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Thread: Review : King And I

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    Unhappy Review : King And I

    Title : King And I
    Starring : Oh Man Suk(The Vineyard Man) - Kim Cheo Seon
    Ahn Jae Mo - Jung Han Soo
    Goo Hye Sun(Seodongyo) - Yoon So Hwa
    Jeonn Kwang Ryul(King Golden Frog in Joo Mong and Hu Joon)- Jo Chi Gyeom
    Yi Jin(Ex-FINKLE singer) - Jung Hyun
    Synopse : The life story of an eunuch's love and rise to power in 15th century court.

    Review : This show has an all star cast. Never in recent history a historical drama had so many top stars packed into one show. And never in history did so many top male stars volunteer to play eunuches, something that male stars tried to avoid doing in the past for the "unmanly" stigma associated with the roles. Blame it on King's Men, which made the gay code the "it" item of later half of 2000s. What's even striking is that top stars like Ahn Jae Mo, Jeon Kwang Ryul, and Yi Jin took on the supporting roles to let new comers like Oh Man Suk and Goo Hye Sun take on the lead roles. Other than that the show itself is average, with the history behind the show heavily distorted to fit the script, like Kim Cheo Seon and and Yoon So Hwa's love story that could never be fulfilled, and the controversal portrayal of Yoon So Hwa as a victim of fate while the history book described her as a mad evil queen. Then there is gay romanece, fueled by recent gay romance craze no doubt. Let the factual history be thrown out the window, and let the fantasy flow in.

    Even though the show isn't all that great, it is doing excellent ratings wise, no doubt fueled by female viewers. Women will watch it, but men will probably be feeling like turning the channels.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe View Post
    Title : King And I
    Starring : Oh Man Suk(The Vineyard Man) - Kim Cheo Seon
    Ahn Jae Mo - Jung Han Soo
    Goo Hye Sun(Seodongyo) - Yoon So Hwa
    Jeonn Kwang Ryul(King Golden Frog in Joo Mong and Hu Joon)- Jo Chi Gyeom
    Yi Jin(Ex-FINKLE singer) - Jung Hyun
    Synopse : The life story of an eunuch's love and rise to power in 15th century court.

    Review : This show has an all star cast. Never in recent history a historical drama had so many top stars packed into one show. And never in history did so many top male stars volunteer to play eunuches, something that male stars tried to avoid doing in the past for the "unmanly" stigma associated with the roles. Blame it on King's Men, which made the gay code the "it" item of later half of 2000s. What's even striking is that top stars like Ahn Jae Mo, Jeon Kwang Ryul, and Yi Jin took on the supporting roles to let new comers like Oh Man Suk and Goo Hye Sun take on the lead roles. Other than that the show itself is average, with the history behind the show heavily distorted to fit the script, like Kim Cheo Seon and and Yoon So Hwa's love story that could never be fulfilled, and the controversal portrayal of Yoon So Hwa as a victim of fate while the history book described her as a mad evil queen. Then there is gay romanece, fueled by recent gay romance craze no doubt. Let the factual history be thrown out the window, and let the fantasy flow in.

    Even though the show isn't all that great, it is doing excellent ratings wise, no doubt fueled by female viewers. Women will watch it, but men will probably be feeling like turning the channels.
    When I saw the title, I thought it was a remake of Anna and the King by the Koreans. I'm not sure why you think women want to watch gay dramas, I don't. For all you know there are many closet gays everywhere.

    Back to the drama, where can one read the history of Korean eunuchs and queen? I want to get the story right before may be watching it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bella25 View Post
    I'm not sure why you think women want to watch gay dramas
    Because gay themed dramas are getting high ratings nowadays.

    where can one read the history of Korean eunuchs and queen?
    There isn't. Queens were served by female servants.

    I want to get the story right before may be watching it.
    The "correct" story is that Kim Cheo Sun had nothing to do with the queen(Yun So Hwa) and the queen was wicked evil.

