K-dramas. From Lee Min-ho and Koo Hye-sun’s “Boys Over Flowers” to Song Jung Ki and Song Hye Kyo’s “Descendants of the Sun” to Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin’s “Crash Landing on You,” Korean dramas have been impressing the hearts of Filipinos for more than a decade.
The Korean entertainment industry is a huge hit in the Filipino Market. Their production, distribution, and promotion have been consistently topnotch, offering a variety of ideas, navigating their way relating to the audiences’ lives.
For generations, Filipinos have been fond of international entertainment cultures such that around the 1990s to early 2000s, Latin dramas reigned then, like Mexico’s “Marimar” (1994) dubbed with Filipino translation.
When “Boys Over Flowers” was shown in the country along with other early existing Korean dramas, it offered years ahead and refreshing content to Filipino viewers–far different from Latin dramas. Their cinematography brings another level of aesthetic and reel which are often not seen in Filipino series. Their take on film series and creative production tackled more than just the usual melodramatic rich versus poor girl-boy love interest and draggy whatnots. Filipino spectators cannot help but grasp to these brand-new concepts, showcasing profound stories of mental health, service to community and family, and towards different views and opinions inspired by real-life situations of everyday people.
There is no denying that the chemistry of their actors and actresses are powerful—no mainstream loveteams as it is rare to have inseparability among the same actors and actresses for a show. The Korean industry does not stick to a “proven tried and tested” attitude, hence, improving the actor’s growth and career as well as the production’s creativity captivates connections.
As a viewer with limited amount of time to spare for leisure, it is less of a hassle to binge and follow along a story with fascinating plots, unexpected twists and turns rather of definite episodes than watching 100 episodes where the storyline takes a distant interpretation from the beginning of the show—maximizing things while the story suffers.
More than the storyline and plots circulating K-drama’s staple styles, they also promote Korean products arraying from food to beauty brands and use them on different scenes which entice viewers to try them out. Its influence became a craze among Filipinos as multiple Korean groceries, restaurants, and shops emerged across the country. Now, that’s how to patronize one’s own products throughout the world.
Nevertheless, the attributes written above acknowledges that Korean dramas are a huge hit among Filipino’s might just be passing trend. Filmmakers are challenged to contribute to a deeply rooted story than a shallow plot impacting only a few. Lest we forget the “why” Pinoys are able to relate with the character’s story despite cultural difference. In so many ways, these series are being well-portrayed and its affection toward viewers has caught attention among Filipinos. Only then, we can hope for Filipino filmmakers to create an out of the box, beyond the ‘proven and tested’ narration along with the support they deserve in creating masterpieces. Who knows, ten years from now, it is the artworks of Filipinos dominating and influencing the world.
