I love the length of the shows. They're easy to watch, don't draw things out forever (which is nice when the story is a romance, because you know you won't have to wait years for the couple to get together), and end in a timely manner. It's not that I dislike the American format, but it's nice to have a change.
But my main reason for watching dramas are the themes. I love romance desperately, and I love that a lot of dramas are about romance. That is something you don't really find in American tv (not including soap operas, which honestly I don't think compare at all with dramas).
As someone who is distinctly non-Asian, I do actually agree with the fact that as non-Asian, I see things differently in dramas, and can look past the cliches/etc. I also think, as a non-Asian, things that would bother me in American tv are less likely to bother me in dramas because of cultural differences (for example, the way unmarried women in their thirties are portrayed).
The weird thing about dramas, to me, is that they essentially were the beginning step to me changing my life around completely. I was never really interested in Asia prior to them, and now look at me! So I guess I also watched them for culture and language. I started studying Mandarin because of them, I went to Taiwan because of them, my life has utterly changed because of them. It's strange to say that, but it's true. Even though we all know the culture they show is whitewashed for the sake of the audience, they still show things that are so completely different from what we see in the west, that it's educational.
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I love the length of the shows. They're easy to watch, don't draw things out forever (which is nice when the story is a romance, because you know you won't have to wait years for the couple to get together), and end in a timely manner. It's not that I dislike the American format, but it's nice to have a change.
But my main reason for watching dramas are the themes. I love romance desperately, and I love that a lot of dramas are about romance. That is something you don't really find in American tv (not including soap operas, which honestly I don't think compare at all with dramas).
As someone who is distinctly non-Asian, I do actually agree with the fact that as non-Asian, I see things differently in dramas, and can look past the cliches/etc. I also think, as a non-Asian, things that would bother me in American tv are less likely to bother me in dramas because of cultural differences (for example, the way unmarried women in their thirties are portrayed).
The weird thing about dramas, to me, is that they essentially were the beginning step to me changing my life around completely. I was never really interested in Asia prior to them, and now look at me! So I guess I also watched them for culture and language. I started studying Mandarin because of them, I went to Taiwan because of them, my life has utterly changed because of them. It's strange to say that, but it's true. Even though we all know the culture they show is whitewashed for the sake of the audience, they still show things that are so completely different from what we see in the west, that it's educational.