    The "fantasy" version has the queen as a fairy damsel in distress sharing a forbidden love with Kim Cheo Sun, and Kim loving her so much to the point where he would cut off his private parts to follow her to the palace to be with his true love of life. This is a pretty disturbing trend, with shows like "King's Man" and "Daejanggeum" based on one line record.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe View Post
    Because gay themed dramas are getting high ratings nowadays..
    Unless there is a survey that says the audience is overwhelmingly women, I don't buy that women like gay themes. Most likely it's the additional audience comprising of men who are keeping the ratings high. Women like love stories but there's a limit to what we'll watch.


    Maybe the queen became evil after the castration? Just kidding.. Evil queen, weak males... my first Chinese story book on Tzu Hsi was like that.

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    Quote Originally Posted by bella25 View Post
    Unless there is a survey that says the audience is overwhelmingly women, I don't buy that women like gay themes.
    While there has been no formal study on women's preference on gay themed dramas(Other than the success of series like "Coffee Prince No. 1", "King's Man", and now "King an I"), it is a common knowledge that drama viewers are mostly women.

    Most likely it's the additional audience comprising of men who are keeping the ratings high.
    Korea has the longest working hours among OECD nations(heck longer working hours than many 3rd world nations); most working men cannot come back home in time to catch a drama. This is the reason for the female viewership of TV shows.

    Anyhow, here is "King an I" version of Gong Gil, kinda underwhelming. The child version of Kim Cheo Sun's gay lover character is played by a teen actress(which was confusing to many viewers because she is a famed actress, causing a confusion about the gender of character) to emphasize the character's "prettiness", but the adult version isn't that "pretty" . A proof that pretty boys like Yi Joon Gi are hard to come by. In fact, there is only one celebrity who is "prettier" than Yi Joon Gi, but he doesn't want to be an actor.

    http://www.hancinema.net/photos/photo33006.jpg
    Last edited by JonDoe; 09-14-07 at 06:05 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by JonDoe View Post
    A proof that pretty boys like Yi Joon Gi are hard to come by. In fact, there is only one celebrity who is "prettier" than Yi Joon Gi, but he doesn't want to be an actor.
    I'm very curious to which actor is that.

    Another actor I found pretty is the guy who sells waffle in 'Coffee Prince Shop No.1. He's also in Dalja's Spring selling clothes at Dong Da Men.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nefertari View Post
    I'm very curious to which actor is that.

    Another actor I found pretty is the guy who sells waffle in 'Coffee Prince Shop No.1. He's also in Dalja's Spring selling clothes at Dong Da Men.
    Yeah, he's kinda pretty. He acted and looked pretty G** on Dalja Spring
    ****Love, Live, and watch Asian Series****

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    Have any of you guys start watching this series? If you are, how is it so far?

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    i remember there's a cartoon/animation version of this series "The King and I".

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    Quote Originally Posted by darknight123 View Post
    i remember there's a cartoon/animation version of this series "The King and I".
    You're thinking of a different King and I, that one featured a king from Siam, this has a totally different story and focus. If you read anything in the first post you would know. Please stop spamming!
    I just love how you Captivate My Mind

    Self reminder - Update blog more often and continue editing/writing for TOV fanfic.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Suet Seung View Post
    You're thinking of a different King and I, that one featured a king from Siam, this has a totally different story and focus. If you read anything in the first post you would know. Please stop spamming!
    oh..so it's a different one. okay...well....i thought just by looking @ the title it's the same. okay....i should read more next time.

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    The best thing that happened in this show is Jeonn Kwang Ryul's acting. I find his portrayal of the Chief Enunch very moving. He has a dark side and a brilliant mind. I thought he's going to be a enunch who'd control the King, but it turned out he used his methods to establish a Hall of Enunch who'd be loyal and assist the king sincerely.

    Glad he won the Top Excellence award that year. His sword fighting looks very artistic in King and I. He should do more dramas.

    The waffle guy (Kim Soo Wook) we talked about in post 5-7 is now quite popular. He's in Bad Guy, Kingdom of Winds and now Mary Stayed Out All Night.

    I still like him with his long hair. More sensual that way.

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