[비즈한국] When I'm watching an interesting drama, I don't want to miss even a single second. A friend of mine sometimes watches dramas at 1.2x speed when binge-watching on VOD, but well, you can't do that with at least a ‘Kim Soo-hyun drama.’ Because her signature fast-paced dialogue flows in such abundance that even if you watch with full concentration, you might still miss a line if you’re not careful.
In any case, watching an interesting drama in bits and pieces is something that just doesn’t exist in my world. But these days, watching YouTube makes me realize that the world has changed. Kim Soo-hyun dramas are often uploaded in 25-minute segments, or even edited down so that two episodes fit into a 20-minute video. And it’s the strangest thing—those edited versions are ‘incredibly’ fun to watch.
Lately, YouTube is witnessing the so-called ‘broadcast station folks’ riding the wave of retro trends that have been blowing for several years, editing old dramas and variety shows to rack up high view counts. Channels like ‘STRO-SBS034120 Retro Channel,’ ‘SBS NOW,’ ‘Old Drama: [Drama Matjib],’ and ‘Old TV: KBS Archive’ are doing exactly that. They lure viewers in with seductive thumbnails and provocative titles that make it impossible to resist clicking, even on dramas you’ve already seen before.
Since they summarize and edit down to only the core essentials, you can binge through 12 episodes in one go. The fun of reading the reactions of netizens who watched these summaries is also huge; one of the most popular top comments is: ‘Lessons learned from this drama: Don't make friends with someone who has an inferiority complex, don't marry an indecisive and selfish husband, and Ha Yu-mi must be my older sister.’
A prime example is ‘SBS NOW,’ which edited the 24-episode ‘My Man's Woman’ into 12 parts, each under 20 minutes. Look at the sense they have—they title the first episode ‘Warning: High Blood Pressure - A Woman Who Had an Affair with Her Friend’s Husband’ and even include the dialogue ‘Did you eat American food and get Americanized!?’ on the thumbnail. In under four hours total, you can browse through the core of the 24-episode series.
Furthermore, the content is a tale of infidelity—the kind that is world-class entertaining as long as you're just ‘watching a fire from across the river.’ It was groundbreaking simply because Kim Hee-ae, who had a quiet and exemplary image through roles like Eun-ha in ‘Sons and Daughters,’ Young-ae in ‘Perfect Love,’ and Seong-sil in ‘Precious Family,’ played the flashy and haughty mistress Lee Hwa-young, while Bae Jong-ok, known for her image as an urban woman who speaks her mind from works like ‘Men of the Bath House’ and ‘Lies,’ played the devoted and naive full-time housewife Kim Ji-soo.
Moreover, the plot moves at lightning speed: from the first episode, Hwa-young, invited to her best friend Ji-soo’s barbecue party, shares a passionate kiss with Ji-soo’s husband Hong Joon-pyo (Kim Sang-joong) and is immediately caught by Ji-soo’s sister Eun-soo (Ha Yu-mi)! Kim Soo-hyun's dramas are already fast-paced, but the YouTube version has a demonic charm that makes you click on the next episode as soon as one ends.
Ha Yu-mi, who became the ‘National Older Sister’ during the original airing and enjoyed nationwide popularity, delivers crisp lines that ring in your ears, and the ‘crazy chaotic party’ antics of the incomprehensible ‘nutcase’ Hwa-young and the cowardly Joon-pyo provide the fuel to keep cursing them without pause. Wow, to think I can enjoy such thrills on the subway during my commute—what a beautiful world this is.
It’s no wonder that even though it’s a drama from 13 years ago, the edited versions easily hit at least 500,000 views per part. The fun of reading the comments from netizens who were impressed by the slick editing skills that only condensed the most provocative and thrilling essence is also quite significant. When netizens nicknamed Hong Joon-pyo, who is obsessed with eating, as ‘Rice-begging worm’ or ‘Potato Boy,’ the editor even showcased those best comments at the end of the next episode; that kind of sensibility is another reason why the YouTube version of ‘My Man's Woman’ is so attractive.
If you feel a sense of longing after watching ‘My Man's Woman,’ check out ‘Fireworks,’ another infidelity drama by Kim Soo-hyun currently being uploaded on the ‘STRO-SBS Retro Channel.’ Aired in 2000, ‘Fireworks’ is a work where you can appreciate the cool, beautiful appearance of a young Lee Young-ae, who hasn't stepped down from her position as a goddess even now.
The YouTube version is edited to under 25 minutes per episode. The comment section is still noisy in 2020 debating whether the love between broadcast writer Park Ji-hyun (Lee Young-ae) and plastic surgeon Lee Kang-wook (Lee Kyung-young), who fall into a burning passion during a trip while both having fiancés, is true love or a nuisance. Just like when it aired, netizens are still debating: Why on earth does Ji-hyun, who has a chaebol heir and the handsome Choi Jong-hyuk (Cha In-pyo) as a fiancé, feel attracted to Kang-wook? Are the feelings of Jong-hyuk and dermatologist Heo Min-kyung (Jo Min-soo), who insist on marrying their already-cheating fiancés, normal? The fact that the debate rages on shows that while Kim Soo-hyun’s writing power is immense and attractive, the skills of the YouTube editors who summarized and edited those old dramas to fit modern sensibilities are also remarkable.
‘My Man's Woman’ from 2007 is old, but looking at ‘Fireworks,’ which aired at the very end of the 20th century in 2000, you can truly feel the rapidly changing Korea, ‘Dynamic Korea.’ Even as a chaebol family, Jong-hyuk’s home is as chilling and eerie as a haunted house to the eyes of people in 2020. Seeing Ji-hyun serving meals next to her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and husband while dressed in a hanbok or house dress, and seeing Jong-hyuk get annoyed that she sat in his chair, you can’t help but sympathize with Ji-hyun for being attracted to Kang-wook even after marriage, right?
Since both use infidelity as their subject matter and are works by Kim Soo-hyun, ‘My Man's Woman’ and ‘Fireworks’ are perfect to compare while watching. There’s also great fun in placing yourself in their shoes—what if I were Hwa-young, Ji-soo, Joon-pyo, or Ji-hyun, Kang-wook, Jong-hyuk, or Min-kyung? When I tipped off my friend, who binges dramas at 1.2x speed, that the YouTube versions of ‘My Man's Woman’ and ‘Fireworks’ were fun, I got a KakaoTalk message the next morning: “Are you awake? ‘Fireworks’ is up to episode 11, is there any way to watch the next ones?” Oh, Kim Soo-hyun’s ‘Trap of Youth,’ which I wrote about around this time last year, was also uploaded to the ‘STRO-SBS Retro Channel’ and received a great response.
So be careful. If you get sucked into old dramas on YouTube, you’ll end up facing the sorry sight of yourself in the mirror with dark circles under your eyes from staying up all night watching.
Who is the writer Jeong Soo-jin?
She loves movies and traveling, and has worked for ‘Movie Week’ and ‘KTX Magazine,’ but her unwavering object of affection has always been dramas. Her hobby is reading character introductions on drama websites, and she has spent 12 years living a life of failed deadlines because she gets hooked on old dramas whenever a deadline approaches. Recently, she has been lurking around YouTube like an adventurer exploring a new continent.