I’m sure I’m going to open a can of worms, but I need to say something.
Race/ethnicity are not the same as nationality. A point which is made both very clear, but is also ambiguous in ToNi’s case.
Race definition: - each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics. "people of all races, colors, and creeds" - the fact or condition of belonging to a racial division or group; the qualities or characteristics associated with this. "people of mixed race" - a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.; an ethnic group.
As far as the first 2 definitions, ToNi is half-Korean. It’s a biological aspect. For the last, it’s a bit more ambiguous, but if he was raised with the customs of Korean culture and history and not just the knowing the language (I think he was) then he could be considered Korean. However, all these definitions are very similar to each other, and they end up getting lumped together, where the focus becomes the physical characteristics, and the culture/history/language is secondary.
Nationality is different. You can’t assume someone’s nationality by their skin color or appearance (and in the case of a child with parents from two different races, you can’t necessarily assume race either), but it still happens. THIS is the issue raised in the show. He’s turned away from the club because he doesn’t appear to be of the Korean race physically, and this is automatically associated with nationality as well.
But that’s too narrow a view of the problem.
The actual issue is, who cares what race OR nationality he is? Why can’t he go in the damn club? THAT should be the issue.
I think I’ve figured out why Soo Ah’s character bothers me. And it’s not that I dislike her, but I find I can’t root for her being with Saeroyi as more than a friend. It’s the attitude. She’s too selfish. I understand her choosing survival and taking that scholarship. I don’t think she betrayed him or anyone really, and I don’t necessarily think she should quit her job either. All she did was what was best for herself, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve never really liked the self-sacrifice type female leads, and I appreciated her practicality. But in these last episodes, I finally pinpointed what was bugging me. She comes across as a bit entitled and selfish, and despite whatever guilt she has, as a bit shameless. She smiles gently, acts nice and understanding and tolerant and innocent, thus providing a stark contrast to YiSeo. Maybe she really is nice and tolerant and smiley, etc. But it seems like surface polish to me. She knows how to play the game, how to get on people’s good side, how to gain their favorable impression. She’s a professional at her job. She presents herself as a neutral party, and is welcomed by both sides, evidence the ice scene, where she’s just getting her ice from a rival restaurant, no biggie, eavesdropping on their troubles like whatever. Like she’s part of their team, when she’s not. Anyway, it hit me during the scene with Saeyori’s scars. YiSeo’s comment that he must have been lonely got me thinking. Then later when Saeyori and GuenSoo were having their moment, Saeyori said something about looking like he needed someone to lean on (or depend on, don’t remember the exact wording) and Saeyori wanted to be that person for him. I realized that Saeyori himself had no one to “lean on”. Not that he HAS to lean on someone, but we all need that person we KNOW will be there for us no matter what. While everyone else is leaning on him, who does he depend on? SooAh isn’t that person, despite his love for her. She could depend on him now if needed, but he couldn’t depend on her (unless she really changes a lot) and an actual relationship can’t work in the long run if it’s out of balance like that. He loves her independence, it’s what attracted him, but too much of it makes for a one-sided relationship, no matter how much “love” there is. I’m not totally sold on YiSeo either as any sort of love interest. She has a long way to go, but one thing about her is she’s not playing games and is completely upfront about her focus on business without any sort of facade of nice. Even her recent efforts of “trying” to be nice, came across more as recognizing some of her errors and attempting to fix them. Yeah, maybe she’s doing it to remain the manager, but she’s also DOING something, not just saying sorry and smiling and acting vaguely pitiful and guilt-stricken. (Sorry, I digress) Even that debacle of a conversation with GuenSoo, I understand. Despite her smile, she’s ANGRY. She’s also immature, and has never dealt with these types and levels of emotion, most likely, but she is absolutely FURIOUS at anyone connected to the people who hurt Saeyori. She is lashing out in over-protectiveness (and a bit like a toddler, really, as she has to learn to deal with these emotions, which most people do a lot earlier in their lives). She needs to rein it in and gain some perspective. Again, I digress. Back to my point. So far, Saeyori depends on YiSeo from a business standpoint, but even then, not totally. He’s also starting to open up to her emotionally, but she’s not the one he can “lean on” in that respect either. Again, too immature still. But I think part of him WANTS to, which is a factor in why he reacts so angrily with her. (I also think, in this particular instance, it’s exactly what she needs to snap out of her own head, LoL. I usually hate the set-ups where one girl is protected and doted on because she’s the “nice, pretty and loved one” and the other gets the short end, but with these characters and in this situation, it works). Anyway, thank you for reading my rambling mini-rant. Whoever he ends up with in the end (even if it’s some other girl he meets ten years after the drama ends) I want it to be a relationship that goes both ways, supportive and loving, with a surety of that stability. Dude deserves it.
