[HN Gopher] Netflix to invest $2.5B in South Korea to make TV sh...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Netflix to invest $2.5B in South Korea to make TV shows, movies
        
       Author : tim_sw
       Score  : 121 points
       Date   : 2023-04-26 13:26 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.reuters.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reuters.com)
        
       | Ataraxy wrote:
       | There's some really great story telling found in some K and C
       | dramas that you just don't find in western media.
       | 
       | Interesting and varied modern story telling in KDramas and
       | fantastic historical story telling in CDramas.
       | 
       | There's also quite a bit of it to consume from over the years on
       | alternative platforms like Viki.
       | 
       | Sadly most of the "best" can't be found on Netflix so most people
       | just don't have any idea about it.
        
       | lofaszvanitt wrote:
       | Poor SK...
        
         | dandellion wrote:
         | Well, it was good while it lasted.
        
       | WrtCdEvrydy wrote:
       | Someone found a case of "Squid Game"...
        
         | slillibri wrote:
         | There are a lot more and better Korean shows on Netflix than
         | Squid Game. Extraordinary Attorney Woo, Inspector Koo, We Are
         | All Dead, My Name (I really loved My Name), The Kingdom...
        
           | BeetleB wrote:
           | Stranger (first season only). Everyone I know who watched it
           | - including die hard Korean drama fans - loved it.
           | 
           | Agree that overall, Squid Game was an "average good" Korean
           | show.
        
           | ValentineC wrote:
           | Also, Hospital Playlist.
        
       | imbnwa wrote:
       | It's been interesting to watch Korea's breakout in film and
       | television since the 00s. My first steps into it then were
       | Oldboy, Oasis, and Mother, all very rich films, and all very
       | distinct from what Hollywood was occupied with, which for
       | whatever reason I'd found unengaging.
        
       | davidkuennen wrote:
       | Not surprising.
       | 
       | I'm from Germany and all my mother watches these days are Korean
       | dramas on Netflix.
       | 
       | She tells me that, in contrast to Western productions, they show
       | more feelings and are less "cold" when interacting with each
       | other.
        
         | rayiner wrote:
         | I love watching Korean and Scandinavian stuff on Netflix.
         | American stuff moves way too fast for me in terms of pacing.
        
         | epolanski wrote:
         | > they show more feelings and are less "cold" when interacting
         | with each other
         | 
         | May I speculate that asian cultures are simply more prone to
         | that due to their languages and possibly culture?
         | 
         | Anime content may look stereotyped in some sense, but I've
         | interacted with enough Japanese citizens to know that they
         | emphasize a lot the emotional aspect in their verbal (through
         | tones) and non-verbal communication.
        
         | second_brekkie wrote:
         | Ahah I'm British and it's all my mum watches too.
         | 
         | Shes a gentle soul and there are some very genteel K-Drama that
         | don't include sex, violence, rude jokes or dark themes. Which
         | is quite hard to find in UK and American programmes these days.
        
           | davidkuennen wrote:
           | Yes, that's it.
           | 
           | They just want some feel-good stuff to watch and I fully
           | support that. :-)
        
         | yamtaddle wrote:
         | My wife watches these, especially the historical dramas (which
         | are often some variety of portal fantasy).
         | 
         | > She tells me that, in contrast to Western productions, they
         | show more feelings and are less "cold" when interacting with
         | each other.
         | 
         | This reads as pretty extreme over-acting, to me. Think, the
         | very _most_ over-the-top acting from  '40s and '50s US film
         | musicals. But, how much your actors should be acting and how
         | much they should be ACTING! is a matter of taste, I suppose.
        
           | stevenwoo wrote:
           | My small sampling of Kdramas informs my opinion that most
           | directors instruct villains to overact, with the worst
           | offenders being Japanese favorable characters in historical
           | periods of Japanese occupation of Korean peninsula ala Mr.
           | Sunshine, Bridal Mask where when a character has a heel turn
           | or heel-hero turn and changes acting style immediately.
        
             | tooltalk wrote:
             | sampling bias.
        
           | npsomaratna wrote:
           | THERE CAN NEVER BE ENOUGH BRIAN BLESSED!
        
           | davidkuennen wrote:
           | It certainly is a matter of taste and I agree on the over-
           | acting part.
        
