Unnie's Wednesday Write Up: I'll show you Low Brow!

So this was one of the topics I was considering last week as a WWU.  But decided against as I was just in the mood for fluff & fun.  At the end of July, the Wall Street Journal wrote an article covering, sort of, the fascination w Korean Dramas.  They talked about a study that was conducted by Seoul National University, where researchers studied Chinese TV viewership & found that K Dramas were very popular, thereby showing that the biggest draw for these shows are people w the little education & have a lower income.  Entitling the article, "South Korean Soap Operas: Just Low Brow Fun?"   This article happened to pop up in my News Feed on FB while I was on vacation with my family.  My poor CA, then had to listen to me rant & rave & give a huge breathless diatribe as to the veracity & intelligence of this article's author.  He's such a patient & loving husband, I'm a lucky woman.

What I found interesting was the viewing choices of people of higher education & income, so the article claims the study says,

"The high-education-and-high-income group showed a preference for the subject matter’s novelty, fast pace and suspense — often found in U.S. TV shows, the report said. “The Big Bang Theory” was the most popular feature for fans of American TV."

What this article does not point out, sufficiently, in my opinion, is that this study was conducted in China, exclusively.  The author of the article does not mention that K Dramas are beloved the world over, including this country.  So what would the study determine from the many K Drama fans in the US?  Of which I can only gather there are a great many, going from the counters on our blog, which tallies US readership higher than any other country at a whopping 109,552 views to date since we opened our metaphorical doors, of course most of those readers, nay those fellow AddiKts, may not yet be willing to admit their closet addiKtion, btw negative articles like this do not help K Drama fans come out of that "K-loset" either.  Who would when the stigma of "Low Brow Fun" is attached?

I happen to live in a lovely suburban area of the Midwest.  I have an education & while yes I am a stay at home mom, & therefore earn no money, for my endless work, my husband works a wonderful job, that is more than capable of taking care of this large family of 6.  I also happen to LOVE The Big Bang Theory as much as I LOVE my K Dramas.  What does that say about me?  Am I "Low Brow"?  Keep in mind, before you answer that question,  I'm an avid reader, a fan of the opera, ballet, & the theater too.

The thing I find most appealing about my AddiKtion, is the cleanliness found in K Dramas.  They are funny, intense, exciting, dramatic, entertaining & clean.  I do not have to wait & watch after my kids have gone to bed, as a precaution to them walking in on a nude scene or a sex scene, which is prevalent among US TV shows.  In fact my kids like to watch with me.  Even The Big Bang Theory, imho, is far too mature a show for my teenage son to watch, with its ribald humor & innuendo & make out precursor to sex scenes, that are rife throughout each episode.  Great adult fun & laughter, sure!  Not exactly safe for my kids!

So while I was at first very offended that I was considered Low Brow.  I was also insulted for the Chinese who were called Low Brow as well, how dare they not make more money & have higher education!!  Let's shame those who do the best they can, who work hard from sun up till sundown w little pay, by telling them have lousy taste in TV shows & are obviously too poor & stupid to know better.

As I thought more & more about it, I decided as it was the author who deemed it necessary to label our beloved K Dramas as "Low Brow Fun", I can only assume they have their own low opinion of the rise of K Dramas in this country & are trying to shame people from watching them, without actually giving them a chance, or they are trying to insert their opinion rather than allowing people to decide for themselves.  But wait they would have had to do some research to discover they were insulting a great many of their very own readers & obviously they did no research for this pathetic attempt at journalism.

And that right there, that lack of research, of forethought, of intelligence & obviously that pseudo intellectual belief that they are better than others, based solely on their level of education & what people like to watch for entertainment, that is why I was offended.  Yes, it is this form of sloppy, opinionated journalism that I actually take offense to.  What happened to relating actual news w some actual reporting included?  This is why I was so irritated with this person's article.  It was lazy, sloppy, & showed no actual research whatsoever.  A mere criticism of something they didn't take the time to study in greater depth & detail.

They found a study & slapped an insulting title to it & BAM, Voila!  Sensational journalism, at it's worst, rearing its ugly head!  I can understand this from quick entertainment news outlets, that focus on the shallow surface of stories for sensationalism; but this is an article in what I used to believe was a reputable newspaper.  Apparently even they are guilty of shoddy, lazy journalism.  Color me disappointed & dismayed.

Shame on you WSJ for posting that article.  Shame on you for criticizing something you know nothing about, as is obvious from the lack of journalistic integrity in this article.  Maybe your reporters should take a step off of & away from their high horse & realize that humanity is a varied & interesting species.  With many different & eclectic tastes & preferences & judging people on shallow items such as what they watch on TV to determine their intelligence & background is elitist, pompous, puffed up & arrogant.  Need to me to use other synonyms?  I can you know, cause I can spell!  And yes I watch Korean Dramas. I watch them so much I barely watch US TV at all.  I watch them so much I started a blog w my best friend all about them.  I watch them so much I am trying to learn another language.  WAIT!!  That can't be right?!?!  Only intelligent people learn to speak other languages.  Korean Drama watchers aren't intelligent ergo I couldn't possibly be trying to learn another language.  BTW WSJ....this will be my 3rd language.

I have a suggestion for the WSJ reporter who decided to label me & my fellow AddiKts as "Low Brow", why don't you say it to my face, you pompous know it all? I dare you.

Have a great week addiKts.  I don't know about you, but I feel better.

Saranghamnida,