Dear creators of Secret Love Affair:
How dare you?
As of this writing on Saturday morning,
your show is more than 48 hours from premiering in Korea, and subtitles probably won't be available for more like 72 hours.
And yet, you’ve already driven me to the brink of obsession.
First there were
the posters, which were burnished and glorious. Then there was the
30-second teaser, which was dramatic and sexy. And then you killed me
dead with the 22-minute preview. At first I swore I wouldn’t watch
it, not wanting to spoil the Christmas-morning experience of seeing
the drama’s first episode. But of course I gave in, and of course now I can’t
keep myself from hitting play again and again.
The preview is intense and
sexy, piano porn complete with a healthy dose of human erotica.
Everything about it is perfect—from Yoo In Ah’s awkwardness to
the way the leads’ faces reflect in the piano’s polished surface
to the intimate, bedside glow of the lighting.
So when I heard
about Secret Love Affair, I was excited. But that’s nothing
compared to sheer elation I experienced when I realized what the
drama would be about—a forbidden love between a middle-aged woman
and a much younger man. New revelations have hinted that his
character will be a Good Will Hunting-style working-class
prodigy, and that she’ll help him uncover his genius for music. As they say on Tumblr, my body is ready.
(A website called their expressions in these pictures “sad.” I guess that’s one direction you could go, but I’d say “hungry” is much more appropriate.)
My response is
pretty unusual, though. SLA’s subject matter has made it
controversial on the dramaweb. Lots of people are put off by the lead
couple’s twenty-year age difference, and the fact that she’s
married makes it even worse. But it’s easy enough for me to see why
you made both of these narrative decisions: Kdrama romances have such
a long history of breaking taboos that doing so has become a
stereotype. Fauxcest, rich boys and poor girls, noona love stories,
and even extramarital affairs are a dime a dozen. The familiarity of
all these plot points has robbed them of any true shock value, making them seem about as dangerous as a pair of pink-nosed bunny slippers.
But a married woman
who’s old enough to be the mother of the boy she’s in love with?
That’s something different, something startling, something
dangerous. It’s sensationalism, which is a great tactic for
motivating people to watch television shows. That’s fine with me,
especially because I know that in spite of what might be a tawdry premise you can be trusted to respect your
characters and your audience.
And I don’t believe
for a minute that this show is going to be a gross, skin-crawling
take on Lolita. Although he was incredibly convincing as an
unsure and gawky young man in the preview, Yoo In Ah is in fact a
man. He’s playing a nineteen-year-old college student who’s
led a tough life, not a pampered high schooler who has yet to reach the age of consent. If a delicate
little flower boy like Lee Hyun Woo or Lee Jong Suk were to play this
role, even I would be weirded out. But Yoo In Ah is big and bulky and
strong in spite of his boyish face. On screen, he reads as an adult,
not a child.
(I usually prefer Kdrama couples that spend a lot of time looking at each other. Secret Love Affair seems to be an exception to this rule: The leads barely made eye contact, but their positioning always allowed for hidden, lingering glances. They kept a conspicuous amount of space between them, as if they’re afraid what might happen if they get too close.)
About that older woman. As someone who might even fit into that category myself, I can appreciate that life doesn’t stop at thirty. We live on, human beings with the full complement of emotions and needs enjoyed by the young whippersnappers of the world. Just because someone is younger than you doesn’t mean you can’t be attracted to them, or that they can’t be attracted to you in return. Kim Hee Ae is so beautiful, how could you blame Yoo Ah In’s character for wanting to be with her? The reverse is clearly true, too. (I would also like to point out that in real life The Prime Minister’s leads are exactly 20 years apart, yet we didn’t hear much of this age-gape griping when people were talking about that show. I don’t think the drama itself even acknowledged that there was an age difference. Why is it okay for an older man to be with a younger woman, but not for an older woman to be with a younger man?)
I am worried about
this couple, but for different reasons. As I’ve written in the
past, the Japanese movie and novel Tokyo Tower is apparently
the inspiration for your drama. The Kdrama
version seems to have addressed most of the things that concerned me
about the source material—it’s starting with the beginning of
their affair, rather than jumping into their love story years later.
And it doesn’t look like it will be a man’s story of the remote woman he
loves. In the extended preview, Kim Hee Ae shows more emotion
than the female lead did in the entirety of Tokyo Tower. But
there’s still room for the movie’s big flaw to intrude here: in
TT, the love almost always felt one-sided. The female
lead seemed to be using her paramour for his body, youth, and tireless devotion to her. I really, really don’t want Kim Hee Ae’s character to
be similarly unaffected by her student’s passion. That’s
the real peril of a grown-up relationship this unequal—not that
they might love one another, but that the person holding all the
cards might take advantage of their younger, less experienced
partner.