         | bhupy wrote:
         | Additionally, I've found that they're a bit less risque than
         | Western productions and that creates broad appeal.
         | 
         | Crash Landing on You was a heartwarming (and cheesy) story told
         | in a very "PG" way. It not only appealed to me, my wife, and
         | our friends, it appealed to my modest Indian in-laws.
        
           | tpm wrote:
           | same for Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha or Our Blues
        
         | wgerard wrote:
         | Hah, that's funny because the German netflix series are some of
         | my favorites!
         | 
         | Dark, Babylon, How to sell drugs online, and 1899 (RIP) are all
         | fantastic series.
        
           | sho_hn wrote:
           | What shows like _Dark_ and a good Korean drama have in common
           | is that unlike many Western shows, they don 't run past their
           | prime and outstay their welcome.
           | 
           | Korean dramas by default are 16-20 eps and end there, and if
           | they're done well, stick the landing and provide a satisfying
           | ending to a complete, pre-planned narrative arc, which _Dark_
           | also managed to pull off.
           | 
           | No _Lost_ syndrome there.
        
             | FalconSensei wrote:
             | > a good Korean drama have in common [...] they don't run
             | past their prime and outstay their welcome
             | 
             | For me, it doesn't feel like it though. I got tired of
             | k-dramas (and I usually watch the 16 episode ones, instead
             | of 20), because it feels that around the 12~13 episode mark
             | they throw in an unnecessary twist or something, just to
             | get to the 16 episode mark. I do feel like they would be
             | miles better if they usually aimed for 12~14
        
           | epolanski wrote:
           | Give a shot to Deutschland 1983, still one of my favorite
           | shows.
           | 
           | https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4445154/
        
       | asciimov wrote:
       | My partner will be pleased, as she loves her K-Dramas. But I hope
       | this isn't just repackaged shows from other platforms that we
       | already pay for.
       | 
       | I think American producers could learn something from the shows
       | that come out of Asia. My partner really loves the
       | lightheartedness of the shows. That they aren't overtly using sex
       | and violence to sell their product, their stories are less
       | sentimental and samey as what Hallmark makes. The few that I've
       | watched are quite good, I enjoy that they aren't all following a
       | strict formula, aren't trying to be a franchise and the shows
       | don't run on forever.
        
       | unpopularopp wrote:
       | [flagged]
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | HDThoreaun wrote:
         | Netflix loves to pound out utterly formulaic series. They've
         | mainstream documentaries by producing docudramas and convincing
         | everyone they're real stories and their dramas always seem to
         | have the worst actors.
        
         | vnchr wrote:
         | [flagged]
        
           | kelthuzad wrote:
           | The moment I read the first sentence I immediately knew it
           | was produced by ChatGPT.
        
             | circuit10 wrote:
             | Things ChatGPT likes to say:
             | 
             | "I'm sorry, but as an AI language model created by
             | OpenAI"...
             | 
             | "I apologise for the previous confusion."
             | 
             | "While it's important to X, it's also important to Y" (in
             | this one)
             | 
             | "You are correct. I made an error in my previous response."
             | 
             | "Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
             | 
             | Those are some I can think of from memory
        
         | mupuff1234 wrote:
         | Netflix is mostly trash in general, American or not.
        
         | bobobob420 wrote:
         | ???? Ive never heard anyone say that. American culture is the
         | goat because its the melting pot of all cultures.
        
       | Lolaccount wrote:
       | Oh no ... does mean we're going to get loads more substandard
       | Korean content when the content output was just fine?
       | 
       | Man, the $ never sleeps ... just let the quality out instead of
       | throwing a tonne of cash at it.
        
       | pessimizer wrote:
       | Vaguely related: Disney+ seems to have also gone in on SK reality
       | with shows like "The Zone" and "Pink Lie," etc. I think it's
       | tough to make it work outside of Korea because Westerners aren't
       | used to the style where they're constantly writing commentary on
       | the screen and playing sound effects (afaik originated from
       | Japanese reality but copied by other cultures with block
       | writing.) Most of the Westerners who can stand that sort of thing
       | are already watching it.
       | 
       | The Disney+ shows iirc minimize screen writing and sound effects
       | or don't use them at all.
        
