Korean Daily Dramas (Part I)

 

 

I have spent the last few months watching Korean Daily Dramas (in the States we call them “Soap Operas”) and they tend to consume a lot of your time. I have watched eight in total: Suji & Uri; Vengeance of the Bride; The Second Husband; Smile Again; The Brave Yong Su-jeong; Queen’s House; The Third Marriage; and Love Twist. I decided to do a general overview of these series instead of an in-depth review, because it would require a huge epic undertaking – each of these dramas is over 100 episodes long (Queen’s House is the shortest at 100 episodes), which means there a lot of filler episodes where nothing happens. The Second Husband is the biggest offender when it comes to this – there is a love triangle subplot involving three supporting characters that has no relevance to the main storyline; it is there purely for comedy relief and is completely discarded in the shows third act. These three characters disappear from the narrative, and everyone forgets all about them. 
Editor’s note: Even a general overview of these series is much longer than I expected. I was initially hoping to do it all in one post, but that is proving to impractical; I already have written 11 plus pages and I’m not even halfway through the analysis. I plan on breaking up the analysis I three parts. 

The Korean Daily Dramas can be separate into two distinct categories: Revenge Melodramas and Redemption Melodramas. The first one speaks for itself: the main character (usually a working-class female) is wrong by the main antagonist and then vows revenge on that individual. In the Redemption Melodramas – the main character is wronged by the antagonist, and their entire life gets derailed in the process. However, rather seeking revenge, they are determined to get their life back on track and, thanks to sheer willpower and hard work, are able to reclaim their lives. The antagonists often believe that the protagonists are plotting elaborate revenge, but in reality, they are just trying to make a living. Even the antagonists of the series are given a redemption arc – after eating humble pie, they reflect on their lives and are determined to make amends for their wrongdoing. Suji & Uri and Smile Again fall under the Redemption Melodrama category, while the other three are Revenge Melodramas (though, The Brave Yong Su-jeong is a hybrid, because it allows for one the main antagonists to redeem himself in the end). Love Twist follows a similar route – there is a revenge element to the storyline but it only accounts for a few episodes of the drama and most of the antagonists, with the exception of one, are given a redemption arc. It is a show that is less about vengeance and more about forgiveness. Love Twist is also interesting because its two protagonists, Oh So-ri and Park Ha-ru, are largely responsible for the hell they create for themselves. There is more nuance in the characterizations.

All seven melodramas are variations of the same plot – they all offer up similar protagonists, antagonists, tropes, themes and often feature the same actors; Vengeance of the Bride and The Second Husband are so similar to the point they are almost indistinguishable. Smile Again offers an interesting variation on the formula in that the lead protagonist is a male (Dong-hae) instead of the usual female. They are a modern retelling of Cinderella (instead of the heroine being saved by a fairy godmother, they often find a wealthy benefactor who helps them enact their revenge).

This would be the perfect time to explore all the tropes these melodramas have in common:

 

1.     The Wronged Protagonist

The one common trope most melodramas (women’s weepies) have in common is that they really like to pile the misery on the lead protagonist. The lead protagonist in each of these shows often starts off the series living an ideal life – in Suji & Uri, Suji is a well-respected psychiatrist; in The Second Husband, Seon-hwa is in a common-low marriage with Mun Sang-hyeok and has just given birth to the first son; and in Queen’s House, Kang Jae-in is married to Hwang Ki-chan. They have a son, Eun-ho, and are expecting a second child.

When Vengeance of the Bride and The Brave Yong Su-jeong begin, both of their lead females, Su-jeong and Seo-yeon, are children. The opening scene of The Brave Young Su-jeong is of Su-jeong’s mother getting killed in a fire while trying to rescue her daughter while in Vengeance of the Bride, Seo-yeon is the favorite daughter of the prominent Kang family (the father Baek-san is the chairman of a cosmetics company). However, Seo-yeon’s world comes crashing down when it is revealed that she is not their biological daughter (when she was infant, her father was murdered by Baek-san and her birth mother disappeared – simultaneously, Baek-san’s wife, Nam In-soon, gave birth to twin girls, but one of them died. So, her mother-in-law, who just happened to be at the scene of the crime, took the infant Seo-yeon and swapped her with the deceased baby – this all happens while Su-rin was unconscious. For ten years, Baek-san and In-soon raised Seo-yeon as their own daughter (for the first ten years of her life she went by the name Kang Ba-ram), oblivious to the fact that she was the offspring of his former rival. When In-soon finds out that Seo-yeon is not her biological daughter, she gives Seo-yeon the cold treatment and eventually kicks her out of the house – they send the family servant, Choi Yeong-wan, to look after the young girl. Unfortunately, Yeong-wan gets attacked by a bunch of Baek-san’s goons and ends up losing track of the child – Seo-yeon ends up being raised in an orphanage. 
Flash forwards a couple of decades later and Seo-yeon is now a stylist at a salon and is looking to start up her own cosmetic business and ends up running afoul of Baek-san.

The protagonists in each of these series initially possess two distinct qualities: empathy and naiveté. They are all warm individuals (with the exception of Dong-hae) who give everyone the benefit of the doubt, which also makes them an easy target for bad faith actors. In Queen’s House, Kang Jae-in  (Hahm Eun-jung) is a chaebol, who is seemingly in an ideal marriage with Hwang Ki-chan (they have a son named Hwang Eun-ho and another child is on the way) but her entire world comes crashing down when she discovers her husband is having an affair with her best friend, Kang Se-ri (played to perfection by Lee Ga-ryeong). However, it isn’t just her husband and best friend that betrays her, but her extended family as well. When Jae-in and Ki-chan are competing for chairperson of YL Group (her father’s company), her aunt, Kang Mi-ran, and brother Kang Seung-woo side with Ki-chan. Her other best friend, Do Yoo-kyeong also betrays her by signing to the papers to commit her to a mental hospital. Jae-in never harmed any of these people, they simply resent her for social status – Doo Yoo-kyeong has the habit of blaming others for her misfortunes while Se-ri is a sociopath who never shows any remorse for any of her actions. It turns out that her aunt, Mi-ran, is actually Seung-woo’s biological mother (Jae-in’s father took him in at a young age and, to protect his younger sister, lied to his wife that Seung-woo was the product of an affair). Mi-ran can only think of Seung-woo’s inheritance and sides with Ki-chan, because she believes she can work out a deal Ki-chan (he will be the chairman until Seung-woo is ready to take over the company). It backfires big time against Mi-ran – Ki-chan has no intention of stepping and his new wife, Se-ri, is constantly a source of scandal. 

In Suji and Uri, (also starring Hahm Eun-jung), Su-ji is a famous psychiatrist (who has her own talk show) whose life gets upended by multiple scandals. The first one involves her father, Jin Jang-su, who owns a chain of Bibimbap restaurants and wants to expand his business overseas. He uses his daughter’s name (without her knowledge) to persuade investors to put money into his company. However, his partner embezzles the money and flees the country, leaving Jang-su holding the bill. The investors, naturally, want their money back and when Jang-su fails to cough it up, they show up at the hospital Su-ji works at and demand she pay them back. This confrontation ends up on the news and is the first time the public starts to question her character – guilt by association.  Even Jang-su and Su-ji eventually pay back the investors; there are still people who hold this against her.

