Controversy over sensationalism continues right following the first airing of iHQ’s love entertainment ‘Eden’
As programs dealing with the romance and love stories of ordinary performers are booming, broadcasters and OTTs are pouring out romantic entertainments. There are programs in which couples contemplating parting gather and change partners on a date, while young men and women gather on a remote island to continue an honest and hot date.
As such, some drastic settings and developments are being attempted to increase the viewership ratings, and some programs are frowned upon with excessive stimulation.
One of the most talked-regarding programs online recently is iHQ’s love entertainment show ‘Eden’. This program, which observes the process of men and women who have visited Eden to find their mate, is an entertainment that contains a psychological warfare unfolding as sociological conditions are revealed later while all information is blocked and they search for each other only by biological attraction.
In a situation in which romantic entertainments with unconventional settings such as couples who are regarding to break up change partners on a date, and couples who are separated to reunite and spend time together, are meeting viewers first. It drew attention by setting ‘Bad Date’ as a differentiating point of the program.
Producer Lee Hyo-min at the time of the production presentation said, “Usually, same-sex people share the same room, but in ‘Eden’, it takes place in a mixed room. The powerful gets the right to decide the bed every night. Because of this, you will be able to see the emotions of the performers fluctuate.” “The night is relatively longer than the day. I want you to pay attention to the unique method.” The performers also explained that ‘Eden’ was the Korean version of ‘Two Hot’, an overseas dating program, and said, “During the first filming, I mightn’t keep my mouth shut from start to finish. From the first appearance until we met each other. I really thought I would go to the Korea Communications Standards Commission,” he said repeatedly, emphasizing stimulation.
Even following the veil was removed, this trend did not change much. The performers had to wear swimsuits from the first meeting, and before any emotions might build up, they tangled up and played games to create stimulating scenes. As the production team dealt with the first meeting of the cast, they emphasized external factors such as skin and abs, and emphasized the bold skinship that occurs when playing games, providing an excuse to be engulfed in sensationalism.
Accordingly, concerns regarding the device called ‘mixed-up bad date’ are also growing. In particular, there was a heated debate as the performer was caught belatedly finding out that the right to allocate a bed for a bad date exists. A performer heard an explanation regarding this on set and said, “Are you kidding me?”, “Why are you fucking me? I want to pack up my bags and go home now.” The video was shown protesting to the production crew, and viewers who were concerned regarding the overly drastic concept were even more angry at the fact that this was not explained properly to the performers.
The production team explained earlier that it shows how a man and a woman who met in a pure state, excluding all conditions, will change when they get to know their social background. Nevertheless, in the end, the program was developed in a way that emphasized sensationalism, and this intention might not be properly explained to the viewers.
iHQ has previously aroused concern by launching a new OTT Babayo, and showing a lot of stimulating content. iHQ, which came up to challenge the OTT industry late, predicted that it would target a niche market with ‘short-form content’ centered on living information such as medical care, law, satire, shamanism, funeral, sex, and education.
Among them, the talk shows ‘Growth Man’ and ‘Kwachu-hyung’, ‘Hey! Let’s do it’ as well as the drama ‘Temptation of the Wind’, which claims 29 gold. Various 19-karat gold contents are now in charge of one axis of Babayo. However, this was also pointed out as a stimulus for stimulation because it might not contain a new message other than dealing with simple interest or gossip due to the nature of the short form content, which lasted only 10 to 15 minutes.
Of course, through this process, he succeeded in gaining a lot of interest in the program. However, in a situation where criticism takes precedence over response, there is still a lot of unreasonable stimulation. Can iHQ, which has been chasing following love entertainment and OTT belatedly, achieve more than a spark of interest with the same strategy as it is now? There are more questions than expectations regarding iHQ’s narrowly continuing steps.
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