Popcxqueen

Yes, yours was - thanks

This!

I might be too excited about this to even sleep tonight.....LOL!!! This is just....well, I hardly have words for how cool you are and how much I'm looking forward to writing, not one, but two articles this year with you!! (heart emoji here)

Also, thank you for being so gracious and reading my loooong messages about Just Between Lovers. I think it also says something about the importance I place on how dramas handle these issues because for me, JBL is tied for first place for Best Drama with Stranger, which is another drama where the ML is less-than-perfect and is "allowed" to be less-than-perfect!

I've got lots more to say about this topic, and I'll try to say more tomorrow, but I will add that in The Greatest Love he does actually let the FL know about his heart condition and surgery before it happened, thankfully. (There was a lovely scene where she sang to him outside the hospital as he was having surgery because she couldn't get inside.)

Not only do I need to watch a few more dramas for our Grim Reaper article, but I need to watch a bunch more for this new idea. You've referenced quite a few that I haven't seen yet, but I'll work on remedying that....

Should we start another Google Doc?

So excited!! :-)

Thanks so much!

By the way, this kind of discussion pushes all sorts of JOY buttons of mine, so thank you for indulging me in this rabbit trail!! :-)

Neither sibling got "adopted" per se after the death of their father, and then their mother, and the ML worked multiple jobs so his younger sister could attend medical school.
The ML was informally (and formally at times) taken care of by the mother of his best friend, (who was the woman who ran the sharehouse where he lived - I don't know the correct terminology for the kind of housing he lived in.) He was also taken care of (and "adopted" in a way) by the Grandma of the story, who sold him pain medicine when he couldn't afford to get a real prescription. Other than the FL, he has the strongest bond with Grandma, and sees her as his family. We find out later that the medicine that Grandma sold him was either a much-reduced prescription or even placebo at times, since she knew that the wrong medicine would ruin his liver. But he finds the wrong kind of medicine anyhow and takes it for his pain (physical and emotional) and it does end up ruining his liver, thus requiring a transplant for him to continue to live.

This off-the grid medical clinic that Grandma runs (and we see the siblings run it at the end) is an extremely important part of the story they're telling. They're telling the untold story of an entire group of poor, undocumented, and./or uninsured people who are often-desperate for treatment and with no other place to go. The problem is that the medicines aren't always the right kind, and this was the case for the ML. But the cause of his liver failure is the system that leaves people to die because they don't have the money for treatment, not an old lady who prescribes medicines from an illegal clinic. She just couldn't watch people die anymore, and decided to do something about it (plus it made her money, let's be honest about that part.)

Here in the US, you most definitely don't need to be related to become a living liver donor. And I actually just saw a study from South Korea comparing partial liver donation to a full transplant. (https://journals.lww.com/transplantjournal/Abstract/2018/07001/Comparison_between_Cadaveric_Whole_Liver_and_Live.1430.aspx)
It can actually be easy to find a match, but then I know that certain characteristics can keep the match from becoming a transplant. The friend was originally a match but if I remember correctly had something like a "fatty liver" issue (which is a common issue for many people who drink or have diabetes) and couldn't be guaranteed to either transplant well and would actually be more dangerous for the friend to donate. You can donate up to 60% of your original liver and it grows back within six months - it's remarkable - but the recovery period can be harder if you have certain liver markers and they can deny you as a donor for those. And I don't remember exactly why the friend was denied as a donor after all, and it might have been something different than this - I should go back and look.)
He didn't get a partial liver donation from his friend then, and he went into liver failure. We then see his sister working REALLY hard to find something for him - using all of her medical resources, network, and research ability to find options, and eventually it was her pushing and advocating that got him a full transplant at the end. They made a point to say that just because someone's sister is a doctor, that doesn't move them up the transplant list, and I know those lists are tightly regulated. But this showed how important it was to have advocates, and his sister was definitely a squeaky wheel and wouldn't let the hospital forget about or ignore him and when a liver came available, she helped to make sure he was considered for it. It honestly didn't feel like a miracle scenario to me at all - instead it highlighted the hard work of everyone around the ML to try to save him. (At one point, one of the other doctors even makes a point to say just that to his sister.) I I guess you could say that she worked really hard to find him a miracle and you would be correct, but not in the way a "miracle cure" trope is often used. This was a miracle because someone's liver saved his life, but that person died and that is still a tragedy.

