Quite a few kdramas have sent characters to America. Usually you don't get to see their life while they are in the U.S. Viewers may first meet the characters returning to Korea, newly arrived at the airport, as was the case with Lee Seung Gi in "Shining Inheritance" or Jang Na Ri "I Do I Do."
Often the characters have gone to the U.S. to study and instead spend too much time there partying. That's what happened to Jung Il Woo in "Flower Boy Ramen Shop." Sometimes you see the characters supposedly in America," as happened to Park Yoo Chun in "Rooftop Prince" when his character had to travel to New York on business, but the U.S. scenes are brief.
And there are characters that head off to America for the promise of a better future, as did Lee Jon Suk's uncle in "I Hear Your Voice." Fortunately, for the plot of that drama he left poor orphan Lee Jong Suk behind.
In kdramas, the U.S. is not generally portrayed as either a good place or a bad place, just another place for characters to go.
But in "The Heirs" the U.S. does not come across as a place anyone might want to visit. Either it's an ultra-luxurious place of exile for characters such as Kim Tan, played by Lee Min Ho, or it's a frightening moral sinkhole for characters such as poor Park Shin Hye's sister.
The drama seems to say that while parts of California might look movie-star-perfect, the appeal is pretty superficial. Even surrounded by luxury, Kim Tan lives a very superficial life, partying, surfing, spending time with appreciative bikini-clad girls and friends who like their drugs so much they will mistakenly snort powdered beans.
It also portrays California as a very dangerous place for women. Strange men continually harass Park Shin Hye's sister while she is working as a waitress. She lives with a violent man who drinks and apparently does not know how to clean house. Park Shin Hye can't even sit on her sister's doorstep for a few minutes without a group of marauding gang members making menacing comments.
America does not even come across as a nice place to visit.
And the irony is that "The Heirs" is the first kdrama to be co-produced by an American company, DramaFever.
Maybe the point of portraying California so negatively was that the places you dream about rarely live up to expectations. Or the drama's writers could be trying to make the point that the divide between the rich and the poor exists everywhere.
What do you think about the portrayal of America in "The Heirs?" Let us know.
