Wednesday, January 01, 2020

Memories of the Alhambra

A year ago today I was engrossed in my first live K drama series starring of course, Park Shin-hye and it opened up to a large troll following of female stars. Others are so male-centric in their approach to watching shows that it makes me ponder the motivations in their lives. 

The first few episodes of Memories of the Alhambra is set in Granada in Spain. Prior to watching MOTA, I sat through episodes after episodes of Hyde, Jekyll, Me and Secret Garden. Did I enjoy them? There were moments of wavering emotions. Both series are a hard sell for my acquired taste, makes me wonder why drama writers think those plots are good for the soul. Yes, I don’t think the element of body swapping is kind of passé even at the start of the last decade. 

MOTA itself is a hard re-watch. As I watch through Netflix and engage in My Drama List conversations to defend the Park Shin-hye character Jung Hee-joo and Park Shin-hye herself, I could not embrace the fact that trolls are trolls, and there are certain forums I should just avoid. Why watch Park Shin-hye if you don’t like her at all? Oh, they are fans of Hyun Bin and he is ever so dreamy. I swear the guy sitting opposite me on the tube on a random day was far better looking than him and he doesn’t have to sing A Star is Born’s “Shallow” on repeat. 

MOTA makes viewers think and come up with theories on dungeons and viruses and why technology is so cool. But it also doesn’t make sense. Sci-Fi doesn’t usually makes sense. But I enjoy the love angle in this drama. Those who have seen Heartstring or You’ve Fallen For Me would in all likelihood say, this is Park Sin-hye’s best kiss. I may not have binge-watch the entire 16-episode arc after the series finished its run but Episode 11 is hot, that it is the only episode I watch on the MOTA timeline. They should definitely star opposite each other

Now Hyun Bin’s has another Netflix drama corrupting my page on Netflix. I would not ever watch. But why could not Park Shin-hye star in another drama? Or Flower Boys Next Door to stream in Netflix or have her film Call and Alone break box office records and win awards? It is of course possible

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