I don’t even mind
the infidelity aspect of the story, and I think you can
convince the doubters to give your female lead a chance in spite
of her actions. You certainly managed it in A Wife’s
Credentials, which revolved around a woman leaving a deeply
unhappy marriage. Her husband treated her like the hired help, and
his ever-present family was actually nasty whenever she was around. I don’t think anybody could
have genuinely wanted her to continue a relationship that
served her so very badly. Marriage is a wonderful thing. But
sometimes marriages end, and infidelity can be a symptom of that end,
not its cause. Anyway, who says that your leads need to be pure and
blameless to be worthy of our attention?
(Good luck making any kissing in this drama as hot as this duet. I’m not convinced the censors would allow it on TV.)
In honor of our
new-found friendship, I thought I’d share my wish list for this show.
• Piano sex.
Not to sound like a disgusting horndog or anything, but please
don’t leave us hanging with this incredibly potent duet scene.
Your recent dramas haven’t really involved much skinship, but I
think we can all agree that a good shag on the piano bench is in
order here.
• But don’t
let it be all about sex. I’m a little conflicted about how I
want this drama to end. On the one hand, I’m always a proponent of
happily ever after. On the other hand, this is a serious age difference.
Being together now is one thing, but what happens when she’s eighty
and he’s sixty? That’s the difference between being elderly and being middle aged. To believe that they have even a
tiny chance of lasting happiness together, I’m going to need them
to have more in common than just lust. We all know that has an
incredibly short shelf life. The piano is a good place to
start building them a relationship, but it should only be the
beginning.
• Please don’t
hurt his hands. I know you’re made of finer stuff than more
other drama production teams, but I’m sure this trope will still be
tempting. Don’t succumb. For once, I want to see something about
a genius pianist that doesn’t include mangled hands that cause his
career to come to a tragic end. It was a joy to watch Yoo Ah In
playing in the preview, and I want to see more of it throughout the
rest of the drama.
• How about
making them compose together? Because if there’s anything
hotter than a good duet, it’s the giddy high of a successful creative
collaboration.
• Make
everyone as nuanced as your leads. While you tend to do great
work bringing your lead characters to life, your secondary figures can
veer toward the cartoony. It’s time to prove to the world that
you’re better than the utterly irredeemable marital family
in A Wife’s Credentials and the mustache-twirling bad guys in
The End of the World. Making the female lead’s husband a
dick doesn’t really absolve her of the responsibility from walking
away from him, so don’t even try.
Thanks to you, I
can’t wait for my weekend to be over, because it will mean that I’m that
much closer to embarking on the journey of Secret Love Affair.
Please, please, pretty please don’t let me down.
Please, please, pretty please don’t let me down.
Sincerely,
Amanda
P.S.: I couldn’t wait—I watched the first episode yesterday without subs. Naturally, I had things to say.
P.S.: I couldn’t wait—I watched the first episode yesterday without subs. Naturally, I had things to say.
" Please don’t hurt his hands." I didn't even consider this.. but now it's kind of all I can think about.. hah.
ReplyDeleteI skipped the long preview, because I want to go into this sorta blankly. Honestly, even I can't because I keep reading what everyone else has be saying about it. I might as well have watched the trailer. :P I suppose I'll be watching this show very soon. I don't really have the strength to resist it.
You're so excited about this that I hope it's as good as you are hoping it will be!
ReplyDeleteI just watched the first subbed ep (no preview for me, I hate spoilers) and I fell hard, like never before. This show is gonna be good. I'm stunned how much I love it already. Wow.
ReplyDeleteI'm not excited about this drama, but I am intrigued. If the characters are written well and I can understand them, then I might even get over the cheating part.
ReplyDeleteThe age difference doesn't bother me in this case. I mean sometimes it can and it can get in the way of enjoying a series/movie. But if the chemistry is there and their romance seems believable then I should be okay. But I guess it also helps that Yoo Ah In is in his late twenties and not actually 19. Like you said, if it were "a delicate little flower boy like Lee Hyun Woo or Lee Jong Suk" it would make it a lot weirder.
The producer(s) was clever to cast Kim Hee Ae as the heroine because she's so elegant and looks so young for her age. I watched the first 2 eps and had no problems imagining the two leads together - age wasn't even an issue in my mind.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if anyone is recapping this drama? There were parts that I needed clarifications on. I'm so glad Viki is subbing this; they're so fast.
Hello, I've found one blog that does called noises from the closet.WordPress.com but it seems to be the first or even only one so far. I love the tone of it.
DeleteJust watched the first two episodes last night.The first one is setting the stage for what is to come.
ReplyDeleteThe duet is absolutely riveting! The tension mounting and mounting! I love the piano ,but that it could be so sexy....hmm...that is a whole other side I never considered.Emotional yes,but hot steamy sexy,no....
I think I will just wait until the next 5 episodes are out before watching again...One episode just will not do...
I just hope that none of them die (like in the latest dramas Yoo Ah In made) hate those endings!
ReplyDelete2nd-ind your request!! sex on the piano pretty please
ReplyDeletehahahahahaha.. yes I agree with that picture they said "sad", it should be "hungry". :D
ReplyDelete(I've bookmarked your blog on my tab, it's so fun to read. thanks) ^^
regards, Indi from Indonesia
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ReplyDeleteright away...
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