Lee Dong Wook and Kim Sun Ah at Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur, to promote their drama "Scent of a Woman".

I have to admit that one of the perks of my job as a journalist is that I get to meet celebrities and a whole bunch of interesting folks that I wouldn’t have been able to meet if I wasn’t a journalist. A-list Korean stars Lee Dong Wook and Kim Sun Ah was in Malaysia today to promote their drama “Scent of a Woman”.

No matter how many times I’ve experienced it, it is always surreal to see people that you’ve watched on television suddenly walk by you. A little voice in my head will go, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be in my television set?”

My first thoughts were: My, are they tall. And then, wow, are they thin.

But the two were the most polite celebrities ever (most Korean stars are quite well-mannered) and answered the questions the host threw at them and even later allowed the press to take photos with them. This is Kim Sun Ah’s first visit to Malaysia, by the way. The two looked tired, however. (The Korean entertainment industry is known for their actors’ punishing schedules.) I just hope that they can at least enjoy some Malaysian scenery and food while they’re here and rest.

My colleague Seto will be writing the story, so do keep an eye out for the article!

Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung during happier times ... or was this staged too?

I’m usually not the sort who follows gossip about celebrities’ marriage woes, knowing that a lot of times, it’s all a shadow puppet game conducted by PR machines.

Years ago, I attended the Troy junket in New York city, and a reporter asked Brad Pitt how his marriage with Jennifer Aniston was. (Back then there were rumours about them going splitsville.) Pitt gushed about how he loved her, and spoke fondly about her daily routine etc. I remembered thinking, “Huh. Sure.” And at the same time I felt sad that celebrities had to discuss their private lives with strangers that way.

Sure enough, Pitt and Aniston were no longer a couple a few months after the junket, what with the whole Angelina Jolie thing …

So, the latest wayang kulit involves Hong Kong superstar Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung. After months of “will  they or wouldn’t they“, the two have announced that they’re going to divorce.

Here’s the latest to the saga: Cecilia Cheung had an explosive interview with Oriental Daily News, saying that Tse was the one behind the rumours of her being a gold digger and that he was a neglectful father :

He’s never cared much about the kids. Whenever he’s at home, it’s like the kids are invisible to him – he pretty much ignores them! The only reason he wanted me to have kids was so he could tie me down – he actually doesn’t even like children!

Yeowch.

Good luck with the lawyers, kids. You’re going to need it!

Popculture Vulture
By ELIZABETH TAI
Originally published in The Star on April 18, 2010.

What made South Korean celebrities suicidal?

THEY seem to have everything: fame, beauty, wealth, and adoration. So why are so many South Korean celebrities killing themselves?

Actor Choi Jin-young, 39, joined the lamentable statistics on March 29 when he hung himself in his home.

What made his death particularly tragic was that his sister, veteran actress Choi Jin-sil, had taken her own life less than two years ago. She was 40 when she died on Oct 2, 2008.

Actress Choi Jin-Sil was battling depression when the vicious Internet rumours began. She killed herself in 2008.

Jin-sil, dubbed the “nation’s actress”, killed herself a month after 36-year-old actor Ahn Jae-hwan, her close friend, gassed himself in his car.

Online allegations that she caused Ahn’s death by pressuring her debt-ridden friend to repay her her money were said to have been unbearable for the actress. She was apparently struggling with depression at that time.

A police probe later found the rumours to be unfounded.

Although there have been suicides among South Korean celebrities, an alarming number of them closely followed suit after Jin-sil’s death.

Transgender entertainer Jang Chae-won, 26, died a day after Jin-sil’s demise. Quickly following that were the suicides of actor-model Kim Ji-hoo, 23, on Oct 6; singer Lee Seo-hyun, 30, on Dec 1; actor Kim Suk-gyun, 30, on Jan 17, 2009; and model Daul Kim, 20, on Nov 19, 2009.

More distressingly, high-profile suicides like Jin-sil’s and Ahn’s have triggered a wave of “copycat” acts in their country. According to state-run agency Statistics Korea, suicides increased by 60% after Jin-sil’s passing.

Barely two years later, Jin-young too took his own life. – AP
Just what is driving these glitterati to their deaths? Is it nasty netizens, like some believe?

Yuni, a popular singer in South Korea, felt the sting of vicious netizens when talk of her having had cosmetic surgery spread online. The 26-year-old hung herself in 2007. China Daily reported that she was, at that time, depressed over her career.

