I remember when I was studying in the USA, I went on a road trip to Boston with some Malaysian friends in April 2007. The three girls wanted to trace the steps of the Korean drama 'Love Story in Harvard'. They were surprised that I had not watched any Korean drama, and raved about how good they were. I didn't join them but went to visit Harvard Medical School instead.
Fast forward a decade later, the first Korean film I watched was 'Train to Busan'. It was surprisingly good. Mon Dieu, I was crying buckets while watching a zombie movie! I found the father (Gong Yoo) preppy hot. And he acted well too. Sanif, my filmmaker friend then persuaded me to watch 'Parasite', saying that it was Oscar worthy (Sanif's film was Singapore's official 2015 entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards). I enjoyed the film and thought that the father (Lee Sun-kyun) was hot too. Who needs immature oppa when you have hot ahjusshi like Gong Yoo and Sun-kyun, right?
Anyway, I was never taken in by the craziness of BTS, Black Pink and K-dramas. Though, I did watch 'Sweet Home' and 'Kingdom' (storylines revolved around monsters and zombies, so so good). While my other friends are very emotionally invested in K-drama rom-com, I am just not interested. With all the hype of Netflix's 'Squid Game', I too succumbed to watching it, not with regret. Amazing story and good acting. Hmm, someone looked familiar though...
I realised that my first Korean crush in 'Train to Busan' was the recruiter in 'Squid Game' (though he played a minor role). I thought, I just had to catch up with His Royal Hotness Gong Yoo. Finalement, I watched 'Goblin' (where Gong Yoo played the titular role) and 'Coffee Prince' (his break-out role). Such a versatile actor. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that Gong Yoo's on-screen sweet cousin Han-sung in 'Coffee Prince' was the hot Mr Park in 'Parasite'. Be still my trembling heart!
There's so much that we can learn from the Koreans, aside from technology. Perhaps how they have been consistently producing high quality and engaging films that started a global revolution of audiences lapping up all-things-Korean (food, language, music, etc).
I should also learn and take inspiration from the massive success of K-drama and perhaps write my own drama. I will of course write the main character with the humble, talented and charming Gong Yoo in mind.
사랑해요 Saranghaeyo
ps. I too would like to embark on a PhD thesis of the
hotness of Gong Yoo. Ji-cheol, if by some miracle, you are reading this, I'd like to have
coffee with you at Starbucks on 283 Longwood Avenue, Boston. *blush
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