Why do Filipinos Love Asian Drama?
Asian novellas are what’s in these days. They are shown on almost every local TV Channel, sold on DVD and VCD in stores to sidewalks. What do these Asian-novellas have that make them very popular to us Filipinos? Why do Filipinos love Asian Drama?
As a watcher of Asian novellas myself, I have seen that it is easy for us Filipinos to relate and appreciate these Asian novellas because these are shows played by actors who are our co-Asians. Watching Asian actors give us a sense of being at home.
Filipino TV viewers are, I think quite tired of the local tele-novellela’s usual plots, storylines twists, and actors. Our tele-novellas’ story flow often take lots of episodes before anything meaningful happens. We Filipinos are tired of the same actors that switch roles for every new tele-novella. New, Asian actors, plots and storylines are a break from the usual race and faces of tele-novellas. The new Asian novellas that have taken us by storm have rather complicated storylines which people enjoy very much because for once in their lives they can experience a non-cliché novella. I myself find the storyline of different Asian novellas that I’ve watch at least for a short while very amusing. The storyline is always unexpected.
Fast-paced Asian-novellas are injected with very funny scenes that include clever situations, jokes and even funny faces. You will also be surprised that even though these shows are from other Asian countries, the experiences of the actors are not very far from our day-to-day experiences that we might have. Viewers of Asian-novellas can also grasp a few foreign words and terms from sub-titled Asian novellas. That would be enjoying and learning at the same time!
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My favorite Asian novella so far is a K-drama (Korean Drama) entitled Ruler of Your Own World (ROYOW). Though it has the formula plot (fatal disease, love triangle), it has a very unique storyline. And the actors weren’t even good-looking. ROYOW just had the right actors mixed with an exciting storyline. Storylines are what people are after in dramas. You can have the same plot but have millions of storylines. This is sad to say what is lacking in Philippine television.
What is in a story if you can’t take something out of it and relate to your everyday life? The book “Typical American” by Gish Jen, gave me something that I never fully, and I probably still don’t, comprehend: foreigners, and their struggles in making a new life in another country. I have been on my share of trips, both domestic and abroad, but was never in a distant land long enough to feel the effects of the unknowing these people felt every day. The manner in which this story was presented has given me a new insight into, not only foreign nationals, but more importantly, how one goes about presenting emotional feeling not just through words, but setting, characterization, point of view, conflict, and theme.
...la. These are characters that while overly dramatic at times, are relatable because they are not perfect and they don’t struggle with being the perfect wife or machismo husband. Instead they are in constant struggle with their inner demons and desire just to be loved in a way which they deserve without prescribing to society’s norm.
"A Pair of Tickets" and "Everything That Rises Must Converge" are good examples of how setting explores place, heritage, and ethnic identity to give us a better understanding of the characters. In "A Pair of Tickets" Jing-Mei Woo discovers for herself what makes her Chinese and the setting played an important role in helping us understand how she came to this discovery. The setting in "Everything That Rises Must Converge" gave us a good understanding of why the characters acted as they did to the situations presented. The setting in both of these stories greatly contributed to the understanding the characters better and in general the whole story.
The importance of a story is to have a purpose and meaning, through this, people are able to engage and learn with what is being told to them, it has to have a connection to the past, bringing it to the present and to involve both the body and mind senses. Through storytelling the audience should gain an understanding and have a sense of emotion touched and come alive, they should also be able to explore the possibilities within their culture and feel a deep connection to country.
Gordon accurately depicts the varied and vibrant Asian culture, by showing the reader this world instead of simply describing it. Each of the men whom Gordon uses to tell the story undertakes expeditions which are mixed with hardships and triumphs. The varied spectrum of Asian cultures is covered. Readers will find Gordon’s take on tackling this topic fresh and straightforward.
All women are too sensitive! All Mexicans are illegal immigrants! If you’re from the South, then you are ignorant! Most people have heard at least one of these stereotypes pertaining to a certain group. Some people believe them whilst others do not. American Born Chinese illustrates three stories depicting the custom of stereotypes surrounding society: “The Monkey King”, the story of Monkey King’s thirst for infinite power, and his quest for atonement; “Jin Wang”, the story an awkward boy who tries to “fit in” the community around from but constantly fails; and “Danny”, the story about a high schooler who feels uncomfortable by his stereotypically negative Chinese cousin Chin-Kee. In this day-and-age, stereotypes are what bring people together, and stereotypes are what set people apart. To be ignorant of stereotypes would be a disastrous event as one would consequentially be ignorant to the prejudices engulfing them daily. Even though this causes problems throughout different communities, the way some individuals choose to address stereotypes is through laughter. From start to finish the graphic novel, American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang purposefully satirizes Asian stereotypes in hopes that the reader opens up to the fact that stereotypes are indeed existent in today’s society.
