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kolachess · 11 months

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Star Struck - Explaining the conflict and cultural nuance

Those of you who have seen the Korean BL, Star Struck, probably thought it was a(nother) mediocre school BL. In a year with more and more BLs from South Korea (yay!), it might have been an easy pass.

BUT, if you’re like me, you will have really, really appreciated the refreshingly realistic taste of a friends-to-lovers dynamic, complete with a conflict that is not just over one-sided or mutual dislike of each other for once! (Which is not to say I didn’t love the BLs that had that... they’re all great. But I do think expanding scope is always admirable!)

I realized that part of the reason why what seemed to me a rather thoughtfully constructed set of characters and plot development comes across as plain boring to many others might partially be a cultural nuance issue.

So, here’s my attempt to bridge that gap and give it a little more credit than it got (at least, so far). Of course, that’s not to say I think this drama is perfect... I do think a lot of pacing / editing could have done with some improvement. And at the end of the day... it is a coming of age sort of school drama, so it’s not going to be crazy complex. And I’m also writing this after episode 4, so there will be spoilers through episode 4.

Disclaimer: I am not Korean, nor did I grow up in South Korea, so I definitely do not have complete authority on this subject matter. However, I feel like a lot of what was happening in Star Struck might have been... unfairly overlooked or otherwise not understood by audiences who are less familiar with Eastern Asian cultural values, so as a Chinese American, I wanted to do my best to add a bit of perspective.

So. What is the root of SHJ (Seo Hanjoo) and JYJ (Jo Yoojae)’s conflict?

Certainly, SHJ’s (seemingly) one-sided crush on JYJ and JYJ’s reactive jealousy is a large part of it, but the other big part is a newfound wealth gap and how that translates into what esteem they hold each other in.

From the get-go, we can tell SHJ is very (self-)conscious about money. He knows how hard his mom has to work, and he feels guilty and early on already tries to justify to himself (and others) that some costs, like the cram school he saved up to attend, are not worth it. He’s too prideful to honestly mention his money troubles to anyone.

Although SHJ doesn’t know JYJ’s rich yet in this scene, JYJ’s financial circumstances still was better off than SHJ’s. But he’s clearly uncomfortable with the idea of his best friend paying for him like that. And here’s where I’ll do some cultural breakdown.

In East Asian culture, the collective identity comes first, and the individual comes second. Meaning, people take more pride in what school they graduated from, what company they work for, what their family background is, more so than people in many other cultures. I’m not talking school pride like, ‘I’m proud to be a <insert school mascot>!’ kind of spirit. I mean that everyone in your life, in society, will measure your worth first and foremost (and often only) by the primary institution or family background you came out of. And with SHJ’s sort of background - poor, single-mother - that’s a big stigma. He’s still a rational human being though, so at least he doesn’t blame his poor mother for their circumstance (which some kids do, given all the pressure of society). But that all said, this clearly weighs on him - how his lack of money reflects on him. And if money is viewed at all similarly to how it’s viewed in China... it’s basically a measure of your capabilities and standing in society. The inability to be generous with your money is ‘losing face’ i.e. embarrassing. And so... yeah. It’s a lot of ‘dings’ in SHJ’s social profile. The kid is understandably a bit self-conscious, though he clearly tries to not let it get to him.

Fast forward to when he finds out JYJ is now ‘rich’... Obviously, he’s upset at not being told because they’re supposed to be close friends. However, he’s clearly super self-conscious about being seen as someone who’s that sensitive about money. Notice how he hasn’t actually commented / asked about JYJ ‘moving out’. (Note: I wasn’t 100% sure if this carried the implication that JYJ might be moving away, but the text message made it sound like that? Correct me if I’m wrong.) He immediately assumes JYJ didn’t tell him because he’s pitying him or otherwise worried about how he’d react because of how it involves money. And he hates that. (Which... he’s not totally wrong about. JYJ might not pity him like how SHJ is thinking, but he definitely worries a bit about how SHJ will perceive things, and it becomes this death spiral of misread intentions.)