The incident that derails her career is when a video of her slapping her younger sister, Na-young gets leaked online. Na-young desperately wants to host a talk show and asks Su-ji to put in a good for her, but despite Su-ji’s best efforts, the producer rejects the idea – instead he offers Su-ji an insane sum of money to host the show herself, she is appalled and turns it down. Na-young only hears about the first part (that the producer wants Su-ji to host the talk show) and assumes that her older sibling stabbed her in the back. She never allows Su-ji to explain her side of the story. Later, Na-young meets with the producer and pleads her case and, sensing her desperation, he begins to put the moves on her.  Su-ji happens to be in the restaurant at the moment, witnesses what is happening, and immediately puts a stop to it. This enrages Na-young, who is convinced that Su-ji is trying to sabotage her career.  The two of them get into a heated argument and Na-young brings up a sensitive topic (Su-ji’s birth mother abandoning her when she was six) and Su-ji slaps her across the face. Now, it just so happens that slap is recorded by Na-young’s cameraman (she hosts a TV show that highlights lesser-known restaurant in South Korea) and he sends her a copy on his phone. She uploads the video (out of context) and then plays the victim.  This video, coupled with the scandal involving her father, is enough to turn the public against her. Her patients (who used to idolize her) cancel their appointments, and the hospital (which used her fame to bring in business) eventually fires her.  The only people who stand by her side are U-ri (a fellow psychiatrist at the hospitals and his sympathetic makeshift family (none of the people in household are related by blood).  He persuades his adopted mother, Oh Seon-young (who owns a prominent restaurant, Madang House) to allow Su-ji to rent the spare room in their house.  At first, she is a recluse – she spends most of her time locked up in her room and only comes out to eat. U-ri urges his family to be patient with her and not to force things; eventually she opens up and with U-ri’s support she gets back on her feet. Also (and this is not a spoiler), it is revealed that Seon-yoong is actually Su-ji’s biological mother (but I will get to that later).

I have to believe that reason Hahm Eun-jung took the role of Su-ji is the autobiographical elements to the role. Like the character of Su-ji, Eun-jung’s life was upended by a bullying scandal (I already wrote about the T-ARA bullying scandal in my review for White, so I won’t repeat her).  She, and her T-ARA members, had to face the harsh judgement of the public, who made up their minds before the facts had come out. She also went through a bout of desperation – she would spend entire days in her bedroom and often go days with out showering.  She was eventually vindicated and went on to have a successful career as an actress. She also won the Excellence Award – Actress in a Daily Drama-at the KBS Drama Awards for her performance as Su-ji (she also won one for Queeen’s House).  She went from being ostracized by her peers to being celebrated (similar to Su-ji).

The Third Marriage, Jung Da-jung (Oh Seung-ah) is betrayed by her best friend, Kang Se-ran (Oh Se-young).  Da-jung was separated from both of her parents when she was kid – her mother left at young age after having an affair with her father’s best friend, and her father was accused of murdering an employee at his factory and spent years trying to clear his name. While her father was in prison, the bitter wife of the deceased employee, Cheon Ae-ja, sold Da-jung to a diner and she spent the next few years slavishly working for her tyrannical adopted mother. She eventually ran away and wound in an orphanage. She is a self-made woman and eventually lands a job at a food company, Dream Foods. Da-jung eventually marries Baek Sang-cheol, who also works at the same food company, Dream Foods, as Da-jung. It turns out that Da-jung’s best friend Se-ran is also Cheon Ae-ja’s daughter – the two of them knew were playmates when they are little and eventually reconnected in high school (though, Se-ran is not aware of this as Da-jung was the name given to her by her stepmother – her birthname was Shin Go-eun). Bear in mind, everything I just described happens in the very first episode of the series.  As a result, the first episode feels a bit disjointed at times – to the point where it is often difficult to understand what is going on.

It is shortly after her marriage to Sang-cheol that Da-jung is reunited with her biological father, Shin Deok-su. The two of them hit it off and form a close bond, but Se-ran remembers that Shin Deok-su was the man who murdered her father (or that it what her mother told her) and she decides the best way to get back at Deok-su is by ruining his daughter’s life. Her request for revenge is motivated by a misunderstanding, something she only realizes all too late. Se-ran is jealous of Da-jung and tries to steal her life – she steals Da-jung’s husband, birth right, and even Da-jung’s daughter. It turns out that Deok-su is the long-lost son of Yoon Bo-bae, the chairwoman of a popular restaurant and when Se-ran finds out about it, she manipulates the DNA results to make it appear that her father is Bo-bae’s long-lost son. As a result, Bo-bae believes that Se-ran is her granddaughter and impulsively gives her the role of CEO. She also gives Ae-ja a managerial position. When Da-jung realizes she has been betrayed and that Se-ran is responsible for her father’s death, she seeks revenge of her own, but since the law has failed her, she decides to marry the chairman of Dream Foods, Wang Jae-guk, and use his connections get back at Se-ran. She also effectively becomes Se-ran’s stepmom – in a business merger, Se-ran ends up marrying Jae-guk’s son, Wang Ji-hoon.  However, the ultimately proves to be a huge mistake on Da-jung’s part.

In Love Twist, the romance between Oh So-ri (also played by Hahm Eun-jung) and Park Ha-ru gets derailed by a white lie told by their parents. So-ri’s father, Oh Gwangnam, is having an affair with Ha-ru’s estranged mother, Park Hee-ok. To further complicate issues – Park Hee-ok is also best friends with Gwangnam’s wife, Maeng Ok-hee. When So-ri’s biological father, Park Ki-tae, appears out of nowhere and wants to claim Ha-ru as his own, Hee-ok, at Gwangnam’s urging, claims that Gwangnam is Ha-ru’s biological son. She even creates a fake DNA test so that Ki-tae will get off her back. Her intention was to protect her son from Ki-tae, who is a genuinely evil man (he raped Hee-ok when she was a young and Ha-ru was conceived as a result). She puts on an indifferent front when she is around Ha-ru, but despite her cold exterior she does care for her son. However, Ok-hee, while visiting Hee-ok finds the DNA test, believes that it is genuine, refuses to listen Hee-ok’s explanation, and eventually tells Ha-ru about it. As a result, Ha-ru believes So-ri is his biological sister and breaks it off with her. Instead of telling her the truth, he coldly pushes her away and hooks up with So-ri’s one-time best friend, Kang Yoo-nah, who is pregnant after a one-night stand, and Ha-ru tells So-ri the child is his. It turns out that So-ri is pregnant with Ha-ru’s child but believing she has been abandoned decides to marry Kyungjun, who currently works for her father’s company and intends to use So-ri to fulfill his own ambitions. Kyungjun also helped fake the results of the DNA test; he visited Ki-tae, took a sample of his hair, and claimed it belonged to Gwangnam. Both him and Yoo-nah know the truth about So-ri and Ha-ru but choose to remain silent because it gets in the way of their own plans. Hee-ok and Gwangnam also keep silent because they don’t approve of So-ri and Ha-ru being a couple.

Dong-hae (Carl Laker is his American name), in Smiling Again, is the only protagonist who is kind of unlikable when we first meet him. He is an impulsive individual, with anger issues, and often jumps to the wrong conclusions. He is extremely sensitive when it comes to his mother, Anna, who in her youth got into an accident in typhoon, which caused her to be intellectually challenged – she has the mindset of a seven-year-old. He also never knew his father, “James” who abandoned his mother before Dong-hae was born, which means he has spent most of his life raising himself and his mother.  At the beginning of the series, Dong-hae (Ji Chang-wook) is a member of a short distance speed skating team and is currently in South Korea to compete in a competition; he also has come to visit his girlfriend of six years, Yoon Sae-hwa (played by Park Jung-ah, former member of the girl group, Jewelry), whose aspiration is to anchor the nine o clock news, but currently does a five minute segment for the news station. She is giving a chance to prove her chops when she is given the job of hosting a TV show that reunites people with long lost family members.  When Dong-hae and Anna arrive in South Korea, Sae-hwa is supposed to pick Anna up at the airport (Dong-hae has to go to the hotel with his team) but an opportunity arises and she asks her school friend, Lee Bong-yi, to pick up Anna for her.  Dong-hae begins to worry about Anna and goes back to the airport to get her, when he sees getting on the bus with a strange woman. He immediately assumes the worst, waves down the bus, and confronts Bong-yi inside the bus. He never allows her to explain herself and gets violent with her – he pushes her aside and she ends up injuring her arm in the process. When he has finally calmed down, she explains herself and he feels like a horses’ ass. Bong-yi is such a sweet natured girl that we immediately resent Dong-hae for his ill treatment of her – it takes quite some time before he is able to get on our good side (this is after he has been incredibly humbled by circumstances).

