Squid Game to Crash Landing on You, 10 K-Dramas that score 10 on 10 on inclusivity
It’s no doubt that K-Dramas have revolutionalised the new-age silver-screen watching experience. From the Asian immigrants in the West finally finding real representation in the K-Dramas to the Indians resonating with the Asian culture moving beyond the irrelevant Ekta Kapoor serials, K-Dramas have ignited our imagination with wonders.
But cinema is finally fighting its way towards inclusivity, moving beyond the tropes and the stereotypes. Bridgerton brought racial inclusivity to Regency-era drama, something no one would have thought possible. The documentary on Abercrombie and Fitch narrates the tale of how being racist is unattractive and led to the brand’s downfall.
So, in the era of inclusivity and diversity, how well is the K-Dramaland holding up?
As a longtime K-Drama fan, I’ve always wondered why the characters are always and in most dramas only through and through Korean? Why all the series are always about those living in Seoul, the capital of South Korea? And of course, everyone knows the typical K-Drama story like Boys Over Flowers of a rich guy falling in love with a poor girl, the damsel in distress.
Korean dramas have a long way to go when it comes to showing diversity and inclusivity, given how homogenous the Korean society is in reality too. But there are some dramas that show that the Hallyu world is also catching up. To the K-Drama world’s credit, the western film industry had hundreds of years to evolve and reach where they are today and still not without their blunders; so to the Hallyu world which one can say went international only about 15 years ago, they are doing wonders being relevant.
Here is our list of 10 K-Dramas with inclusive and diverse characters:
(By inclusivity and diversity we mean representation of characters from the LGBTQIA+ community, racial representation, gendered issues, economic representation and more)
1. ITAEWON CLASS
The Park Seo-joon (remember his cameo in Oscar-winning film Parasite?) and Kim Da-mi (film The Witch series) starrer Itaewon Class is at the top of our list for K-Dramas because, in recent times, no other drama has beaten it in representation that doesn’t feel forced.
In Park Seo-joon with a funny bowl cut, we have an ex-convict who was jailed unjustly and is fighting to build a new life without his convict identity getting in the way. For the Korean society which upholds discipline to the highest value, a male lead who’s an ex-convict is challenging the norms.
Then we have the character of Ma Hyeon-yi who’s a transgender. The show treats the character as a human being, different from their usual portrayal as sub-humans or comic reliefs. Kim Toni is another rarely found character in K-Drama, who’s black and half-Korean. The series stays true to reality when portraying his character, as he struggles to ‘prove’ his Korean identity in the homogenous Korean society.
2. RUN ON
Run On is a rare find in the K-Dramaland. I remember reading a review of the series calling it the warmest hug when you need one. Run On is a slice-of-life K-Drama revolving around a group of young people. The lead couple’s romance – Ki Seon-gyeom and Oh Mi-joo – is one of the healthiest relationships portrayed in the K-Dramaland, because mostly K-Dramas do tend to romaticise unhealthy relationships.
The series also portrays a gay character in a sensitive light and encourages conversation surrounding sexuality.
3. SQUID GAME
Though there are several internationally popular K-Dramas, no other Korean series put the Hallyu wave on the world map like Netflix’s hit series Squid Game did. And how can we not mention Squid Game’s two tragic but sensibly portrayed characters of a Pakistani national Abdul Ali and North Korean defector Kang Sae-byeok.
Besides the diversity in characters, Squid Game’s whole concept is based on the societal and economic divide and it paints no flowery picture.
4. CRASH LANDING ON YOU
Crash Landing On You is on our list because the crew actually reached out to North Korean defectors for research. Perhaps, that’s why the show was a huge hit as it didn’t show some run-of-the-mill stereotypical characters. However, like several other K-Dramas, Crash Landing On You has its stereotypical moments, especially when a group of gangsters are shown to be Chinese.
5. HIGH KICK: THE REVENGE OF THE SHORT LEGGED
In 2016, a clip from the 2011 K-Drama High Kick: The Revenge of the Short Legged, went viral in India. The clip showed one of its characters pretending to be Indian to escape police arrest. It was a funny clip indeed. But the massive 123-episode feel good, family series is one of the best K-Drama to be found. And while the Indian representation may have been stereotypical, this series is on our list for portraying an expat, who also gets hitched to a Korean girl, though raised abroad. Usually, interracial relationships in South Korea are only considered fun and not for serious consideration.
6. IT’S OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY
South Korea had the fourth highest suicide rate in 2019, according to the World Health Organization. So, a K-Drama like It’s Okay To Not To Okay, which deals with mental health issues, is a much-needed one. What's more, the drama also portrays an autistic character.
7. WHEN THE CAMELLIA BLOOMS
An unmarried woman with a baby who moves into a new town and opens up a bar is not an ideal woman that the society loves to shower praise on – from South Korea to India and to the West. When The Camellia Blooms's leading lady is just that single unmarried woman, who’s also a mother. And the male lead, a police officer, falls in love with her. The portrayal of the romance is not all flowery; it shows exactly how society would behave in a scenario like that.
8. SO NOT WORTH IT!
So Not Worth It gets brownie points for attempting to show a diverse university culture in South Korea, with characters who are foreign and of mixed parentage. However, it falls short of doing justice to the characters, at times sends out the wrong message, and sometimes falls into the usual trope. So, it’s not a 10 on 10, but So Not Worth It is worth a watch.
9. REPLY 1997
The coming-of-age series Reply 1997 and Reply 1988 are some must-watch K-Dramas even if you are not a fan. In its second installment Reply 1997, the Reply series portrays a gay character and deals with the matter sensitively, and for that we are grateful.
10. VAGABOND
This thriller series based in an exotic location – Morocco, is a fun watch. While some things shown in the series are problematic, we are happy with the portrayal of characters from various nationalities. And these international characters are thankfully not stereotyped. And thank god that the character who downs the plane in the series is not a Muslim.
As the Hallyu wave crash-lands on the world and the South Korean society also starts opening up, perhaps we can see more diversified K-Dramas in the future. If Hollywood had 100s of years to catch up, then we can also extend the same courtesy to the Korean industry.