And of course JYJ starts to comment on SHJ’s family, which just confirms all of JYJ’s worst fears. He suddenly ‘realizes’ that his best friend who he has a crush on actually walks on eggshells around him because of his money situation, which is a blow to his self-esteem, because what does that mean? That there’s a meaningful gap now in their social status and JYJ looks down on him and just never said? That JYJ sees SHJ as too delicate to be able to handle this new reality? (His insecurities and perspectives, not necessarily what JYJ thinks, of course.)

It’s like having a close friend say something that makes you suddenly wonder if they were actually judging you this whole time, and your mind goes into overdrive analyzing every past interaction you’ve had and reading in between the lines to see if you were actually blind all this time. To SHJ, who is already a bit self-conscious about all of this... it’s a major blow. And although he says he’s only ever felt inconvenienced by his poverty... I’d say he’s being a bit dishonest with himself. Again, he’s clearly not the shameful type to blame his poor mother, but he clearly has trouble admitting his circumstances to even his closest friend.

Meanwhile, for JYJ...

...the guy is clearly struggling too. He obviously cares for SHJ and extremely mindful of his money situation, hence previously wanting to just pay for SHJ at the cafe. However, he also doesn’t want to hurt SHJ’s pride even more, so he ultimately still tosses his pair of perfectly good shoes he no longer wants despite wanting to give it to SHJ.

Once SHJ cools down a bit, and JYJ extends the olive branch, they both apologize to each other and come to an understanding. However, as is with a lot of human emotions... getting over it in the moment does not necessarily mean getting over it for good if you haven’t addressed the inner demons that spawned these bad feelings in the first place. And it’s not long before we see another issue pop up.

At this point, SHJ has had to move into the side house (and hides it from JYJ). He finds the Gucci receipt in the pocket of the jacket JYJ lends him, and JYJ immediately tries to wave it off saying it was pretty much something his mom made him buy.

He’s clearly worried about SHJ feeling bad again. He definitely doesn’t seem to care for the materialistic things as much as his parents seem to, and he even seems a bit embarrassed by it. So when SHJ brings up his big new house, he immediately tries to make light of the situation by joking about how indeed, the one good perk is that he can no longer hear his parents fighting. So that’s clearly another thing that weighs on him. SHJ is seemingly rather sensitive to JYJ’s money situation, but JYJ doesn’t really want anything to do with it at all. And the thing he really wishes could be new and shiny - his family’s relationship - is not something their newfound money could buy. In fact, it’s possible he’s even a little envious of JYJ for having such a caring mom.

Later, when he finds out SHJ has moved into the little side house / shack, he’s understandably upset that his best friend had chosen to hide this from him, that he didn’t see JYJ as understanding enough to be honest with him. He obviously also aches for SHJ’s circumstances.

Gift-giving is a big part of East Asian culture, but there’s casual gifts between friends, and there’s gifts between everyone else. When you’re gifting gifts to someone less close, you definitely don’t want to go for things too cheap, so people tend to skew for expensive and unnecessary things because it’s part of social gestures and having ‘face’. While well-intentioned, sometimes receiving (and continuing to receive) gifts, especially more expensive ones, can make the receiver feel like they have to reciprocate in kind and continue to stand on ceremony or otherwise have this formal distance between the other person. It’s a big game of chicken sometimes, but some people’s ‘face’ won’t allow them to take a more casual, intimate approach first. This is not the main reason why JYJ gets upset of course, but it is an element.

All that compounded - he’s hurting already on SHJ’s behalf, yet his best friend seemingly doesn’t trust him enough and still tries to save face. And what’s worse, SHJ seems to think JYJ is materialistic and chases expensive things, when that couldn’t be farther from the truth - he dgafs about this kind of stuff. So to have his best friend essentially woefully misunderstand his character, continue to hold him at arm’s length / treat him with non-intimate courtesy, make sacrifices that hurt himself to give JYJ something that makes him seem materialistic and puts even more distance between them due to their economic gap... he’s pretty hurt and furious.

Of course, in reality, while SHJ not telling JYJ might be partly due to his pride, the expensive gift was purely because he was crushing hard. And cue the confession tumbling out.

So actually, I feel like there was a wonderful build-up of their tension, oriented not entirely on SHJ’s romantic feelings towards JYJ, but a very real issue between two people compounded by the complexity of romantic feelings.

