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Raising Awareness for the Missing, Dramas With Messages Regarding Social Issues

The reality behind the melodramatic scenes of "The Interest of Love" and "Crash Course in Romance".

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The dramas reflect the dark side of our society, such as being frustrated in front of the walls of the class of melodrama main characters and accusing the seriousness of school violence. Furthermore, works that call for attention to the missing. Recently, dramas have actively played the role of popular culture called 'a mirror that reflects society'.

The drama "The Interest of Love" which is being broadcast on JTBC, is a melodrama and at the same time a drama that reflects the reality that love is useless in front of the walls of class. Against the backdrop of a bank, the 'invisible line' between Ha Sang-soo (Yoo Yeon-seok) an elite university graduate, Ahn Soo-yeong (Mun Ka-young) a high school graduate, bank superintendent Jeong Jong-hyeon (Jung Ga-ram), and Park  Mi-kyeong (Keum Sae-rok), a PB team representative, plays a decisive role in forming these relationships. It shows a side of our society by showing the reality that it is not easy to overcome differences in educational background or wealth in the space of a bank where money comes and goes.

The reality of Korean private education hangs over the tvN drama "Crash Course in Romance", which depicts the romance between the owner of a side dish store and a Korean math instructor. Nam Haeng-seon (Jeon Do-yeon) and Choi Chi-yeol (Jung Kyung-ho), a popular star instructor, run a side dish store in Nokun-ro, the No. 1 private education center, raising a daughter in her second year of high school. Although the focus is on the romantic comedy genre, which happily depicts the entanglement of two different people, at the same time, there are naturally scenes that point to the reality of private education, such as episodes of high school students who can solidify their first grade only by taking classes by one-shot instructors.

In addition to the melodrama, the mystery thriller "Trolley" also featured a message pointing out society's prejudiced view of sexual harassment victims. The drama tells the story of the dilemma and choice faced by the couple as the secret of the wife of a lawmaker who lives quietly while hiding the past is revealed to the world. The sexual harassment of Kim Hye-joo (Kim Hyun-joo), the secret, comes to the surface, showing what kind of pain the victim had to suffer.

Even though she is a victim, the frustrating reality of the victim becoming a perpetrator for pushing the perpetrator to death is repeated in current reality, pointing out how scary the prejudiced gaze toward the victim is. In this way, not only works that put social messages at the forefront, but also genres such as melodrama and thrillers are actively reflecting social problems, drawing sympathy from viewers.

It also emphasizes its influence by expanding the message contained in the drama into a real problem. While the tvN drama "Missing: The Other Side - Season 2" currently broadcasts the pain of the families of the missing through the chase of 'soul-watching combination', which entered the soul village where the missing people gathered, it added meaning by releasing a campaign video with the main actors Go Soo, Huh Joon-ho, Lee Jung-eun, and Ahn So-hee. On top of that, behind the notice released online, it contains information on missing children and induces steady interest. It is even playing an active role in connecting the message of the drama with real problems to urge viewers' attention.

Viewers who encounter this are also actively responding to the message of the drama. While Netflix's original drama "The Glory" recently showed the seriousness of the problem through the desperate punishment of school violence victims, it is contributing to expanding its meaning by not forgetting the message of the drama, raising criticism toward the return of celebrities suspected of school violence. In Thailand as well as in Korea, the seriousness of the school violence problem emerged with "The Glory", which led to revelations of the actual victims, and celebrities identified as the perpetrators made public apologies.

Of course, popular culture always serves as a 'mirror to reflect society', but recently, it has been getting closer to viewers by capturing sensitive issues. The public is also actively sending messages of support to the message and expanding the meaning together, showing how much the ripple effect of the content can grow.

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