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This review may contain spoilers
Power of Family
There are many people who believe that you don’t choose your family. There is nothing that happens in anyone’s life where choice isn’t a factor. You are continuously choosing and creating. The greatest gift we’re given is choice, and nothing occurs in your life without it. Nothing.
When Life Gives You Tangerines is an especially powerful and exceptional epic tribute to family. There isn’t a single family that has ever been that hasn’t experienced laughter and tears, joy and tragedy, and ease and hardships. Oh, it may appear sometimes that some of the elements do not exist, but they do.
Perseverance and steadfastness can be counted among the most powerful traits a person can have. Life will knock you down. Life will throw your curveballs, but it’s how you respond that matters. Do you get back up and keep going? Or do you give in to your situation and begin blaming others for what’s happened? While all of these things involve choices of the individual, having family gives you the ability to lean on someone when needed. Of course, the true purpose of any family is to help empower each member to love and be with themselves. Only then can true love and happiness be shared.
The story follows a multigenerational family from the early 60s up to the present. The series opens with a young O Ae-Sun, the daughter of a poor haenyeo mother who works herself into an early grave. Ae-Sun is sent to live with her indifferent uncle and his family who treat Ae-Sun like a stray dog. We quickly find that despite her situation, Ae-Sun is a strong girl who knows her mind and what she wants, and no matter how often life knocks her down, she gets back up again and keeps going. Sometimes, we quickly forget that hardship is often a blessing in disguise.
In Ae-Sun’s corner is a Yang Gwang Sik, a young boy who loves Ae-Sun the moment he meets her. Even at an early age, Gwang Sik confesses his love for Ae-Sun and vows to do all he can to protect her from any harm. Gwang Sik embodies all it means to be a true, loving husband and father. If there is such a person as “Prince Charming” Gwang Sik more than fits. Seeing how these two navigate trials and tribulations of early love, struggling to make ends meet, to dealing with the loss of a son, is nothing short of pure inspiration.
Gwang Sik is a hardworking, loving man who never complains about anything, even when most other people would. He absolutely adores his wife and family, and as far as he’s concerned, he will do whatever he can to try and make their lives a little better. Ae-Sun is no less strong. She is equally hardworking, and she’s a woman full of love and passion. These two make such a beautiful couple that I’m hard-pressed to think of another that matches them. True love and true friendship are what make this couple so inspirational, and each does their absolute best to always try and be there for the other.
The family reminds me much of the Thachers from the American family show, “Life Goes On” which is about a low/middle-class family constantly trying to get by. Gwang-Sik works tirelessly on his fishing boat, trying to provide for his family. Ae-Sun does her absolute best to raise their children and create a warm and loving home. Both succeed.
Life would be pretty dull without challenges. We can only imagine what it must be like to deal with the loss of a child. Many people carry the guilt around for years, allowing it to wreak havoc on their minds and hearts. I know because I carried the same guilt for ten years after my father passed, and yet, each person must grieve and be given the space and time to process that in their own way.
The story also follows Ae-Sun and Gwang-Sik’s children, Yang Geum Myeong and Yang Eun Myeong. Geum Myeong is clearly the favorite, despite being a bit headstrong. She’s a strong woman who simply won’t allow herself to be anyone’s doormat, and when she finally breaks up with her wallflower of a fiancé, I was relieved! Eun Myeong is the son, who appears to be neglected. From an early age, he demands attention. In short, he feels he needs to act out in order to get some kind of attention from his parents. People sometimes forget that we never love the same way twice. The love we have for each person is unique and different. That doesn’t mean that we love a person less. Of course, Ae-Sun and Gwang Sik struggle to demonstrate this with their son, who ends up being a troublemaker
As children, we often don’t fully appreciate our parents for what they do for us, but at the same time, we also have a tendency not to be very forgiving of them when we discover that they are just people; people doing the very best that they can. As parents, we often struggle to give our children the time and attention that they need. I still remember my father, despite being exhausted from work, always found time to come into our bedrooms and talk to us. Little did he realize that that meant more to me than anything he could have bought for me. It’s interesting to note that in ancient Native American cultures, the elders raised the children because it was thought that the biological parents hadn’t yet acquired enough life wisdom. However, given some of the grandparents in this series, I’m not sure that would have proved to be a good choice.
The series is about family and how this family navigates the pitfalls of life. Of course, as with most families, they lash out at each other, blame each other, and do all of those petty things that every family does. But, in the end, when all of that is stripped away, there is nothing but love, admiration, and gratitude, as it should be. The last two episodes are tough to watch as Gwang Sik finds out that he’s terminally ill. The love between him and Ae-Sun is nothing short of magical and precious. And we also find that dreams do come true. They just might take a little longer to manifest as we see how the “ring” ties in all the way back to the early episodes, and Ae-Sun is finally a published poet.
Performances in this series are all top-notch. It’s actually very difficult to pick out a favorite because they are all so good! However, IU tackling the dual role was beyond impressive, and if this young lady doesn’t win every acting award for the year, then something is terribly wrong. It’s easily her best performance.