Did the rumours push her over the edge?

Jang Chae-won and Kim Ji-hoo endured cyber gossip about their sexuality. Ji-hoo, before his suicide, admitted he was homosexual on a show called Coming Out.

South Korea, the world’s most wired nation, has vibrant Internet portals and chat rooms where freedom of speech is given free reign. But it also has a dark side: rumours and cyber bullying are rife.

Jin-sil’s death prompted the authorities to consider tougher measures against Internet slander.

But a more controversial and salacious reason emerged when Jang Ja-yeon, star of the popular TV drama Boys over Flowers, killed herself on March 7 last year.

Ja-yeon left a seven-page suicide note which claimed that her agent had forced her to have sex with directors, media executives and CEOs in order to succeed in the cut-throat entertainment industry.

Unscrupulous agents aside, South Korean entertainers are kept on a tight leash by their handlers, and their fans have equally exacting and sometimes unreasonable demands.

Lee Da-hae, star of this year’s hit drama Slave Hunters, was criticised heavily by netizens for looking too pretty on the TV show!

Caught between the two forces, is it any wonder that some celebrities cracked?

It doesn’t help that while South Korea is a technologically advanced nation, many of its values remain deeply conservative.

And contrary to popular belief, celebrities don’t always live happy and glamorous lives. The reality, as actress Park Jin-hee pointed out, is less than cheery.

Jang Ja-yeon, who died in March last year, succumbed to the pressure of the industry.
Park interviewed 260 actors last year for her paper, Studies on Depression and Suicidal Urges among Actors, for her Master’s at Yonsei University. She discovered that four out of 10 of them were suffering from depression, and two out of 10 had actually bought “devices” for suicide like toxic substances.

According to the newspaper Korea Times, her study also revealed that actors were often forced to hide their real feelings and personalities to remain “likeable”. The vagaries of showbiz and the caprice of fans combine to makes things worse for them.

But perhaps celebrity suicides are just a more prominent manifestation of South Korea’s rising suicide rates, which are among the world’s highest; a 2008 Statistics Korea study noted that it’s the fourth most common cause of death in the country.

Just last May 23, its ex-president Roh Moo-hyun stunned the world when he jumped from a cliff near his home in Bongha village. The 62-year-old former statesman was then facing intense questioning over allegations of corruption.

South Koreans, be it normal folk or “privileged” celebrities, live in a pressure cooker society where conservative values still hold sway, where “saving face” and toeing the line is vital, and where its people are driven to succeed first in school and later in work.

Failure, it seems, is so unacceptable that suicide, tragically, becomes a way out for many – even celebrities.

■ Elizabeth Tai enjoys Korean dramas, but the experience is tinged with sadness knowing how hard the stars have to labour to attain and maintain their status.

Oh dear, dear. This is not the way to improve the show, Mr Kring!

At Creative Screenwriting’s 2008 Screenwriting Expo this weekend, not only did Tim Kring make the scary suggestion that Heroes should stop its serial storytelling and go (gasp) episodic, Kring also said:

“So [watching it] on air is related to the saps and the dipshits who can’t figure out how to watch it in a superior way.”

Wow, way to go to insult your most loyal viewers – those that bother to watch it live. Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan is furious. In her post: Tim Kring: Heroes viewers are saps, she says:

How absolutely infuriating. How does Kring muster the gall to insult anyone who’s still watching his show? What arrogance. What cluelessness. Not only is his argument weak and without merit, he stoops to calling “Heroes” viewers names.

The only sap here is Kring. Any and all insulting terms should be directed at himself. After all, who is responsible for two seasons of mostly muddy, incoherent storytelling? It wasn’t the saps at home on their couches.

He also blamed the new way of watching TV (via DVRs and Tivo) and says that serial teleivision is a “bear” to do. Basically he says that new technologies, and viewers’ very short attention span is causing Heroes’ failure, which is why shows like True Blood and Dexter are such hits, of course. Time’s James Poniewozik, who suggests that:

Yes, you can blame technology for siphoning all the smart viewers away from your series. You could try revamping your show so that it becomes the complete opposite of what it was conceived as. Or you could try, you know, not sucking.

 If anything, new technologies like DVRs and broadband TV are encouraging the growth of serialised TV shows like Lost and True Blood. Viewers can rewatch the show when they can do it instead of fitting their schedules to ensure their bums are in the couch at an appointed time. So Kring is talking nonsense.

