Won Bin is one of the few infallible gods of Korean entertainment, the man can literally do no wrong. His name would constantly be hyped and media played to unbearable levels, but not only would netizens ignore it, they encouraged it.
Dubbed "The Life Sculpture" for being as naturally handsome as if a god spent a little extra time on this guy. "Alien" for being unearthly handsome. "CG creation" for being as handsome as if someone drew/animated him that way. The man allegedly turns lesser men and women into "octopi" in his mere presence or even having his picture next to theirs. You're starting to get the idea here, but apparently his selflessness (he's been known to do charitable works both lowkey and media played) and reclusiveness (not even Korean paparazzi can find bad pics of this guy) combined with his good looks gives him some kind of untouchable aura that no scandal can mar. Not that he's had any significant scandals mar his career in the first place.
The biggest thing to date was a straight up dating scandal. That would put down any normal celebrity for months on end, but it doesn't even phase him. The man hooks up with some hot young actress and instead of screaming how unfit she was for him, netizens merely shrugged and went about their day. He could shit on a little girl's face in broad daylight in the middle of Seoul and people would be jealous instead of mad. Even netizens were self-aware of this phenomenon, wondering what it would take for people to get mad at Won Bin.
Until now.
BRACE YOURSELVES, THE UNTHINKABLE HAS OCCURRED. PUBLIC OPINION HAS FINALLY BEGUN TO TURN ON WON BIN.
Warning: Lots of text, lots of difficult to read tables because fuckin Blogger deletes my formatting
I started off with a small article but it morphed into something bigger and uglier. Oop.
People are complaining that he's not done anything or landed any new gigs aside from the odd CF? Smells like the typical bullshit netizen entitlement that plagues Korean entertainment. Like many people have said in the past, the constant barrage of promotions Korean stars do -- whether it's comeback singles or new CF deals or new drama roles or movie performances or stage/theatre pieces -- desensitizes people to the normally rigorous demands of the industry itself. It's really goddamn hard out there to get a new gig in the first place, and unless you've got sponsorship, industry connections, or cash to throw around, you're not doing shit until you get one or more of the previous.
On the other hand, you have people like Tom Cruise or Leonardo di Caprio who also have just as much star power/money/influence to toss around but instead are far more selective about their roles in comparison.
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And this is all in the unquestionably larger market of Hollywood. Actors are considered done and washed up if they do anything but a cameo on TV roles, so their prospects are technically slimmer for relevancy. Is it bad they their filmographies aren't packed as full of activity as they could be? No. Is it good that Morgan Freeman is as prolific as he is? Not necessarily. These people have reached the point in their careers that they don't have to whore themselves out constantly to make money or stay in the public eye. They star in things because they like the project or the challenge, or simply need a new mansion to keep their money in.
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Yeah, I'll admit there's quite the stark difference between Won Bin and everyone else, Korea or not Korea. Perhaps some of the criticism is warranted, but it's still highly entitled of people to expect actors to star in roles at their beck and call, especially one of the A-lister gods like these guys. All of the actors above (across the pond or not) have taken 2-4 year hiatuses in their careers before, even recently as you can see for yourself in their filmographies, so why is it so weird that Won Bin is as well? It's not like he owes it to these people to star in things, and it's not like he asked for the circlejerky adoration/zealotry he receives from people online. It's simply unfair and really fucking dumb to expect this shit of him or anyone else, really.
Besides, if I was dating someone like Lee Na Young
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and rolling in the dough without lifting a finger, I'd just stay home and bang her all day too.
Dubbed "The Life Sculpture" for being as naturally handsome as if a god spent a little extra time on this guy. "Alien" for being unearthly handsome. "CG creation" for being as handsome as if someone drew/animated him that way. The man allegedly turns lesser men and women into "octopi" in his mere presence or even having his picture next to theirs. You're starting to get the idea here, but apparently his selflessness (he's been known to do charitable works both lowkey and media played) and reclusiveness (not even Korean paparazzi can find bad pics of this guy) combined with his good looks gives him some kind of untouchable aura that no scandal can mar. Not that he's had any significant scandals mar his career in the first place.
