Netizens Say No to KBS's Lesbian Drama

There's an interesting news bit that came out today that I want to talk about. It's about netizens (or internet citizens) being upset about KBS airing the first Lesbian-themed drama titled Daughters of Club Bilitis. This isn't the first time the netizens have spoken about their disappointment of a certain channel airing topics concerning the LBGT group. I guess it's nothing new that a conservative society is speaking out against LGBT. I understand them at first. But now, it's just getting old.

This particular drama is unique, I think, because it clearly chose Lesbian relationships as the main theme of the one episode drama. There have been other dramas suggesting LGBT ideas but it's almost never the main plot. Notable dramas include the daily drama Life is Beautiful and mini-series such as Coffee Prince, You Are Beautiful, and Sungkyunkwan Scandal. The mini-series that I have mentioned only suggests LGBT, with all three having a female character dressing up as a boy, and a male character confused of his attractions to another "man".

There have been people saying that with dramas like the ones I've mentioned, the society is slowly warming up to the idea of different orientation. I, for one, think it's a different case. You see, the mini series I've mentioned are only teasing about the idea, almost to a point where they're suggesting it's impossible for a man to be attracted to a woman because look! It turns out that man is a guy! Is this the right way to make LGBT more acceptable? Yes, but no. Yes, because it shows that a man can in fact love another man. But no because even after the viewer has been given those ideas otherwise, that will be shattered by the fact that it was just a girl dressing up as a guy. It's like giving someone aspirin for a  headache, but in fact that aspirin is only a placebo drug made from flour and sugar. You're suggesting them that the sickness is gone, but in reality there's nothing that is cured.

Actually, I haven't really seen many movies or drama clearly depicting LGBT in South Korea. I haven't watched a lot of movies, but I have done my research. The ones that do depict LGBT, it's almost always in a negative light. For instance in the movie The King and the Clown, Korea's first movie that depicts homosexuality, the king who is homosexual and his partner ended up dead. And almost always the homosexual is not a well off person, most likely from the lower class of the society. Even though the movie/drama is depicting homosexuality, the story is unaware or not are telling to everyone that yes LGBT is bad. It's a disease of the poor. It's a step towards realizing the people that there are indeed LGBT, but the approach is not ideal.

Back to the Daughters of Club Bilitis drama. One of the silliest comments the netizens have been saying about all these LGBT dramas are "This will negatively influence the youth" and "This drama is a crime against humanity". All I can do is shake my head. Do they think homosexuality is flu that can be spread around through media? I've watched quite a few movies and dramas depicting homosexuality and here I am still spazzing over guys. Not everyone will agree of LGBT, and I'm pretty sure it's a long stretch until we get there, but why is it a crime? Please, it's not like they're offering drugs or anything. They're people too. Let's treat them that way.

I'd like you to also read the comments provided by the readers of Dramabeans here, because they are very interesting indeed.