Movies, soap operas, TV shows, sitcoms and even animes, these are some of things that Filipinos love to watch. We cannot deny the fact that watching is already a part of Filipino lifestyle. We can’t imagine a life without television, without cinemas and even internets which are the sources of those we want to watch. Many Filipinos watch movies because their idols are the main character of the story. Just like Manny Fernandez, an avid fan of Carmen Rosales, a Filipino actress. He even wrote a book about Carmen and her movies and remained loyal until she died (Carballo, 2013).
While some are watching because they are a fan of the characters in the movies, others watch movies for entertainment. A study proves that watching television is a form of relaxation although there is also a bad effect on our health (Magallanes, 74-75). In other words, there are different reasons that can prove that Filipinos love watching. On the other hand, a lot of nationalities are famous on our generation and we can say that Koreans are one of those that are most popular to us. They influence Filipinos in different ways. One of these is their music.
Most of the famous songs today are the so called “ K-pop” or Korean pop, it is a boy or girl band like Big Bang and Girls Generation. They are usually consisting of more than 5 members, sing and dance at the same time. Most of us can’t understand their language but still loved to listen to their music. On a segment in Myx Channel called Daily Top Ten, a countdown of famous songs from top ten to one, at least three or four songs of different K-pop group are included in this countdown.
Even the outfit and their hairstyle were being adopted by us. Yesstyle. com is an online server that offers fashionable clothes, shoes, bags and other accessories. They also give opinions how to dress nicely in different occasions and Korean style is one of their guides on matching types of clothes. There are a lot of online servers that are the same with the Yesstyle in our country that is why we can say that we are greatly influenced by Koreans. We can also see the Korean invasion when watching Korean dramas or Koreanovelas. It is televised dramas in miniseries format that are aired on our country (Chitransh, 2012).
We can notice that different koreanovelas were being watched and topics of conversations online. Many of us loved watching these because of different reasons and we can say that we are addicted to them especially the teenagers. Body Channel networks like GMA and ABS-CBN televised different Koreanovelas because they know that many of us will watch those dramas and because they are popular today. They even replay those dramas that have been televised already because of public demand. In short many of us are really addicted in Koreanovelas, one reason why we chose these dramas rather than Filipino dramas.
Those who love watching koreanovelas have reasons why they watch these dramas and according to the study of Alanzalon, fans or even other audiences consume media for precise physiological means. Some watch koreanovelas because the plot of their stories is more realistic than Filipino dramas. Usually, in the Filipino drama, the main character will suffer in so many problems and his life will always be in danger but still have a happy ending where the main actor and the leading lady will be together. This kind of story is very common that many don’t want to watch this dramas having this story.
While in a Koreanovela, it has different stories for each drama. 1It can be flagship Korean drama that runs for 16-20 episodes or historical epics that have 50-100 episodes. 2Flagship dramas has two categories, stories set in modern South Korea like Winter Sonata and Boys over Flowers and the other one was the fictional dramatizations of Korean history with complex story lines and special effects like Queen Seondoek. We are attracted to these dramas because of its uniqueness from other typical dramas.
Actors and actresses that play the role of the main characters in a Koreanovela are those who are well-known and popular to the viewers that attract most of us to watch these dramas. The numbers of viewers is usually depends on who acts as the main characters of the drama. Like Lee min Ho, a popular actor that plays the role of Gu Jun Pyo in Boys over Flower. He is famous not only in Korea but also in other countries because of his talent in acting and his handsomeness. Avid fans of him are always updated and watches his movies and dramas that also made them addicted to Koreanovelas.
Although there are many fans of these dramas, there still some that doesn’t want Koreanovelas. Most of them are the elders who appreciate Filipino dramas rather than these. It is because they want to watch dramas that they can easily understand. In watching a Koreanovela that is not aired in the television, we are in need of English subtitles to understand the story. Also in a Korean drama the lead roles are young actors and actresses that made elders not to watch Koreanovelas, usually they are fans of older actors.
