deurama

The deurama, not to be confused with drama is my one and only vice. Having moved to Seoul, in 2011, my brother-in-law tossed me a 7 dvd set of "Ruler of your own world," 2002, starring Lee Na Young and Yang Dong Geun. I placed disc one into the player and sat in front of the television with a 5 piece chicken and biscuit set from Popeyes. One week later, I declared Na the love of my life and the deurama would be my pastime of choice.

Drama queen- someone who habitually over exaggerates, or is overly emotional over minor issues.
Deurama king- me.

In college, many of my friends watched these shows in their spare time. They would come out of the Korean video store on 32nd street with bags full of VHS tapes to binge over the weekend. Laid across the sofa with remote in hand, the 26 inch crt was never allowed to turn off. With my limited understanding of the Korean language, I chose not to participate.

Raised on a healthy dose of public television, I've always lamented the nutritional value of tv. Deurama on the other hand contained zero value. But my time in Korea allowed me to reverse my contempt and correct a blaring issue in regards to my opinion on what has become my pastime of choice.

Deurama was popularized in the early 90s with nearly 65% of the country participating in the viewing of Sandglass (모래시계). Over the past 30 years, deurama spread across a wider set of interests but the main ingredients are- family, love, class disparity, justice and suffering and endurance.

However narrow the themes and repetitive the tropes, the role of keeping attention is consistently accomplished albeit the (1) disposable attitude towards deurama. A friend, who is a deurama producer, saw the (2) ajumas of his country, allowing themselves to escape their realities through these hour long shows. He then realized that he wanted to be a maker of these reality bending programs, that boost dopamine levels more effectively than adderrall. "After a long day, I come home to deurama. After a long week, I watch (3) jumal deurama. I love deurama."

The deurama, not to be confused with drama is my one and only vice. Having moved to Seoul, in 2011, my brother-in-law tossed me a 7 dvd set of “Ruler of your own world,” 2002, starring Lee Na Young and Yang Dong Geun. I placed disc one into the player and sat in front of the television with a 5 piece chicken and biscuit set from Popeyes. One week later, I declared Na the love of my life and the deurama would be my pastime of choice.

Drama queen- someone who habitually over exaggerates, or is overly emotional over minor issues.
Deurama king- me.

Raised on a healthy dose of public television, I’ve always lamented the nutritional value of tv. Deurama on the other contained zero value. But my time in Korea allowed me to reverse my contempt and correct a glaring issue in regards to my opinion on what has become my pastime of choice.

However narrow the themes and repetitive the tropes, the role of keeping attention is consistently accomplished albeit the (1) disposable attitude towards deurama. A friend, who is a deurama producer, saw the (2) ajumas of his country, allowing themselves to escape their realities through these hour long shows. He then realized that he wanted to be a maker of these reality bending programs, that boost dopamine levels more effectively than adderrall. “After a long day, I come home to deurama. After a long week, I watch (3) jumal deurama. I love deurama.”

After watching Ruler of my own world, I began watching deurama with my mother-in-law. We shared many commonalities regarding these shows and the more (4) makjang they were, the better. A deurama titled “May Queen,” was a show in the early 2010s that had elements of all five themes. Hyejoo, the common person and her fight against the rich chairman of Cheonji Group, Jang Do-Hyeon. The chairman turns out to be Hyejoo’s father, who eventually commits suicide. Hyejoo and Kang San played by (5) Kim Jae Won live happily ever after and throughout the 38 episode odyssey, there are more twists and revelations than an M. Night film.

After each episode, we would turn off the tv and rant on the ridiculousness of the conclusion, the sudden shift in character’s behavior and why we will never watch another episode, only to have the television on 10 minutes before the start of the next day’s show- typical behavior of an addict.

Over time, as with most movies and shows, the deurama moved away from television broadcast to online streaming. The binging now occurs outside a social group and becomes an individual activity. No discourse to be had, except for the occasional social media mention or discussion on reddit. Again, another behavior of an addict.

Last year, my (6) wife asked me to watch a deurama called “My Mister” starring IU and Lee Sun Kyun as the two primary leads. IU plays a character dealing with every possible life hardships. Lee Sun Kyun plays IU’s boss, a structural engineer at a large company. The 16 episodes are writer Park Hae Young’s masterclass in class inequality, loneliness and endurance. The show’s emotional complexity is said to be one of the finest produced deuramas in recent history. Park Dong-hoon is a character we all try to become- a patient, consistently hard working individual. It’s ironic that at the end of 2023, Lee Sun Kyun, the actor that played Park Dong-hoon, died by suicide following a national scandal. The scandal was heavily played out in the media, particularly by (7) KBS. The resolution Lee’s character received in the show, was not reflected in real life.

There is a sub deurama genre called pantasi (fantasy) although it could be said that all deuramas are fantasies.
Often we find a character that we would disguise ourselves as, and immerse in the world of said episodes. Our frustrations are offloaded onto 60 minute formats, simultaneously acting as dopamine releasing passive activities.

Deuramas, similar in length and episode count to an American dramatic series, such as Breaking Bad, Walking Dead and The Pitt, its much closer in genealogy to the American sitcom. Often, but not always, there is a common proposition. In the end, there is a tidy, cleanly finalized ending, with a clear moral trajectory.

The American sitcoms of the 80s and 90s fed its audience social cues, and often were aligned but off-mark with contemporary discourse. If any issue could be resolved within 30 minutes including commercials, then yes, there was hope for America! Similarly, the all encompassing problems of Korean society is resolved within 16 episodes, in dramatic fashion. We enjoy the spectacle, fawn over its stars and relish in the resolution.

And despite its apparent short-comings, the deurama as vice is an often healthier option to the array available. But we need to remind ourselves of the (8)side effects.

Footnotes:

(1) In line with the common culture in Korea, a sense of newness is preferred. (2) in reference to the female population, older, often times married with children but not necessarily. you can be old, or behave older to be called an ajuma, but that would be derogatory. If you have kids, its a non biased term. (3) weekend deurama (4) absurd (5) there are two Kim Jae Won actors. When searching online, I genuinely thought he had received plastic surgery and somehow looked younger as he aged. The power of Korean plastic surgery! (6) This was her second viewing. (7) KBS is a state run broadcast company. (8) Side effects include: dopamine loop, diminished returns, loss of self-control, net-negative consequences and escapism.