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'Oh! Dear Goddesses of Basement!' mirrors women in 20s, 30s via Greek Goddesses in Seoul

By Kim So-yeon

Published : Oct. 18, 2017 - 19:03

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“Oh! Dear Goddesses of Basement,” an upcoming digital drama from Studio OnStyle, seeks to enlist sympathy from today’s young women in Korea.

Studio OnStyle, the digital contents division of CJ E&M’s cable channel OnStyle, unveiled its first-ever digital drama series in a news conference Wednesday that was attended by actresses Ha Yeon-soo and Cha Jung-won, Sojin of girl group Girls’ Day, Na Hae-ryung formerly of girl group EXID and actor Park Sung-woo.

Lee Lang, the producer and screenwriter of the drama said, “Personally I have a lot of interest in feminism so I wanted to tell such stories. I thought I can better convey the message only if I take soft and comical approach so I put fantasy elements (in the drama).”

“Even in everyday life of ordinary people, I think there are things that only women can feel -- the fear of taking a walk alone at night, for example. I thought I could talk about how the Greek Goddess would deal with such problems,” she said. 

From Left: Sojin of Girls` Day, Cha Jung-won, Park Sung-woo, Ha Yeon-soo and Na Hae-ryung formerly of girl group EXID pose for photos before a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. (Kim So-yeon / The Korea Herald) From Left: Sojin of Girls` Day, Cha Jung-won, Park Sung-woo, Ha Yeon-soo and Na Hae-ryung formerly of girl group EXID pose for photos before a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday. (Kim So-yeon / The Korea Herald)
The new drama centers on the four Greek Goddesses – Peitho (Cha), Metis (Sojin), Iris (Ha) and Oizys (Na) -- who come down to the Earth to spread love and peace, hoping to leave their names on myth and become the A-listed Goddesses.

The four, however, end up living in a basement flat in Mangwon-dong, Seoul and struggles with rather realistic problems of paying rent and living costs by pawning their heavenly jewels and working part-time.

Kim Ki-yoon, the director of the drama said the drama deliberately targeted the women in their 20s and 30s. “Now people are consuming contents through so many different platforms. But their tastes are quite different based on age, gender and nationality. We selected the platform first and produced the drama to fit the taste of the main users of the platform,” he said.

Park, who plays the role of the owner of the Goddesses’ favorite pawnshop, said “It seems there is no relationship between Greek Goddesses (and today’s young people in Korea) but it is interesting to feel the difference and harmony at the same time watching (the Goddesses) experiencing what young people nowadays experience.”

“Oh! Dear Goddesses of Basement!” is set to premiere at 11 a.m. on Thursday on Naver TV.

By Kim So-yeon (syk19372@heraldcorp.com)