WHAT FILIPINO DRAMA WRITERS SHOULD LEARN FROM K-DRAMAS

If we will all just be honest. All of us are now fed up, with the Ang Probinsyano shitshow. It has gone for far too long already. First they we’re outlaws, now they are policemen again. Will they become outlaws again? I don’t know. Will they become zombies? Maybe. Because the show has no story, and keeps on developing from time to time. I’m sick of it really, that I don’t watch it anymore. Not only Probinsyano, but most Filipino Drama are not that watchable anymore. All of the stories are the same, and its endings, and they are all too long. And because of it, I favor K-Dramas.

I’m favoring K-Dramas, not because they are from Korea. No that’s not right, I am favoring K-Dramas because they are from Korea, and because many of the Korean actresses that I saw are beautiful. Some might say, they are the product of cosmetic surgery, I don’t care. They are still that damn beautiful and pretty in my eyes, and that’s what is important.

Yes, I’m favoring K-Drama’s because of their pretty ladies. Maybe some of my girl counterparts, like it as well because of their pretty men. But that’s not my only reason. We also have pretty ladies, and pretty men here. The problem with our drama’s lies with the structure. What should we learn, writers and producers? If we want to learn from them, and not retain the shit system that is at work. Let’s enumerate somethings that we might learn.

1 . Keep it short

The longest K-Drama that I know, but had not watched, has some 180 episodes on it. Some may have reached 200. But none that I know, has reached a thousand episodes like Ang Probinsyano. Some might say, One Piece, an anime, has reached a thousand episodes, and has been there for a number of years. We’ll get to that later.

The longest K-Drama that I watched was the series, The Great Queen Seon Deok, having 62 episodes in total. The next longest is Dong Yi, having 60 episodes, and Six Flying Dragons, having 50 episodes. They are considered long now, that networks and cable channels in Korea, don’t produced many drama’s of that length anymore.

A drama in there is already long now, if it had reach the length of 24 episodes. Why shortened a drama? So that stories may not get complicated, and actor’s schedules don’t overlap, and move on easily to other projects. Making more people, more happy.

Just look back at the time, when dramas are not really ending in our country. Protagonist and antagonist died, for various reasons, and they pulled the plug on the drama because of it. Some got terminal disease, while on the drama, but not necessarily because of it. But can’t get out of the drama, because the script is saying that she will stay long. Good thing, that they let the actress rest. But the bad thing is, the script has become to flexible, to extend the story for too long.

The longer we extend a drama, the more the story becomes astray, and complicated. The shorter it is the better.

2 . Different Dramas Everynight or Everyday

Ang Probinsyano has been there for too long, and the another bad thing with it is, we’ll have to deal with it, five times a week. In Korea, there are also what they called daily dramas. But they are mostly put in the morning, because their target audience moms who are at home. In primetime, they have different dramas. Aired once or twice for that week, then another week again. On that set-up, we’ll have variety of drama to watch, and people will not be fed up, with a certain drama. And many actors, will have work too, and have equal opportunity to be famous. Unlike here, Coco Martin, has only the best time-slot, and not letting go of it.

As I was saying, One Piece has reached a thousand episodes. But it was aired only once a week in Japan. While Probinsyano, we have to endured it on a daily basis

3 . Put Some Variety of Genres

I will applaud GMA, for trying to put variety of drama’s in the air. But in ABS-CBN, they don’t even try. They are serving the same old shit, with just different titles. A lot can be subject of a drama. Daily lives, of a certain profession, political, history, sci-fi, fantasy etc. Again, I will say I applaud GMA, in trying to to serve different kinds of drama. One of their most beautiful dramas are that Encantadia, not the remake, Mulawin, and Etheria.

And I don’t see a lot of historical dramas here in our country. Look at Quezon’s Game. It has gotten a lot of compliments, and critical acclaim. If they only put it on a drama, where most of us can watch it, many people may have gotten aware, that the man on the twenty peso bill, did a great feat for the world. Rescuing Jews, against the grip of the Nazi’s. We must put historical dramas more on TV, for people’s awareness of the historical figures of our country.

Dramas are not only limited to romance and action. Please try to write and serve us more genres of it.

4 . Don’t put current affairs issues

The news are bad already, and will not get better. Please don’t put it, as a theme of a drama. That is the bad that the Ang Probinsyano, has done in the past. There is a war in Marawi, there is also war on our tv screen, through that drama. Dramas are supposed to be entertaining, and an escaped of reality. We don’t need to see the countries problems again with the dramas. News are enough for that.

You might be saying, are Koreans not doing that? They are, and they have been criticized by their own audience for it. They are trying to shift, from only romance like before, to realistic portrayals of daily lives of a certain person. But unlike here, they have many dramas to chose from, for they have many channels who produced it, with collaboraton from independent production companies. Unlike here, we only have two, and one of them is always following the lead of the other.

