September 18, 2013
Sooyoung in Dating Agency: Cyrano, Goo Hara in City Hunter, a shit load of idols in Dream High like Taecyeon, Suzy, Wooyoung, IU and Eunjung... it's hard to find a drama nowadays that doesn't have an idol even making a small guest appearance like T-ara's Dani who barely made a difference with her lack of lines in School 2013. Let's face it: As the days go on, more and more idols are trying to cross over from the music industry to the acting industry, some being decent level actors like A Pink's Eunji and arguably Big Bang's TOP, while others proving they should seriously just stay in music like Girls' Generation's Taeyeon and KARA's Seungyeon. But with all the buzz and the talk towards the topic of idols' increasing obtained roles in acting where most Korean netizens are against it and most international fans are for it, it can somewhat just make you shake your head and wonder which side is right: should idols be in dramas or not?
Don’t hate on me idol/SNSD fans, but [Yoona's] acting is mediocre at best. An intense melodrama opposite Jang does not instill confidence in me. (comments of a Dramabeans article about Yoona casting with Jang Geun Suk)
Not only are idols generalized or seen as incomprehensible buffoons who barely can barely stand up on their own two feet due to stupidity, but also, it's common for many idols, with little to no training in acting, to receive roles in shows automatically simply because their fame is great and the television show casting team sees it as a great opportunity to gain fans of the show. Because they push rookie actors to the side and they have to crawl their way to the top while idols who are already at the top basically get things handed to them, it's actually pretty understandable as to why many Korean netizens are PO'ed with the issue, many idol actors being extremely mediocre in acting and them already not liking idols that much, anyway.Though, I can understand why (when being a regular international K-Pop fan) you'd find a bit of discomfort in your idol getting hated so much when they want to try something new, however, as someone who can see on both sides and understand how both sides feel about it, I really have to say that I'm actually leaning more on the 'idols really shouldn't act' side. Think about it from a typical Korean perspective: Idols are basically everywhere--in songs (obviously), in television commercials, in sporting events, in musicals, in OSTs, on billboards... and now they're appearing in a drama alongside your all-time favorite actor or actress, causing it to fall in quality with their B-class acting skills. Can we get a bit less of this idol craze? Idols already have their careers built up, rookie actors should get a chance!!1
In my opinion, the aversion is a bit reasonable, people wanting to see shows for the actual well, show, and not being as caught up and obsessed with K-Pop as the usual fans who tend to push for idol-acting. Not to mention, more than half of idol actors truly can't act and should stay in the music industry but simply get the part, anyway and of course, making it unfair for others who actually aspire to be actors and dream of that being their only career choice... idols being able to be MCs, singers, models and now actors.
However, I'm not going to totally disregard all actors, people like Sooyoung, as mentioned above, actually being somewhat decent in acting as well as Eunji, those two deserving chances in pursuing acting especially with the duration of their careers coming to a end.
Another thing I want to pinpoint is how many idols either never wanted to be idols (like Wonder Girls' Sohee who wanted to be an actress) or ones who simply use the idol life to get a kick-start at their acting career, in my opinion, those ones should be getting a get-off-scot-free card because they actually aspired to be actors in the first place but couldn't or tried a clever and different route.To conclude, though I'm not completely against the idol acting route, I do believe that it's a bit unfair to have idols casted in roles simply because of their fame (and it's funny because a lot of the time, their fame doesn't save dramas--Love Rain with Yoona, Yuri with Fashion King, Changmin in Paradise Ranch, etc.) and it's redundant to have idols appear almost everywhere in your life. Though, I'm not exactly the avid drama viewer, I do watch some time to time and sometimes, I see some idols that I wish that idols took acting classes and other idols who nail it, being an idol not a great representation of acting ability. Likewise, mediocre acting idols or idols who have never even acted once really shouldn't be giving lead casting roles so quickly and they should be tossed down to rookie actors and such who actually have some well, experience.
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