 

This brings me another trope of these Soap Operas……

2.     The Two-Timing Spouse/Lover

In Smiling Again, Sae-hwa breaks up with Dong-hae to chase after Kim Do-jin. She initially isn’t interested in Do-jin until she learns his father is Kim Joon, the newly appointed executive director of the TV station she works at. His mother is Hong Hye-sook, the CEO of the Camelia hotel. Sae-hwa see this as an opportunity to advance her career – if she marries Sae-hwa and gets on Kim Joon’s good side, it is a given that she will get that anchor job on the nine of clock news. She coldly breaks it off with Dong-hae and then tries to pressure him to leave South Korea, out of fear that he will reveal their relationship. Their relationship was already strained after Sae-hwa asked Dong-hae to appear on her show and talk about his long-lost father, but he flat out refuses. However, Dong-hae’s mother, Anna, is desperate to find her former lover, James, and asks Sae-hwa if she can appear on her shoe. Sae-hwa knows that Dong-hae will not like this, but she decides to go through with it any ways – she wants to impress her bosses and will gladly use Anna to achieve this goal. Dong-hae learns about this, rushes to the television studio, and tells Sae-hwa that he will appear in Anna’s place.  He then makes a huge scene and tells Sae-hwa (and her audience) that he has no interested in finding his father – he then grabs his mother and storms out of this studio. Dong-hae’s live outburst gets Sae-hwa in trouble and she is demoted back to the five-minute news segment. Dong-hae does apologize for his behavior, but Sae-hwa uses it as an excuse to distance herself from him, so she can pursue Do-jin. This moment also demonstrates the differences in culture – in the United States, there is no way Sae-hwa would lose her job for a guest’s outburst, in fact, she would rewarded because this kind of outburst would have boosted ratings numbers and gone viral on the internet. Dong-hae’s outburst is pretty minor when you compare it to the things that are allowed on American television.

Dong-hae’s dreams of being short distance speed racer are dashed when he sacrifices himself to save Sae-hwa from an oncoming truck (this is another trope that pops up in these dramas – females walking into oncoming traffic only to push out of the way at the last second by the male protagonist. This is even more comical because often the female in question has more than enough time to get out of the way but chooses to stand still like a deer caught in headlights). Dong-hae is hospitalized and told by the doctor that he will never be able to ice skate again. At first, Sae-hwa is remorseful and gives him money to return to the states with, but when Dong-hae gets a job at the Camelia Hotel, as a chef, Sae-hwa’s paranoid gets the better of her and she keeps pressuring him to leave South Korea. She is responsible for her own undoing, because she constantly harasses Dong-hae that people, most notably Kim Joon, noticed the two of them together and begins to wonder what their relationship is.

The biggest lie that Sae-hwa told Do-jin is that he is her first romantic partner. She paints herself her as a virgin – this is after Do-jin tells her that he could never stand the thought of her being in a previous relationship with another man. However, it proves difficult to cover up the six years she shared with Dong-hae and eventually the truth comes out. Again, this is brought on by her constantly badgering Dong-hae in public places. Revenge was never part of Dong-hae’s plan – he just wanted to get back on his feet and working in the kitchen of the Carmelia offered up such an opportunity. He is even on good terms with Hye-sook – he saved her from a disgruntled ex-employee who confronted her in the elevator. She is also impressed by his devotion to his mother and strong work ethic. Their relationship becomes strained later on, but I will get to that later.

Since Smiling Again is not a revenge melodrama this allows for Sae-hwa a chance at redemption. She does a lot of despicable things throughout the series but eventually all her lies catch up with her, and she is left with nothing. It is a humbling experience and gives her a moment of self-reflection – she has no one to blame but herself. She does atone for her sins and even helps Dong-hae win control of the Carmelia (she has a lot of dirt on Do-jin). It is a nice variation on this character – it also fits well within the theme of the show that everyone is deserving of forgiveness (all they had to do is seek it).

In The Third Marriage, Baek Sang-cheol is a total flake – it doesn’t take much for Se-ran to seduce him. He also can’t make up his mind who is he is in love with, when he is with Se-ran expresses his love for her and tells her he will divorce Da-jung, but he loses his nerve when he is with Da-jung. It’s only after Se-ran is given the CEO title that Sang-cheol is determined to divorce Da-jung. However, the only reason Se-ran is interested in Sang-cheol is because he is Da-jung’s husband, once he finalizes his divorce from Da-jung, she loses all interest in him and moves on to Ji-hoon. She also frames Sang-cheol for assault and he spends the next few years in prison. Like most of the two-timing husbands, Sang-cheol is truly a pathetic figure. When he finds that Da-jung is the true heiress to Bo-bae’s fortune, he tries to get back on her good side. 

In The Second Husband, Seon-hwa’s partner, Moon Sang-hyeok has an affair with Yoon Jae-kyeong, his boss (and whose father is the chairman of confectionary company) and sees this as golden opportunity to further his career.  He abandons Seon-hwa, and their son, and begins a torrid romance with Jae-kyeong (played by Oh Seung-ah, my favorite actress in this genre but more on that later). The interesting thing about The Second Husband is that Seon-hwa and Jae-kyeong initially hit it off with each other – Jae-kyeong is oblivious to the fact that Sang-hyeok is in a relationship with Seon-hwa (and vice versa). The two of them meet up and often talk about their significant other (unaware they are talking about the same guy) but once Jae-kyeong finds out that Sang-hyeok is Seon-hwa’s significant other (and has a son to boot), she doubles down on her affair and rationalizes Sang-hyeok’s infidelity. She now views Seon-hwa as an enemy she must destroy. 

The running gag throughout the series is the physical abuse Sang-hyeok endures at the hands of others – he constantly gets either slapped or punched in the face. He wants to win the approval of Jae-kyeong’s wealthy parents, but they always view him with suspicion. Even though he betrayed Seon-hwa, he still has feelings for her and when she drops hints that she would like to get back together with him (as part of her revenge plot) he is very receptive to the idea. He is constantly weighing his options: Sang-hyeok can give him anything he wants but he was significantly happier when he was with Seon-hwa and she is better “wife material.”  When he sees Seon-hwa with his brother-in-law, Jae-min, he gets insanely jealous. It is actually an entertaining performance from Han Ki-woong, who constantly does his best Rodney Dangerfield “I get no respect” impersonation. Sang-hyeok is so pathetic that he becomes somewhat endearing. He acts like he is in control of the situation, but you can see the constant panic in his eyes.

Queen’s House is interesting because, like Smiling Again, there is an attempt at giving the cheating spouse Ki-chan, an actual character arc. There is a tragic element about his character – the one person who genuinely cared about him, his ex-wife Jae-in, is the same one he pushed away. He comes to this realization fairly late in the series – Ki-chan gets diagnosed with cancer and only has a short time to live. He tells Jae-in about this and, rather than being elated by the news, she tells him he must live because he needs to atone for his sins. Later, he walks in his mother and Se-ri arguing over who will get his life insurance. Neither of them shed a tear over the fact that he has cancer and will die in a few months, they can only think of the money they will inherit.

