For those of you who could not make it to KCON: we covered some of the events and panels. Here's what was said in one on women and k-dramas:
K-drama women characters range from crazy mother-in-laws to conniving second leads to hardworking heroines. At KCON, women who write about k-dramas discussed the changing roles of women in dramas. They discussed why women identify with female drama characters and what they would like to see change in women's roles.
Panel moderators included Tanya Rodriguez of Hallyu Know, Chunkeemonkeeato, Koala, Stephanie Kurze of Crazy for Kdrama, Coco and Vivi of Kdrama Fighting. The panelists agreed that the reasons we like k-drama heroines is because they are so easy to relate to, that k-drama writers give their characters so many relatable and admirable qualities. And as most female k-drama characters start out with some kind of disadvantage, everyone can relate to the story of an underdog who triumps over adversity. You can't help but root for characters like that.
And while not all k-drama women characters are perfect, there certainly are a lot of them.
"One thing k-dramas do well is that they have a lot of stories that are centered on women and even the stories that are not have plenty of female characters," said Vivi of kdramafighting.
That makes a nice change from American TV. But the panel agreed that while they appreciate the abundance of female characters, they don't care for all of the k-drama female stereotypes. They don't like the fact that the second female lead is often so competitive and nasty. Or that the woman in k-dramas rarely have strong female friendships.
This might change, as k-drama plots do reflect trends and changing realities.
"In 2012 many dramas were about time travel," said Koala. "In 2013 many of them were about divorce."
And lately there definitely seem to be more independent female characters.
The panel approved and wanted to see even more strong women characters in k-dramas. They wanted to see more complicated and interesting women. For example, Jun Ji Hyun in "You Who Came From the Stars" was a quirky interesting character that the panelists appreciated. Dramas could also use more women characters with friends and more women with real jobs. And the cable dramas might be the place to find them. The panelists pointed out that, for example, the "I Need Romance" series was good at both portraying women with jobs and female friendships.
"And female characters with just one job," said Chunkeemonkeeato, talking about the hardworking Candy girl character often found in k-dramas. "Not five jobs."
Even more female villains would be appreciated. Not just female characters that are antagonistic but really evil ones like the politician villain in "Two Weeks."
And they would like to see their favorite actresses take more risks with their roles. For example, the panelists thought Gong Hyo Jin might want to take on a stronger more competent character.
"I'd really like to see Park Shin Hye in an action drama," said Stephanie Kurze. "She would be good in a role like that."