Although I grew up away from the frontline influence of these sort of social gestures and expectations, it was still a big part of my upbringing. And I feel the agonizing indecisiveness over what to say, how to react, etc. You read intention into every gesture and word, because that’s how Asian culture operations.

I was rather surprised to see people comment that this drama was boring, but upon analysis, I did consider that part of it might be because a lot of this tension goes over the audience’s head if you weren’t brought up in that context. What seems like beautifully nuanced dance of well-intentions-turned-sour might come across as a jumbled mess of ‘being upset over unnecessary secrets’. That, coupled with some abrupt scenes that might not be tied in too smoothly, might have led to a lower evaluation.

Or it’s just my bias for a non-romantic-feelings based tension haha.

Anyway... curious what others think!

#star struck #seo han joon #jo yoo jae #kbl #korean bl #스타스트럭 #yoojae x hanjoon #jo yoojae #seo hanjoon #spoilers

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junkobato · 4 months

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Kdrama in 2024 💖

List of upcoming kdrama airing this year; updates every month.

JANUARY - FEBRUARY - MARCH - APRIL

List of kdrama in 2023

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rosenlily-aka-choconut · 23 days

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I dropped Wedding Impossible after the third episode. Ji han declaring he’ll seduce his brother’s fiancée??

Nah, not for me. He doesn’t seem to be a character I’ll appreciate. I preferred the older brother by miles.

I directly skipped to the last episode. For him, the second son of TY constructions, 34, 180 cms, 70 kg.

Aka the handsome eligible bachelor who storms in to sweep the CEO off her feet ❤️❤️

How can I resist when he walks around looking like 2020!Rang and woos the girl like Ha Min Jae??

And why does he also remind me of Han Joon-hwi?

And him attracting her attention from his car… why does this give me Yi Jeong vibes?

#wedding impossible #kim bum #kim beom #lee rang #han joon hwi #ha min jae #the tale of the nine tailed #the woman who still wants to marry

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bl-bam-beyond · 11 months

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STAR STRUCK (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

Episodes 5 & 6

In today's episode we have show and tell.

• Han Joon (KIM IN SUNG) gets drunks and awakens thinking he's in the loving bosom of his mommy. But no he's right next to Jo Yoo Jae (ZUHO)

• Yoo Jae wants his friend back with no real discussion of the discussion about feelings.

•Yoo Jae sings and raps at a university get together. Han Joon looks at him with hearts still in his eyes.

• Yoo Jae gets drunk but doesn't want Han Joon to leave him. Even though he sees Han Joon is having a hard time.

Well back to show and tell..

Han Joon is showing his heart

Yoo Jae brought something more green...ah yes it's envy. Oh sweet Yoo Jae your jealousy is showing and it's very telling. @pose4photoml @lutawolf

#POST: BL #SOUTH KOREAN #BL SERIES #STAR STRUCK #FRIENDS REUNITE #My GIFS #MyGIFedit #MYGIFSET #EPISODE 5 AND EPISODE 6 #YOO JAE & HAN JOON

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ohmycenchaheart · 9 months

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Watching Dream on Netflix and there are so many Be Melodramatic easter eggs.. not to mention so many familiar faces from Be Melo.

Unsurprising because both are written and directed by Lee Byeong Heon, but I still find myself excited every time I spot a Be Melo reference.

Looks like another Be Melo rewatch is inevitable ^_^

#dream #be melodramatic #melo is my nature #lee byeong heon #park seo joon #iu #chun woo hee #jeon yeo been #han ji eun #son suk ku #ahn jae hong #dream korean film #netflix kdrama

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undisclosedmemoirs · 1 year

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My guess? Young Ki is responsible for the accident and Sung Jun knows about it. Do Joon will eventually be out of the picture and Young Ki is going to get the CEO position in the end, so we will have to wait for the board meeting to see how that will happen.

I am not ready to see the downfall of Jin Yang Cheol. By downfall I mean going from a strong and imposing business man to a frail and weak old man. Nothing wrong with that, it's life and he has serious health issues, but looking at the preview and seeing him showing signs of dementia is truly heartbreaking (LEE SUNG MIN WITH HIS GENIUS ACTING).