5. Untypecast Actors

Here in our country, Piolo always play a Piolo like characters. Angel Locsin, always play an Angel Locsin like characters. And  I can named a list of actors here in our country, who are big names in the industry, who keeps playing the same role everytime. One example is the legendary king of Philippine Cinema, Fernando Poe Jr. He always plays the same role, in the hundred of the movies he had produced. In the acting industry, it is called typecasting. I don’t know who is at fault in our country, is it producers or the actors? Both of them, maybe at fault really.

In Korea, actors have a choice, because they audition for the role. Although, some are chosen by the producers. Actors have the choice to refuse, or to accept. Just like what I red from an article, ages ago, about an offer of a role to the actor Lee Dong Wook, who most of us now has seen, as the Grim Reaper from the drama, Goblin. He refuse a certain role, from a certain drama which is at the work at that time, for the reason that is also a fantasy genre like the Goblin, and he didn’t want to be typecast.

The proof of actors having a choice in Korea, Lee Jong Suk, who is known for being a cutesy flowerboy character in dramas, who can do serious acting too, but mostly played good guys in dramas. Suddenly plays a violent, sadistic, son of a North Korean official, who murders people, and rape girls to his liking. But I don’t think he fits the role, because only of his physical traits, being too white. Yoo Ah In, might have suit the role better.

Yoo Ah In, on the other hand, is known for playing guys who are crazy. From the movie Veteran, to the drama, Six Flying Dragons, he plays a crazy man. But he don’t limit himself to only doing that kind of roles. He has a more kinder role in the drama, Chicago Typewriter.

I can also do a list, of Korean actors that don’t want to be typecast. Like Lee Joon Gi, Kang Ha Neul, Hong Jong Hyun, Ji Soo, Nam Joo Hyuk. Wow, that’s basically the cast of Scarlet Heart Ryeo, only lacking IU. Even IU, don’t limit herself in playing cutesy roles. Just look at the drama, My Mister.

The point is, typecasting is bad for actors. It will not make them grow as actors. Actors, at least for me, should be chameleon-like in roles. We shouldn’t see your personality, but the character you are playing. Actors also should stood up, and I suddenly forgot the english word for it, manindigan, in choosing roles. Don’t just accept, and choose wisely. Roles can be out of trend too. And if you’re doing only a certain role, and then someday it has gone out of trend. That day might be the day, that you are done for as an actor.

6 . Endings

It’s always happy ending here in us. However great the conflict in the penultimate episode, it is always a happy ending. And it’s tiring for the watching public. In Korea, I will set an example, the most famous sageuk of Korea in the Philippines. So famous, that children and even dogs are named after him, Jumong. The summary was, only their love story though: Jumong and So Seo No found each other, and fell in love. But they marry different people, for various reasons. So Seo No’s husband died, and Jumong lost his wife. They got their chance again in love, and marry each other. Becoming the first king and queen of the kingdom of Goguryeo. But then the long lost wife came back, along with Jumong’s first born, true son. For So Seo No’s son’s was not of Jumong, but of her late husband. In the end, So Seo No, along with her entire clan and sons decided to get out of Goguryeo, and left Jumong. Was it a happy ending for their love story? Of course not, but it was satisfactory.

Of course there are happy endings too in K-Dramas. But they are not always happy ending. Main character die sometimes in their dramas too. Unlike here, no matter how unsurvivable the situation is, he or she is still alive in the end. All I’m saying is, there should be variety of endings, and not only one type of it.

7 . Plot Twist

Not many dramas in the Philippines have plot twist. Even if they have, they keep revealing it first, on TV Patrol and 24 Oras. I can’t remember having a shock, like the shock that I had experience when they reveal how Hodor, became Hodor. You might say, we are talking about K-Dramas and Philippine Dramas, why talk about Game of Thrones, Season 6 Episode 5 the Door? Pakialam mo! Blog ko to, magbasa ka sa iba. Season 6, is the last good season of Game of Thrones. The last two are shits. If you want a K-Drama example, I will give you one, The character of Choi Dam Dong, in While You Were Sleeping. Who would have thought that he was the police from the prosecutors childhood, one of the main characters? No one, until the reveal in the penultimate episode. I want those kind of plot twists on our dramas, but I don’t think I can see one, even in the near future.

As I said. The dramas in our country, didn’t have that many plot twist, that surprises the audience. They should try to put some, that are well written too.

Those are some of  the points that I have gathered for now. There could be more, and there could be a part two of this writing of mine. I don’t want to claim it is an article, for it might not passed as being an article. They are better, not because they are Koreans, and we are Filipinos. That’s not the point of this comparison. They are better, because they structurized their work. If we also could do that, we could be much better, or far better.