The biggest thing to date was a straight up dating scandal. That would put down any normal celebrity for months on end, but it doesn't even phase him. The man hooks up with some hot young actress and instead of screaming how unfit she was for him, netizens merely shrugged and went about their day. He could shit on a little girl's face in broad daylight in the middle of Seoul and people would be jealous instead of mad. Even netizens were self-aware of this phenomenon, wondering what it would take for people to get mad at Won Bin.
Until now.
BRACE YOURSELVES, THE UNTHINKABLE HAS OCCURRED. PUBLIC OPINION HAS FINALLY BEGUN TO TURN ON WON BIN.
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| "Fuck, I ain't ready for this shit." |
I started off with a small article but it morphed into something bigger and uglier. Oop.
Article: When will he comeback? Won Bin-ssi, isn't it time to promote again
Source: TV Daily via Nate
1. [+1,135, -54] Kim Soo Hyun's daebak already but... imagine if Won Bin did 'You Who Came From the Stars'... He would've really looked like an alien ㅋㅋㅋ
2. [+611, -13] So hurry up and come out~ It's good to do charity work behind the scenes but please do some charity for the eyes of viewers by giving us some eye candy ㅎㅎ We want to see your handsome face ♥.♥
3. [+498, -13] Yeah, if you look him up on Naver, his recent activities is just empty... I guess it's one of two things... He's either really careful when it comes to picking projects or he's really~ lazy and would rather stay home since he makes enough money off of CFs.
4. [+61, -11] Reminds me of what Lee Soon Jae said at the awards ceremonies when he talked ill of actors who get popular off of one work and then live off of CF money... Won Bin's handsome and a good actor but he doesn't work often enough. Sometimes I wonder if he's an actor or a CF star.
5. [+51, -8] His looks are undeniably the best but I prefer actors like Ha Jung Woo who doesn't care about his image or anything and works hard in all of his projects as opposed to a an actor who does nothing but CFs sometimes.
6. [+40, -7] What's the point of being so handsome when he doesn't work... I prefer actors who continue to work even as supporting roles when necessary even if they're not as handsome as him.
7. [+40, -9] If you are truly an actor, I hope you will stop shying away from works so much. An actor needs to act to be an actor.
8. [+34, -11] Won Bin does one work every 3-4 years... Hard to call him an actor at this point.
9. [+24, -6] Someone whose job is a doctor must treat patients every day, someone whose job is a taxi driver must drive his taxi every day, someone whose job is a student must study every day... and someone whose job is to act should be acting as often as possible, like Ha Jung Woo... Doesn't seem right for Won Bin to receive all of this love from the public and not do anything with it.
10. [+24, -7] He's not really an actor... just a handsome star.
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| "WTF DID I JUST READ... WON BIN GON' HAVE TA SMACK A BITCH?" |
Let's look at American movie stars for comparison. You're always going to have A-listers like Morgan Freeman who have a ton of star power, money, and influence to throw around. People like him can pretty much pick and choose his roles. He stars in so many movies so often simply because he wants to.
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MORGAN FREEMAN'S FILMOGRAPHY (2004-2014)
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TOM CRUISE'S FILMOGRAPHY (2004-2014)
| Year | Movie | Role |
| 2004 | Collateral | Vincent |
| 2005 | War of the Worlds | Ray Ferrier |
| 2006 | Mission: Impossible III | Ethan Hunt |
| 2007 | Lions for Lambs | Senator Jasper Irving |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | Claus von Stauffenberg |
| 2008 | Tropic Thunder | Les Grossman |
| 2010 | Knight and Day | Roy Miller |
| 2011 | Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol | Ethan Hunt |
| 2012 | Rock of Ages | Stacee Jaxx |
| 2012 | Jack Reacher | Jack Reacher |
| 2013 | Oblivion | Jack Harper |
| 2014 | Edge of Tomorrow | Lt. Col. William "Bill" Cage |
LEONARDO DI CAPRIO'S FILMOGRAPHY (2004-2014)
| Year | Movie | Role |
| 2004 | The Aviator | Howard Hughes |
| 2006 | The Departed | William "Billy" Costigan Jr. |
| Blood Diamond | Danny Archer | |
| 2008 | Body of Lies | Roger Ferris |
| Revolutionary Road | Frank Wheeler | |
| 2010 | Shutter Island | Teddy Daniels |
| Inception | Dom Cobb | |
| 2011 | J. Edgar | J. Edgar Hoover |
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Calvin J. Candie |
| 2013 | The Great Gatsby | Jay Gatsby |
| The Wolf of Wall Street | Jordan Belfort |
And this is all in the unquestionably larger market of Hollywood. Actors are considered done and washed up if they do anything but a cameo on TV roles, so their prospects are technically slimmer for relevancy. Is it bad they their filmographies aren't packed as full of activity as they could be? No. Is it good that Morgan Freeman is as prolific as he is? Not necessarily. These people have reached the point in their careers that they don't have to whore themselves out constantly to make money or stay in the public eye. They star in things because they like the project or the challenge, or simply need a new mansion to keep their money in.
