I was really excited at the news of Jun's new drama today -- it really made my crappy day alot brighter... but when I got home, I read the premise of the drama, and my boyfriend and I got to thinking -- why did they put such an emphasis on Jun's character being half-filipino?
It's not very common - one would've expected perhaps being half-chinese or half-korean to appeal to a larger fanbase, if anything.
The other thing that stood out was that the description said Jun's character has a "complex" from the past -- I guess we'll see what this really means when the story progresses,
but my boyfriend and I agree that there may be a possibility that the said "complex" could stem from his ethnicity (somewhat true, from the Tokyograph). Both of us being Filipino, we would not like to see that happen. It also mentioned something about his father dying and his mother being missing -- hopefully the complex is more from that area, but ... yeah there's still the large possibility there could be some background issues.
I mean, they wouldn't put such a large emphasis on it for nothing. Sigh. I have a heavy feeling in my stomach. Hopefully we don't get bashed, but we'll see. Being positive is good! (trying)
Who knows? It could possibly be a huge fan-service....? no...lol
I guess we'll see in April. Hana being mute is also pretty unique.
In any case, this drama already sounds interesting. And I'm dying to watch it.
::UPDATED::
"Jun Matsumoto and Yui Aragaki will co-star in a new TBS drama series titled "Smile." Takayuki Takuma ("Hana Yori Dango") is handling the script, though he is using his real name rather than his usual pen name of Mikio Satake.
Matsumoto plays a half-Filipino whose father has died and mother has disappeared. Despite his misfortune and the issues he deals with, such as race, he lives his life positively with a constant smile.
Similarly, Aragaki plays a young woman living cheerfully despite losing her ability to speak due to an accident. Her character is said to be modeled after a real actress in the theatrical troupe that Takuma runs.
The supporting cast includes Kiichi Nakai as a lawyer who watches over Matsumoto and Aragaki.
"Smile" will air on Friday nights at 10:00pm, starting in April."
Ok. So. I guess that answers my question ><
Oh how troubling it is to be Filipino, right?? *sarcasm* -- ugh srrsly? <-- this was a "roll eyes" - exasperated type of comment
Oh well, hopefully it will still bring light to the Filipinos in some way. At least even more exposure? :-/
I wonder how we're going to be portrayed... eek... but whatever. I'll just be like Jun's character and know that however they may portray Filipinos, I'll live my live positively with a constant smile :P
... but it'd still be nice to have SOME good things about Filipinos show up in pop culture (like Charise, and groups on ABDC) instead of things like.. oh... random comments on Family Guy about being Quagmire's new sexual fetish or the "secret" behind the Rock's true ethnicity -_-
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