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Dear kfangurl: Can you talk about celebrity dating culture in Korea? [Interview with VOGUE India!]

| kfangurl

This is another slightly different Dear kfangurl post, you guys.

After my last interview with VOGUE India about the male gaze vs. female gaze in kdramas (more details here!), Hasina Khatib (@thejoblessjourno on Instagram), who writes for VOGUE India, reached out to me again.

This time, she asked if I’d be willing to talk about celebrity dating culture, for an article that she was writing, which features Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin‘s wedding.

I said yes, and you can check out the article, where she quotes me selectively, here!

At the same time, similar to the last interview, there was a lot that I said, that didn’t make it into the final article, so with Hasina’s permission, I’m sharing the actual interview questions and answers here with you guys.

The only difference is that I’ve added images to make this more reader-friendly. I hope you all enjoy! ❤️

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Dear kfangurl: Is Korean Fan Culture Really Like What Is Shown In Dramas?

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It’s been a long minute (literal years!) since my last Dear kfangurl post, but when the comment below popped up on my recently posted Her Private Life review, blog reader Yoona found the topic and my initial response interesting enough, that she suggested a proper post on it.

I thought it wouldn’t hurt to explore the topic a little further, and so here we are.

Dolores writes:

“So I started watching [Her Private Life] on your recommendation, Fangurl, but there is something I wish you could verify for me. Are Korean celebrities really not allowed to date? How is it a scandal if two unmarried people have a consensual relationship?

I’ve encountered this before in other kdramas, of course, but I can’t quite get a handle on how much of this is exaggerated. I mean, it can’t be real, right?

And the crazy fans…the crazy ADULT fans? Is this really a thing to this extent? Okay, we’ve all experienced crushes on celebrities, but what is acceptable at 13 is just not normal at 30… it’s the reason I had a hard time relating to the heroine in “Answer me 1997. ”

I have a friend who has seen Bruce Springsteen perform over a hundred times, but she doesn’t stalk him or obsess about this personal life; she just really loves his music.

So I can sort of understand this kind of excessive adoration, but the way fans are portrayed in Kdramas is so over-the-top it just doesn’t seem like that can be real.”

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Loving: Gong Yoo

| kfangurl

GY1

Come squee with me! 😀 This post kicks off a new series on the blog. I hereby bring you: K-Love Confessions!

As you can see from the tagline up top, this blog is for reviews and fangirling, and while I’ve been busily posting reviews, the fangirling’s been limited to the context of the reviews.

I will admit, though, that in spite of that, there have been times that I’ve managed to fangirl very successfully anyway (see Big and The Moon that Embraces the Sun) Coz, y’know, a persistent fangirl lets nothing stand in her way! Heh.

Still. Here’s where the serious fangirling begins.

In each K-Love Confession, I will focus on one of my K-loves – I have several big ones, and quite a few medium-sized ones – and there will be extended fangirling and spazzing. And photos. Lots of photos 😉

Ahem. So where shall we begin?

Just from looking around my blog, you’d probably have guessed my biggest K-love of them all: Gong Yoo ♥ Swoon.

So of course, he had to be my first featured K-love.

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