236 million hours
Published Feb 17, 2022 12:05 am
MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
At last I’ve found someone who doesn’t watch K-dramas for the simple reason that “I don’t like them, period.”
For the rest of us pandemic-induced couch potatoes cooked in and hooked on Netflix, Hallyu was pretty much how we survived ECQ, MGCQ, Alert Level 3 and other modes of lockdowns. Without the pandemic and its anti-social protocols, would we have had the time and inclination to watch 16-episode serials starring stars with unpronounceable names (always three-character names, no nicknames!) speaking a strange language (forcing us viewers to read the hazy subtitles in not-always grammatical English)?
Thanks to the lockdown and WFH, Netflix was able to flex its muscles and grow its subscriber base all over the world by luring them in with enough content to last each viewer 36,000 hours of nonstop viewing, or four uninterrupted years. Netflix is not the only streaming service, now that there’s HBO Max, Hulu and others (though Netflix remains the most popular among Filipino subscribers). Among Netflix’s offerings are a few Filipino gems (but no “Probinsiyano” just yet, after it’s been running for six years).
What do we like about Hallyu? The usual answer is that they showcase original storylines, interesting characters, quirky twists and turns, expensive costumes, props, and production design, fantastic use of real or manufactured scenery, and actors who do more than play cute to thrill their fans to the bone. If this is all that’s needed, who says it’s beyond our ken? (Sotto voce from the in-house reviewer: “We don’t have spring, autumn, winter. We don’t have almond trees and photogenic gardens and parks in the middle of the city, not even nice sidewalks.”)
Korean movies and serials can be very romantic when they want to be, but after you’ve seen enough of them, you wonder if they’re prudes in real life or their censors are asexual beings, else how explain the lack of physical intimacy between lovers who live together sharing one bed without once kissing or taking off their clothes.
Love stories are for the starry-eyed. For a change, how about a zombie series called “All of Us Are Dead”? Who enjoys watching horror stuff like this? Children do! Well, Netflix reported views totaling 236 million hours last week for the zombie bloodfest.
Jullie Y. Daza
At last I’ve found someone who doesn’t watch K-dramas for the simple reason that “I don’t like them, period.”
For the rest of us pandemic-induced couch potatoes cooked in and hooked on Netflix, Hallyu was pretty much how we survived ECQ, MGCQ, Alert Level 3 and other modes of lockdowns. Without the pandemic and its anti-social protocols, would we have had the time and inclination to watch 16-episode serials starring stars with unpronounceable names (always three-character names, no nicknames!) speaking a strange language (forcing us viewers to read the hazy subtitles in not-always grammatical English)?
Thanks to the lockdown and WFH, Netflix was able to flex its muscles and grow its subscriber base all over the world by luring them in with enough content to last each viewer 36,000 hours of nonstop viewing, or four uninterrupted years. Netflix is not the only streaming service, now that there’s HBO Max, Hulu and others (though Netflix remains the most popular among Filipino subscribers). Among Netflix’s offerings are a few Filipino gems (but no “Probinsiyano” just yet, after it’s been running for six years).
What do we like about Hallyu? The usual answer is that they showcase original storylines, interesting characters, quirky twists and turns, expensive costumes, props, and production design, fantastic use of real or manufactured scenery, and actors who do more than play cute to thrill their fans to the bone. If this is all that’s needed, who says it’s beyond our ken? (Sotto voce from the in-house reviewer: “We don’t have spring, autumn, winter. We don’t have almond trees and photogenic gardens and parks in the middle of the city, not even nice sidewalks.”)
Korean movies and serials can be very romantic when they want to be, but after you’ve seen enough of them, you wonder if they’re prudes in real life or their censors are asexual beings, else how explain the lack of physical intimacy between lovers who live together sharing one bed without once kissing or taking off their clothes.
Love stories are for the starry-eyed. For a change, how about a zombie series called “All of Us Are Dead”? Who enjoys watching horror stuff like this? Children do! Well, Netflix reported views totaling 236 million hours last week for the zombie bloodfest.