I know he is not the best man around but the show really made us actually care for him a bit. All in all he is the antagonist of the show, but not really. He is an emperor who built his empire from scratch and wants someone to understand that. To understand the struggles he went through and what it takes to mantain that empire. Unfortunately, his first son and grandson can't grasp that idea, the second son only wants affection but does not have what it takes to take over, his only daugther is automatically out of the race and his fourth son was practically disowned. However, his youngest grandson does get it and their interactions are getting increasingly precious, even after knowing how ruthless JYC can be.

#reborn rich #jin yang cheol #jin do joon #jin sung jun #jin young ki #jin dong ki #jin hwa young #lee sung min #song joong ki #kim nam hee #yoon je moon #jo han chul #kim shin rok #kim young jae #ep. 12 is going to be sad

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bebebisous33 · 5 months

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The Ghost's🥀 Nocturne: Jae-Shin's Torment 💔

#TheGhostsNocturne @ananas4write @c_r_jade #귀야곡 The essay about #jaeshin and #Leenok "Jae-Shin's Torment 💔" is finished. I hope you'll like it. Retweet/like it as support. Thanks It is a mixture of analysis and theory. Feel free to comment.

Please support the authors by reading the manhwas on the official websites. This is where you can read the manhwa. English: The Ghost’s Nocturne Korean: Night_Song But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. Here is the link, if you are interested in other…

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staydandy · 11 months

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Individual Circumstances (2023) - 각자의사정 - Whump List

List by StayDandy Synopsis : Ha Yeon Woo was once a maverick young movie director, his debut film was a massive hit. But after this auspicious start, he fell into a lengthy slump. He is now listless and unsure if he is really cut out to be a movie director after all. One day, he meets Sung Woo Jae, a famous fiction writer who he once knew but has not spoken to for some time. Woo Jae also has demons, however. His first love ended in sadness, and he took solace in his writing, eventually going on to become a prolific web-based novel author. Their meeting ignites a passionate romance that burns as bright as the flames of war. Will this relationship heal Woo Jae’s wounds and lift Yeon Woo out of his slump? (MDL) AKA : Each Other's Circumstances

Whumpee : Seong Woo Jae played by "Jun.Q" Kang Joon Gyu • Ha Yeon Woo played by Han Jung Wan

Country : 🇰🇷 South Korea Genres : Romance, BL / Boys Love

Notes : This is a Full Whump List

Episodes on List : 2 Total Episodes : 8

*Spoilers below*

03 : Ha Yeon Woo is sick … [flashback to collage] sick (very brief)

04 : [present] Seong Woo Jae passes out drunk

#whump #whump list #full whump list #Asian whump #South Korea #Individual Circumstances #각자의사정 #Seong Woo Jae #Ha Yeon Woo #Jun Q #Kang Joon Gyu #Han Jung Wan #sick #drunk

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glitterfairy-21225 · 1 year

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Fuck. Um. So, I wrote the aouad reaction fic. And I fully intended for it to just be season one. Like, I legit thought it would be a miracle if I accomplished that.

But you know, I did.

So, the more I think about it, the funnier I think it would be to do season two. Bring back all the s1 characters, who are essentially reacting how Ji-min did when the soldiers lowered her back down.

And when her parents died.

Hell, and during her death scene.

And all the new characters introduced in season two are just like ‘???? The fuck did I miss????’

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starfish-locks · 9 months

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Do you like Brahms lockscreens

Requested by: @living-for-aesthetics

°Reblog/ like if you save

#lockscreens #wallpaper #phone lockscreen #phone wallpaper #brahms kdrama #do you like brahms #do you like brahms lockscreen #kdrama lockscreens #kdrama #Chae Song Ah #Park Joon Young #park eun bin #kim min jae #Han Hyun Ho

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allofusaredead-incorrectquotes · 2 years

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The Roast of Na-yeon

Nam-ra: [power-walking onto the stage] If you ever wondered whether you were Lee Na-yeon, here is a quiz to help.

Nam-ra: If you have put sunblock on a window, then you might be Lee Na-yeon.

Class 2-5: [laughs]

Nam-ra: I normally don’t enjoy making people laugh.