For them Koreanovelas are not that good compare to our drama series. From Korean music, outfit and hairstyle up to Koreanovelas, Korean version is so dominant to Filipinos. From this, is there something that a Korean icon would say if he would know about Filipino addiction in koreanovelas? We all know that an actor becomes famous because of his fans. Even Korean actors should be thankful to their Filipino fans for idolizing and watching their dramas. 3“ I don’t forget that it it’s because of the support of my fans that I achieved success.
I am very honored and thankful for the support of my fans. I achieved fame and success because of their love and support,” Lee Min Ho stated on his interview with “ The Buzz” on ABS-CBN. Just like him other Korean actors’ feels great about the addiction on Koreanovelas among Filipinos. They are thankful because they appreciate them even they are not Filipinos. We love watching their dramas that makes them popular in different places and we are adopting their culture and some of their lifestyle. They should be honored for these reasons.
Choosing Korean dramas instead of our dramas may affect our movie industry. According to government statistical coordination officer Gerald Clarino, piracy, competition to foreign movies and little support from the public causes the decline on industry (Presse, 2012. ) In this statement it is clearly stated that one reason of the fall of our industry is movies from other countries. We can relate this happening when choosing Koreanovelas from Filipino dramas. Those who support watching Koreeanovelas causes the decrease of those who watch Filipino dramas.
We can say that the fans of Koreanovelas outnumbered those who are fans of Filipino dramas today. We said earlier that mostly teenagers are addicted to these dramas. 4In a study it is said that 61. 1% of people in the Philippines are composed of 15-64 years old, an age bracket were teenagers belong. In other words almost half of our population may be an avid fan of Koreanovelas. With this information we may answer the question why they are most Filipinos that love to watch Korean dramas than Filipino dramas.
Different reasons led many Filipinos to be addicted in Koreanovelas. It affects their lifestyle and even our country’s industry. We can say that this simple event can cause a great effect on other things in different ways. Conclusion In this study we can already conclude that many Filipinos were addicted in Koreans today. Not only their style but also some of their culture were being adopted by us, their music, their dances and also their dramas, the so called Koreanovelas. We had answered why there were Filipinos that were addicted in these dramas.
The reasons and also the effects of it on our country. First, we proved that different reasons were behind the question: why do some Filipinos choose Korean movies/Koreanovelas than our own movies? One of their reasons is the performers of the dramas. Some of them are really famous today and has a lot of Filipino fans. We all know that a Filipino fan will do anything for their idols. Buying different items and products that were being endorsed by their idols and also watching their dramas just to be updated on the things happening to them.
Because of this we can say that Korean actors and actresses greatly affect the taste of a Filipino in choosing what to watch. Next is that we can say that Filipino dramas had very common story lines making it boring and less interesting for some Filipinos. We want dramas that will entertain us when we watch it and most Filipinos find this characteristic in Korean dramas. We are not saying that a Koreanovela is better than a Filipino drama. This study is focused only on the reasons and also to prove that many Filipinos are now addicted in watching Koreanovelas.
We can say that there are still some of us who choose Filipino dramas rather than Koreanovelas. We found out through this study that most of them are the Filipino elders that want to watch dramas that are easy to understand. It is obvious that they would want Filipino dramas that were using our own language than Koreanovelas that were also using their own language and is too difficult for us to understand. In this we can understand that Filipinos have different basis when it comes in choosing between a Filipino drama and Koreanovela.
We are done in getting the opinions of Filipinos about our main issue. For us to have additional information, we also get the side of a Korean actor about this. And through this study it is said to be that a Korean actor is thankful to his fans including Filipinos that were supporting and loving him. The fans are the reason why they achieved success and fame that is why it is reasonable to an actor to be grateful about this. Being addicted to Korean dramas give rise to the question: does this affect our country’s movie industry?
We had proven that one reason of the declining state of our movie industry is because of the competition from foreign movies. By this we can say that, yes, Koreanovela addiction among Filipinos affects our movie industry. Lesser viewers of our dramas mean the continual declining of our movie industry. This study had proven to us that many Filipinos were addicted to Koreanovela and that they had different reasons why they were in this condition. Also we conclude that this event had an effect not only to those who were involved but also it has a great effect on our country specifically on our movie industry.