Race/ethnicity are not the same as nationality. A point which is made both very clear, but is also ambiguous in ToNi’s case.
Race definition:
- each of the major divisions of humankind, having distinct physical characteristics.
"people of all races, colors, and creeds"
- the fact or condition of belonging to a racial division or group; the qualities or characteristics associated with this.
"people of mixed race"
- a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.; an ethnic group.
As far as the first 2 definitions, ToNi is half-Korean. It’s a biological aspect. For the last, it’s a bit more ambiguous, but if he was raised with the customs of Korean culture and history and not just the knowing the language (I think he was) then he could be considered Korean. However, all these definitions are very similar to each other, and they end up getting lumped together, where the focus becomes the physical characteristics, and the culture/history/language is secondary.
Nationality is different. You can’t assume someone’s nationality by their skin color or appearance (and in the case of a child with parents from two different races, you can’t necessarily assume race either), but it still happens. THIS is the issue raised in the show. He’s turned away from the club because he doesn’t appear to be of the Korean race physically, and this is automatically associated with nationality as well.
But that’s too narrow a view of the problem.
The actual issue is, who cares what race OR nationality he is? Why can’t he go in the damn club? THAT should be the issue.
It’s the attitude. She’s too selfish.
I understand her choosing survival and taking that scholarship. I don’t think she betrayed him or anyone really, and I don’t necessarily think she should quit her job either. All she did was what was best for herself, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve never really liked the self-sacrifice type female leads, and I appreciated her practicality. But in these last episodes, I finally pinpointed what was bugging me. She comes across as a bit entitled and selfish, and despite whatever guilt she has, as a bit shameless. She smiles gently, acts nice and understanding and tolerant and innocent, thus providing a stark contrast to YiSeo. Maybe she really is nice and tolerant and smiley, etc. But it seems like surface polish to me. She knows how to play the game, how to get on people’s good side, how to gain their favorable impression. She’s a professional at her job. She presents herself as a neutral party, and is welcomed by both sides, evidence the ice scene, where she’s just getting her ice from a rival restaurant, no biggie, eavesdropping on their troubles like whatever. Like she’s part of their team, when she’s not.
Anyway, it hit me during the scene with Saeyori’s scars. YiSeo’s comment that he must have been lonely got me thinking. Then later when Saeyori and GuenSoo were having their moment, Saeyori said something about looking like he needed someone to lean on (or depend on, don’t remember the exact wording) and Saeyori wanted to be that person for him. I realized that Saeyori himself had no one to “lean on”. Not that he HAS to lean on someone, but we all need that person we KNOW will be there for us no matter what. While everyone else is leaning on him, who does he depend on? SooAh isn’t that person, despite his love for her. She could depend on him now if needed, but he couldn’t depend on her (unless she really changes a lot) and an actual relationship can’t work in the long run if it’s out of balance like that. He loves her independence, it’s what attracted him, but too much of it makes for a one-sided relationship, no matter how much “love” there is.
I’m not totally sold on YiSeo either as any sort of love interest. She has a long way to go, but one thing about her is she’s not playing games and is completely upfront about her focus on business without any sort of facade of nice. Even her recent efforts of “trying” to be nice, came across more as recognizing some of her errors and attempting to fix them. Yeah, maybe she’s doing it to remain the manager, but she’s also DOING something, not just saying sorry and smiling and acting vaguely pitiful and guilt-stricken. (Sorry, I digress)
Even that debacle of a conversation with GuenSoo, I understand. Despite her smile, she’s ANGRY. She’s also immature, and has never dealt with these types and levels of emotion, most likely, but she is absolutely FURIOUS at anyone connected to the people who hurt Saeyori. She is lashing out in over-protectiveness (and a bit like a toddler, really, as she has to learn to deal with these emotions, which most people do a lot earlier in their lives). She needs to rein it in and gain some perspective.
Again, I digress. Back to my point. So far, Saeyori depends on YiSeo from a business standpoint, but even then, not totally. He’s also starting to open up to her emotionally, but she’s not the one he can “lean on” in that respect either. Again, too immature still. But I think part of him WANTS to, which is a factor in why he reacts so angrily with her. (I also think, in this particular instance, it’s exactly what she needs to snap out of her own head, LoL. I usually hate the set-ups where one girl is protected and doted on because she’s the “nice, pretty and loved one” and the other gets the short end, but with these characters and in this situation, it works).
Anyway, thank you for reading my rambling mini-rant. Whoever he ends up with in the end (even if it’s some other girl he meets ten years after the drama ends) I want it to be a relationship that goes both ways, supportive and loving, with a surety of that stability. Dude deserves it.