Specializing in Complete Bastards? Is this the Shinhwa way?

[lesbiassparrow]

So far I have watched two* kdramas with members of the Korean boy band Shinhwa in them. I will say this

a) the two singers are far better actors than I would expect.
b) these guys aren't scared to play complete bastards are they? Mind you, I think Eric did a better job of selling his character in Que Sera Sera, but that might be because his wasn't as evil as the 'hero' of 'The Person I Love.' This guy dumps his partner of 12 years (who put him through college) to marry completely batty Rich Girl, who then insists he kidnap his baby daughter so he won't have a tie with ex-partner. Lovely people. And, of course, he feels realllly bad about it all and also having his entire family hate him (as they should) but he still goes ahead and does it. And all to escape being not really poor, but just not having nice spending money and clothes. Oh and apparently he doesn't like taking the bus.

So is every member of Shinhwa required to play an utter wanker in Kdramas? They do it very well, but it seems an odd niche to carve out as boyband members. Are they offered no other roles? Hmmm.


*well, I gave up Que Sera Sera because the subtitled episodes ran out and I wanted to kill most of the characters, but I watched a fair bit of it and I haven't quite finished 'The Person I Love' yet. But if it ends with wanker deserter getting back with his partner there will be ranting! Yes.

Comments

Wherein I embrace the opportunity to ramble about my favourite kpop group.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

The great thing about Shinhwa is that they're now sort of become masters of themselves, having quit the company that originally cast them in the boyband. And their current company allows them to do dramas, have solo careers, all sorts of freedom, and because of this their image is no longer "bound" to the Shinhwa label completely. I guess it allows them to find success on their own, whether in dramas, as solo artists or as one member did, starting their own entertainment company. And of course, since they no longer have to live up to some pristine boyband imago, they can play asshole characters and fans won't think of them as such.

[/fangirl bias]

Of course, I think kdrama hero stereotype sort of includes "asshole" but I'll admit Dongwan and Eric have been playing characters that are assholes ^10.

Anyway, Junjin was in Nine-tailed Fox. I'm curious about it but not sure if I will hold interest in it. He's my least favourite member, so. His character seems rather stoic in it.

Andy was in sitcom Nonstop 4 with Hyun Bin (of MNIKSS fame) and MC Mong (and that girl from Fantasy Couple, if you've seen that one). Anyway, that one I don't rec.. I watched a few eps and it's like all those godawful unfunny American sitcoms, only WORSE. I love Andy, he's such a sweetie, but the sitcom is so dreadful I couldn't even get through 3 20-minute episodes. Oh, and he was the second lead in Lovers in Prague. My guess? Probably played some real asshole. :D

Minwoo has only done a movie called Wontak's Angel, where he plays a boy whose dad dies and he has angst and his dad comes back as an angel of sorts, & disguises himself as a classmate of Wontak. I liked the movie but the fact I'm a Shinhwa fan AND a fan of the other lead, Ha Dong-hoon (aka HaHa :D) helped enormously. Not an asshole character, that one, just a typical angsty younglin.

Hyesung hasn't done any acting. I guess he's the only Shinhwa member not to have done any acting at all, but just as well. I think from what I've seen, only Eric and Dongwan are truly talented at acting. Minwoo's okay but nothig amazing and Andy, though my favourite, is just not really there yet at all..

Re: Wherein I embrace the opportunity to ramble about my favourite kpop group.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty impressed with the acting I've seen and even if the others aren't so good it's pretty impressive to get two decent actors out of a boy band.

It's interesting finding out about the background to the group. Was it that they were so popular that they could break away? Or something else? Anyway, I'm still impressed that they're willing enough to take on the Complete Bastard Who Isn't The Villain roles.

Yeah, kdramas do feature lots of heroes that I'd back my car over in real life and often wish the heroines would do the same, but they usually sell them well enough. I guess it helps that you only have to put up with them for 20 episodes instead of seasons and seasons like over here. Though I often think a good smack on the head would do the lot of them some good.

Re: Wherein I embrace the opportunity to ramble about my favourite kpop group.

[fivil.livejournal.com]

They were massively popular, yeah. Their contract was expiring in 2002 and then they just didn't renew it, got under a different company (and I'm so glad they did, their music improved so much as it stepped away more from 'typical' boyband type of music, though remained the r'n'b/hiphop influenced pop that Shinhwa has always been) and have been on that road ever since.

I still admire your kdrama-persistance. I have given up on dramas 1 episode in, sometimes 45 minutes in.. I don't know, I just can't stand something I can't ..stand! :D For example, if a heroine in a drama sucks, I can never finish it. "Not my favourite ever" I can deal with but if she's too dumb, too annoying, I'll just drop the friggin' drama. Annoying heroes I can deal with - they usually turn out alright by the end.

Re: Wherein I embrace the opportunity to ramble about my favourite kpop group.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

I still admire your kdrama-persistance.

The key is ffing. A lot of it. I do this a *lot* with kdramas which is often the only way I can finish them. Mind you, sometimes this means I only have the foggiest idea of the plot details, but some sacrifices must be make.

pd

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

Generally I have to like the heroine somewhat. The ones I've given up on have usually had heroines I loathed or despised in some way.