1. School 2013 (Hakgyo (학교) 2013)
I don’t usually watch Korean dramas because it takes up too much time
to finish watching the full episodes and they are so addictive that once I start watching, it’s hard to stop and I’ll stay with it through to the final
episode. For the same reason, therefore,
I had no intention of watching KBS’s 2013 drama “School 2013” at first. But as my close friend Sun kept mentioning
and quoting it ‘cause she is a high school math teacher herself in an
inner-city neighborhood of Minneapolis, I ended up spending my last weekend and
Monday watching it through. And I'm glad I did.
This drama portrayed the flawed South Korean education
system and equally flawed parents and their children. Alas, how schools mirror the society we live
in! As very realistically portrayed in a
2004 South Korean movie “Once Upon a Time in High School: The Spirit of Jeet
Kune Do” (
Maljukgeori
Janhoksa;
Click
to watch the movie with English subtitles), South Korean schools under vile and
brutal totalitarian regimes in the 60’s through the 80’s were miniatures of oppressed
yet violent society. Police officers in plain clothes were on stakeouts in
colleges and even army officers were present in schools.
 |
| Scenes from
“Once Upon a Time in High School: The Spirit of Jeet Kune Do” |
On the other hand, modern day South Korean schools at a glance seem to function
more democratically just as modern day South Korea seems to function more democratically
compared to the old days. Teachers are no longer authoritative or oppressive;
students are treated more humanely and respectfully and given more freedom of
expression; and there’s no army officers present in schools any more. Sadly though, materialism replaced
totalitarianism and successism replaced a noble ideology in our schools as well
as our society. In our dysfunctional, flawed education
system, teachers with less integrity and power, selfish and sick parents,
and spoiled yet emotionally and/or mentally distressed students have become enemies against one
another. Wealthy, self-seeking, and preposterous
parents have replaced army officers and become dictators in schools. No matter
how well-meaning they are, they suffocate and exhaust their kids by driving
them always to "be the best."
I would say “School 2013” was very realistic and at the same time
eventually unrealistic in terms of depicting the South Korean education system
and society in overall crisis. For
example, it suggested too naïve and sentimental approaches to school
violence. Of course, some school bullies
come from dysfunctional or socio-economically disadvantaged families but there
are others who are budding sociopaths or simply psychopaths. Yet it touched the
deepest of my heart and brought tears to my eyes many times, like when Jung
Injae (played by Jang Nara) wholeheartedly gave a sincere pep talk to her
student, Minki, after his failed suicide attempt (I even memorized some of her
quotes to use them when my son goes through puberty) or when she spoke in
defense of her misbehaving yet shameless students after their failed cheating
attempt. (
Click to watch the drama with English Subs.)
Jung Injae (Jang Nara) consoles Minki after his failed suicide attempt.
Jung Injae speaks in defense of the students after their failed cheating attempt.
And I think I have to talk about Jang Nara. Even though Jang is a pleasant singer/actor
with a pleasant presence I adore, I haven't been this impressed with her
abilities as an actor and I don’t think it was just me. So when she needed to be
taken as a serious actor, she had her chance and made the most of it. What follows is excerpted from Jang and Choi Daniel's interviews with
Ten Asia:
Ten Asia: There was one scene that was very impressive where
Jung Injae tossed a broomstick and smacked the palms of students with the palm
of her hand.
Jang Nara: Honestly, before
filming that scene and the next scene where I spoke to Kang Sechan (played by
Choi Daniel) in defense of the students, I could hardly understand her feelings
for them. No matter how much I analyzed the character, it was impossible for me
to empathize completely with her. Once I
started acting face-to-face with Sechan and the kids though, feelings began to
flow out naturally.
Choi Daniel: I had no idea
Nara would act out that scene like that. The original script of this drama is
very dry, rather than moist; according to the script, she was supposed to beat
the kids badly with a mop in that scene, without even crying. (Laughs)
Jang Nara: But I just couldn’t
pull the pole away from the mop head…. (Laughs) / Translation: ONSEMIRO
2. Alice in Cheongdam-dong (Cheongdam-dong Aeliseu (청담동 앨리스))
As I mentioned above, I don’t usually watch Korean dramas but when I do, I always try to pick the ones written by my
favorite screenwriters, or directed by my favorite directors, or starring my
favorite actors. For example, in 2011, I was completely hooked on SBS’s “faction” drama “
Tree with Deep Roots,” co-written by two of my favorite screenwriters, Park Sang-yun (
JSA,
May 18,
The Front Line,
Queen Seondeok,
H.I.T, etc.) and Kim Younghyun (
Dae Jang Geum,
Seo Dong Yo, Queen Seondeok, H.I.T), and featuring my favorite actors –
Han Suk-kyu,
Shin Sekyung, and
Jo Jinwoong).
