Love Story in Harvard.

I was happy when I learned that episodes of Love Story in Harvard were available on youtube with English subtitles. I'm not smart enough to be able to watch and understand Korean TV, and I was eager to see some dramas.



I could barely make it through the first episode. Absolutely terrible, and not in the sobaditsgood way. The Caucasian actors are awful, but that's nothing new in an Asian movie or television program. The spoken English is, thankfully, subtitled. What bothers me, beyond the run of the mill bastardization of my native language, is that the show's producers felt that a guy who talks like that has what it takes to enroll and compete in one of the most prestigious universities in the world. It'd be one thing if you had, say, Daniel Henney in that role, although I'm sure some Koreans wouldn't want to listen to him for too long.

I haven't researched the show much, beyond looking it up on Wikipedia. Is the premise a rags-to-riches story? An after-hagwon special to encourage kids to study hard? Is it just a fluff piece that plays into the fascination with "Ivy League" here? Whatever, I just don't think it indicates a very respectful attitude toward the US or its universities when you imply that anyone can get in. It'd be like an American getting into the University of Tokyo on the strength of his tattoos and his Pokemon collection.



I could really do without the attitude and shit-eating grin. Not sure why some Koreans feel the need to drop the politeness in English just because they're not using honorific speech. See, that's why I wonder if it's the right thing to do to accept an Asian student just because they donate money.

Anyway, episode 1 is here, and the others can be found on youtube.