So much has been written about Heroes sucking this season. Personally I found season 2 watcheable, even if I rolled my eyes at the “Hiro goes to medieval Japan” leg of the season. But season 3 was insane, and not in a good way. 

It’s almost as if all the characters have collectively lost their marbles. Nathan has a religious conversion. Peter is good/bad/whatever and Sylar is suddenly Mr Mum. I feel as if I was watching a bizzaro alternate dimension of Heroes.

It got to the point where I couldn’t bear to watch another episode – only because I couldn’t bear to see it suck any further. Heroes’ spectacular fall from greatness – its first season is probably the most stellar in TV history, and I even hosted a Heroes TV party at my home with friends – was painful for me, an arden fan, to watch.

Now with Tim Kring insulting the 7mil American viewers who watch it live … oh dear, someone hand him a pink slip before its too late!

It’s always sad when a young talent dies, and when they die so suddenly and without warning … well, fans just aren’t prepared.

According to The Korea Times, Lee died on the way home after a wrap up party of his latest show, Mighty Chil-woo, yesterday at dawn: “He was riding his motorcycle when he hit a railing of the elevated roadway in Hannam-dong, Yongsan at around 2 a.m. The 27-year old actor died on the spot and was taken to Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Hannam-dong, Seoul. The police have not yet determined if Lee was drunk when he got into the motorcycle accident.”

I’m just starting to get into Korean dramas, so I don’t really know who Lee Eon is, but I was about to pick up the DVD he starred in: Coffee Prince, which is supposed to be really funny. He was the “dim-witted but loveable Min-yeop”.

You can read the entire sad report at The Korea Times and Pop Seoul. According to Pop Seoul, that particular stretch of road where he died is not well maintained and is therefore dangerous.

Most Malaysians probably wouldn’t have heard of the Stargate SG-1 franchise, let alone its offspring, Stargate Atlantis (SGA). Our terrestrial TV and cable channels never bothered to bring it here. Well, actually they did but just never bothered to promote it, and SG-1 (which ran 11 seasons!) was only shown until season 4 (I believe) until they decided that that’s just enough. Still, some of us followed it online and via, ahem, the “unofficial suppliers” who seem to know that there are fans out there.

When I heard about the news while browsing through Gateworld, I was saddened but not as devastated as I thought I’d be. This is telling, as I was far more devastated by the cancellation of apocalyptic drama Jericho than this.

Season 1 of SGA was good, season 2 was all kinds of boring and wasted opportunities, but season 3 and 4 picked up significantly, and this season – it’s last – sees the inclusion of Robert Picardo, which I thought was a great boost to the show.

But SGA could have been better. A lot of times the show creators seem to shoot themselves in the foot.

They killed off popular characters like Carson Beckett (who was brought back in season 4 due to popular demand) and Elizabeth Weir for no good reason at all. Fans were incensed, and to be honest, the show lost some of its spark, because SGA is not just about the stories – its characters are the driving force.

And I felt that they could’ve upped the ante in storytelling more. Their villains were not villainous enough, and the good ones they shelved off far too quickly (Acastus Kolya, anyone?) and the characters were not put through the wringer enough. Yes, we need to torture the poor people more! And amazingly, after five season, we still don’t much about the inner life of the lead character Colonel John Sheppard.

But still, SGA is one of the best sci-fi shows out there; the light hearted alternative to those who think Battlestar Galactica is just too morose for pleasure viewing. The camaraderie of the SCA characters is comfortable and cosy, and people do love them.

So why did they cancel them? Some theorise it’s the advent of the next spin-off, Stargate Universe but some say the show has just gotten too expensive to produce. Plus, apparently the network earns more with direct-to-dvd sales (which is what Stargate SG-1 is doing now.)

Ironically, s5 is SGA’s best in terms of storytelling and ratings. I suppose if there’s any consolation, at least SGA will end on a high.

But there’s good news. Apparently there will be a direct-to-DVD movie after its end.

Says TV Squad:

The network has ordered a two hour movie and says the show will live on as a network franchise. … The movie will be written by Atlantis showrunners, Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie. As you would expect, there are no details about casting or the story at this point.

While the end of the series is a surprise, the movie deal isn’t. Given the success of the SG-1 movies, it seems a logical step for the Atlantis team to take. It just seems a little bit too soon. With Stargate Universe still in the offing, I suspected we would see something like the changeover from SG-1 to Atlantis, where the pair ran together before Atlantis moved into the number one spot.