         | sho_hn wrote:
         | > Most of the Westerners who can stand that sort of thing are
         | already watching it.
         | 
         | This is a matter of exposure and habituation.
         | 
         | I remember 6-7 years ago when I used sticker packs in KakaoTalk
         | and Line, Western friends were baffled by all the silliness.
         | Now they're all the rage on Telegram & co.
         | 
         | I remember when Western friends rejected Korean pop music as
         | too artificial and commercial vs. the "more authentic" Western
         | pop. Now Kpop concerts fill stadiums here.
         | 
         | I remember when friends rejected "Asian movies" as "bizarre and
         | unrelatable". Now they win Academy Awards.
         | 
         | All those forms of entertainment proved a lot more portable
         | than anticipated, over time. That said, sadly the golden era of
         | entertaining Korean reality/variety shows (Running Man et all)
         | is kind of over already, it died with the peak of broadcast TV.
         | The Netflix crop of shows is already far more Westernized and
         | MTV-style. There may not be much worth exporting there.
        
           | pessimizer wrote:
           | I generally agree with your premises other than Asian movies
           | (especially Japanese) have always been considered amazing and
           | were a major part of supporting arthouse cinema from the 60s
           | on, it's _Korean_ movies that have caught on. _Kung Fu
           | Hustle_ was literally the highest grossing foreign film in
           | the US in 2005. Korean movies caught on not because of some
           | change in Western aesthetics, but because _they got better_ ;
           | Park Chan-Wook led the way.
           | 
           | I deeply disagree with your conclusion, however. Westerners
           | have had plenty of opportunities to like (e.g.) Running Man
           | since K-Dramas became popular. Plenty do. It's not a new
           | exposure to something different. Any show with subtitles
           | operates at a disadvantage; shows that have constant titles
           | appearing and disappearing on the screen _and also_ have
           | subtitled speech are an extremely tough sell, especially
           | since (e.g.) Running Man is dumb and it 's target audience is
           | going to be people looking for a laugh.
           | 
           | edit: you could get people used to the stupid noises and
           | canned laughter, but all that stuff is usually used to
           | punctuate the appearance and disappearance of on-screen
           | titles.
        
             | sho_hn wrote:
             | It was specifically Park Chan-wook and Kim Ki-duk that my
             | friends outside the arthose/festival circuit rejected at
             | the time, though, for example _Seom_ or even _Old-boy_ , as
             | "too foreign".
             | 
             | I think the internet- and streaming-driven globalization of
             | media & subsequent exposure have definitely reduced the
             | sort of knee-jerk inhibitions against watching something
             | where the entire cast of characters is non-Western, or
             | something subtitled. Content outside the Western bubble has
             | increasingly lost the "this is a little strange and
             | foreign" patina for average people in the millenials and
             | younger gen.
             | 
             | If you're below 25, and your fav sports team is perhaps an
             | e-sports team from Korea rather than your local football
             | club, you may not even realize people really, broadly used
             | to think like that.
             | 
             | When I was young, it was nearly impossible to watch a non-
             | dubbed movie in theaters in Germany unless you lived in a
             | major city, and even then it would be a special screening
             | stuffed into an 11pm slot for the nerds. Which meant that
             | content that didn't get dubbed would never be seen, and
             | hardly anything not from Hollywood or major European
             | countries would get dubbed. Now a big chunk of the
             | programming in any theater is "original audio" screenings
             | and it's no longer something that strikes people as odd to
             | attend at all. Many countries' cinemas now get to contend
             | in the market.
        
           | selimthegrim wrote:
           | Line has always been my favorite messaging app but I could
           | never get any of my other friends in the US to use it
        
       | password54321 wrote:
       | The elephant in the room here is the obsession western TV now has
       | with being woke. It has become quite difficult to not have trendy
       | political points shoved down your throat.
        
         | alienthrowaway wrote:
         | > The elephant in the room here is the obsession western TV now
         | has with being woke.
         | 
         | The biggest Korean series on Netflix is absurdly _" woke"_: I
         | don't know how one could watch Squid Game and miss how critical
         | it is of capitalism. I also find most movies by Bong Joon-ho to
         | be similarly "woke" - not at the periphery, but as a central
         | theme of the work - for instance Snowpiercer, Parasite and
         | Okja, and they are hits in Korea and abroad.
         | 
         | Meta commentary: your appreciation for diverse types of movies
         | (and not just the same-old bland Hollywood ones) is pretty
         | _woke_ too!
        
