Living in an era of manias

Do you know the difference among American dramas, Korean dramas, and Japanese dramas? In American dramas, cops investigate and doctors treat patients. What about Japanese dramas? Both cops and doctors give lessons. Then, Korean dramas? As you expect, cops are falling in love and doctors are also deeply in love. Internet users wittingly compared the characteristics of dramas of the U.S., Japan, and Korea.

Hallyu (Korean Wave) is gaining popularity across the world. Chris Martin, who is also an avid fan of Korean culture, produced a web drama of 10-episodes “Dramaworld,” a parody of Korean dramas based on sharp analysis. The series follows the adventures of an American girl and huge fan of Korean dramas after getting transported to her favorite show. Typical characters and scenes of Korean dramas will also appear in the show: characters such as a poor but bright and shiny girl, fussy man of fortune, a wicked woman near him, and rich Mrs. Crazy. Also, the show will provide its audience with shower scenes showing six pack abs of main character irrelevant to the storylines as well as explicit product placements.

Chris Martin, director and producer of the series, majored in computer engineering but changed his career as director after becoming a big fan of Korean drama. He is the so-called Korean drama Deokhu (mania). Deokhu is a derivative of Otaku, a Japanese term, which means people with obsessive interests. According to the Dong-A Ilbo, the term was negative and meant a social misfit in the past. But now, the meaning has changed as a trendsetter. “Dramaworld” that was first released via Netflix in this July has been selected as the "most loved foreign drama for the year” in the 2016 Seoul Drama Awards held last month. As the show was hugely popular among Korean drama manias, the transcript of the show has been translated into 39 languages and people begin to talk about the next season.

Deokhus started to reveal their identities as manias and even change their jobs. There are some questions to figure out whether a person is Deokhu like; I can’t help laughing whenever I look at or thinking of something or someone, I can debate on something or someone endlessly, and I can concentrate at enormously intense levels. Isn’t it great that we can deeply enchanted by something? Considering our education that emphasizes standardization, I wonder where our children with solid tastes and peculiar personalities can belong.