So recently I’ve gotten hooked on a Korean TV show called Boys Over Flowers (aka sometimes Boys Before Flowers). I guess the best way to describe it is:

Theme: Star-crossed lovers, unrequited love, true friendships

Story line: Basically we have Gossip Girl meets Pride and Prejudice meets Much Ado About Nothing.

There tons of quirky things about this show that if it were an American Show, I’d probably have turned it off by now. Fourteen episodes in (14 of 25 for Season 1) and I haven’t quite figured out why I’m still sitting enthusiastically waiting for the next episode. Sometimes the male characters are so overbearing and chauvinistic. The main female is plucky and likeable, but sometimes falls into stereotypical over exaggerated acting, that was typical of Asians movies of the past. The mother is portrayed as a stereotypical Dragon Lady. The dad, much like American TV, is shown as a bumbling, clueless guy. At times the four leading males suddenly start speaking American slang when they are trying to be cool. WTH? Then there is the reusing of action footage, the obligatory Karate-like movie scenes and worst of all the repetition of the same music throughout the whole show. And the rescuing the damsel in distress is really getting a bit tired.

So what do I like? Like Gossip Girl there are stylish clothes and a crew of evil bitchy girls who are up to no good and make our plucky heroine JanDi’s life hell (as well as the bitchy boy foursome). Unlike GG the love interests have barely shared 4 kisses in all of the 14 episodes so far. Not one character has even gone to second base! If this really were GG, JanDi would have already had sex with JoonPyo and JiHoo–several times by episode 5. I like the four boys tight bond of friendship and how it extends to one friend’s love interest.

Let me tell you this show is a pricey time investment. I watch foreign movies a lot, but at least know French and some Spanish and Italian words. Reading subtitles and listening to a language you don’t know at all is a challenge. But the more I hear it, I’ve noticed that it’s gotten easier. And even though my best friend in 3rd grade was an American-born Korean, I didn’t learn much about her culture. I still remember our friendship fondly although we lost touch. Watching this show makes me want to know more about Korean culture.

I still want to know how it turns out with our star-crossed trio JungPyo, JanDi and JiHoo. And now I also wanna see if the playa, playa and cutest friend with swagga, Yi Jung ends up with JanDi’s best friend Gaeul.

I guess I can justify this guilty pleasure of what amounts to watching a soap opera by saying that it has prompted me to try to learn another language and given me a new culture to obsessively learn more about.

Shout-out to @ebolacolas for prompting me to post something, even if it’s not perfect. 🙂