           | koromak wrote:
           | Having a liberal-leaning thesis isn't "woke", thats a
           | complete misunderstanding of what the word means in this
           | context.
           | 
           | Wokeness is a recent aesthetic trend, liberal politics is
           | ancient.
        
             | alienthrowaway wrote:
             | > Having a liberal-leaning thesis isn't "woke"
             | 
             | "Woke" has become a fuzzy culture-war term with no clear
             | meaning when used perjoratively. Racial diversity? "Woke".
             | Non-heteronormative relationships? Also "woke". A sci-fi
             | movie about blue native cat-people fighting imperialism is
             | apparently also woke[1].
             | 
             | A conservative strategist boasted that they successfully
             | co-opted the term to be malleable enough to fit any topic
             | that the conservative voters may dislike. So my definition
             | of woke is accurate by their standard; where are you basing
             | your definition?
             | 
             | 1. I'm taking Ben Shapiro's word for it.
        
             | PurpleRamen wrote:
             | Woke is not new, it's around for 40, 50 years? But the way
             | liberals are using it is different from how right-wings are
             | using it today. For them, it's now a plain insult for
             | anything not on their side. And this meaning has spreading
             | like cancer in recent years.
        
           | password54321 wrote:
           | Yes you will find politics in everything if you look close
           | enough, but not everything is trying to program you on what
           | is and isn't acceptable to think. Even with Squid Game, one
           | can enjoy it without ever thinking about capitalism. In fact
           | some fans have even debated that it is actually criticism of
           | communism which one can get away with because the viewer is
           | given the room to think for themselves.
        
         | Lolaccount wrote:
         | I'd suggest that's the elephant in your room ...
         | 
         | Hope you have a good poop-scooper.
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | epolanski wrote:
         | +1, it's unbearable, especially on Disney/Netflix content.
         | 
         | But what do you expect? They are editing books from 100 years
         | ago to "bend with the times". Books! As if having an
         | informative introduction or contextualization to the book but
         | leaving it alone would be a worse option.
        
           | teachrdan wrote:
           | I'm confused. Is Netflix editing books from 100 years ago? Is
           | Disney? It seems like you're conflating two completely
           | unrelated phenomena:
           | 
           | 1. Publishers getting tons of free publicity by announcing
           | cosmetic changes to old books, and
           | 
           | 2. Netflix investing $2.5 billion in South Korean
           | programming.
           | 
           | As for 1 above, the publisher of Roald Dahl's books have
           | released the original AND edited versions of his books, thus
           | creating new content for people to purchase and demand for
           | consumers to rage-buy the old version.
           | 
           | https://variety.com/2023/film/news/matilda-roald-dahl-
           | rewrit...
        
             | epolanski wrote:
             | I'm not conflating different phenomena I'm talking about
             | sensitivity readers and the recent wave of editing all
             | books to be more pc.
        
         | azmarks wrote:
         | woke? You mean treating all types of people with respect?
        
       | stronglikedan wrote:
       | They've already produced a lot of high quality content for
       | Netflix, IMHO, so they deserve it. That and German content make
       | up the large majority of the foreign content that I actually look
       | forward to. Good stuff.
        
       | hardwaregeek wrote:
       | One thing I've noticed about my watching habits is that I won't
       | put on a super intense, prestige TV show after work usually
       | (maybe if it's Barry, damn, Barry is so good). Instead I'll watch
       | something lighter or more repetitive like House MD or Schitt's
       | Creek. Now k-dramas are not quite old school network television,
       | but they're certainly more of a palatable affair than your
       | average Showtime or HBO show. I wouldn't be surprised if Netflix
       | realized that for every marquee top tier Emmy winning show,
       | there's hundreds of people just turning on something to watch in
       | the background that is familiar but slightly different.
       | 
       | Really, this isn't a new discovery. Soaps have existed since
       | before television. But it is interesting how instead of one long-
       | lived show, it's now a multitude of similar but different shows.
        