If we want to keep it in Korea, let's compare Won Bin to some of his peers.
WON BIN'S FILMOGRAPHY (2004-2014)
| Year | Movie | Film or Drama | Role |
| 2004 | Taegukgi | Film | Lee Jin Seok |
| My Brother | Film | Jong Hyun | |
| 2009 | Mother | Film | Do Joon |
| 2010 | The Man from Nowhere | Film | Cha Tae Sik |
CHA SEUNG WON'S FILMOGRAPHY (2004-2014)
| Year | Movie | Film or Drama | Role |
| 2004 | Ghost House | Film | Park Pil Gi |
| 2005 | Blood Rain | Film | Lee Won Gyoo |
| Murder, Take One | Film | Choi Yeon Gi | |
| 2006 | Over the Border | Film | Kim Sun Ho |
| 2007 | Small Town Rivals | Film | Jo Choon Sam |
| My Son | Film | Lee Kang Shik | |
| 2008 | Eye for an Eye | Film | Ahn Hyun Min |
| 2009 | Secret | Film | Kim Seong Yeol |
| City Hall (SBS) | Drama | Jo Gook | |
| 2010 | Athena: Goddess of War (SBS) | Drama | Son Hyuk |
| Blades of Blood | Film | Lee Mong Hak | |
| 71: Into the Fire | Film | Park Moo Rang | |
| 2011 | The Greatest Love (MBC) | Drama | Dokko Jin |
| 2014 | High Heels | Film | Detective Ji Wook |
LEE BYUNG HUN'S FILMOGRAPHY (2004-2014)
| Year | Movie | Film or Drama | Role |
| 2004 | Everybody Has Secrets | Film | Choi Su Hyeon |
| Three Extremes - segment "Cut" | Film | Ryu Ji Ho | |
| 2005 | A Bittersweet Life | Film | Kim Sun Woo |
| 2006 | Once in a Summer | Film | Yun Suk Young |
| 2008 | The Good, the Bad, the Weird | Film | Park Chang Yi, the Bad |
| 2009 | I Come with the Rain | Film | Su Dong Po |
| G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | Film | Storm Shadow | |
| Iris | Drama | Kim Hyun Jun | |
| 2010 | Iris: The Movie | Film | Kim Hyun Jun |
| The Influence | Film | W | |
| I Saw the Devil | Film | Kim Soo Hyeon | |
| 2012 | Masquerade (Gwanghae: The Man Who Became King) | Film | King Gwang Hae, Beggar Ha Sun[33] |
| 2013 | G.I. Joe: Retaliation | Film | Storm Shadow |
| RED 2 | Film | Han Jo Bae / Han Cho Bai | |
| 2014 | Memories of the Sword | Film | Deok Gi |
Yeah, I'll admit there's quite the stark difference between Won Bin and everyone else, Korea or not Korea. Perhaps some of the criticism is warranted, but it's still highly entitled of people to expect actors to star in roles at their beck and call, especially one of the A-lister gods like these guys. All of the actors above (across the pond or not) have taken 2-4 year hiatuses in their careers before, even recently as you can see for yourself in their filmographies, so why is it so weird that Won Bin is as well? It's not like he owes it to these people to star in things, and it's not like he asked for the circlejerky adoration/zealotry he receives from people online. It's simply unfair and really fucking dumb to expect this shit of him or anyone else, really.
Besides, if I was dating someone like Lee Na Young
and rolling in the dough without lifting a finger, I'd just stay home and bang her all day too.