Why Do Dramas Like The Gangnam Police Department?
The common denominator between SBS Monday/Tuesday drama "God's Gift" that is almost finished and the new SBS Wednesday/Thursday drama "You Are Surrounded" that looks forward to its first episode is "Gangnam Police Department".
In "God's Gift", Gangnam in Seoul is the place that Kim Soo Hyun (played by Lee Bo Young)'s family resides. Soo Hyun's daughter Han Saet Byul (played by Kim Yoo Bin)'s kidnapping incident is under the jurisdiction of Gangnam Police Department. In "You Are Surrounded" the main characters of Gangnam Police Department appears as the homeground. The visual is overwhelming but it's the place where the four characters mature and develop.
In movies and dramas, Gangnam Police Department is a place that is quite loved. There are many police departments in the Seoul metropolitan area but the reason the Gangnam Police Department is used often is because it can show the extreme sides of a person in a persuasive way.
In the "rich town" of Gangnam, there is a coexisting area of projects where poverty exists. On the outside, everything is perfect but on the inside, there is a lot of depression and there is high population density. According to the National Medical Health Insurance foundation survey released in 2012, for every 100,000 people, the highest number of people getting depression treatment was in Seochogu (1750 people) and the second was Gangnam-gu (1683 people).
Like this, the societal aspects are being reflected in the drama. One staff member of the drama production company said, "On the outside, Gangnam is very fancy but inside, you can see the depression of humans, loneliness and pain which is the same. More than anything, they are living in a complete environment so small shocking moments could be magnified. Such is why "Gangnam Police Department" appears as a theme throughout" he explained.
Another staff member also said, "Gangnam is simply a well-off place but there are places not like that. They live under the same roof but the shades of life are very different. Because of this, when expressed in a drama, it is possible to show various emotions to viewers."
In this aspect, the role of Gangnam is amusing. In "God's Gift" Soo Hyun is a lady of Gangnam that is envied by many. She keeps in her heart her unfortunate upbringing and she is loyal to her husband who is faithful to her home, Han Ji Hoon (played by Kim Tae Woo) who is socially successful as she lived a happy life. However, it turns out that Ji Hoon was in an illegitimate with Soo Hyun's underclassmate writer and because of this dirty relationship, her daughter Saet Byul is sacrificed. The message is that happiness can be shattered easily like glass.
In "You Are Surrounded", "Gangnam Police Department" is the background. Cha Seung Won, Lee Seung Ki, Ko Ah Ra are main characters as they solve the case and situation and will have the opportunity to grow and have a change of development. In this process, it will be interesting to see what typical aspects of "Gangnam" will be brought forth.
Meanwhile, "God's Gift" was supposed to end on April 22nd, but because of the Jindo Ferry Tragedy that happened on April 16th, the broadcasting of the last episode was delayed. The actual date is still in deliberation as the first broadcast of "You Are Surrounded" was moved from April to May.