The second half of the show is when we see a gradual shift in the character – his attitude towards Jae-in begins to slowly change. Ki-chan does a lot of terrible things – he murders an employee (Kim Do-hee) to cover up his corruption and then lets Jae-in’s mother, Choi Ja-young, take the blame; he also is responsible for the death of Jae-in’s father, Kang Kyu-cheol; and commits Jae-in to a mental hospital after gaslighting her into believing she is insane.  He resorts to the dirtiest tricks to cover up the many scandals that involve him and Se-ri. Redeeming a character like this is a tall order, but damn, the series somehow pulls it off (this is largely due to the sincerity of Park Yoon-jae’s performance). Ki-chan realizes that Jae-in will never be able to forgive him for his terrible deeds but he is determined to make amends.  He fadlls back in love with Jae-in after she suffers from amnesia in a car accident (arranged by Se-ri) and lost her memory of the last eight years. She still thinks she is married to Ki-chan and also believes that she has miscarried their son, Eun-ho. Ki-chan decides to take her back into his house (much to the displeasure of Se-ri) and soon finds himself falling back in love with her. He realizes how badly he messed things up – he had the ideal wife and replaced her with a sociopath, who is constantly getting in trouble.  It is revealed  that Jae-in faked her memory in order to get close to Ki-chan to find evidence that will bring him down, and get back at the people who wronged her (most notably her awful mother-in-law).  Hahm Eun-jung’s acting is especially enjoyable in this section of the series – when Jae-in is around Ki-chan she puts on a “helpless babe in the woods” act, but when he is alone with her mother-in-law, she reveals her more ruthless side. It is quite the contrast. 

3.     The Wicked Step-sister

Since most of these series are essentially a retelling of Cinderella, there are often characters who function in the roles of the wicked Step-mother and Step-sisters. They can be literal step-sisters (like Jin Na-young in Suji & Uri) or symbolic (like Yoon Jae-kyeong in The Second Husband and Kang Ba-da in Vengeance of the Bride – both played by Oh Seung-ah). The all share a same common trait – they all are deeply insecure; suffer from a victim mindset; blame the lead character for all of their misfortunes; are habitual liars; rarely show remorse for the actions; and will resort to all sorts of dirty tricks to bring down the protagonist. 

In Suji & Uri, Na-young is Su-ji’s younger step-sister who resents her older sibling. She hosts the Korean version of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives – where she eats at the more out the way restaurants. While this program pays the bills, her real ambition is to be the MC of a talk show. She lives in the shadow of her more famous sibling and resents Su-ji’s success. Though, despite talking behind her older sibling’s back, Na-young’s face lights up when she finds out that Su-ji knows the producer of the talk show she is auditioning for and pleads with her sister to put in a good word for her. Su-ji actually does this, but the producer is not interested in Na-young, instead he wants Su-ji to host the show. Su-ji declines the offer.  However, when Na-young finds out about this, she believes Su-ji has stabbed her in the back.
The two of them get into a heated argument outside, which ends with Su-ji slapping Na-young (after Na-young makes a comment about Su-ji being abandoned by her birth mother). It turns out that Na-young’s cameraman on the Food show witnessed this exchanged and recorded it on his cellphone. He shows Na-young this footage and she leaks it online, which results in a backlash towards Su-ji. This, coupled with the fact that Su-ji’s father was accused of fraud by angry investors (the way he got them to invest in his product was by dropping his famous daughter’s name -without Su-ji’s permission), tarnishes her image and the public turns against her. She was once the face of the hospital and now, after the scandal, they try to distance themselves from her. Na-young believes this newfound sympathy from the public will translate into a successful career but the opposite proves to be true – the TV stations further distances themselves from her because she was involved in the scandal. She eventually hooks up with Su-ji’s well-meaning but dense ex-boyfriend, Han Hyeong-seong, gets pregnant, and uses the baby as leverage to move in with Hyeong-seong’s wealthy family – his mother is a chaebol and his father is a prominent surgeon at the hospital Su-ji and U-ri work at. If there is a flaw with the series is that this character is so loathsome in the early going that it’s hard to sympathize with her later on, especially when she tries to atone for all her mistakes – she is given an ambiguous ending.

In The Second Husband and Vengeance of the Bride the wicked stepsister is played by Oh Seung-ah, who is easily the best part of both of these dramas. In fact, her performance in both of these dramas is hard to top – to the point than when I watched other Soap Operas, I kept thinking to myself, “This would be so much more entertaining if Oh Seung-ah played the villain.” There a few similarities between her and Hahm Eun-jung: they were both idols (Eun-jung was a member of the girl group, T-ARA, while Oh Seung-ah was part of RAINBOW, and the sub-units Rainbow Blaxx and Rainbow Pixie); both of their groups debuted in 2009; both of them were born in 1988; and they both went on to have successful acting careers. I’m surprised the two of them haven’t acted in a drama together – this needs to happen. My ideal scenario - they play squabbling sisters who form an uneasy alliance when the family company is under attack from a sinister third party. The first half would feature lots of hair pulling, face slapping, backstabbing, and a random scene where the two of them have a karaoke face off.   The main difference is that Eun-jung is usually cast in the role of the protagonist while Seung-ah is cast as the antagonist (the sole exception is The Third Marriage, where she is cast against type as the heroine of series).  I should also point another actress who pops up in Smile Again, Lee Joo-yeon was also a member of a group, AFTER SCHOOL, that debuted in 2009 (however she was born in 1987), but more on that later (I’m a big AFTER SCHOOL fan – their Japanese release, “Ssh” is one of the greatest, and most criminally underrated, K-pop tracks ever released).

The best word to describe Oh Seung-ah’s acting in both of these series is frantic – with her quivering voice and bug-eyed expressions, she always looks like she is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her characters wear a mask of confidence but the fear in their eyes always gives them away. She dominates the proceedings that the lead actresses in both series, Park Ha-na, in Vengeance of the Bride, and Uhm Hyun-kyung, in The Second Husband, often come across as background extras in her presence. Neither actress is bad, but they don’t have the screen presence that Oh Seung-ah brings to her roles (I suspect this is a result of her idol training, which requires its stars to have great stage presence).

In Vengeance of the Bride, she plays Kang Ba-da, who grew up believing that the heroine, Eun Seo-yeon (when Seo-yeon was a child she went by the name Kang Ba-ram), was her biological twin sister. She resented Seo-yeon growing up because her parents favored Seo-yeon (her father, Kang Baek-san viewed Seo-yeon as his potential replacement and her mother, Nam In-soon, smothered Seo-yeon while often ignoring Ba-da). When it is revealed that Seo-yeon isn’t their biological daughter – In-soon kicks her out of the house and it seems that everything has worked out for Ba-da. With her number one rival out of the way, she is given the education and cushy job that would have originally gone to Seo-yeon.  Her father is the chairman of cosmetics company, LeBlanc (it is later revealed th0at he stole it from Seo-yeon’s true biological father), and Ba-da is put in charge of developing new products.  Seo-yeon works at beauty shop and just so happens to run into her former mom, Nam In-soon, who doesn’t recognize her. Also, since Ba-ram changed her name to Eun Seo-yeon (after the parents who adopted her from the orphanage), there is no reason for her to suspect that Seo-yeon is the little girl she raised for ten years as her own. Seo-yeon doesn’t bear any ill will towards In-soon and the two of them actually hit it off.  This is the main difference between Ba-da and Seo-yeon – despite the many hardships she faced, Seo-yeon refused to play the victim and kept a positive attitude towards life while Ba-da is a perpetual victim. In fact, if Hollywood remade this melodrama, the Ba-da character would probably be the protagonist, given how Hollywood aggressively pushes the victim mindset.  One the side, Seo-yeon is trying to start up her own cosmetics business and gives her new face mask to In-soon. Ba-da gets hold of the face mask and attempts to claim it as her own. It’s also this incident that puts Seo-yeon on Kang Baek-san’s radar. Ba-da’s attempt to steal the facemask gets thwarted by the older brother, and his best friend/Seo-yeon’s love interest, San-Deul (who knows Seo-yoen’s true identity).  When Baek-san’s attempts at intimidating Seo-yeon fail, he goes with the “if you can’t beat them join them approach) and offers her a job at LeBlanc. This further annoys Ba-da, who once again is forced to play second fiddle to Ba-ram. Ba-da is also in love with San-Deul but has been in love with Seo-yeon/Ba-ram since childhood and rejects Ba-da’s advances.  San-Deul is also played by a familiar face, Park Yoon-jae, who played the two-timing husband, Ki-chan, in Queen’s House.

