MY friends and I have recently been watching more Korean series since the March lockdown. The first K-drama I ever watched was Crash Landing On You. Needless to say, I am one of the millions of Filipinos who adore the lead actor, Hyun Bin. I like the K-drama plots, the learnings, the songs and the amazing cinematography.
As I watched specific titles, I found much emotional release or what I call my “K-tharsis.” It brought me back to poignant memories and paved the way to finding resolutions to once repressed feelings. On a lighter note, it also brought out unadulterated laughter and many a sweet memory.
Below are some of my K-drama recommendations and reflections. I classified them according to my “K-thartic” realizations on Self, Love, Relationships and Society. For easy reference, I also indicated the male and female leads, as well where they can be viewed.
SELF
- Doctors—(Kim Rae-won, Park Shin-hye) Viu
- Itaewon Class—(Park Seo-joon, Kim Da-mi) Netflix
- She Was Pretty—(Park Seo-joon, Hwang Jung-eum) Netflix
- Fight for My Way—(Park Seo-joon, Kim Ji-won) Netflix
- That Winter, The Wind Blows—(Jo In-sung, Song Hye-kyo) Netflix
After watching Doctors, what struck me was the strength of the female lead combined with her vulnerability because of past family wounds. She takes 13 years, changes her dreams and gives up worldly relations to get there. It was lucky she met her “person” when she was still young and open. It was also fate that led them apart to build their own lives. In the end, she let go of the hurt in her own terms. She reached out to the people who hurt her by offering her help but not her heart. She did her duties with principles setting aside anger.
As for Dr. Hong, I admire him more for his stable loving view of life. He experienced even more hurt by losing both parents at once. He experienced deceit from family members in his teens. But the smile remained because he did not bear vengeance. He chose to love the present day and found a loving foster father who brought him to bigger heights in love and passion more than even his original life could have.
It strengthens my faith that good people’s lives may be challenging but goodness brings joy when it matters the most. Shield yourself from ill intentions and actions. What goes around comes around because God is watching. Stay clear. Stay loving. Stay happy.
If I fly and fall
If I soar and cry
The voice I hear
The strength I feel
Is that hand of faith
For he who embraces
All of me…Always
Itaewon Class made me again wonder how I constantly push for my values and principles. Ever since I was a kid, I valued “love” more than anything else—love for my family, love for my future husband, and love for my future kids. I worked for it. Even my high grades, I worked for to show affection rather than gain pride.
This was even harder growing up in my family. I remember fighting for loving friends who were different. I remember being kicked out of the house for loving my sister too much. In 2010, I made another principled decision to step away almost empty-handed, full of “pulled back” emotions of the people I left behind and the work I have invested in for more than 10 years. I humbly downsized who I was. But I am glad I never looked for revenge, so I never felt I wasted even one day angry. Like what the main character described about soybean fermentation that leaves a special warmth afterwards, I spent my days finding and creating warmth for a future unknown yet feels like home.
I still feel sad for the “death” of my family. I still wonder sometimes. Yet now, it matters less. Time has healed me a whole lot. The love of so many people has embraced me much more than people who I expected to love me unconditionally. I have come to see life in a different color. I will continue to live and climb faithfully and freely because, somehow, God loves me enough so that I can be free enough to live today by my own principles and not get punished further for living the life I chose for myself.
In She Was Pretty, there is a part when the lead utters this: “I wonder if I was the one who turned off my own spotlight. If we don’t turn off our own spotlights, if we never give up on our dreams, we may be able to create our own fairy tales.”
I also realized it is a gift to use a lens more than skin deep from the onset. I realized decisions based on valuing relationships is not wrong. It may take longer in realizing apparent goals but meaning is also deeper with the wait. There are people we “hug” gratefully always even with distance.
LOVE
- Encounter—(Park Bo-gum, Song Hye-kyo) Viu
- The Time We Were Not in Love—(Lee Jin-wook, Ha Ji-won) Dramacool
- Secret Garden—(Hyun Bin, Ha J-won) Netflix
- A Millionaire’s First Love—(Hyun Bin, Lee Yeon-hee) Dramacool
- My Suspicious Partner/Love in Trouble—(Ji Chang-wook, Nam Ji-hyeon) Viu
More of my K-drama recommendations and reflections next week. Happy K-tharsis to everyone. n