Sunday, June 7, 2009

We Got Married!

While browsing through youtube a while back, I came across a Korean reality show called ‘We Got Married’. Basically, the show pairs two celebrities together and whether familiar or not, the paired couple would have to start their pretend married life together. Four to five couples are usually shown in one season and it is interesting to see how different the different couples react when they start this show together. Some jump straight into the act like a real married couple and live sweet, ‘fairy-tale’ like lives together, while another may quarrel over petty issues, much like some younger couples these days. One couple in particular stood out for me because of how ‘real’ their relationship evolved over the episodes.

Engagement

In the above video, it shows the engagement process between the couple. They clearly felt awkward with each other’s presence because besides not knowing each other well, there is a six-year age gap between them (the woman is older), which is not a common coupling in the more conservative Asian society. Still, they tried making small talks and conversations with each other in an attempt to get to know each other better and make the ‘marriage’ work, which is pretty much like how couples that are in the initial stages of dating are like. The couple still do not know a lot about each other and so some form of ‘wall’ or awkwardness might form, but through small talks, they would slowly get closer and more comfortable in each other’s presence.

Management

This was filmed around two months after the start of their fake marriage. To manage and maintain the marriage, the woman had flown over to Japan to find her ‘husband’ because he had to stay there for a month for work commitments. As he was with his band mates, she took the initiative to take care of them by cooking food they requested the day before, and also tried bonding with them so as to close the gap between her ‘husband’ and her. In the later part of the episode, she had even went to his workplace (the recording studio), at his invitation, to see how he is like at work. Although not much verbal interaction can be seen in this episode, because they still felt a little awkward, the underlying intentions in their actions showed how they are trying to make this relationship work.

Disengagement

Their stint in the show lasted for seven months, and the video above showed their last words to each other before they officially ‘divorce’. At the request of the woman, they gave messages, through the camera, to the future spouses of the other, and through that message, it can be seen how much they have progressed from being near strangers to someone they know like the back of their hand. Their parting was on amiable terms, with them sharing a hug even at the end, and although not said out, it can be seen that their friendship was there to stay even after the separation.


(Credits: YouTube and the respective uploaders)

4 comments:

  1. Korean and Japanese women are generally more demure in nature and it's exceptionally heart-warming to witness how they consumate each other's life during the process.

    It would be ludicrous had it been a Singaporean reality show. I reckon we wouldn't be able to produce such sterling standard, definitely not for our culture.

    Once in a while, the process matters more than the results ain't it?

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  2. i dont think this is a fair portrayal of how a r/s works. the woman is doing all the work!! its like the guy doesnt even care if the r/s works out or not. he even opposed the woman's ideas of how they should act like a couple. real relationships require effort from both parties. the guy may be a pretty boy but too bad he behaves like a jerk. the woman's hot by the way..

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  3. Anonymous....hehehe actually i would like to see this show as a singapore reality show. it would be interesting to get a reaction out of the public because it would be a reflection of themselves.

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  4. I can't imagine if this was a Singapore reality show even though I would love to see how this turns out. But judging from Singaporeans' typical characteristics, we can expect a lot of complain letters flooding in to scold the guy. HAHA

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