Good bye, SGA … we hardly knew ye…

Hey y’all. Meet Dorothy. I mean, DG. I have no idea why the powers that be at Sci Fi channel would want to remake the venerable Wizard of Oz, but I suppose Judy Garland singing “Somewhere over the rainbow” is way too quaint for 21st century kids.

So, we have Tin Man. DG is infused with the appropriate amount of cynicism 21st century kids have. And I betcha the tin man who wants a heart is some kinda cyborg. And that the straw man isn’t made up of straw but fibre optics. And that the lion isn’t a lion but some kinda lion-human hybrid.
At least the doggy is still way cute.

This Sci Fi channel miniseries is supposed to start in December and I’m cautious about it. Sci Fi channel original shows, unlike the HBO original series, has a rather spotty reputation. Remember Earthsea anyway? The one that was so widely panned that it shouldn’t be given reruns? Well, let’s hope that Tin Man is something worth our time.

Meanwhile, enjoy the preview below:

Well, oy. So I managed to see the SciFi miniseries through (cough) unofficial means. Let’s just say that the first ten minutes of the show I’m already saying: “Man. This sucks.”

The acting is so bad you can’t believe, the script stinks and I didn’t even wait long enough to watch the other sections. I know my friend Chris would go ballistic with the mangling of one of her favourite books.

Just hop over to IMDB comments for Legend and you’ll see rows upon rows of incensed reviewers complaining how baaad this show is.

The Sci Fi channel just screened the miniseries Legend of Earthsea (on Dec 13 & 14, I believe), based on Ursula K. LeGuin’s book and the news has not been pleasant. First, at One Ring, a commentary on the series had this paragraph:

But now the finished film has screened, and I’ve been getting emails from people whose opinions I respect saying things like ‘I watched it and I was sick to my stomach after seven minutes.’ I can’t stand by and let it look as though TORN will recommend and promote any rubbish just because it’s a well-known fantasy series.

Ouch! However, the sternest rebuke came from LeGuin herself, who was more than a little annoyed when the director of the flick claimed that he was true to the book and that he knew what Ursula’s vision of the whole Earthsea universe was. LeGuin wrote a “reply” here.

Daphne and her husband, who have both read the Earthsea series (yes, you can guess I have not read it) said that the one thing they’re annoyed with is that the cast was mostly white. As LeGuin says:

Most of the characters in my fantasy and far-future sf books are not white. They’re mixed, they’re rainbow … This color scheme was conscious and deliberate from the start. I didn’t see why everybody in sf had to be a honky named Bob or Joe or Bill. I didn’t see why everybody in heroic fantasy had to be white (and all the leading women had “violet eyes”). I didn’t even believe it … Ged with a white face is a lie, a betrayal — a betrayal of the book, and of the potential reader. A brown face might hurt sales in the short run, but my books are long-distance runners, and for the long haul, only the truth will serve.

Ah. The race issue.

I believe that many non-readers will still dig the Earthsea miniseries because of the fallout from Lord of the Rings. People are still hungry for fantasy after all. The powers that be chose to cash in on the craze, purity to the book be damned.

This is probably old, old news, but Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea series is being made into a mini series.

I have not read the books (bows head in shame), but I’ve heard many good things about it. Basically, the story is the staple of many fantasy stories: boy discovers he has powerful magic. Boy unleashes bad thing in world. Tries to rescue world.

The said boy is Ged, who is going to be played by Shawn Ashmore (pic). Fans of Smallville may be happy to discover that Kristin Kreuk is playing Tenar, a priestess. Isabella Rossellini is Thar and Danny Glover is Ogion. You can read from these lines that I have no idea who they are.

Thanks to the Lord of the Rings, fantasy is gaining popularity in cinemas and tv screens. Once the abode of cheesiness, fantasy has gained respectability since The Lord of the Rings won Oscar for Best Picture this year. Hopefully we won’t get a spew of cheap knockoffs but well-done productions.

Meanwhile, why not visit Sci Fi channel’s official site for Earthsea?

PS: With the cool things the Sci Fi channel has – what with the new revamped Battlestar Galactica series, Stargate: Atlantis and now Earthsea, you would think someone down here would have an idea to bring it down to Malaysia. Apparently they’ve even made a Farscape movie. Anyone? Dying sci-fi/fantasy fans here!