Celebrity

Korean media discussed on drama “Snowdrop” planning to end earlier than expected

“Snowdrop”, which failed to overcome the controversy over historical distortion, is expected to end with disastrous ratings.

snowdrop

Snowdrop”  chose an early end as it decided to broadcast continuously over the weekend. In the midst of public outrage, all that remains for ‘Snowdrop’ is a disastrous result. JTBC is also in a difficult situation. Not only did it not capture young viewers, but the image of the broadcaster was also hit hard.

According to JTBC, “Snowdrop”  will end on the 30th. “Snowdrop” is a 16-episode drama, with episodes 15 and 16 airing consecutively on the 30th. The 14th episode will be broadcast on the 29th, as previously planned. “Snowdrop” is a drama about the desperate love of Suho (Jung Hae-in) and Yeong-ro (Jisoo), who fall in love amidst a political conspiracy and spy war for power.

“Snowdrop” emerged as a highly anticipated drama but then sparked controversies 

A spy who is misunderstood as an activist student due to the leak of the synopsis before the broadcast, and the depiction of a humanistic character from the National Security Agency, etc. became a hot topic. As the controversy erupted, the director complained, “The freedom of creation is shrinking. JTBC started to evolve the controversy, saying, “The concern about the ‘democracy movement’ will be resolved in the course of the drama development.”

At that time, a petition requesting ‘Stop the Snowdrop broadcast’ was posted on the Blue House’s public petition bulletin board, and it quickly surpassed 400,000 signatures in just two days. Not only the company that sponsored ‘Snowdrop‘, but also the cast members were on fire.

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Historian Jeon Woo-yong also expressed his opinion on the history distortion controversy surrounding “Snowdrop”. He posted on his SNS account, saying, “Creators have the ‘freedom to make up stories based on historical facts’, but they are also obligated to take social and cultural responsibility for their ‘invention’. The reason why there has yet to be a creation that beautifies Cho Doo-soon or Yoo Young-chul and commits a “secondary offense” against the victims is that the ‘social punishment’ regarding this idea is still working.”

Supporters of the late Park Jong-cheol, who was tortured to death during the democratization movement in January 1987, raised their voice through a radio program, “This drama has a clear intention of distorting history. They are historically too irresponsible to create a drama with such keywords even though the victims are still alive and suffering from pains.”

The production team said, “If you keep watching, misunderstandings will be solved”… What about public opinions?

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As the controversy intensified, “Snowdrop” encountered a survival crisis. Many people expected “Snowdrop” to follow the steps of SBS’s “Joseon Exorcist”, but JTBC’s willingness to broadcast the drama was strong. As special broadcasts were arranged, the story was quickly revealed.

How were the ratings? “Snowdrop”, which started with a rating of 2.98% for the first episode, was left alone in the competition as its viewership couldn’t exceed the average range of 2%. Apart from controversies related to the drama itself, many viewers expressed their disappointment pointing out the slowly developed story. It seems like the appearance of famous actor Jung Hae-in and Jisoo, a member of the top girl group BLACKPINK, eventually couldn’t save the drama.

However, some commented that it’s better for “Snowdrop” to have an early end rather than being abolished. This is because the public opinion forcing the abolition of the drama caused such deep concerns. What led to the forcible abolition demand rather than criticisms against the drama’s production and the setting was the opinion that is beyond the ‘freedom of creation’ emphasized by the production team.

Source
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