Family is about love, forgiveness, support, gratitude, and doing our best to be there for each other. If this series doesn’t serve as a blatant reminder of these things, then perhaps nothing will.
When Life Gives You Tangerines is an especially powerful and exceptional epic tribute to family. There isn’t a single family that has ever been that hasn’t experienced laughter and tears, joy and tragedy, and ease and hardships. Oh, it may appear sometimes that some of the elements do not exist, but they do.
Perseverance and steadfastness can be counted among the most powerful traits a person can have. Life will knock you down. Life will throw your curveballs, but it’s how you respond that matters. Do you get back up and keep going? Or do you give in to your situation and begin blaming others for what’s happened? While all of these things involve choices of the individual, having family gives you the ability to lean on someone when needed. Of course, the true purpose of any family is to help empower each member to love and be with themselves. Only then can true love and happiness be shared.
The story follows a multigenerational family from the early 60s up to the present. The series opens with a young O Ae-Sun, the daughter of a poor haenyeo mother who works herself into an early grave. Ae-Sun is sent to live with her indifferent uncle and his family who treat Ae-Sun like a stray dog. We quickly find that despite her situation, Ae-Sun is a strong girl who knows her mind and what she wants, and no matter how often life knocks her down, she gets back up again and keeps going. Sometimes, we quickly forget that hardship is often a blessing in disguise.
In Ae-Sun’s corner is a Yang Gwang Sik, a young boy who loves Ae-Sun the moment he meets her. Even at an early age, Gwang Sik confesses his love for Ae-Sun and vows to do all he can to protect her from any harm. Gwang Sik embodies all it means to be a true, loving husband and father. If there is such a person as “Prince Charming” Gwang Sik more than fits. Seeing how these two navigate trials and tribulations of early love, struggling to make ends meet, to dealing with the loss of a son, is nothing short of pure inspiration.
Gwang Sik is a hardworking, loving man who never complains about anything, even when most other people would. He absolutely adores his wife and family, and as far as he’s concerned, he will do whatever he can to try and make their lives a little better. Ae-Sun is no less strong. She is equally hardworking, and she’s a woman full of love and passion. These two make such a beautiful couple that I’m hard-pressed to think of another that matches them. True love and true friendship are what make this couple so inspirational, and each does their absolute best to always try and be there for the other.
The family reminds me much of the Thachers from the American family show, “Life Goes On” which is about a low/middle-class family constantly trying to get by. Gwang-Sik works tirelessly on his fishing boat, trying to provide for his family. Ae-Sun does her absolute best to raise their children and create a warm and loving home. Both succeed.
Life would be pretty dull without challenges. We can only imagine what it must be like to deal with the loss of a child. Many people carry the guilt around for years, allowing it to wreak havoc on their minds and hearts. I know because I carried the same guilt for ten years after my father passed, and yet, each person must grieve and be given the space and time to process that in their own way.
The story also follows Ae-Sun and Gwang-Sik’s children, Yang Geum Myeong and Yang Eun Myeong. Geum Myeong is clearly the favorite, despite being a bit headstrong. She’s a strong woman who simply won’t allow herself to be anyone’s doormat, and when she finally breaks up with her wallflower of a fiancé, I was relieved! Eun Myeong is the son, who appears to be neglected. From an early age, he demands attention. In short, he feels he needs to act out in order to get some kind of attention from his parents. People sometimes forget that we never love the same way twice. The love we have for each person is unique and different. That doesn’t mean that we love a person less. Of course, Ae-Sun and Gwang Sik struggle to demonstrate this with their son, who ends up being a troublemaker
As children, we often don’t fully appreciate our parents for what they do for us, but at the same time, we also have a tendency not to be very forgiving of them when we discover that they are just people; people doing the very best that they can. As parents, we often struggle to give our children the time and attention that they need. I still remember my father, despite being exhausted from work, always found time to come into our bedrooms and talk to us. Little did he realize that that meant more to me than anything he could have bought for me. It’s interesting to note that in ancient Native American cultures, the elders raised the children because it was thought that the biological parents hadn’t yet acquired enough life wisdom. However, given some of the grandparents in this series, I’m not sure that would have proved to be a good choice.
The series is about family and how this family navigates the pitfalls of life. Of course, as with most families, they lash out at each other, blame each other, and do all of those petty things that every family does. But, in the end, when all of that is stripped away, there is nothing but love, admiration, and gratitude, as it should be. The last two episodes are tough to watch as Gwang Sik finds out that he’s terminally ill. The love between him and Ae-Sun is nothing short of magical and precious. And we also find that dreams do come true. They just might take a little longer to manifest as we see how the “ring” ties in all the way back to the early episodes, and Ae-Sun is finally a published poet.
Performances in this series are all top-notch. It’s actually very difficult to pick out a favorite because they are all so good! However, IU tackling the dual role was beyond impressive, and if this young lady doesn’t win every acting award for the year, then something is terribly wrong. It’s easily her best performance.
Family is about love, forgiveness, support, gratitude, and doing our best to be there for each other. If this series doesn’t serve as a blatant reminder of these things, then perhaps nothing will.
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