Ricky Lee on what makes K-dramas stand out: ‘They’re proud to be Koreans’

Award-winning Filipino writer Ricky Lee shared his own insights on the Korean dramas taking the screen by storm.

In an exclusive interview on “The Howie Severino Podcast,” Lee shared that what made the dramas stand out is their “Korean-ness.”

“Marami naman tayong magagandang ginagawa sa mga teleserye natin na kagaya rin ng nagagawa ng K-dramas, e. Pero may ilan silang ginagawa na hindi ko sasabihin na hindi natin nagagawa pero sa akin nag-i-stand out, e,” Lee said. “There's always a Korean-ness sa lahat ng ginagawa nila. I always know na Korean ang characters na 'to.”

[We’ve been doing a lot of good things in our teleseryes similar to what the Korean dramas are doing. But they are doing a few things that--not that it’s something we don’t do--stand outs to me. There’s always a Korean-ness in everything they do. I always know that these are Korean characters.]

He added, “From the Korean food to the damit, to the etcetera, to the expressions, to the beliefs. They're proud to be Koreans and they are Koreans. Hindi sila nag-e-aim na maging ganito ako, maging ganito ako, maging Americans o maging ganito ako. Hindi. They're all Koreans.”

[From the Korean food to the clothes, to the etcetera, to the expressions, to the beliefs. They’re proud to be Koreans and they are Koreans. They don’t aim to be like this, or like that, to be Americans or be something else. No, they’re all Koreans.]

During the pandemic, Lee shared that he himself has viewed a Korean drama and through this, he was able to know more about Koreans.

“May pride sila sa kanilang bansa at sa kanilang identity na kitang-kita ko (They have pride for their country and their identity that I can clearly see),” he said.

Lee shared that Filipino teleseryes also had that factor, but it wasn’t that consistent in all shows.

“'Pag may social issues silang sinimulan, tina-tackle nila 'yung social issue na 'yun hanggang end,” Lee said. “Sa atin kung minsan nagiging tendency nagre-recede sa background 'yung social issue at nagiging background na lang siya nu'ng kuwento, nu'ng love story o nu'ng famiy drama. Sa kanila, hindi. It's integrated du'n sa kuwento 'yung social issue mismo. At pinaninindigan nila 'yun...Hindi siya natatakot na baka hindi na ito mag-rate or what.”

[If they start on social issues, they tackle it until the very end. Sometimes with us, there’s a tendency for the social issue to recede to the background of the story, of the love story, of the family drama. With them, that’s not the case. The social issue is integrated in their story. And they stick to it...They’re not afraid that it won’t have a great rating.]

Lee shared that this impressive quality is something that can also be seen in Philippine drama, especially in the “My Husband’s Lover” series which remained faithful to the social issue of gender.

The writer also pointed out that since Korean dramas have more money and resources, they were able to do more in terms of production value.

Lee also shared that Korean drama doesn’t just stand alone, but is actually part of a wave.

“It's not just K-drama, it's K-pop and the damit and the culture. It's one wave. So 'yun K-drama nakasakay sa isang malaking wave. Hindi siya mag-isang nag-i-struggle na trying to make a mark. It's one wave supported by the government and supported by a mindset ng mga tao nila na papunta as one wave. So nagtutulungan sila from K-pop to K-drama and so on and so forth,” Lee explained.

[It’s not just K-drama. It’s K-pop, and the clothes, and the culture. It’s one wave. So K-dramas ride on that one big wave. It’s not alone struggling to make a mark. It’s one wave supported by the government and supported by a mindset of their people to become one wave. So they help each other, from K-pop to K-drama and so on and so forth.]

The Filipino wave

Instead of viewing Korean dramas as competition, Lee said that we can learn a lot from them and “hopefully, they can learn a lot from us.”

“May mga nagagawa tayong magaganda na hindi naman nila nagagawa. Some good points and so on. So dapat nagtutulungan lahat ng kultura. Hindi nagkokompetensyahan,” Lee said.

[We’ve done great things that they don’t do, some good points and so on. So all cultures should help each other, not compete against each other.]

Lee also shared that the Philippines has had many breakthroughs when it comes to making our own global FIlipino wave, but it was simply sporadic.

“Wala 'yung ang laking support at ang laking wave, concerted effort, concerted support na nagtutulungan para ma-sustain. So ang nangyayari is sporadic. Papasok tayo rito, napuputol. Papasok dito, mapuputol or puro mga private initiatives. Walang government na tumutulong nang todo-todo. Ang nangyayari so napuputol-putol,” he said.

[The big support and the big wave isn’t there, the concerted effort, the concerted support that comes together to sustain it. So what happens is it’s sporadic. We’re going to enter the scene, it’ll get cut off. We’ll enter here, it’ll get cut off or it’ll be filled with private initiatives. There’s no government that supports it fully. What happens is it becomes choppy.]

In the end, Lee shared that what we can offer the global scene that they’ll come looking for is our own Filipino mark.

“Anong in the end maibibigay natin na hahanapin nila? Pagka-Pilipino. I think panonoorin nila ang shows kung Pilipino 'yan,” he added.

[In the end, what can we give that they’ll look for? Our being Filipino. I think they’ll watch our shows if it’s Filipino.] – Kaela Malig/RC, GMA News