why millions of Americans are binge-watching Korean dramas

It used to be that the TV series Americans were able to consume were all pretty much produced right here in the US. Acclaimed shows from other shores — even countries that spoke English — rarely showed up in America, and if they did, it was only sporadically on PBS. But in the last several years, that's been changing. More and more British, Canadian, and Australian series arrive here every day, and sites like Hulu bring in shows that aren't in English (like Hatufim, the Israeli show that served as inspiration for Homeland).



And then there's DramaFever, an online video streaming service specializing in TV series and films from Asia. DramaFever has become one of the leading distributors of international content in the United States since its 2009 launch.



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85 percent of DramaFever's audience, Park said, is non-Asian, with 45 percent being Caucasian and 25 percent being Latino. "All types of ethnicities," Park told me, "are seeking out foreign content" because it "speaks to them more than … traditional television."







DramaFever carries a diverse library of content but is mostly known for its Korean dramas, more popularly known as K-dramas. K-dramas vary in story and setting, of course, but what they have in common is that each series is self-contained — meaning, one season long and telling a complete story — and usually takes as its central plot a chaste romance. In fact, a first kiss usually happens seven or eight episodes into the narrative, which usually contains around 16 to 20 episodes. "What is focused on [in K-dramas] is relationships," Park said. "Not really sex but how true lovers struggle to make romance a reality."



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The 'Confucian values' of K-dramas



K-dramas differ from American soaps in ways other than their lack of sex. Park told me much of his site's content is "deeply rooted in traditional Confucian values," like responsibility and respect. Most of DF's stories, says Park, explore the tension between loving someone and "the responsibility that character feels to his family, career, and other types of relationships."



Seventy percent of DramaFever's catalogue is from Asia, with more than half of that comprised of Korean titles. The rest is imported from Japan, Taiwan, and other Asian countries. DramaFever also airs the aforementioned Spanish-language content from Telemundo, and its children's channel includes animated programming from France and the United Kingdom. "It's never too early to expose kids to different storytelling from around the world," says Park.



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There's always talk about diversity in entertainment, and the upshot is usually that we could use more of it. Engaging with viewpoints different from our own is a necessary exercise, and in watching TV series and movies from other countries, we can imagine what it might be like to live there, even as we realize just how universal many of these stories truly are.



For while many of DramaFever's narratives seem to push against Hollywood's most famous tropes, the site's PG stories might be closer to home than we think. As K-drama-obsessed Claire Carusillo notes in Vice, "There's no nationalism in liking to look at attractive people while they look at each other and decide whether or not to make out." And as long as that's true, the US will have plenty of viewing options, beyond just the homegrown.



full article at the source (Brandon Ambrosino @ Vox)