Park and Kim also co-created and co-produced a
2013 SBS drama “Alice in Cheongdam-dong,” which aired its final episode last Sunday. Unfortunately this time, as I was in the
middle of watching “School 2013,“ I was able to carve out time to watch just the
last two episodes but I think it is the best drama dealing with the "socio-economic
strata" since “Something Happened in Bali”(2004). (
Click
to watch it with English Subs.)
In 1997, as the Asian financial crisis, aka
the “
IMF crisis,” which started in Thailand spread to South Korea, the country had
undergone innumerable mergers, acquisitions, plant moves, plant closures,
downsizing, cutbacks, and also large scale layoffs. As the working
and middle class got laid off, downsized, or outsourced, they had no choice but
to sell their properties at giveaway prices. And it was the upper
strata of society (1 percent of the whole country) that purchased
those properties as they had stable and abundant cash flows even in the crisis.
As the middle class started turning
into poor, their children has been deprived of high-quality education,
which has led to much less opportunities to go to prestigious
universities, which has led to much less opportunities to get better jobs in
the society where highly specialized, high-end white-collar workers earn more
money, respect, and power. In short, the IMF crisis created an endless vicious
circle of poverty and the South Korean society no longer produces
gaecheon-e
yong (
개천의 용, “a dragon risen from a shallow stream
”), which
translates to "a person risen from a humble family." And as the 2011 Korea National
Statistical Office survey shows that 58.7 percent of respondents say they
don’t think they will ever move up to the upper class, Gangnam (the affluent Seoul neighborhood) in the 21st century
epitomizes the upper strata of society, i.e., off limits to the rest of
the country.
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The main characters include (i) Han Sekyung
(played by Moon Geunyoung), a
gaecheon-e yong wannabe who believes in
the aphorism that says, “L'effort est ma force” (Hard work is my strength) and
later turns into a gold-digger; (ii) Cha Seung-jo/Jean Thierry Cha (played by Park
Sihoo), a second-generation
chaebol
who believes in the aphorism that says, “Hard work always pays off,” but doesn’t believe in
love; and (iii) Seo Yoonjoo (played by So Yihyun), a
fallen princess turned gold-digger turned rich man’s wife - her family fell
into poverty when her father’s business failed in the midst of the “IMF crisis.
”
In this drama, everyone “was” like “Alice” in
a dream. Just like Alice follows White Rabbit with a pocket watch down a rabbit
hole into Wonderland in her dream, Sekyung follows Seungjo, dreaming of fitting
into Cheongdam-dong which is one of the most affluent Gangnam neighborhoods. Seungjo
lives in his own world, dreaming of finding a pure, unconditional, and unselfish
love and deluding himself that he’s no different from other people like
Sekyung. Yoonjoo is also under the delusion that she’s finally become one of
those Cheongdam-dong people. They all believe in their own way that
Cheongdam-dong is a wonderland where they can work wonders but it turns out it’s
indeed Wonderland where people just fantasize about working wonders. So, near
the end of the drama, they all awake from a dream just like Alice does.
Everyone awakes from a dream....
However, the story ends with Alice’s sister
falling asleep with eyes half open/half closed in “Alice in Wonderland,” which
means she half-heartedly believes that she is in Wonderland in her dream,
knowing she’ll snap back to reality when awake from a dream. Just like that, the drama ends with everyone
facing reality and dreaming at the same time. Both Sekyung and Seungjo choose not to cling
to the true nature of her love for him anymore. She chooses to stop being guilt-ridden about
loving him because she needed him and he chooses to stop wondering if she loved
him or needed him. While watching this
part, I was reminded of this quote by Jenny (to Oliver) from the movie “Love
Story”: “I love not only you, but also your name and your numeral. After all,
it's part of what you are.” Yoonjoo also
faces up to reality while regretting divorce from her wealthy spouse from time
to time. And I think this coming of age drama
has something for everyone living in the material world. (
Click to watch the drama with English Subs.)
BTW, as follows are the links to the English subbed Korean dramas, which
I wouldn’t call the best dramas of my life but are still worth watching:
