13 reasons to watch the K-Drama "Chicago Typewriter"

To be honest, I am not an expert on Korean Dramas, nor in dramas in general. I think I have watched like three dramas in my life. Including the famous Boys over Flowers when I was in High School, back in 2009. I also have to admit that I had stereotypes about East-Asians dramas, of them being cheesy, the girl character being passive, with writers having the tendency of using shortcuts in the scenario that made no sense. But in my defense, every time a friend who was into dramas showed me an East-Asian production, it was either about some dude having a cancer and not telling his GF, or about some rich dudes fighting over the same average girl, all sprinkled with a bunch of romantic clichés. But when you think about it, it’s actually not so different from Hollywood, so it wasn’t smart of me to depreciate.

Yes sure, there are different K-Dramas moves that are almost signatures (hello, reaching-the-arm-when-the-girl-is-leaving move), and yes, it can be cheesy when they want to. But it can also be really subtle when they want to. It just depends on the genre and the production, I guess. But then again, I did not investigate the K-Drama catalog enough to know what I am talking about, so let me talk to you about something I DO know now, and it’s Chicago Typewriter.

All the American tv shows I was following were on standby, and I had nothing specific to watch at the moment, so when I saw my sister having fun watching K-Dramas, I joined her. We watched one about a prince from the Joseon era arriving in modern times, and even if scenaristicaly it wasn’t perfect, it was really enjoyable to watch. Then I realized, K-Dramas are an endless land of storyline possibilities that I didn’t discover yet. There are K-Dramas about everything, so I decided to find a new K-Drama to watch, with the hope that I will find one that matches more my personality. I didn’t even have to go far to find my gold nugget. Since it's a 2017 production, Chicago Typewriter appeared on the first page of the random list. The name triggered something in me, especially the word Typewriter. It combined the idea of writing with a vintage atmosphere, and the poster added to this vintage atmosphere a bit of mystery, so out of curiosity, I clicked on it.

Chicago Typewriter is about a young famous novelist in modern-day South-Korea named Han Se Ju, who one day receives an old Korean typewriter from Chicago. From then, he starts to have hallucinations about his past life as a writer during the Japanese colonization, 80 years ago. The series is a juxtaposition of comedy, drama, fantasy and romance, which can be a bit risky, but I gave it a try, and damn, I wasn’t disappointed. It actually surprised me in different ways. So I made a list of 13 reasons to watch Chicago Typewriter. I wanted to go with 5, but I couldn't help adding more.

1. The female lead character is credible.

Yes, she is a nice person who wants to be helpful when she can, but she can also be a total bad-ass and knows to answer back when necessary. Sometimes female characters can be soo frustrating when they let people walk over them, and say nothing... but not this time bitch! Jeon Seol can have different character traits without falling into the clichés of a nice girl, or the cliché of a kick-ass girl, or the cliché of a fangirl, she is plural. As we all actually are.

2. We understand each characters' reaction.

I was pleased to actually understand the motives of each character. When they do or say something, you actually feel where they come from, it's never off character and illegitimate. Even when their psychology is complex. Even when they are acting like little pieces of shit.

3. The acting of the guy who plays the writer is ON POINT.

I want to give an applause to Yoo Ah In for the way he played his character's anxiety. It looked visceral and so credible. It's really difficult to act a mental disorder without falling into a cliché. But the apparent nervousness, the breathing, the breakdowns, were all so just that it makes me come back to number 2, where not only you totally understand the reason why the writer Han Se Ju acts so arrogant but also empathize with his insecurities.

4. No frustration

The characters ask the good questions, they bring good reasonings, and they answer relevant stuff. Unlike other tv shows that I have watched, 98 % of the time they c-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-e. There is no screaming in front of your screen "why don't you say this or do that !!" Because they do. They don't act all dumb just for the sake of extending the plot. And it is such a relief for my nerves. I even noticed that sometimes the writer tries to make us think that the characters are going to be naïve, but then they aren't, and I'm like :

On top of all, there are, at least at the beginning, no incoherences ! Everything happens for a purpose even if at first you don't understand it. And when an unimportant detail makes no sense, they embrace it, by first reacting to it and then by giving a weird explanation. But at this point, I don't really mind the process.

