Behind The Scenes Of The World Of The Married: Controversy And Pressure Of South Korea's Conservative Society

Ilustrasi (Ilham Amin / VOI)

The success of The World of the Married as one of the best drakors was accompanied by controversy over its players. After seeing "Emotional Exploitation in The World of the Married and Other Drakor Titles", we now explore the behind-the-scenes life of the cast of The World of the Married, including how much pressure they get from South Korea's conservative society. Still part of VOI's signature Series Writing, "Korean Drama Invasion".

Drakor The World of the Married this week will enter its last two episodes. The show, which was adapted from the British drama series Doctor Foster, managed to get a rating of 8.6 / 10 on IMDb. The acting of all the actors is undeniably one of the factors why this drama is so popular with various groups. In fact, this title is said to have given birth to many new Korean audiences.

Not only about the story line. During the broadcast of The World of the Married, the discussion about the personal lives of the players was lively. Various mass media keep reporting on the lives of the players behind the scenes. Various information about the player's life was revealed. Some have caused controversy.

What happened to Jeon Jin-seo, for example. He is one of the top stars in South Korea. He started his career since childhood. Some of the dramas he starred in were The Legend of the Blue Sea, Mr. Sunshine, and Into the World Again. In The World of the Maried, Jeon Jin-seo played Lee Joon-young, the son of Ji Sun-woo (Kim Hee-ae) and Lee Tae-oh (Park Hae-joon).

Recently, controversy arose from this 2006-born actor. Reported by Soompi, Jeon Jin-seo is known to have uploaded a controversial picture on his personal Facebook account. The controversial post is an illustration of a male manhwa character showing the middle fingers of both hands.

Above the character's image is a dialogue bubble that essentially reads: All women, disappear. The phrase was pronounced in harsh language. On Jeon Jin-seo's social media account, you can see replies to comments with his friends, where you can see the actor using a lot of swear words.

Besides Jeon Jin-seo, Jung Joon-won was also confronted by controversy. Some of the most recent controversial photos of the star show her and her friends drinking soju and smoking cigarettes. This action became controversial because he was still under the legal age, namely 17 years. In South Korea, the legal drinking age for alcoholic beverages is 20 years.

Just like Jeon Jin-seo. Jung Joon-won also shone from a young age. Jung Joon-won's achievements were extraordinary. In 2017, Jung Joon-won even received the Best Youth Actor award for his acting in the drama My Father is Strange. In The World of the Married, he played Cha Hae-kang, Lee Joon-young's schoolmate, played by Jeon Jin-soo.

Agency oversight

The two controversies that overshadow Jeon Jin-seo and Jung Joon-won look alike. Both of them are young. Both of them also experienced pressure due to certain norm standards adhered to by South Korean society. From an industrial point of view, the causes of the problems they both experience are the same: the judgment of the public and the agency that has missed.

"I see this is a form of 'cheating', both from artists and agencies because they didn't think that South Korean netizens would dig up information about these two young artists to that extent. South Korean netizens are known for their ability to dig up as much detail as possible," said an observer of South Korean culture. as well as a lecturer in the Korean Language Education Study Program at the Indonesian Education University (UPI), Ashanti Widyana explained the problem.

In South Korea, entertainment industry players do have close contracts with agencies. A number of clauses often place themselves under the close supervision of their respective agencies. Personal life is often taken away. The pressure came along.

The agency that oversees Jeon Jin-seo, T1 Entertainment, had released an apology for the star's upload. T1 said Jeon Jin Seo entered middle school last year and his parents forbade him from dating. After that he uploaded the picture, which his friends usually use to express things like 'I have a girlfriend' or 'I'm not dating'.

"The image that has become controversial is one that is popular among his friends. And he only uploaded it after receiving it. We tell you that he was completely unaware of the symbolism or implied meaning," said T1 Entertainment.