You wrote:"I know that for a while now, I've been disappointed by how quickly dramas introduce disease or, worst, a disability... only to "fix" it right away because drama-gods permit that a main lead is not whole and perfect....Like there's no commitment to having a character accept their disability and thrive despite or even because of it. " Oh my goodness, I DEFINITELY AGREE with you here!! 100%, actually. We should write a whole article on this! (I'm serious.)
I know very well what the long-term effects of trauma are on the body and the psyche/brain/cognition and those are often life-long. But many people can recover enough to live a life worth living, even after a severe illness/injury/trauma/etc.
I really, really dislike when there is no imagination on the part of writers to think about the integration of a major life-altering circumstance into one's life - they really do want to fix instead. (That's human nature.)
But I think that's ALSO because in many societies, the infrastructure and systems are simply not there to support those with differing abilities, so the thought of "living with" can simply be too hard to think about.

"Devilish Joy is about the only drama I've watched wherein the ML didn't get a miracle procedure/cure and instead, had to accept his condition. So the ending was, thus, appropriately bittersweet." And I loved this drama!!! For all its quirks, and sometimes unrealistic plot developments, I really did love that they found a way to integrate his memory loss into their lives. (Frankly, I was more pissed off that he seemed like he was going to forgive that evil horrid nasty family member who did that to him than the fact that he didn't get cured at the end...)

But here comes the brilliance of Just Between Lovers again. The FL's best friend was in a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident, and I LOVED how she and her boyfriend navigated issues like going to her favorite restaurant that had removed its wheelchair ramp, her frequent hospitalizations, her desire and ability to have sex even though she had lost the use of her legs, etc. (Now this particular storyline did benefit from the fact that the friend actually owned the building that removed the ramp and so because she was rich, she got the ramp put back in. I would argue that ALL people, rich or poor deserve to have mobility and it's business's and government's job to provide that for their people and patrons.) But instead of finding a miracle cure for her friend, the writers found a ramp instead, and a healthy sex life. And we're all better off for it!!

I would also argue that we get clues throughout the drama that the ML just isn't well, and not just from the obvious chronic pain in his leg. Like it wasn't a total surprise to me that he ended up in liver failure, I'll say that. It was unpleasant, but not a total surprise, considering the kind of medicine he was taking and the extent of the injury to his liver from the accident. So I definitely didn't see his illness as something that came out of the blue, or a plot point introduced for a miracle ending - I think it was lightly telegraphed from the very beginning of the drama.
For instance, the drama highlighted the first injustice he suffered in the form of a preventable accident that permanently injured his leg and left him with internal injuries, (including liver damage that he should have had treated before it turned into liver failure.) The second injustice was that because his father was suspected in the accident he didn't get a payout, and so he couldn't afford treatment. The third injustice was that because he couldn't afford treatment for either his leg or his internal injuries, he was forced to find treatment elsewhere and eventually took the wrong kind(s) of medicine, which damaged his liver beyond repair. But this was all set up from the beginning of the drama - we didn't get all of the information from the first episode, but we did get a nicely laid out story arc that built on itself until the end.

I will admit that I do love happy endings - the world has so much tragedy (and my country has suffered - and caused - its fair share of tragedy) and so there's nothing wrong with wanting an escape and wanting people to end up happy. But I would argue - and agree with you - that are different ways of showing what a "happy" ending is, and could be.

They keep adding new ones all the time, thankfully.

That sounds really interesting! Where did you get the extension? Is it part of Netflix or an outside extension?

