee House and Secret Garden. And I like it. Although Joo Won's neurosis is more endearing than Jin Soo's since he's not in a constant battle with himself nor does he intentionally hurt other people. He's just very honest and has no internal censor. So he says what he feels and doesn't care what other people think. I love that about him. And I also love his insane cousin. Although I must say that I hate this his cousin has some selfish bitch that he might still be in love with. I didn't enjoy watching Oska's look of pain.

I also like the romance although if we're starting the romance this early, what's going to happen for the rest of the drama? I know that the body switch can give us a lot of plot, but for how many episodes? I hope that such a quick paced drama doesn't drag like crazy in the middle episodes.

Right now, I'm not enjoying Philip Lee's character or the gold digging female. But maybe they'll add something of value to later episodes.

As for Dr. Champ, I'm still at ep 13. It's halfway dropped in my head but I'll try to finish it. What a boring romance.

Secret Garden

I've seen episode 1 and I must say that I quite like it. We haven't yet gotten to the body switch bits so I don't know what future episodes will be like but the drama has made a good first impression on me.

Characters:
Kim Joo Won. Rich. Arrogant. Lazy but smart. Appears to be claustrophobic. I'm not sure exactly but he's scared of elevators. Played by Hyun Bin
Gil Ra Him. Stunt Woman. Strong willed and appears to be confident everywhere but on a movie set. On set, she bows her head way too much but off set, she doesn't let anyone talk down to her. Played by Ha Ji Won.
Oska. Joo Won's cousin. Pop star. Player. Flirt. Over the top. Has a love-hate and competitive relationship with his cousin.
I'm honestly not yet sure who the second lead female is. But it might be the rich bitch from the first half of the episode who met with Joo Won on a blind date but also shares a history with Oska.
 There's also the stunt director played by Philip Lee who appears to have unrequited love for her. I've only seen one episode but his character seems to be the possessive sort - the sort I don't quite like. 

Truthfully, I'm sick of the Cinderella story of a super rich prince coming to save a poor commoner. But Ra Him doesn't need anyone to save her and she's pretty damn bad ass. I think that even before the switch, she's "manlier" than Joo Won.

Their meet-cute is the very cliche case of mistaken identity when Oska asks Joo Won to spend time with an actress for him but he mistakenly picks up her stunt woman/body double instead. A hilarious conversation follows as this leads to Joo Won mistaking her for a very frank prostitute even though she's only speaking about her work. LOL. 

Anyway, I expect Oska to fall for her as per most kdramas. My only question is, is he going to fall for her even after the switch? And does that mean that for a good chunk of the show, he's going to be chasing after his cousin trapped in a woman's body? lol. Considering how much the cousins get on each other's nerves,. I can't imagine how mortified Joo Won would feel. And also, if I were the writer of this drama, I'd include a scene where Ra Him, trapped in a man's body, cruises a gay club for men. lol. Then we'll also have Joo Won tag along doing everything in his power to "protect his body." I don't know, I find stuff like that hilarious. lol.

And yeah, the kiss in the first pics is a spoiler so it hasn't yet happened.

P.S. I tried MSOAN and checked out in the first 15 minutes. It might be good and I might try it another day but I wasn't feeling the comedy of debt and what not.  I found father and daughter annoying.

Okay, these posters look cute.

I am in the mood for a deliciously romantic and funny drama. Could Secret Garden shock the hell out of me and be the one?

As a rom-com loving gal, these posters are right up my alley (and Hyun Bin is hilarious with his OTT expressions. LMAO).