K-drama: Women are pushing the boundaries on television
K-drama: Women are pushing the boundaries on television
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To play this video, you need JavaScript enabled in your browser. < /figure>By Vibeke Venema, Julie Yoonnyung Lee and Samantha HaqueBBC World Service
Many Korean television series - or K-dramas - now feature complex and powerful female characters, reflecting significant changes in societal and media habits.
K-dramas are now just as likely to have a female lead as a male lead. One of this year's biggest hits, The Glory, was about a woman taking revenge on her bullies, and the wildly popular Extraordinary Attorney Woo featured an autistic lawyer.
Women's roles in K-dramas haven't always been this interesting. Traditionally designed to be watched by the whole family, shows these days even feature the odd sex scene - and taboos like bisexual relationships and older people having a love life are being broken.
"In the 1990s, Korean dramas were mainly about chaebol - rich heirs - loving poor women," says Hong Eun-mi, vice president of the Korean Screenwriters Association. Association.
Dramas such as Boys Over Flowers, in which spoiled rich heirs fell in love with plucky working-class girls, were typical. The genre was known as "Candy girl" - named after the Japanese anime Candy Candy, which tells the story of a cheerful, hardworking orphan girl waiting for her prince to sweep her off her feet.
To play this video, you need JavaScript enabled in your browser. < /figure>By Vibeke Venema, Julie Yoonnyung Lee and Samantha HaqueBBC World Service
Many Korean television series - or K-dramas - now feature complex and powerful female characters, reflecting significant changes in societal and media habits.
K-dramas are now just as likely to have a female lead as a male lead. One of this year's biggest hits, The Glory, was about a woman taking revenge on her bullies, and the wildly popular Extraordinary Attorney Woo featured an autistic lawyer.
Women's roles in K-dramas haven't always been this interesting. Traditionally designed to be watched by the whole family, shows these days even feature the odd sex scene - and taboos like bisexual relationships and older people having a love life are being broken.
"In the 1990s, Korean dramas were mainly about chaebol - rich heirs - loving poor women," says Hong Eun-mi, vice president of the Korean Screenwriters Association. Association.
Dramas such as Boys Over Flowers, in which spoiled rich heirs fell in love with plucky working-class girls, were typical. The genre was known as "Candy girl" - named after the Japanese anime Candy Candy, which tells the story of a cheerful, hardworking orphan girl waiting for her prince to sweep her off her feet.
