The Distorted Nature of Drama Characters

There are many structural problems that Korean dramas have. There are many factors criticized by viewers, ranging from the point of being overly obsessed with a particular occupational group to provocative stories such as infidelity, divorce, revenge and unrealistic reversal.

Advertisement

Most of all, high-income professions are often introduced to lead the story more dramatically, which is considered one of the biggest problems Korean dramas have.

Ha Jae-geun, a cultural critic, said, "If there are too many rich or high-income people in the drama, people will inevitably feel a sense of relative deprivation and unhappiness". He pointed out, "Through the stories of ordinary people, there should be more stories that all of our society can relate to".

In particular, various jobs in the drama are different from reality and distorting reality gives false perceptions, which is pointed out as the biggest problem with Korean dramas.

Culture critic Kim Heon-sik said, "It is doubtful if it's just their world that can only be seen in dramas and not realistic jobs", adding, "We don't even know if lawyers are actually like that and I feel like they succeed too easily, achieve their goals and move like a simulation game".

"It is true that the female lawyer's confident appearance is well-received, but it is questionable how much the excessive stride feeling is gaining sympathy from viewers", said critic Kim, who cited the character Jeong Geum-ja (played by Kim Hye-soo) in "Hyena". "Even corporate background dramas don't know if viewers actually operate like that. It is feared that distorted fantasies about reality may be implanted in viewers", he pointed out.

Medical dramas are representative and it is pointed out that the appearance of professors, new doctors, interns and residents in dramas is also different from reality.

"Interns and residents in dramas often remain in college and make dramatic reversals", a physician said. "It can be portrayed like the son of a chaebol family, or succeed too easily. In fact, however, that would be less than 1% of all doctors", he said, adding that it could instill a misconception of doctors.

It is not just a problem for high-income professions. Two of the representative characters are job seekers and part-timers. Although young people in Korean society sympathize with them the most, many point out that the environment in the drama is far from reality.

According to a survey of 2,623 male and female part-timers conducted by the part-time portal Albamon, 18.8% of the handsome CEOs, 15.2% part-timers of the third generation of chaebol, and 13.0% percent of regular part-timers in dramas are different from reality.

"Real young people don't have it easy every day due to their worries and anxiety", said A, who is preparing to get a job while working part-time. "I can't relate to the young people appearing in dramas at all".

Of course, not all works are like that. There are also characters who gained sympathy like Yoon Jin-myeong (Han Ye-ri), a part-timer who made a living in jTBC's "Age of Youth". Yoon Jin-myeong gained sympathy from young people by appearing as a job seeker preparing for public recruitment while working on several part-time jobs to pay for college tuition and living expenses. Analysts say that the drama shows that true fun can only come out when sympathy is based on it.

What's unfortunate is that the nature of dramas that try to feature certain job groups or high-income earners for a different fun that appeals to viewers is difficult to change easily. This is because the drama is a commercial content that will inevitably be affected by ratings.

However, considering the social influence of the drama, it is pointed out that the production teams also need to have a sense of responsibility.