Get your pencils sharpened...

Time to write a letter. The (edited for this site) text below is in answer to a post at Soompi in which the time slot of "Papa" came up.


*************

[Hello C.,
It's good to know the people are leaving messages at the KBS site. (Refers to netizen activity.)

The unfortunate thing here is, if Papa had been released at a time when the competition was the standard fare, Papa would have been the hit the other shows needed to compete against. It has all the important ingredients. The only thing it doesn't have is a cute dog.

The issue of a failure due to undeservedly low ratings is deeper, and has greater impact than most people recognize. At best, Oh Ji Ho's career is still fragile at this time, and any bump will further erode his hold in the industry. He really needs something HOT.

Because Oh Ji Ho is the star of this program, he carries a lot of weight and responsibility where the success of it is concerned. That is NOT realistic, but it's the way it is in the world.

People don't blame a bad director, they don't blame a bad time slot, they don't blame a bad writer...they take aim at the easiest target, the main character, the "star". When a star gets shot down, everyone falls with him or her, and the label "flop" sticks like glue in the world of the web, which has become so powerful.

The show is hot. The time slot is not.

That’s bad news for concerned parties. It’s hard for all the other great cast members. This is a heartbreaker for them.

I do not expect KBS to alter the plan regarding the time slot. What I do expect is the same thing that happened with Star Empire.

When Star Empire started getting real mail on real paper with real postage on it, written by some very direct and intelligent real people, they began to get the idea we know what happens "over there".

It's very interesting to watch things change when Americans and other people from all over the world open their mouths in support of actors Korea thinks of as unimportant.

The people in Korea think we have no interest in anything having to do with their culture, and that we don't care when someone gets a bad deal.

Oh, we care. Especially when our hearts adopt a young friend, and he or she is on the wrong end of the stick, and getting beaten.

The entire point of these letters is to show physical proof ON paper; we out here, we are real people, and we are aware. We are not just cyber whispers. They can throw letters into the trash can, but they can't erase us with the click of a mouse. When more than one letter enters any system, it gets harder to ignore them.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! We make real noise.

Write KBS a letter. Tell them you are not too happy about the program getting killed the way it is. Just tell them that.

Here darlings, have an address courtesy of me. Address the mail to the president and chief executive officer. That should wake someone up. Right?

Mr. Jung Yun-joo
KBS
18 Yoido-dong Youngdungpo-gu Seoul 150-790, Korea


So now you sit down and growl for Oh Ji Ho, and all the others working their butts off to make audiences happy. Make your voice heard. Postage, 90 cents from the USA, yes, that includes Hawaii, and Alaska. You can't slip out from under this obligation to support Mr. Oh.

Do I hear all those electric pencil sharpeners? NO? Come on. You can do it.