In The Second Husband, Seung-ah plays Yoon Jae-kyeong, who not only steals Seon-hwa’s husband, but (accidentally) kills Seon-hwa’s grandmother and then, finally, frames Seon-hwa for murder.  Seon-hwa spends four years in prison, patiently plotting her revenge. Like Ba-da, Jae-kyeong is incapable of admitting any wrongdoing and her non-stop lies eventually catch up with her. Seon-hwa’s revenge is a bit on the ridiculous side, but I will get into that later, because it is so absurd that it needs its own paragraph. It was Seung-ah’s performance as the conniving Jae-kyeong that gave her recognition as an actor. She would usually be cast in villainous roles – though, in The Third Marriage, she was cast against type as the heroine, Jung Da-jung. It’s interesting to contrast this performance with her villain roles, because it requires her to dial down her performance.  She is not bad but, in my opinion, the Seung-ah who chews the scenery in The Second Husband and Vengeance of the Bride is more entertaining than the restrained Seung-ah in The Third Marriage.

 

And this allows me a smooth transition to talk about the evil step-sister in The Third Marriage, Kang Se-ran, who is a complete psychopath (played to perfection by Oh Se-young, who gives Oh Seung-ah a run for her money for the most entertaining villain in a Korean Soap Opera). Se-ran is the type of femme fatale that popped up in a lot of Cecil B. DeMille’s silent melodramas (Oh Se-young would make an excellent silent film actress); she is the ultimate sinner (she breaks all of the ten commandments). She steals Da-jung’s husband, steals Da-jung’s inheritance, kills Da-jung’s father, kidnaps her daughter, and even attempts to murder Da-jung. She fakes being pregnant to prevent her husband Wang Ji-hoon (Wang Jae-guk’s only son) from divorcing her. She burns all bridges with her best friend due to a misunderstanding – she believes that Da-jung’s father murdered her father. The irony is she spends most of the series sucking up to the actual culprit (Jae-guk). She is so blinded by vengeance that she never bothers to ask if it is worth it. She is enabled by her greedy mother, Cheon Ae-ja (played by Choi Ji-yeon).

(The end of Part One. INTERMISSION!!! Be sure to pick up some snacks at the Concession Stands. Today we have a two-dollar special on small popcorn and small drinks are dollar. WHAT A DEAL!!!  Part Two will be posted sometime in the next two years.) 

White: Melody of Death (2011)/ T-ARA Bullying Scandal

There is a legitimately great horror movie that could have been made about the K-pop industry (there could easily be body-horror film about what these girls put themselves through just to be accepted by the industry), but White: Melody of Death is content with being a passable horror movie – it often feels like a cross between Final Destination and The Ring. Indeed, the horror is the least interesting aspect of White; the films more entertaining elements center around the behind-the-scenes drama that plagues many K-pop girl groups.  The movie is more interesting in how it eerily parallels the career of its star, Hahm Eun-jung. Granted, she wasn’t the victim of a vengeful ghost but of unfounded bullying accusations that were propped by up spiteful netizens.  Eun-jung was a member of the popular girl group, T-ara, and a year after White was released, the group would be accused of bullying former member, Ryu Hwayong. This was a scandal that haunted the group for nearly half a decade, nearly derailing their careers in the process.  It is impossible to write about White without bringing up the bullying scandal, because bullying is a central plot point in the film.

It is difficult to understand White without knowledge of the K-pop industry.  I had zero knowledge of K-pop while going into this movie. I just assumed that K-pop model was very similar to teeny bopper model we have in the states. While there are similarities between the two, there are also significant differences. It is important to highlight the audition/trainee process to fully understand character motivations in White.  I should also note that most of the information that I gathered about K-pop comes predominantly from two YouTubers, Luvie Irene and Ploopy 678. Luvie Irene gave a detailed breakdown on the audition/trainee process, while Ploopy 678 gives a detailed account of the bullying scandal. If you are a fan of K-pop, then I suggest you check out their channels.

When it comes to auditions, an applicant usually must go through three to four rounds.
Round 1:  Online audition.  This usually consists of a zoom call where the applicant must do a song and dance for the judge. It could take months before the applicant gets a response. It should be noted that the three major agencies in South Korea are SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment.

Round 2: Private offline audition.  The applicant must perform in front of a judge in a private setting. Most of these auditions happen in South Korea. Occasionally, they will hold global auditions in a few of the major cities. 

Round 3: Applicant performs in front of more judges, and they choose which song the applicant must perform.  The questions tend to be on the more personal side.

Round 4: They ask even more personal questions and then finalize the contract. An applicant might have to go through more rounds, this usually depends on their age and their nationality (foreign applicants might need to do more rounds)

After the applicant has signed the contract, they are now officially a trainee.  No online training – all foreign trainees must move to South Korea (there were a few exceptions made during COVID).  The trainee stage lasts anywhere between two to four years. In rare cases, it might last longer (again this is usually predicated on the age of the trainee.  For example: Hyoyeon (of SNSD/Girl’s Generations) was eleven when she auditioned and spent six years in the trainee program).  The trainee lives a strictly regimented lifestyle – often their cellphones are confiscated, and they are not allowed to date.  They also live in a dorm with other group members. They must also watch their weight (they must keep it between 40-50 kg). This often means certain group members might starve themselves just to keep their weight within these parameters.  The trainee spends the next few years learning how to sing, dance, and speak foreign languages, and other skills (if you ever listen to K-pop music, you will often find they incorporate English phrases into their songs. T-ara’s extremely catchy song, Roly Poly, includes the phrase “I like-like this. I like-like that”). 

After the training period has ended, the group is given a name and then a televised debut showcase. The record label (and sometimes the group) will choose a member to be the leader. This is usually given to whoever is deemed the most mature of the group or has the most experience.  This is not a permanent position and will often rotate (though, the youngest member usually gets overlooked).

White opens with the Pink Dolls competing against the more popular girl group, Pure, on a television show. The audience is ecstatic over Pure – they have won the competition five consecutive weeks. It is now the Pink Dolls turn to perform and they are greeted with indifference – the audience doesn’t boo them, nor do they cheer them on. They are, in a word, boring!  The Pink Dolls consists of four members (Ah-rang, Je-ni, Sin-ji, and Eun-joo).  Ah-rang is the youngest member of the group.  Je-ni is the lead vocalist. Sin-ji is the rapper and dancer of the group and Eun-joo is the team leader. It becomes apparent that the Pink Dolls are a dysfunctional group – while Eun-joo is the "team leader," the other members are dismissive of her and view her as an “old maid.” It is implied that Eun-joo is in her early twenties, while the other members are in their late teens. One of them even suggests that Eun-joo should quit as it would “lower the group’s age average.”  It is also revealed that, before joining the Pink Dolls, Eun-joo was a backup dance. This is also something that the younger members hold against her – she is not even a “has been” in their eyes, but rather a “never was.”  The movie only vaguely touches on the impact of social media when one of the girls whines about the lack of views on the Pink Doll website.  It appears that their dreams of being K-pop idols are now kaput.