       | diziet wrote:
       | I most recently watched Extraordinary Attorney Woo and
       | recommended it to many friends. The show was whole hearted and
       | felt like a breath of fresh air. It evolved characters in a
       | positive way and overall was positive and made me smile after
       | most episodes.
       | 
       | My girlfriend watches a few shows too, including Single's
       | Inferno. Dating shows aren't my typical genre, but in the few
       | episodes I saw the interactions were modeled to be overall more
       | respectful and positive compared with the US produced shows.
       | 
       | A few other folks commented on similar trends. Fictional works
       | don't need to represent every negative aspect of the real world,
       | they are fiction after all.
        
       | kylehotchkiss wrote:
       | I hope they spend some on decent English dubbing. They've had
       | some interesting shows but captions aren't great for background
       | watching and the current dubbing is like 16 year old reading
       | their English essay in front of class
        
       | Teslazar wrote:
       | For anyone wondering what this South Korean TV show thing is all
       | about and want to check it out I suggest starting with Alchemy of
       | Souls (8.8/10 on IMDB).
        
       | abtinf wrote:
       | Highly recommend Mr. Sunshine on Netflix. IMHO, the best TV show
       | I've ever seen.
       | 
       | Full of characters pursuing romantic values ("romantic" here
       | meaning values that earnest individuals _should_ pursue) and
       | understandable conflicts.
       | 
       | And unbelievably beautiful to look at too.
        
         | WildGreenLeave wrote:
         | Currently watching it and I 100% agree!
         | 
         | I also love The Glory, Little Woman, Vincenzo and Itaewon class
         | too.
        
       | carabiner wrote:
       | I like the detailed food scenes. In Crash Landing, they show the
       | character making pour over coffee and noodles from scratch.
        
       | jimmyjazz14 wrote:
       | I feel like there is a certain level of cynicism and/or irony in
       | much of western media that is not as present in Asian shows (I
       | think this is a big part of anime's popularity). Strangely while
       | over acting and over dramatization is a mainstay of SK and
       | Japanese shows they somehow they feel more authentic, I think
       | that is because the writers voice feels less edited in many ways.
       | Anyway I hope the growing popularity of foreign shows leads to
       | western media taking time to reassess what people are looking for
       | in shows.
        
         | PurpleRamen wrote:
         | Asian shows have a similar level of cynicism and/or irony as
         | western shows, but western viewers often don't understand them
         | because they are simply lacking the cultural background, or
         | it's just lost in translation. So they are not aware of the
         | subtle parts which they understand in western shows.
        
         | throwaway6734 wrote:
         | Agree. My wife LOVES netflix's Korean rom-com shoes because of
         | how straightforwardly cute they are.
         | 
         | >Anyway I hope the growing popularity of foreign shows leads to
         | western media taking time to reassess what people are looking
         | for in shows.
         | 
         | Agree. The age of everything being ironic, sassy, and whiny
         | needs to end.
        
           | golergka wrote:
           | Post-post and meta-meta concepts were really cool and
           | interesting when they first popped up in indie circles back
           | in the 90s, and even when they hit the mainstream in the late
           | 00s. But now it feels like we've seen all these jokes, fourth
           | wall breaks, and gritty, realistic remakes of everything.
           | Instead of seeming like a writer's original ideas inspired by
           | the real world, it just looks like they're copying from other
           | shows and movies for no better reason than "everybody is
           | doing it."
           | 
           | Honestly, it's time to move on and find some other way to
           | tell stories.
        
             | ekabod wrote:
             | >Honestly, it's time to move on and find some other way to
             | tell stories.
             | 
             | I hope not, I want more 'Barry' or 'Succession' or 'Better
             | Call Saul' even if they share some already seen templates.
        
           | sho_hn wrote:
           | > The age of everything being ironic, sassy, and whiny needs
           | to end.
           | 
           | Looking at you, modern _Star Trek_ - a prime example of
           | ironic, sassy and whiny not necessarily being any smarter.
        
