Godo from Queen Seon Duk
Hello Drama Fans! In light of Claire’s 10 KDrama Conventions post, I thought this would be the perfect time to discuss and dissect the character themes that are ever present in our favorite K-dramas. Without these key characters, many dramas and their plots would seem even more ridiculous than they already are, or just be plain old boring tales of morality. I think all drama addicts subconsciously know these themed roles, just as they know the 10 situational ingredients that make an interesting drama. Hopefully you agree with my observations. If you’re a new drama watcher, then I also hope my posts will be of assistance to you.
With that being said, I’d like to ask you all to join me in mapping out these players and their ultimate roles in Korean Drama, and for you to offer your observations as well! Let’s begin by starting from the bottom of the totem pole and working our way up, shall we? First up on our list of key characters is the Village Idiot…oh boy.
The Village Idiot
Description: The Village Idiot isn’t necessarily found in the village, nor is he or she completely an idiot. They are however, slightly less sharp minded than the rest of the team. Usually portrayed as bumbling and stuttering, the Village Idiot is often clumsy and in the wrong place at the right time. More often than not, this causes the Village Idiot to save the day unwittingly. They are also known for having sporadic strokes of genius in the nick of time.
Social Network: Usually befriended by the Damsel in Distress or the Prince(ess) Charming. However, in some cases our friend, the Village Idiot, has been known to be taken advantage of by the Evil Mastermind.
Purpose: The Village Idiot is very essential the many side plots in K-drama. They are sometimes the connecting factor to seemingly unrelated situations. Their scenes are often accompanied by silly music for comedic effect, but on a more serious note, they are also used for shedding light on how we need to be compassionate towards others who are less fortunate that ourselves.
Some of the most beloved (and annoying) characters are ‘Village Idiots’ and we can easily point them out. Of the dramas I’ve watched, they were usually portrayed by actors who have mastered the art of being dumb (it’s not as easy as it sounds) and often find themselves in similar roles in each drama they take on.
Artist Lee Cheon from Yi San
Be they annoying or lovable, some notable Village Idiots (and a few of my favorite) are Jukkbang and Godo from Queen Seon Duk (pictured), Kim Jung Joo from 9 Ends 2 Outs, Artist Lee Cheon from Yi San (pictured) . I like these “Village Idiots” because they’re so dumb at times, yet in the end they always do the right thing. Especially with QSD’s Jukkbang and Godo, because when they have their ’stroke of genius’, it’s so funny to watch them prance and preen around. In 9E2O, Kim Jung Joo’s ‘idiocy’ was in his young heart and puppy love. His naive ways made him almost too dumb to to believe but I ended up falling in love with his character.
As for Artist Lee Cheon from Yi San, I have a love-hate relationship with his character. At times, he’s so stupid and clumsy it’s annoying (especially the way his head wobbles when he talks) but he ultimately has a good heart so it’s hard to hate him completely. Who are your favorite Village Idiots? Which get on your nerves or warm your heart? Why?
While you mull that over, stay tuned for my next post, where I’ll be taking a look at another character we’re all familiar with: The Jealous Lover.
Category: Korean Drama | Tags: 9 End 2 Outs, 9 Outs 2 Ins, Kdrama, Kdrama Cliches, Kdrama Conventions, Korean, Queen Seon Duk, Village Idiot, Yi San
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Sharon February 4th, 2010 3:31 pm
My favorite village idiot predates kdramas, actually–Yi T’ae Jun’s short story, “An Idiot’s Delight” (1933). There’s a translation into English in the collection A Ready-Made Life.
Claire February 4th, 2010 5:22 pm
hahahaha. excellent post, Tiffany!
Tiffny February 4th, 2010 7:56 pm
Clair: Thank you!
Sharon: Hmm, that sounds interesting. I’ll check it out sometime. Perhaps the short story will be someday made into a drama!! You never know, I think sooner or later, directors and writers will start turning to classic books and such to make adaptations. So many dramas are based on well known fairy tales (Cinderella, Prince and Pauper) that it’s become almost a little *too* predictable…almost. O_<
Kahlil Black February 5th, 2010 2:30 am
Just to second the type-casting(?) of these characters. Park Chul Min plays the trumpet player in “Beethoven Virus” and the Sideways Walking Guy in “Return of Iljamae”. I think both qualify as Village Idiots.