Despite the resentment, the Agency representative wants Eun-joo to step up in the leadership role. She even suggests that Eun-joo should prostitute herself to the group’s wealthy sponsor, the mysterious Mr. Choi, to help further her career.  Indeed, the only reason the Pink Dolls aren’t a complete footnote is that Mr. Choi has poured a lot of money into them; this includes moving them into a new studio to rehearse and record in.  The building burned down a few years ago (and was owned by Mr. Choi’s father) and he has renovated it so the Pink Dolls can work on their second album. It is while cleaning up their rehearsal space that Eun-joo finds a pile of old VHS tapes hidden behind a mirror. One of the tapes is labeled “WHITE” and contains a music video of a girl group performing a song called “White.”  The picture quality is extremely poor, and the lead singer’s face is obscured by a white wig, but the audio has managed to survive.  Eun-joo shows the video to the Agency Rep, who decides that she likes the song and that the Pink Dolls will cover it on their next album.  

Eun-joo’s only real friend is Soon-Ye, who was a K-pop trainee but quit because “my body was hurt and my heart was broken, but nothing worked out.”  Soon-ye now gives music lessons and works behind the scenes in the K-pop industry, she doubles for the Pink Dolls – most notably, she performs all the high notes during their live performance of “White.”  It turns out that while Je-ni is the lead vocalist of the Pink Dolls, she also struggles to hit the high notes.  

The girls’ manager arranges for them to appear on a television showcase (Club Wild Showcase) to debut the song “White.” The audience is, initially, apprehensive when they see that it’s the Pink Dolls performing (“Aren’t they bad?”), but completely change their tune when they hear the song “White.” It is a hit with the audience and the Pink Dolls become an overnight sensation.  Their online fanclub surpasses 20,000 members.  Things appear to be looking up – the girls are going to shoot a music video, appear on the reality show, Survival Challenger, and, best of all, appear on the 200^th episode of hit TV show, Music Fever.  However, misfortune strikes the group as three of the members fall victim to “freak accidents.”  

One of the subplots of White is over which member will be given the main spot (center) on the video for “White.”  This role initially is given to Je-ni, as she is the lead vocalist of the group. While laying down the vocal tracks for the song, Je-ni starts to feel hot and begins to sweat profusely. She initially chalks this up to her hyperhidrosis and drinks a special tonic that helps her with her condition. However, she manages to drink a month’s worth of tonic in a matter of hours.  Eung-joo is ready to leave the studio when she hears Je-ni screaming from the recording booth. She goes to check on her fellow Pink Doll and finds, to her horror, Je-ni hanging from the ceiling, with the microphone cord wrapped around her neck. Je-ni then pukes up the tonic all over the booth window.  The management manages to save her, but she will be out of the commission for a few weeks. 

After this unfortunate mishap, this main spot is given to Ah-rang, because she is the youngest, and cutest, out of the group. Not to mention, she sabotages Sin-ji a chance at the main spot by posting a video that shows Sin-ji was once an understudy to Pure. Ah-rang has also recently had surgery done on her eyelids and is convinced that the reason why her scars won’t heal is because Sin-ji put chemicals in her medicine, and cosmetics. This touches on a harsh reality of the K-pop world; idols will often get plastic surgery so that they can meet the strict beauty standards of the industry.  It is common for idols to get eyelid surgery so that their eyes look bigger. This isn’t even limited to the K-pop world, many Asian stars, to appeal to American audiences, have gotten eyelid surgery to look less Asian.

 Ah-rang and Sin-ji get into a heated argument and Eun-joo must step in and break them up. Ah-rang also accuses Eun-joo of poisoning Je-ni’s tonic to further her own career. It seems like she is joking but later the two other injured group members are convinced of Ah-rang’s theory. It is also interesting that this theory never makes it way online, because you could bet that, in real life, if a fading idol was given the spotlight after three of her group members fell ill, there would be rumors of foul play.  

While shooting the video for “White,” Ah-rang has camera rig strapped on to her and begins to bleed profusely from her eyelids. She loses her balance and falls off the studio stage.  Like Je-ni before her, she will be in the hospital and out of commission for a few weeks.  This just leaves Sin-ji and Eun-joo.

After careful consideration, the management decides that Sin-ji will be given the main spot (because she is the better dancer of the two).  To boast the popularity of the Pink Dolls, the agency has Sin-ji make an appearance on a reality show “Survival Challenge,” which consists of her having to survive a supposedly haunted building.  She manages to find the exit but is then ambushed by overzealous fans waiting for her outside. During the chaos, her hair gets hooked onto a camera crane; she gets swung around a few times before the crane eventually crashes to the ground, with her underneath. She fractures her spine, goes into a coma, and ends up in the same hospital room as her two group members. 

Eun-joo is convinced that the song White is cursed and that her three mates fell victim to a vengeful spirit.  She must figure out a way to the lift this curse before she falls victim to an “unfortunate accident.” With the help of Soon-Ye, she is determined to figure out the source of this curse, and that involves figuring out who the mysterious singer in the video was. 

The first two-thirds of White are effective and get a tremendous boast from its cast. The characters are well defined and it’s easy to sympathize with their frustration (even if, apart from Eun-joo, they are unlikable). The main reason why the girls act so catty towards each other is that their music career has failed to launch; what’s an even bigger slap in the face is that their biggest rival, Pure, was formed in under a month and has already found massive success.  It is significant easier to scapegoat one another instead of trying to figure out where they have gone wrong.  The only reason Eun-joo puts up with her three immature group members is that this is her last chance to achieve her dream. She has spent nearly a decade working toward her goal of becoming an idol, and it’s hard to walk away from this dream, especially when it is within her reach. Eun-joo confides to Soon-Ye that she doesn’t know what to do if the Pink Dolls are a failure. All she knows is the K-pop lifestyle and isn’t qualified to do anything else. Soon-Ye suggests that Eun-joo should quit the Pink Dolls and they can form their own group, the La La Sisters. Eun-joo contemplates it, but she decides to give the Pink Dolls one more chance.

Hahm Eun-jung is well cast as the frustrated Eun-joo. She does her best to put on a brave face despite the dismissive attitude of her Pink Doll co-members. Eun-joo desperately wants to make it in the industry with her soul intact; despite the insistence of her agent, she doesn’t want to use her body to get ahead.  It’s only when her life is on the line that Eun-joo agrees to see Mr. Choi – in exchange for information about the fire that ravaged the studio a decade earlier, she agrees to sleep with Mr. Choi.  This would be a minor point in most movies, but in White, it is apparent that this encounter traumatizes Eun-joo; the movie, thankfully, only hints at the tryst, but there is entirely scene devoted to Eun-joo sobbing uncontrollably while walking back to the studio.  It is at this point she has thrown all integrity out the window and sold her soul to the devil.  Mr. Choi, despite his limited screentime, is the real monster of the movie; his cold indifference to the horror that the girls have gone through is appalling. Eun-joo is just one of many girls he has exploited, and he (along with his sleazy father) has probably ruined the lives of countless girls, taking advantage of their naïve nature.  He is also a coward; when Eun-joo’s live appearance at Music Fever takes a turn for the worse, he immediately runs for the exit. This last point eerily mirrors the way the music industry turned their backs on T-ara during the bullying scandal; they are always looking to take the path of least resistance, even if that means throwing their artists under the bus. Hollywood is another example of this.