             | imbnwa wrote:
             | Eh, _Star Trek: Strange New Worlds_ captured the blend of
             | levity and somber urgency that populated the seasons of
             | original _Star Trek_ and _Star Trek: The Next Generation_
        
             | reaperducer wrote:
             | And not every science fiction show has to be a sermon on
             | later-day ethics and values in every single episode.
             | 
             | Looking at you, _The Orville._
             | 
             | And not every science fiction show has to evolve into a
             | horror/zombie series.
             | 
             | Looking at you, _Firefly._
        
               | lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote:
               | > horror/zombie series
               | 
               | I have never heard this said about Firefly. I consider
               | the show to be more about human experimenting and
               | creating super soldiers (River Tam) and that it just got
               | cancelled before they could really get into it. I guess
               | Serenity was more about conflicts with Reavers but I
               | wouldn't exactly pin the Horror/Zombie label on the
               | series because of that.
        
         | Fauntleroy wrote:
         | They certainly have that in spades. Unfortunately they also
         | seem to be "stuck" in the old fashioned 60-90 minute per
         | episode korean time slot, which isn't super great for western
         | audiences (I can only take so many 3-minute long slapstick
         | filler interludes in a single episode). Hopefully this
         | investment includes some encouragement to make more streamlined
         | shows.
        
         | carabiner wrote:
         | In the korean reality show Physical 100 they make a point of
         | _not_ showing sob stories for contestants. In US reality shows,
         | the sob story is always something stupid like they got a bad
         | haircut or shameless trauma dumping that I somehow doubt will
         | be remedied by some literal hoops to jump through or the prize
         | money.
        
         | throwaway1777 wrote:
         | Ironically there's probably more authenticity and realism in
         | the western shows than the fantasy worlds of most kdramas and
         | animes.
        
           | jimmyjazz14 wrote:
           | When you were a kid and coming up with fun creative stories
           | or just playing creatively did you inject a level of
           | authenticity and realism to that play? Probably not because
           | you were just being your authentic self, unedited and
           | unspoiled, having fun. I think this is a little bit of the
           | feel I get from a lot of korean/japanese media.
        
           | sho_hn wrote:
           | I think what OP means to some extent is that the Korean
           | media, while often showing "fantasy worlds", also rarely
           | injects this with a pretense of authenticity as Western media
           | nearly constantly does.
           | 
           | It's easier to articulate in pop music, where a large chunk
           | of popular pop songs is written, composed and demo-
           | tape'd/vocal-guide'd by the same dozen or so of Scandinavan
           | service companies, for both Western and Korean pop artists
           | equally. But while the Western pop stars may act as if
           | they're the auteurs of "their music" rather than being
           | entertainers who were given a piece of music to sing as part
           | of a carefully crafted product vision, in Korea, this is
           | relatively above-board and neither talent nor consumers
           | pretend otherwise.
           | 
           | Don't get me wrong, the Korean pop music industry is terrible
           | in many other ways (as is the pop industry in general), but
           | there's something to be said for content not trying to fool
           | you about what it is.
        
             | prottog wrote:
             | > also rarely injects this with a pretense of authenticity
             | as Western media nearly constantly does
             | 
             | In other words, a show is just a show, instead of the way
             | it is in modern Western media, which is being an instrument
             | of social change first and only incidentally a show. The
             | latter is exhausting.
        
               | AYBABTME wrote:
               | Korean shows are definitely also an instrument for
               | change. K-culture is a deliberate strategy from the SK
               | government to increase its soft power. SK is resource
               | poor, brain rich, and caught in between bigger players.
               | It needs all the good will it can foster. In addition,
               | the themes explored by K-dramas are often also meant to
               | shape the narrative in Korea, or give visibility to
               | problems. It's not uncommon for a social problem to be
               | highlighted by a drama, and then for public outcry to
               | cause the government to change laws or policies in
               | response. But because SK society is quite conservative
               | and patriarchal, it might not seem to you like social
               | change or controversial.
        
               | mixmastamyk wrote:
               | I'd agree, however it feels less preachy for whatever
               | reason, which helps the "medicine" go down.
               | 
               | Often I point to "Brokeback Mountain" as an example of
               | progressive Western media made by grownups.
        
               | hourago wrote:
               | > instead of the way it is in modern Western media, which
               | is being an instrument of social change first
               | 
               | All art is a form of personal expression and it is full
               | of new views and political change. I think that the
               | difference is that in the West reactionary criticism
               | permeates all social media.
               | 
               | If a Japanese show tells the story of a set of characters
               | fighting the global goverment injustices its viewers
               | enjoy the show. If an American show tries to do the same
               | a very small part of the population but very noisy will
               | criticize it as "communist" and "politicized" instead of
               | enjoying the real feelings of love and justice that
               | humans enjoy in their stories.
        
