My Love From the Star and Our Love for Jun Ji Hyun

Spoiler Alert! We're doing a deep dive on My Love From the Star so this episode is filled with spoilers (as usual).

1:05 We introduce our guest podcaster, Drama Mara, who creates video analyses of Kdramas that are a must-watch. Check her out on YouTube and Twitter.

1:45 We take a moment to acknowledge the current Covid surge. We know that the coronavirus pandemic continues to have devastating effects all over the world, with some of the worst outbreaks in the same places where we have the most listeners. We want to acknowledge the difficulty and heartbreak that so many of you are experiencing and tell you that our hearts are with you. We wish that we could do more to help, but we hope that we can at least distract you for a few minutes or a few hours. Take care of each other out there.

2:40: Listener feedback on our Crash Landing on You episode ! We love hearing from you guys.

6:30: Start of My Love From the Star discussion

7:56: This show was so popular in China that it helped lead to a total ban on Korean entertainment in China for three years. Really. Puts the Joseon Exorcist controversy into perspective.

9:22: Purely coincidentally, this episode is timed with Jun Ji-hyun’s comeback after a four year break to start a family. Her latest drama, Kingdom: Ashin of the North, a prequel to the worldwide Netflix zombie hit, is dropping on July 23, 2001.

11:03: Is MLFTS a classic? Are people still watching? Melanie argues that its huge popularity cements this show’s classic status but it’s fading from public consciousness. Vickey and Alisa agree. Mara thinks it will continue to be popular with folks who explore older Kdramas. Katherine, our OG Kdrama watcher, remembers how hugely popular MLFTS was and how it led directly to writer Park Ji-eun’s recent smash hit, Crash Landing on You.

17:11 Melanie brings up how influential MLFTS has been on the dramas that followed, including production values (first drama in 2013 to use HD cameras). Followed by Alisa going on a rant about Kdramas with expensive production values but poor storytelling.

22:17: Alisa rants yet again against perfect male leads perfectly rescuing female leads. 

24:13: Kim Soo Hyun: so pretty he made Alisa forget to read the subtitles! But was his performance good in MLFTS? Vickey and Alisa say no.

28:55: Mara argues that Do Min Joon is not a perfect character and is in fact deeply flawed. “He spent 400 years on earth not getting close to anyone.” Melanie and Katherine agree.

32:00 Melanie kicks off a fangirl freakout over Jun Ji-hyun’s amazing performance in this star-making role.

42:35: We discuss the parallels between a scandal in the drama and a rumored real-life scandal in Jun Ji-hyun’s marriage and what it says about the status of women in real life.

46:04: Why oh why do so many Kdramas have the leads meet when the female lead is a child? Make it stop…

49:59: We dive into the problematic power dynamics between the MLFTS lead couple. The female lead starts out strong but is gradually cut down to size as the drama progresses.

54:26: There’s more sex in MLFTS than Crash Landing on You (with a broad definition of sex outside of actual intercourse). The couple in MLFTS clearly desire each other but CLOY is completely neutered. Also, wtf is up with KSH’s towel shower???

58:12: The ending of MLFTS vs. CLOY: which is better/worse? Melanie prefers MLFTS but Alisa thinks it’s PTSD-inducing. Also, Melanie dives into a safe sex lecture 🙃

1:04: Some appreciation for national treasure Kim Chang-wan as Do Min-joon’s best friend and the found family aspect of the drama.

1:08: Yoo In-na is a Daebak podcast fave but she wasn’t doing it for us in this drama. To be fair, the writing for her character was...not great.

1:11: The appeal of the awful female lead. When women are socialized to be self-sacrificing it can be a thrill to see a woman behave badly and still get all the goodies. It helps when you have Jun Ji-hyun playing the role.

1:13: We spend more time picking apart Kim Soo Hyun’s performance, with (probably) unfair comparisons to Spock and IU in My Ahjussi. The writing didn’t help. Mara points out that when you have two male leads, one is the stoic one and one is the fun one (exhibit a: The Heirs)

1:18: The metaphysics of the show, aka none of this makes sense, also aka make the rules of your world and stick to them. 

1:26: We compare and contrast writer Park Ji-eun with the Hong Sisters (Hotel Del Luna) and Kim Eun-sook (Goblin). 

1:29: Despite how much time we spent criticizing MLFTS, we do acknowledge that the show was a massive, influential hit for some very good reasons. Even Alisa had to admit she cried in parts.