The third act is when the move loses its footing; in a curious decision it shifts the focus from Eun-joo to Soon-Ye.  After Eun-joo’s tryst with Mr. Choi, she finds a suicide note in the studio, and identifies who the singer was; an idol named Jang Ye-bin. It is revealed that Jang Ye-bin was bullied by her peers, who resented that she was given the main spot on the White video. They didn’t just throw verbal assaults her way, they also disfigured her face. She committed suicide and burned down the studio in the process.  After this reveal, Eun-joo and Soon-Ye hire a Mudang (female shaman) to perform a Kut ritual on the studio, to cleanse it of evil spirits. They also hold a funeral for Jang Ye-bin.  With everything, apparently, back to normal, Eun-joo is now free to resume her singing career.  She dyes her hair white and is given the stage name of White.  

However, it’s not just her physical appearance and name that has changed, but her attitude as well.  Eun-joo goes from being a humble, likable heroine to being a self-absorbed diva. 

While being interviewed by a journalist she tells three consecutive lies:
1) She downplays her friendship with Soon-Ye by claiming that the latter is merely an “acquaintance.”  The journalist notices Eun-joo talking to Soon-Ye and comments that the two of them appear to be close. Eun-joo immediately shoots that down. 
2) She denies that she was back up dancer, insisting that it is nothing more than a rumor.
3) She takes full credit for writing and doing the choreography for White.

None of these three things make any sense to me. It would be fairly easy to disprove the last two points, and, if anything, it would make for a better publicity to admit to the first two.  By admitting she was close friends with Soon-Ye, it would show that fame hasn’t changed her and that she is still a “down to earth” girl.  Eun-joo certainly has a “girl next door” type of vibe and it would make more sense for her management to exploit that instead of transforming her into a sex kitten. Though, in the American Teeny bopper scene, the female singers usually start off as “girl next door” types and then, once they hit eighteen, are transformed into sex kittens. Practically every girl singer has followed this trajectory, so that last plot point isn’t all that absurd.

By admitting that she was once a backup dancer, it makes her success even more impressive, while also acknowledging her humble origins.  It is the ultimate rags to riches story: Eun-joo went from being a nondescript back up dancer to being the biggest star in the country.  For example, practically everyone knows that Jennifer Lopez started out as a Fly Girl on In Living Color.  Her management understood just how much more relatable that tidbit made her and made sure to bring up as possible.  If Jennifer Lopez could work her way to the top, then you can too, dear viewer.

My main issue with Eun-joo’s change in personality is that it just doesn’t ring true. This is largely due to Hahm Eun-jung’s sweet natured personality; it’s hard to accept her in a diva role, because she, to be blunt, isn’t bitchy enough to pull it off.  I initially believed that Eun-joo had been possessed by Jang Ye-bin because of how abrupt her change in personality was. It kind of makes sense: Jang Ye-bin’s spirit removed all the competition and could now indulge in the fame she desired by using Eun-joo.  It could have made for an interesting plot twist.  Instead, the final act is just content with copying superior horror films like The Ring, Dark Water, and The Grudge.

Like those movies, there is a final twist – it turns out that the original White was not Jang Ye-bin but a backup dancer, who was bullied by Ye-bin and other girls and committed suicide by drinking bleach.  It also revealed that the dancer’s spirit appears in the music video, directly behind Ye-bin.  While attempting to burn the dancer’s suicide note, Ye-bin was startled by the dancer’s ghost, which led to the studio burning down. Soon-Ye desperately tries to call Eun-joo to relay this information but Eun-joo refuses to listen and insists are performing on Music Fever. Needless to say, all hell breaks loose.  This is also a plot point I don’t buy: in the first half, what separated Eun-joo from the other girls (other than her age) was how perceptive she was. When Ah-rang and Sin-ji began to experience the same symptoms as Je-ni (complaining about how hot is, sweating profusely) Eun-joo notices the pattern and realizes it is more than a coincidence. Yet, when she starts to experience those same symptoms while at the Music Fever studio, she shrugs them off; the symptoms come after Soon-Ye’s warning, which means she should be more alert.  She goes from being a sensible heroine to acting like a dumb teenager. 

The handling of the ghost is also more effective in the first two thirds of the movie; the audience is never given a good look at her. The first time we see the ghost, it is sitting in the background, out of focus, behind Je-ni. This is a pretty jarring moment because there is no build up to its appearance; it’s just sitting there staring at Je-ni. In a later scene, it is obscured by a frosted glass window while talking in Eun-joo’s voice. However, in the third act, all subtlety gets tossed out the window and we are given a good look at the vengeful spirit, and it’s underwhelming.  When it confronts Eun-joo, it sticks out its tongue and does the spider walk. Yawn!  That effect was creepy in the nineties, but it was commonplace by 2011.  It would have been more interesting if the filmmakers would have a chosen ambiguous route:  Is there really a ghost or is it simply the Pink Dolls imagination getting the better of them? 

Like I said, it is almost impossible to write about White without bringing up the real-life bullying scandal that derailed T-ara’s career. It serves as a reminder of the darker aspects of celebrity, fandom, and the internet. 

Here is a brief outline that leads up to the fateful day in July of 2012: 

2009 – T-ara is formed by MBK Entertainment.  The original pre-debut line up consisted of five members: Jiae, Jiwon, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Jiyeon.  These five trained together for three years under Mnet Media. In June, Jiae and Jiwon announced that they would be leaving T-ara due to “creative differences.” They were replaced by Boram, Soyeon, and Qri three weeks before their debut.  In July, the group was moved from Mnet Media to its subsidiary, Core Contents Media.
 T-ara makes their debut on MBC’s Radio Star talk show.
Their first performance is on Mnet’s  M Countdown on July 30 and is the subject of criticism; people complained it was lip-synched and of the amateur production values.  It was announced afterwards that all their future performances would be performed live.
On November 27, T-ara releases their debut album, Absolute First Album. It features the hit song “Bo Peep Bo Peep.”  The strength of this song helps put T-ara on the map. 
2010- July 16 – it is announced that Ryu Hwa-young will join T-ara, making her the seventh member.
2011 – June 29 – T-ara’s second EP, John Travolta Wannabe, is released.  It features the hit song “Roly-Poly.” It becomes the highest selling single of 2011. The group reaches superstardom. 
November – T-ara releases “Cry Cry,” which peaks at number one on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100.
T-ara released their third EP, Black Eyes, which charts at number two.
2012- Lee Areum joined T-ara, which expanded the group to eight members. 
June 6 – T-ara releases their first Japanese album, Jewelry Box.  
Shortly afterwards they embark on their first Japanese concert tour, and this is where the drama begins.



The controversy began on July 25^th when Hyomin wrote this cryptic post on Twitter,
“The difference in levels of determination. Let us have more determination. Fighting!!!”
The other members mirrored Hyomin’s sentiments and responded positively to her tweet.
The only one who disagreed was Hwayoung, who replied with,
“Sometimes, even determination is not enough. At times like this, I feel upset, but I trust that it’s a blessing in disguise. God, you know everything, right?”
It was then that Hyoyoung (Hwayoung’s twin sister) chimed in, “My better half is suffering. My heart hurts, no matter what anyone else says. (Hwayoung) you can get through this!”
Hwayoung replied, “I only have you!”
It was after this exchange that had fans scratching their heads. Why were the other members passive-aggressively ganging up on Hwayoung? 
To add fuel to the fire, on July 27^th, T-ara returned from the Japanese tour and the press, and fans, were greeted by the sight of Hwayoung wearing a cast on her left leg and being pushed in a wheelchair.  This made for extremely bad optics – they couldn’t believe T-ara would publicly criticize Hwayoung for being injured. 