               | jimmyjazz14 wrote:
               | yeah I think there is absolutely a way to do a good show
               | and have a social/political message and it usually comes
               | down to tone and respecting the audience. Studio Ghibli
               | is known for there positive and even relaxing tone but
               | underneath the story is often a social/political message.
               | That message is often subtle and weaved into the fibers
               | of the story, its a message you feel not hear, if that
               | makes sense. I think they achieve this because they
               | respect their audience enough to give them something they
               | will enjoy and to be smart enough to pick up on the
               | subtle message in the content.
        
               | imbnwa wrote:
               | Like how _Vinland Saga_ is literally a critique of
               | "might makes right" patriarchal culture and its
               | viscissitudes.
        
             | bossyTeacher wrote:
             | > in pop music, where a large chunk of popular pop songs is
             | written, composed and demo-tape'd/vocal-guide'd by the same
             | dozen or so of Scandinavan service companies,
             | 
             | any links to back this up?
        
               | sho_hn wrote:
               | Look up e.g. Karl Martin Sandberg, Shellback, Cheiron
               | Studios, Dsign Music, The Kennel, EKKO, Cosmos, Merlin,
               | ... the composers themselves are often contractors
               | working with many of these, and in turn it gets sold to
               | big labels often via e.g. Warner or Universal. Sweden,
               | Norway and Denmark are the pop songwriting hotbed, and
               | pop music is a very systemized industry.
               | 
               | It also happens every year that the same pop song is
               | licensed multiple times into different markets where it's
               | given localized lyrics and sung by locally popular pop
               | artists. I'm too scatter-brained to immediately think of
               | a recent example, but check out e.g. "Hot Summer"
               | existing in German and Korean girl band versions.
        
               | mixmastamyk wrote:
               | DDG is your friend. Also look up 90s R&B producers
               | lending expertise when they take that angle.
        
           | abtinf wrote:
           | Why is it desirable for art to have "authenticity and
           | realism"? Nowadays, those terms are just code for the
           | malevolent and disturbed world view of some creators.
           | 
           | I prefer art that depicts life as it could _and ought_ to be.
        
       | aaron695 wrote:
       | [dead]
        
       | asadm wrote:
       | I have watched a few recently and me and my partner love them.
       | Not only are the shows modest but are light to watch. Compared to
       | US shows, which are loud, over, dramatic, headache-inducing.
        
         | conradfr wrote:
         | A bit like the difference between the UK and US versions of
         | Kitchen Nightmares.
        
       | ookblah wrote:
       | I really wish they would invest more into the subtitles. Korean
       | has a myriad of ways to convey something, each with a distinct
       | meaning and often times the translation is just super lazy.
        
       | guardiangod wrote:
       | I have been watching trailers of new (seasons) of TV shows these
       | past few days. Am I mad for thinking the acting for TV actors are
       | uniformly very bad, even compare to 10 years ago? Or is it that
       | the trailers only show exaggerated scenes?
        
         | edgyquant wrote:
         | Depends on the show. These Korean shows I definitely agree,
         | they over act and it makes it hard for me to watch them.
        
           | sho_hn wrote:
           | There are some Korean shows that don't do that and have more
           | realistic/older characters, e.g. "My Mister" and "Liberation
           | Notes". It's a bit of a niche but there's good work in that
           | area too.
           | 
           | Since virtually all Korean dramas are in mini-series format,
           | the right way to do it is to basically wait until the year's
           | awards season, see which dramas of the 200+ the industry
           | produces annually made the cut, then pick the 2-3 you find
           | interesting and watch those.
        
             | imbnwa wrote:
             | Mr Brain on AppleTV+
        
         | criddell wrote:
         | I've been thinking the exact opposite. I recently finished Last
         | of Us and Perry Mason (season 2) and am now in the middle of
         | Beef and I think all three are great.
        
         | HDThoreaun wrote:
         | You watching succession? HBO consistently has great acting.
        
         | htag wrote:
         | I think ~10 years ago was a local maximum of American TV
         | quality, and we've been going downhill into a land of lots of
         | shovelware.
        
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