Just like any other racial stereotypes, Asian Stereotypes have been and always will be around in our society. The fact that Asians are allowed to be portrayed stereotypically in Media shows the lack of voices of this minority group. Asian stereotypes are taken lightly by others, and yet heavily by the Asian population. Whether one likes it or not, Asian stereotype does not disappear eternally. As individuals of intellectual specie, we have to acknowledge the power of a racial stereotype and the possibilities of it remaining to be an eternal issue. To allocate such problem to another perspective, we must aim to become aware of them, by viewing these Asian Stereotypical films of what your average American watches on TV or at the movies. Although when Asian characters seem harmless (Jackie Chan in “Rush Hour” series) or humorous...
Matlaw, Marion. Modern World Drama: An Encyclopedia. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1972. 175-177.
Asian American Literature Asian Americans seem to be fighting an unwinnable battle when it comes to the content of their writing. Writers are criticized by whites for speaking out against discrimination, and by their fellow Asian Americans for contributing to the stereotypes through their silence. I believe that Asian Americans should include politics in their writing as they so choose, but should not feel obligated to do so, as Frank Chin suggests. For those Asian Americans who make known their discontent with the injustice and discrimination that they feel, in the white culture, this translates to attacking American superiority and initiating insecurities. For Mura, a writer who dared to question why an Asian American was not allowed to audition for an Asian American role, his punishment was “the ostracism and demonization that ensued”.
The representation of race in Hollywood cinema has been a widely discussed topic in film analysis since the medium’s inception. Historically, non-caucasian ethnicities have been underrepresented and/or misrepresented on the silver screen. It was normal for a white actor or actress to adorn themselves in black or yellowface to represent these races and further alienate them into the category of “the other”. This exclusion has been used time and time again as a tool for distinguishing not the race being alienated but those who are doing the alienation. In the following essay I aim to assess this phenomenon specifically in relation to representation of Asians in Hollywood cinema. To support my theory, I will put into conversation both Gina Marchetti’s essay, “White Knights in Hong Kong” and Anne Cheng’s essay, “Beauty and the Ideal Citizenship: Inventing Asian American in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (1961)”. It was when asked to consider the question of national identity projected upon the bodies on screen as written about by Marchetti and Cheng that I came across my own thesis. Through their in depth analysis I was able to code an underlying theme in the historical representation of Asians in cinema. The theme in which Asian identity is derived through strategically situating them as “the other” in order to explain what it truly means to be an American.
The presentation of the narration revolves around an individual through the viewpoint of a protagonist. This displays a heartily connection with the soul in the individuals community. The tale focuses on exploring on different narrations within a single context. The narration avoids a cultural documentation through the presentation of several minor plotting. The settings include major characters like Ngotho, Mwihaki, njoroge and Mr. Howlands. Ngugi displays the family connection of affectionate elements through Njoroges father. This are further illustrated through the romance between Njoroge and Mwihaki. The varying standpoints illustrate deep attachments in the objectives to deliver a mindset community. This paper will attempt to explore the dominating elements connecting the characters through family pillars and romance. This exploration forms the discussion on individual charact...
Each of the stories, “The Poem of the Cid”, “Ali Cogia”, and “Ying-Ying’s Story”, all have a similar foundation that helps define the story. This idea of sacrifice for prestige is prevalent in each of the stories.
...a woman trying to find an identity through her heritage. All of these stories give us examples and show us what life in this period would be like for the characters. They give details that show the readers the world around them.
During the course of this class, I have had the opportunity to read literature from authors who come from different backgrounds and places in the world. Some of the stories and poetry we read were straight forward while others were confusing and sometimes required a second look. But one thing is clear, it changed the way I think about literature in a few ways that I wasn’t expecting. Three works in particular stand out in my mind. “ I Wont Let You Go” by Rabindranath Tagore, “To New York” by Leopold Senghor, and Pedro Peramo by Juan Rulfo all had an impact on my thinking for similar yet different reasons. They all incorporate their cultural backgrounds into their work through the setting of their pieces. They also compose their pieces in a way that makes you want to research their history to find the deeper meaning. Finally, a couple of the authors write about things they are emotionally connected to. Some of the examples we will look at, really opened my eyes to going beyond a superficial understanding of literature.
The world that we live in today is slowly infected by Korean dramas. The influences of it are quiet unstoppable and significantly reaching the shore of every sea across the world. It is undeniably shading the perspectives of its viewer, bridging the culture and people of two different races. The wave of Korean drama reaches the shore of Filipino awareness. K drama is influencing the thoughts, emotions and even the tangible aspects of the Filipino who watches K drama.