This was when the rumors of bullying began to spread across the internet, and online sleuths spend hours scouring the internet to look for evidence that backed their claims. In one famous instance, a video of Eun-jung jokingly shoving a rice cake in Hwayoung’s mouth was interpreted as an attempted murder.  Practically any perceived slights against Hwayoung were interpreted as bullying – netizens often assumed bad intentions where none existed.

On July 30^th, it was announced that Core Contents Media was terminating Hwayoung’s contract, due to differences between her and the staff.
This announcement infuriated the fans and they, naturally assumed, that the company was “blaming the victim” and caving to the demands of the bullies (the other T-ara members).  This led to a major backlash.  The more zealous fans burned their T-ara merchandise.  Less than a week after this scandal broke out over 6,000 people left the official T-ara fan club. Whenever the girls performed on television, they were often greeted with boos, and in some instances, the fans would turn their backs toward the stage while T-ara performed. This scandal haunted T-ara for years and it derailed their singing and acting careers; Eunjung was forced to leave the show, Five Fingers and quit her tenure on the variety show, We Got Married, because of how intense the backlash was. The girls were so demonized in their home country that they devoted most of their time to overseas promotions (China, Vietnam, and Japan).

Flashforward to February 8^th, 2017 – Hwayoung and Hyoyoung appeared on the show, Taxi, and talked about their experience with T-ara. Hwayoung even shed a few tears on camera over the alleged bullying she suffered (even though she initially denied the bullying). The day after the episode aired, a former T-ara staff member came forward and said, “I can’t watch Hyoyoung and Hwayoung play the victim.”  The staff member revealed that the injuries Hwayoung suffered while on the Japanese tour had not been that severe, and, in fact, she had been given the “all clear” by the doctors to perform.  His claims were further backed up by photos taken at the time that showed Hwayoung walking around on her two feet. The wheelchair was nothing more than a PR stunt by Hwayoung to generate sympathy from the media and fans.

Even though Hwayoung had been cleared by the doctors to perform, she put up a fuss and claimed she wasn’t ready to perform. While the other group members spent all day rehearsing for the upcoming concert at the Budokan, Hwayoung rested at the hotel, and got her nails done. This was an especially grueling rehearsal for T-ara and the crew; with Hwayoung out the line up, that meant they had to rearrange the choreography, redistribute Hwayoung’s lines, and adjust the lighting. The girls spent nearly eight hours rehearsing and only got three hours of sleep afterwards. 
This was what prompted Hyomin to write her tweet about “determination,” she was frustrated.  Now, it probably wasn’t the best idea for Hyomin to air T-ara’s dirty laundry online, but given the circumstances, it is easy to understand her frustration. Plus, she didn’t directly call out Hwayoung. If neither Hwayoung nor her sister had responded, you would have assumed Hyomin was addressing the entire group.  Hwayoung did perform one song at the concert, while sitting on a chair. 

Before the group was set to appear at the Music Bank, Hyomin tried to bury the hatchet with Hwayoung, but was rebuffed. Hwayoung’s response to Hyomin was, “There is nothing that I feel bad for, so I have no reason to say I’m sorry.” She then walked out of the Music Bank venue and didn’t come back. This resulted in an awkward performance where Hyomin had to sing Hwayoung’s parts off a cue card.

It was shortly after that other staff members came forward to tell their own Hwayoung Horror Stories.  Hwayoung initially denied these claims, but things took a turn for the worse when threatening text messages sent from Hyoyoung to Areum (the youngest member of T-ara) were leaked to the press.  The twin sisters eventually admitted that most of the claims were true. 
T-ara was finally vindicated.  In biggest irony, the same people who spent nearly half a decade trashing T-ara completely backtracked on their position, and soon after the hashtag #Justice_For_Tara began to trend on Twitter.

 The damage, however, had been done and it was shortly after that Soyeon and Boram terminated their contracts with MBK Entertainment.  T-ara was now a quartet (Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon, and Qri) – Areum left the group in 2013.  In June 14, the group released their ninth EP, What’s My Name.  Even though their reputation had been restored, on January 3, 2018, Hyomin announced that she, Jiyeon, Eunjung, and Qri would not be renewing their contracts with MBK.  This led to legal dispute between the girls and the agency, where MBK tried to register a trademark for the name T-ara. The four members responded by filing documentation that rejected MBK’s claims. On January 8, 2019 the KIPRIS (Korean Intellectual Property Rights Information Service) rejected MBK Entertainments trademark application, which meant that the remaining members could continue to tour as T-ara.
While the scandal derailed the girls’ careers, it didn’t destroy them. In 2021, after a four-year hiatus, T-ara reunited and released a new single album Re:Tara.  Though, not all the members of T-ara would have a happy ending; while writing this review (March 27, 2024) it was reported that Areum was hospitalized after trying to commit suicide; between the bullying scandal and an (allegedly) abusive marriage, she has had quite a rough journey.  

The T-ara bullying should be a valuable lesson about waiting for all the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions. Groups like a T-ara will always be the subject of rumors; there are always going to be netizens who are gunning for groups like T-ara and will use these rumors as ammo against them.  Unfortunately, for T-ara, so many people took the bait and immediately declared these girls guilty, even though there was little evidence to back these claims. The irony is that detractors were engaging in the very activity they claimed to despise, bullying. The last decade had been never-ending nightmare for T-ara (from being hated by the fans and media to having to fight MBK for their name) yet, through it all, they continued to get up on stage and perform. It would have been perfectly understandable if they had thrown up their hands in frustration and quit, but they choose to stand their ground and, eventually, were vindicated. You may not like their music, but you have to respect their strength and courage. 

It was also mistake by management to add two additional members to T-ara. They were a solid six-member group, and the addition of two members (Hwayoung and Areum) was a time bomb waiting to go off. The six members had developed a repartee with each other, and the addition of two members threw off the chemistry. My theory is the reasoning behind this move is that management wanted to imitate Girl's Generation (SNSD), who at the time had nine members. Except, in the case of Girl Generation, the nine members had been there from the beginning (there had been no turnover) and had great chemistry with each other. It must have been extremely awkward for Hwayoung and Areum to join an already established group (the only member who was close to their age was Jiyeon).  In Hwayoung’s case, she was not a popular member and often got very little screentime – she was, basically, a glorified back up dancer. That does explain why she pulled the stunt with the wheelchair - to bask in the attention she desperately desired. 

I don't want to fully demonize Hwayoung, because I really don't know her full side of the story. There are videos and articles that label her as a villain, however that would imply that she was some genius mastermind who planned this backlash. I don't think she is villain, more than likely she was an angsty, immature teenager who, on a whim, pulled a PR stunt to gain sympathy. She couldn't have foreseen the consequences of her actions. What started out as a PR stunt quickly morphed into an unstoppable Frankenstein Monster that rampaged across the internet. Netizens choose to believe these rumors (despite the lack of evidence) because it was a chance to knock T-ara off their pedestal. If there is one thing the public likes more than a success story, it is watching a celebrity fall from grace.

Cast: Hahm Eun-jung (Eun-joo), Hwang Woo-seul-hye (Soon-Ye), Maydoni (Sin-ji), Choi Ah-ra (Ah-rang), Jin Se-yeon (Je-ni), Byun Jung-soo (Agency representative), Kin Young-min (Lee Tae-Young), Kim Ki-bang (Manager), Yoo Mo-ri (Jang Ye-bin), Kim Soo-Hyun (White), Lee Jun-ho (Music  Fever host).

Directors: Kim Gok, Kim Sun
Writers: Kim Sun, Kim Gok
Running Time: 106 min.