Our Relationship Ended Before It Began (2023) (wlw) | YouTube (only Ep 1 and 2 are available for free right now, but I still wanted to share this series (Link))
Yoonah (Park Hayoung)
Kim Ahyoung (Park Sanha)
Note: For this list, I decided not to add a symbol for shows that center queerness, because in a way all of these shows do that and at the same time almost none actually do. Queer characters and their love stories are featured in every show in this list, but most of them do not address any other queer aspects of their lives and only some address the fact that they are queer at all. This is not a critique of South Korean shows, but just an observation of their current media landscape and added as context, in case you are interested in watching.
oh my god!!!!!!! lgbt variety show!!! and hani is an mc!!!!! with shin dongyeop who is a rly respected veteran straight man mc and hong seokcheon who is considered the first high profile openly gay celeb in south korea
“First look at South Korea's first LGBTQ romance reality show "Merry Queer" is sadder than I expected.
https://t.co/8czpm3j0Hk”
I wish this show was available to stream here and with subtitles too.
I assume they will be talking about their lives, struggles, the attitudes they face in the Korean society.
Seeing the participants I recognized 2 right away.
A queer couple that share their lives in their own YT channel 뽀송한 준_bosungjun with over 1.7 million followers, and I am one of those 1/7 million.
Their latest upload:
They are unapologetic and I love them for that.
They share their daily lives as a couple, as a queer couple in SK, and now they are going to be sharing it on what I assume and hope will be a wider scale. Not national TV but a step forward.
I wish them luck. I do hope that this new show can expose more people to the LGBTQ+ community, create a sense of normalcy. Make people understand how similar these young queer people are to themselves. How vulnerable they are. How hurtful society is to them and how they need to be protected, seen as equals in society. That sexuality isn’t what determines if a person is good or bad, only a person’s actions and behaviour towards their surroundings.
Me being Optimistic? Hopeful? Perhaps. I need some of that today.
watching the first episode of Merry Queer and its a little awkward but SO so so so cute I'm happy so far !! hani and dongyup are really trying to like.... interpret for unfamiler viewers and seokcheon is so valuable
hi Amber I have a bit of a maybe? strange question, but I was just wondering what are your thoughts on the reasoning behind launching that LGBT reality show in sk right now in the current political climate. do you think it will be a genuine step forward on those issues or do you feel like there's something more cynical behind its conception? I'm sort of scared it's going to be a mockery of the participants but I've seen respectable names attached to the project so I don't know how to feel about it. like obviously I know it's going to be profitable because it's going to get (presumably) lots of attention because of its sheer novelty but.
genuinely why would they make a tv show about regular people to mock them that simply doesn't happen. korean variety tv simply doesn't do that? like u don't hire shin dongyeop to be mean to random citizens.
the show is being made from a standpoint of genuine care and raising awareness and is a progressive move from korean broadcasting imo. i think they're going to be framing lgbt couples as very normal relatable people. which could get caught up in like respectability politics or remove any political threat from the lgbt identity but that's to be expected i don't rly care. the conception is from a place of compassion, the execution might be sloppy or insensitive or use the wrong language or be irresponsible. or the reaction from ppl might be violent and that's what i'm worried about tbh. but the business model is to appeal to lgbt audiences that are now a market that other countries like the US and china and japan rly profit from in media. and it's a step of progress and normalizing lgbt stuff. it's gonna be pretty cutesy and domestic in tone i think, and answer some common questions about lgbt ppl to gently dispell stereotypes.
