gilaswan

My first post of 2021 and response to this - 1. Kim Seon Ho, because Han Jipyeong! 2. Han Jipyeong 3. Start-up 4. Don’t think so... 5. Yeah. I reckon so. Here’s looking forward to another good one this year!

Yes. Doesn’t matter who pays. The Code of Ethics actually state that all information exchanges between the parties you are interpreting for is proprietary to the parties and not the interpreter. The interpreter does not have the ethical right to relay this information to a third party as long as the party was not themselves present in the exchange. Interpreters professionally must remain neutral, else once it goes out that you are someone who is loose lipped, you will lose your reputation in the industry and people won’t want to hire you anymore.

Why didn't she tell him that she returned the money? Anyways... my 2 cents on last night's episode - you know the part where Seon Gyeom asks Mi Joo why she didn't tell him about Woo Sik's plan to quit sports and she tells him it's cos she knew he would get upset and overreact? A very romantic notion and befitting of a drama of this sort, but in the profession, the real reason is that the code of ethics prevents you from sharing information you came into knowledge of during an assignment. You're just not supposed to blab and gossip. Interpreters are essentially "blind and deaf". See nothing, hear nothing, know nothing. During an assignment, we can even seem cold, but really, we're not supposed to socially interact while on duty. Many ethical questions... many ethical questions indeed.

Thought mistakenly for a while that it was 30 Dec tonight and was momentarily happy. Alas, one more sleep to next episode...

Ok. So after seeing reports of high ratings, I decided to give this show another try. The political intrigue is starting to be insteresting, and though they say all events depicted have no relation to actual historical figures, I went to do a little background read of Cheoljong and Cheorin. They were rather inconsequential figures in Korean history, which could explain the liberties being taken with their histories. All that said, I just wanted to see the queen cook. Hahaha...

@abs-oluteMThat's what I said to hubby too re being so done with love triangles cos of start-up. Start-up really burned us, aye? Hahaha... I too like how unfiltered the characters are. There's something about KSG's childhood. He didn't grow up at home? Did he spend all his life at a boarding school? He does have a very pitiful life. But this journey to self discovery for him is interesting. I'd love to see what happens to the other thug athletes too.

Ooh. This looks good. I'm not into movies but this is an interesting story. I have to say, I'm always intrigued by Asian communities that continue to find America the place of their "dreams". I cannot say I fully comprehend that sentiment, but there remain very specific Asian communities that think like this to this day, the Korean community being one of them. It's very apparent in the sector I work in.

Am finally all caught up with the episodes though I reckon I’ll have to rewatch them. This show is quite intriguing in that it makes me look forward to the next episode, but I’m not sure why. Can’t place my finger on what it is - the characters? Storyline? There’s something about Ki Seon Gyeom and Seo Dan Ah that’s so typically atypical. Seon Gyeom is aloof without being irritating; Dan Ah is abrasive without being unlikeable. Somehow. I can imagine in real life they would be very vexing, but for some reason, not to the audience. And Dan Ah’s half brother - what’s it with him? Why does he crave her attention so much? And after the latest episode, I’m starting to wonder what Young Hwa’s back story is. He’s like a character out of the blue with no connection to anyone else in the main story arc. He’s like a character out of serendipity. Everyone in this show is so dysfunctional, the only normal person seems to be Oh Mi Joo, and the circumstances surrounding her work situation intrigues me the most so far. As a trained interpreter myself, I find the situations she’s in and how the profession is practised quite interesting but appalling too. For example the scene where the reporter asked Seon Gyeom’s sister why she needed an interpreter despite being fluent in English, and she goes on this nationalistic linguistic spiel which was obviously laced with arrogance and totally not politically correct. It seemed to me like she was testing Mi Joo then, and Mi Joo clearly “passes” when she responds with “No comment”. But (1) surely the reporter suspects something - so much said ends up being just “no comment”? (2) don’t they come with recorders? if they do, wouldn’t the reporters have their own contacts who can listen to the recordings and tell them what exactly was said? and (3) what went through my mind then was - Are there no interpreter ethics they are bound to adhere to? Or is it exactly that - with power and money, all ethics get thrown out the window even if there are written codes we all take oaths to uphold, like the issue with the Athletic Association’s refusal to mete out punishment in the first place? I have to say there have been many instances unsavoury things have been said either to my clients or in general that would be insulting or offensive to my clients, and the first instinct is always to filter. And I can’t say I haven’t made the mistake of filtering before. But the funny thing about the world of interpreting is the question - who is your client? The person who pays you to know what is being said and to render their intentions as accurately and clearly as possible (down to tone and semiotically accurate choice of words), or the other party who also benefits from your service but is not paying for it. Does the other party not deserve to know what was said either or that what he has said has offended? As Mi Joo said, she was hired to be Seon Gyeom’s ears and voice, but our ears don’t naturally filter either what the other party is saying.