Nam-ra: If you ever called the fire department because your head is stuck in your chair, you might be-

Everyone: Lee Na-yeon!

Class 2-5: [claps]

Woo-jin: I have made a list of people I would make out with before I would make out with Lee Na-yeon.

Woo-jin: A turtle. A fridge. Any one of my sister’s friends.

Min-jae, Joon-seong, and Mi-jin: [cheer]

Woo-jin: A wood-chipper. Dae-su.

Dae-su: [pumps fist]

Woo-jin: A candle. And Lord Voldemort.

Woo-jin: Anyways, happy birthday Na-yeon.

Class 2-5: [claps]

Cheong-san: Na-yeon, you ran me over with your car. You posted a picture of me shirtless on the bulletin board with a caption that said, ‘Gross.’ Na-yeon, you are the reason I’m sad. You are the reason I have things to forget.

Class 2-5: [claps]

Hyo-ryung: [angrily berates Na-yeon in a foreign language]

Class 2-5: [claps]

Gyeong-su: [begins to walk towards the stage]

Na-yeon: No! Friends only! Friends only!

Gyeong-su: [shrugs]

Ji-min: Several times a day, Na-yeon says words that are way beyond my vocabulary. Remember Spiderface?

Ji-min: Well, the quote was 'Cut off your nose to Spite Your Face’.

Class 2-5: [laughs]

Principal: How dare you all attack her like this? Na-yeon is your superior! You should be bowing down to her!

Na-yeon: Idiot, idiot, idiot-

Principal: Are you calling me an idiot? Don't you ever talk to me that way, you pathetic, short little woman, you don't even have any friends, any family, or any land!

Class 2-5: [laughs]

Joon-yeong: I have something very serious to say here. Every hour, someone is involved in an internet scam.

Joon-yeong: That woman is Lee Na-yeon. She's supporting about 20 Nigerian Princes.

Joon-yeong: Oh, and Na-yeon is a great delegator. She never does any work herself- Ever.

Joon-yeong: And one time I saw her report card and her scores were so low.

Dae-su: How low were they?

Joon-yeong: If they were an iPOD, they would be a shuffle!

Class 2-5: OHH!!!

On-jo: Hey, Na-yeon, what’s her name, all the way in the back?

Na-yeon: Very funny.

On-jo: What’s her name?

Na-yeon: Min-ji.

On—jo: Min-ji left hours ago. What’s her name?

Na-yeon: I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure.

Girl: Na-yeon, I gave you a ride home last week and we spent an hour in traffic.

On-jo: What’s her name?

Na-yeon: Yeong-ju.

On-jo: Nope. Her name is Na-yeon.

Na-yeon:

Dae-su: [playing a guitar] What I hate about you: You really suck as a friend. You're the losiest, jerkiest, and you're dumber than fried chicken!

Class 2-5: [clapping along]

Dae-su: We're stuck listening to you all day! Hyeon-ju tried to die just to get away, well it's true- That's what I hate about you!

Class 2-5: That’s what I hate about you!

Dae-su: Yoooooooouuuuu!

#all of us are dead #aouad #all of us are dead incorrect quotes #incorrect quotes #lee na yeon #lee cheong san #lee su hyeok #nam on jo #yang dae su #jang woo jin #park mi jin #yoo joon seong #jung min jae #choi nam ra #oh joon yeong #han gyeong su #kim ji min #seo hyo ryung #source: the office

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bl-bam-beyond · 11 months

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STAR STRUCK (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

Episode 6

A game strikes a cord for 2 reconnected best friends. During a party a game where numbers are drawn for kissing. Yoo Jae (ZUHO) grabs a number that sets him up to kiss his best friend who has already confessed his love.

Han Joon (KIM IN SUNG) can't play and runs out. Yoo Jae finds him and they finally talk. But this time Yoo Jae makes his move... @pose4photoml @lutawolf

#POST: BL #SOUTH KOREAN #BL SERIES #STAR STRUCK #My GIFS #MYGIFSET #MyGIFedit #ONLY 2 MORE EPISODES LEFT #HAS YOO JAE FINALLY ACCEPTED HIS FEELINGS FOR HAN JOON #KISS NOT SHOWN...ENOUGH

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