Lovers in Paris

There is just something special about the way Korean scriptwriters and directors produce Korean drama series.

Something that never fails to make me feel touched.

In these shows, the male lead roles are usually successful men who command respect at work, and give a sense of security to the girls. They are gentle and faithful lovers who may not always know what a girl wants, but they do not act frivolous like playboys.

The female leads are usually cheerful and jovial, with a little silly and adorable air about them that makes men want to take care of them.

Isn't this the kind of picture you would paint for your ideal girlfriend or boyfriend?

The storylines usually fall into three categories:
(1) a typical Cinderella story where a rich man falls in love with a poor girl, and the rich man is engaged to a wealthy, spoilt girl who performs evil deeds to break them up.
(2) a handsome and suave man who is initially at loggerheads with a sweet and cheerful girl, later falls head over heels in love with her. Just as the fairy tale approaches a “live happily forever” ending, the girl is diagnosed with a terminal illness and dies.
(3) the lead roles are involved in a triangle relationship, and the “twist” is that they have concealed siblings’ relationship known to all but themselves.

I recently had a VCD marathon on "Lovers in Paris", a Korean show starring Park Shin-yang, Lee Dong-gun and Kim Jung-eun. Unsurprisingly, the story falls into all three catergories (minus the terminal illness part).

(This picture was taken from http://tv.sbs.co.kr/parisjapan/. From left: Lee Dong-gun, Kim Jung-eun and Park Shin-yang.)

So cliché, you would say.

Not to mention that for half of the time in the show, the lead roles cry, weep or sob.

Such draggy and teary storylines can best be described as repetitive, uncreative, boring and unrealistic.

Nevertheless, I still love watching Korean shows.

I cry when the characters cry, and laugh when they crack a joke.

Sometimes, we may be so caught up in our mundane life, and things become so robotic and mechanical that we forget what it feels to be touched.

We forget how it is like to laugh when we are happy, to cry when we are sad, to say thank you when you mean it, and to say sorry when you feel apologetic.

Most importantly, we forget how to love, and how to show our love.

If you are in a stable relationship, sometimes you may be so used to having him or her around that things feel stagnant, and you do not bother saying the three special words. You also fail to remember the little things that first attracted you to him or her.

If you have yet to find the special one or if you are skeptical about love, sometimes love may really be just around the corner, if you remember to check.

At least that was what these Korean shows have "enlightened" me.

But this “love” I am talking about is not just limited to that between you and your lover, but also towards your parents, your siblings and your friends.

Are you in the mood for love?

Perhaps you would, after watching "Lovers in Paris".