"He is a young actor who is still growing up and developing his values. And we realize that as an agency we haven't done enough to guide him. Together with his guardian, we will work hard and guide him so he can develop honest standards. About his words, actions and attitude. We'll be careful and make sure this doesn't happen again. "

Even with Jung Joon-won's agency, DAIN Entertainment. They helped clarify the controversy that overshadowed his young star. On May 10, Jung Joon-won's agency, DAIN Entertainment, released an official statement regarding the matter. They confirmed that the true photo was Jung Joon-won and apologized for the incident.

We apologize for causing an incident of public criticism at a time when society was in a bad state because of COVID-19. We also apologize to the production staff for drama The World of the Married. We will be more careful in managing our artists in the future and do our best. our best to prevent the recurrence of this problem, "said DAIN Entertainment.

Meanwhile, following the controversy regarding Jung Joon-won's behavior, The World of the Married has clarified that the actor was not included in the next episode of the drama, which are the last two episodes. "Jung Joon-won's last appearance was in episode 14, which aired on May 9."

"He did not appear in episode 15 or 16, according to the script. Regarding deleting parts of him from the other episodes, confirmation is required," reads a statement issued by the producer of The World of the Married.

Conservative public pressure

The main star of The World of the Married, Han So-hee, also came under pressure regarding certain standards of norms adopted by South Korean society. On April 8, Han So-hee also received criticism for her old photo featuring So-hee who is tattooed and smoking. Although there have been many positive reactions to his past, he has also received negative attention from some netizens.

Following his rise in popularity and increasing negative comments over his past actions, his friends defended him and criticized South Korean society for their sexist views on tattoos and smoking. "Nowadays there are many people who have tattoos because they like them. But people who don't like tattoos also show their displeasure, right?" said Han So-hee's friend, who was not named.

"I can't say that this mindset is right or wrong because everyone has different thoughts. The photos with tattoos and cigarettes were taken by Han So-hee when she was a model. Due to her appearance in dramas, interest in dramas has increased," he added. .

Reporting from Koreaboo, her friend also shared that because of Han So-hee's ambition to become an actress, she ended up removing all of her tattoos, which was a painful process. He also emphasized that all of his photos depicting smoking and tattoos were taken after he was an adult.

Ashanti Widyana, an observer of South Korean culture as well as a lecturer in the Korean Language Education Study Program at the Indonesian Education University (UPI), explained that South Korean society in general is still very closely attached to Eastern traditional culture. The conservative nature is quite heavy for entertainment industry players. Moreover, South Korean society is known for its low tolerance characteristics.

"Back again, South Korea is a country that is very difficult to tolerate the bad past of its artists. Even if the agency knows they will cover it up ... There are many examples like that. The controversy raised by the media makes artists have to resign or take a hiatus from the entertainment world. , "said Ashanti, contacted by VOI, Friday, May 15.

If Han So-hee commits a light violation of the cultural norms of South Korean society, Lee Kyung-young will be involved in a very serious scandal. In 2002, Lee Kyung-young was arrested and tried in court for prostitution of minors. Reporting from Koreaboo, public records from the trial revealed that Lee Kyung-young "manipulated and exploited" an aspiring underage actress named "L" to have sex.

In return, Lee Kyung-young promised a role in one of the films. At first, Lee Kyung-young was said to be oblivious to the fact that L was a teenager. In the most controversial post-trial of the era, Lee Kyung-young faced extreme criticism from audiences in Korea.

All of those things made him disappear from the screen for a while. Then, in 2011, almost a decade after that case, he started starring in films and dramas again.

His appearance in The World of the Married sparked heated debate among viewers about whether he should be featured in the drama for the sake of the show. Many Korean viewers thought that he had committed crimes that were so unethical and unacceptable.

"Answer me. It's like Korea doesn't have other male actors Lee Kyung-young's age. In fact, there are many actors with better diction and acting than Lee Kyung-young. So why should I keep seeing him on TV?" said one of the netizens.

His reappearance sparked a boycott from some people against this drama. Prior to his role in The World of the Married, Lee Kyung-young also starred in the Netflix drama Vagabond.

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