5. Well done Magical Realism.

I discovered the concept of Magical Realism through the book 100 years of solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez. It is when supernatural events appear in very realistic environments, and it is actually what's happening in Chicago Typewriter. On descriptions, it is written that it is a fantasy series, but I think it is more close to the magical realism genre than the fantasy one, since it does not portray a fantastic world. On the contrary, the context is very real and they knew how to incorporate "magical" events while staying very realistic.

6. A little overview of Korean mysticism.

What makes the magical realism work so well is mainly the fact that it is based on cultural and religious beliefs. Reincarnation, past lives, shamans etc. are, from what I understood, within the Korean mysticism. So not only it is not fantasy, but it is actually what life is, for people who believe in it.

7. A little overview of Korean history.

Thanks to the series I learned that Japan colonized Korea during the 1900s, that a lot of Koreans were fighting for the freedom of the nation and that until now some people are denouncing the lack of recognition of Japan's crimes during this period.

8. Good cinematic quality.

The way it's filmed, the image grain, and the colors are quite cool. Even though it felt like an Instagram filter at first. But then you get used to it and it's all cool.

9. Yoo Jin Oh

Played by Go Kyung-pyo. Huge crush alert.

brb, on my way to steal your heart.

10. It's about writing.

As an inspiring writer, I really liked this aspect. It gives you motivation to keep writing and gives credit to the writer's profession, all while being in a semi-supernatural ambiance. Bonus detail : I can't count how many shots with various shelves full of books there were.

11. It's about love, and first about friendship love.

If you know me, you know I really dislike love triangles. But for the first time I didn't care that much, because even though they both liked the same girl, what was more important was that they all profondly loved each other. And it was actually more touching than the romance itself.

12. It could have been an awesome book.

I totally would imagine myself reading this story, full of excitement, in my bed until late at night, or in a park, or in a coffee shop during winter, with a hot chocolate.

13. Chicago Typewriter's scenarist is a woman.

I have to admit, when I saw the credibility of the characters, how the female lead character was, and how she realisticly reacted in certain situations, I had a huntch. I don't exactly know why. Maybe I was used to seeing female characters written by men that weren't really realistic in their reactions and interactions, so when I see one who acts pretty realistic to me, I feel that only a person who went through this could write this. I don't really know how to intellectualize that, but once I had this feeling, I looked up to see who was the writer, and I wasn't wrong. Her name is Jin Soo-wan, she is 47 and she wrote the series all by herself. Hollywood writers being predominantly men, even in France, it was very inspiring for me to see that the whole story was written by a woman. But I notice by looking up in other k-dramas, that in South-Korea it might actually be common.

***

As you can see, I kinda really liked this show. Now that I finished it, I also can say that yes, it is not perfect all along, that there were few things that to me were questionable approaching the end. And by the way, I would like to make a specific criticism about the development of Jeon Seol's best-friend character, Ma Bang-jin, who had an underrated role, when her personality could have been very interesting if it was just deepened a bit more. For me there is a reason for all her crying, I wish the scenarist had made it more explicit.

Also, I quibble but it's a pity that the original soundtrack wasn't all in Korean. Some main mood songs, even if they were nice (and now I want to cry everytime I hear them), were in English. You could say it's because of the "Chicago" part of the title, but Chicago was a detail, and the songs are nowhere near the old Chicago ambiance. So it just feels like it's because its considered cooler to have english songs, but I guess I just get annoyed when cultures get casually anglicized ...

Overall, I keep a really good memory of the show, and I would lie if I'd say that I didn't have an emotional bond with it. (binge-watching sequelaes...) I hope I didn't do too much though, because it is true that when I finally love something I get a bit too hyped... And it is known that when people oversell something, we end up with high expectations that ruin our appreciation of the content. So watch it thinking it's gonna be an other enjoyable cheesy drama, and then come back to me for your feedback, because I want to talk about it.

For francophones here's a link for the series with french subtitles : Chicago Typewriter VOSTFR

#tvseries #drama #kdrama #chicagotypewriter #romance #history #fantasy #writing #fiction