Has anyone seen this? He’s so fast! Running on sand isn’t easy at all!

Oh. But it’s quite the trend now to wear trainers or sneakers with formal work wear. I do it from time to time too! 😂 I thought it looked really nice!

@abs-oluteM I’m here!!! Watched episode 1 and 2 yesterday and this story has promise! Like it especially cos it revolves around a character who’s developing her career as an interpreter and translator, an area of work I used to do professionally in my past life (and still engage in pro bono assignments in my present life), so I totally understand her struggles and joys.

@Lynne @abs-oluteM @Chocolate @bairama You'd like this.

I think if we allow the story to develop into a "season 2", I would say as he spends more time with Cheongmyeong and Injae Company, he will end up getting to know Injae better. And then he will open up to her about the letters and being the one that should have been there at the networking party instead of Dosan. Then Injae will find him such an intriguing person that they start to talk more and have more meals together - afterall, they had already known each other prior and this would be the chance for him to hear her side of the story of why she chose her mum back then and left Dalmi behind. AND THEN, Jipyeong and Injae will both finally realise that the things of their youth really need to be let go of. Meanwhile, there continue to be turmoils and battles between Injae Company and Morning Group as they try to battle it out - the conflicts Injae will experience as her former stepdad and stepbro continue to try to make her feel that she needs to be indebted to them for the "rich foundations" they afforded her. And this story of "did I make the right choices" begin to surface, harking back even to when Jipyeong said to Halmeoni in anger (at the hotdog stand), "I should never have met you!" and his choice back then of having accepted her offer to spend the night in the hotdog shop, etc. Oooh... do you reckon we could write a Part 2 here for the fun of it? Hahahaha

@Lynne Are you still lurking here, unable to let go? Hahaha... Our Good Boy is like Poor Thing Boy. Hahaha... They really should have made this a choose your own adventure story or at least put him with Injae. I'm still wondering though, how would it have happened with Injae though. Why have the badges suddenly gotten so big? Or is it just my view setting?

I'm just surprised he never went into modelling

Just tried watching Catch the Ghost, but found the story kinda slow and the FL a tad annoying. Anyone thought so too? Just wishing he had more dramas to follow. I hope his next role allows him that breadth and depth of character development too.

@ChocolateThere should be one with all their interactions, not just the crying ones. They've got the best interactions in the entire show.

Honestly ah... I’ve never thought dimples necessarily made someone look prettier or more handsome. They don’t always look nice? I dunno. Like Joo Won has dimples too, but am I being biased here? Seon Ho wears his dimples better, if that is even something possible. Even though Jipyeong is a serious character, his dimples don’t take away that seriousness from him. Hahaha... For sure I’m being biased. Good Boy can do no wrong. Hahahha... @Lynne Are you still mourning? I wish there was a compilation of only Halmeoni and Good Boy scenes from youth to adulthood. I’m still mulling over two things 1. What if Halmeoni had not told him to only look her up when the going was tough - would that have changed things? 2. What if the issue with the letters had not dragged, would Jipyeong have noticed Injae instead? Afterall he had known her as an adult before Dalmi. This story feels like it should be a choose-your-own-adventure show. Imagine the day when TV watching could get as interactive as that and Netflix allowed us to opt for different episodes. It could right? Production budget will increase for sure.

I couldn't resist. I've swapped out my DP for KSH already. Hahaha... Good Boy... @Lynne I'm still mourning too... haiz... Such a tragic end to such a wonderful character. Now living for all the Swoon followups. Hahaha... At least someone out there is finding some form of justice for Han Jipyeong.