I liked Jakbang’s character alot. And again, it seems like the role is very similar to the one Lee Moon Shik played in Iljamae (though the latter was less cowardly).
Also, I’d love to see some classic books given a Korean drama-like treatment. I once saw a French version of “Count of Monte Cristo” with Gerard Depardieu in it that went for 8 episodes (minor league compared to most Korean series) but really gave you a much better sense of the book than the two Monte Cristo movies I saw. Characters, plots and themes are more developed so they don’t even have to change the ending (ie, have the Count and Mercedes live happily every after) because you understand why they cannot (like Bidam and Doekman). I can’t imagine how good something like “Les Mis” would be with a Kdrama treatment. It seems that in the “west”, the concept of a series with a definitely end that lasts more than mini-series (4-6 hours) length hasn’t caught on.
Sharon February 5th, 2010 1:18 pm
Tiffny: Someone told me about a kdrama based loosely on Yi Hyo Sŏk’s “When the Buckwheat Blooms,” also written during the 1930s, but the drama wasn’t subbed in English. I don’t know how popular it was in Korea, what its title was, or indeed what Yi’s story’s original (Korean) title was! (Being able to read/understand a little isn’t enough to search Naver or Daum.)
Anyway, I wonder how “fusion” these classics would need to be for a contemporary audience to enjoy them–and I hope that not all of the original context would be stripped away…. For anything from the 1930s, there’s a political edge. I guess we’ve mostly lost the political acuity of Silla/Baekje conflicts from Queen Seondeok, eh?
Tiffny February 5th, 2010 2:34 pm
Kahlil: I agree, that in Iljimae, the ‘idiot’ was less of a coward than Jukkbang. When he was first introduced in the drama, that was one of the things I *really* could not stand about him (Jukkbang), but as the drama went on, I came to accept that he was more of a ‘thinking idiot’ than one of brute strength like Godo. At times, I the pair reminded me of Pinky and the Brain or George & Lennie (Of Mice and Men)..lol.
and again I’d have to agree that it’s rather difficult to make classic stories such as Les Mis into dramas without making a mess of it, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a go. At least to shake things up a bit. ^^ However, I think I’d be more inclined to watch a drama that is adapted from a different type of morality-based story other than the classic children’s fairy tails. Personally, I’m drawn to Kdramas that don’t end neat and pretty (ex: I’m Sorry I Love You, My Girl) because life isn’t pretty and neat.Yet on the same token, I do love those Happily Ever After themes too.
Sharon: I’ll try to do a search on it. I’ve always been curious about whether or not Koreans (in Korea) enjoyed the more traditional/historical dramas vs the pop culture ones, and while 1930s isn’t exactly historical in comparison to QSD or Yi San, life was drastically different than say in the US (or so I’ve been told), so it might be an interesting watch.
The way I see it, the fusion of these classics with contemporary society could work but it would take a lot of creativity and dedication on the part of the actors,writers and pd team to try to retain the original context. As for the political edge, I feel that, even still to this day, there are many issues that could be discussed. LOL sure there are no Silla/Baekje extreme conficts, but there are some political issues that can be addressed.
However, in this case, I think it wouldn’t be wise to draw from them since we are still living in the moment. Such dramas may fail to come across as entertainment and be taken the wrong way, and then in itself causing conflict. However if a drama were to be based on a Korean classic novel, it could either be a period piece, transplanted into the here and now, with a fictional government/society or just turn our protagonists and antagonists into a spoiled rich kid and his evil step mother….but then that’d just go back to one of the conventions Clair mentioned in her post. =P
arbel February 15th, 2010 11:27 pm
can you post another…and i like deuc man..plz…
Tiffny February 17th, 2010 7:53 pm
hi arbel, I’ve posted a few more “korean drama character” posts besides this one!^^ check through the blog or follow this link: http://blog.dramafever.com/author/tiffny/
jolly Goode February 22nd, 2010 2:19 pm
Another smile inducing post, Tiff.
I think of the village idiot as the court jester. They are there to move some plot along and of course for comic relief. An adept jester, knows the moods of the king(the audience)and knows how to appeal to our sense of humor with the perfect comic timing without annoying us or making us aware of their efforts in their antics. This is a difficult art to master and I am in awe of the comic masters of verbal and physical comedy who makes us laugh without feeling that they tried to do so by design.
I agree with Kahlil Black that complex books would do much better as a drama series to understand the intricacies of the plot.