Cold female lead?

Feb 28, 2020 04:14 pm

Hi, I'd like to watch a drama where the girl is just as cold as a lot of male lead are nowadays. They always give us those dramas where the male lead has a ''dark past'' and is cold due to that, but he slowly becomes sweet for the lead and stuff. I'd like to see it the other way around. Also, I'd love to watch a drama where the female lead is a murderer or something (don't get me wrong, I just love a good ''detective'' kind of dramas). It doesn't have to be a romantic drama if there isn't, I don't mind. But PLEASE, I've been looking for those kind of dramas and didn't found any I hadn't watched yet.

Thank you so much!

Feuer_Frei

Feb 28, 2020 04:59 pm

The Happy Loner

100-manen no Onna-tachi

The Guest

And maybe The Cursed, which is airing right now.

kdramakitty

Feb 28, 2020 05:14 pm

Page Turner might qualify, she’s cold and frankly pretty mean sometimes. I Need Romance 3 and Witch’s Romance are both noona dramas where the female leads are somewhat cold, particularly at work, but slowly soften for the male lead. I think I remember in Dream High the female lead was a bit of an ice princess. In Flower Boy Next Door the female lead is very reclusive and introverted and slowly warms up to people.

I don’t know of any female murderers in kdramas (maybe technically in ghost detective?) but if anyone else does I’d be interested lol.

SylverWolf

Feb 28, 2020 08:36 pm

Strongest Deliveryman (not murderer, but cold)

Unidentifiable

Mar 8, 2020 10:01 am

WATCHER. She's so cool. Great character, she warms up later on as you get to know her. No romance at all.

My Mister. I only watched the first few episodes so far, but she's very cold. Chilly, even. Again, no romance.

The Happy Loner. She's very attached to her individuality. Short, two episodes.

....

Now than you mention it, I've realised just how few genuinely cold female leads I have seen (and remembered), when cold male leads are existent in almost plague proportions.

PrettyCarEye

Mar 8, 2020 10:52 am

Unidentifiable:
Now than you mention it, I've realised just how few genuinely cold female leads I have seen (and remembered), when cold male leads are existent in almost plague proportions.

I don't know where you're from, but you guys have to remember the cultural context. In Asia, the vast majority of men behave coldly as a fasade for their own survival in their professions. While women have their own difficult circumstances, they're different from men ... and usually they're not expected to hide their emotions as much. As a result many females aren't as 'cold' as men are so the dramas just try to depict that reality, I guess. Moreover, 80% of women in Asia as a whole still adhere to 'traditional' gender roles so many don't work outside the home, or they work part time or in their family businesses ... most of which are small mom & pop type establishments (not big conglomerates). They're not faced with a lot of the stuff men have to face in their work life which requires them to look & be hard. Of course, there are also some women in the work force, but again just a small portion in comparison to men & the rest of the female population.

PrettyCarEye

Mar 8, 2020 10:57 am

Ice World fits nicely with what you're looking for. It's an older Japanese drama, but very much worth the watch! Female lead is not cold per se, but she's a very enigmatic, mysterious, smoke & mirrors type character. You can't really figure her out & that fascinates the ML. She's also the prime suspect in a murder case that the ML is working on.

Golden Empire also has a female lead with a mean poker face. You can never tell what she's thinking. She's an amazing character too.

Unidentifiable

Mar 8, 2020 11:29 am

PrettyCarEye:
I don't know where you're from, but you guys have to remember the cultural context. In Asia, the vast majority of men behave coldly as a fasade for their own survival in their professions. While women have their own difficult circumstances, they're different from men ... and usually they're not expected to hide their emotions as much.

Oh yes. Being not an outsider to Asian culture, sometimes I do find it confronting. But then I need to remember, that this is still existent in my own culture as well. Men are expected to be tougher and women are expected to be there for the family and work more part-time jobs. Even if a lot of it has been, thankfully, eradicated, it is still very present in the subconscious. And the wage difference.

I just find it a little bit strange, how, even though I'm female, I usually relate to the male lead instead. I simply find them more interesting. I'm not bubbly, and I have a tendency to to be aloof. It would be nice to see more of that in the female representation in dramas.

Because ultimately, we do not need to conform to the mould that society has created for us. Sometimes we can't.

PrettyCarEye

Mar 8, 2020 11:54 am

Unidentifiable:
I just find it a little bit strange, how, even though I'm female, I usually relate to the male lead instead. I simply find them more interesting. I'm not bubbly, and I have a tendency to to be aloof. It would be nice to see more of that in the female representation in dramas.

I think society creates different but equally problematic obstacles for both men and women. Men enjoy a lot of privileges but also a lot of responsibility and burden that women don't have (that's something I don't think a lot of women realize or appreciate, even if they do). I often relate to the ML a lot more because men are hardly given the same leeway as women to complain, cry and feel sorry for themselves or situations. They're just expected to suck it up (man up) and deal with it. And they do. Not always in the best way, but I like the fact that they don't tend to cast themselves as victims.

There are more female centred dramas (with characters that run the gamut) than in previous years, but a lot of time I just can't get into them because they're constantly portraying the women as victims, who whine and complain and act like the world owes them something. I just can't bother with that. I find the FLs I relate to the most are the ones who don't complain about their lot in life, but use their wit and intelligence to overcome. The FL in Golden Empire is a perfect example of this.

I am not interested in gender wars as I think every group has a burden to bear in life. Therefore, I don't think its problematic that some cultures adhere to traditional gender roles. Different strokes for different folks. What's important for me is equality of opportunity, not necessarily equality of outcome ... as one's outcome can only be determined by one's own capabilities and talents.