@mademoiselle maybe they should have a new category for crying - most heartbreaking tears. Uri Seonho will win hands down. Such a convincing crier. Even in 2D1N when he had to act like he had been dumped by the staff pd, everyone was just so rapt by his crying. And you're right. I wonder how much of his loneliness was because Halmeoni also told him, albeit in jest, that if he is well he need not go to her. And him in his pride always felt he was well. He might have gone to the family sooner and spent more time with them and gotten to know Dalmi better... but now, the more I think about how Dalmi had become, I think Injae suits him better. So for the sake of fun here, if we could insert a love line between Jipyeong and Injae, when could it have logically happened? @Chocolate @Lynne @abs-oluteM @bairama - my DP buddies. Hahahaha...

We’re quads, yo. @Thong Thin I just did a random search on archive of our own and found some nice ones.

@mademoiselle when I tag @abs-oluteM @Lynne @Chocolate @bairama, it tickles me to see us all having the same DP. Hahaha I’ve resorted to reading fanfics to get over this story. Hahaha... I think there was also a wasted opportunity to write something between Injae and Jipyeong too. Come to think of it, Seonho and Hanna also look really good together. Even better than him with Suzy. Seonho just seems to have wonderful chemistry with his co-stars.

Seonho's crying makes me want to cry too... Jipyeong ah~ kwaenchana....himneseyo...

He does seem like the very affectionate sort. In the Netflix interview, he teared up when talking about scenes with Halmeoni and the interviewer asked him if he was crying again and he said, "I'm just feeling emotional again." Hahaha... I think that's also what makes him a very good actor. He is very emphatic. He feels for the characters he takes on and emotes them very very well and very accurately. Just listening to him talk about how he tried to understand Jipyeong's emotions by looking at how Nam Dareum portrayed Jipeyong's interactions with Halmeoni as a youth and therefore as an adult how much he would or would not have changed just goes to show, he takes his craft seriously. *RESPECT*

@abs-oluteM @Chocolate @Lynne How long are we keeping the profile pic for? I'm still mourning the show. Thank you ladies for listening to the rants on discord. Ah... like that youtube vid (I forget the guy's name) host said - at least Start-up and Han Jipyeong will forever be known as the greatest second lead that never could win. #extraordinaryyouvibe I think many of the links and reviews shared have pretty much summed up everyone's feelings about what went wrong with this story. I can see why the story could be enjoyable right to the end - if all you're in it for is to root for young people and their underdog stories, then sure. It all looks good - winner takes it all. The losers get their "just desserts", like the twins and stepdad. But as @Lynne said, that's just so 2D, and at some points, even regressed to 1D - flatter than flat. As far as villains went, the twins and stepdad weren't "villainy" enough. Even if you were to view Start-Up as "just another coming of age youth drama", even Record of Youth, as bland as the story was, had better tension between the haves and have-nots. I mean, if PHR wanted twins and stepdads to be the villains, then make them villains through and through with more points of interactions between them and the others, nefarious plans and all. Like Yoobeom was in WYWS. If not, then at least make them conflicted individuals like Hyehyo's mum was in ROY or Beomjo in Pinocchio. I hold on to my opinion that the biggest failure was how the writer(s) dealt with the time skip which should not have been. Even if you wanted to have a time jump, it could have been better handled with at least half an hour of short snippets of interactions, challenges, and opportunities for growth and development in Korea and SF. That was very well handled in WYWS where we saw characters' weddings, career development, family life, all while overcoming the grief of loss and change to what Jaechan had initially thought was him arriving at some sort of stability in life. It was so well shot. There were many lost opportunities for story and character development. Even if Dalmi was to choose Dosan eventually, give a proper development to that. "Just because" points to lazy writing, something that I just don't associate with PHR. And that simply added to the disappointment. I'm still hoping to see what Knetz have said in response to the story end, but I don't read (don't even know where to begin. hahaha) k-blogs and whatnots. Am still hanging around here to see what else will be shared here. I'm gonna be mourning for Jipyeong's loss for a long time... Absolute injustice for him. And how evil to make him stick with Cheongmyeong company and Dalmi. Maybe in a story extension, Injae brings him healing. One lonely soul to another. She wanted to be the girl on the swing afterall. And maybe she is now, and he can be her sandbox.