Not to belabor this rabbit trail too much longer (LOL), but you don't actually have to be related to to the patient to be a "living liver donor" - you just have to have a compatible blood type (although most hospitals require that you also have a close emotional connection to the patient because of the risk to the donor and the long recovery period afterwards.)
But since many family members have compatibility in blood types and (hopefully) share a close emotional connection, it's then more likely that family would become a living donor, but not necessary. In fact, spouses have become major sources of partial liver donations for the other - and they aren't related by blood, of course, but by marriage.
That medical fact aside, because the partial donation didn't actually work after all for the ML and his best friend actually made the emergency towards the end much more realistic, in my opinion. There are many cases where this happens - for the liver especially - matches might happen but then there is infection or a too-risky fatty liver component and then the whole thing is called off, like what happened towards the end of the drama. And to me that scenario added to the tragedy of the whole thing.
And this medical emergency then wasn't solved by the ML's superhuman strength or intellect, it was actually solved by his doctor sister, who was more educated than him and could use her resources to save her brother. I would argue that this is another drama scenario that sits outside of the gender norms talked about here in your extremely well-written article. And thankfully so - for all of the characters in the drama.

While I don't normally watch dramas that are currently airing (because I hate having to wait for episodes!) I made an exception and started this drama. And because it's different than other K-dramas I've seen lately, I'm liking it and am glad for the change in format. Too much of the same makes for dull and stale viewing after a while, and performers often want their characters to be a new and exciting challenge. For example, I don't think I've ever seen a K-drama where the characters surf, and I really liked those scenes! They were beautifully filmed. Also, in almost every episode so far there's been a cameo that makes me want to jump out of my seat in excitement....
JCW as the ML is doing really well in this role, imo. I feel like people forget that even though he's traditionally had roles that have showed off his perfectly sculpted body, he's actually an actor and a performer first, and a damn good one at that....(the scene where he sings into the pay phone receiver....chef's kiss.) And I'm sure he's becoming keenly aware that as he ages he'll need to have the diverse acting chops to deliver performances besides ones like The K2 that take a huge physical toll on his body.
The FL is a hot mess to watch so far, but she's interesting and there's a lot going on underneath the surface, that's obvious, and I look forward to finding out what's really happening with her.
I'm really liking the supporting cast as well, and hope that we get to see more of their stories. The writing is like a slowly-peeling onion - one that takes a layer (or even a half a layer) off every episode and we'll just have to wait and see how it all unfolds.

I've seen this episode, but a lot of people haven't yet, so you all should tag your comments as spoilers - you're giving away quite a bit of information here...

Agreed!!

I couldn't handle 100 episodes of the FL's mother in Something In the Rain however...

"I must tell you how impressive you are. Honestly I read your articles with my mouth open most of the time and with much admiration. " YES! I wholeheartedly agree with this!

Thanks for the reply! Permit me to quibble just a bit and go down a rabbit trail. Yes, for sure it was a last-minute save on many levels. But IRL 1) organ transplants aren't necessarily 100% foolproof and 2) they aren't actually a "miracle" as they actually happen all the time. Now in the drama world, what happened at the end could certainly be categorized as a "miracle cure" trope, but we also need to keep in mind about what caused the organ failure in the first place, which was too-strong of doses of the wrong kind of medicine for his original injury. And so when we look at it that way, his medical emergency makes perfect sense, was built up throughout the whole course of the drama, and is actually all-too-real for many, many people in the world. In a weird sort of way, I was happy for that plot development to take place because it highlighted the acute dangers of treating chronic pain the wrong way (and in the US where opioid overdoses are at near-catastrophic levels, this felt real and timely and an important story to tell.)
His last-minute save was a reprieve for the audience, for sure, as many of us just could not have handled him dying after surviving all the rest of it. And that could certainly feel like a cop-out, plot-wise, I'll grant you that. But knowing that liver transplants often fail and sometimes only last a few years, his miracle cure will probably require multiple surgeries and a lifetime of trips to see his doctors - all because he couldn't afford the right kind of medicine for an injury that shouldn't have happened in the first place.
Rabbit trail over....for now. :-)

Looking forward to reading these!

I saw the ML in 1% of Something as less of a man-child and more addicted to his work, therefore not paying any attention to other human beings. The FL reminded him that there was more to life than work. There are other better examples of the "taming" that you're talking about here than 1%.

EXCELLENT article, 3GGG! You did a phenomenal job exposing these uncomfortable realities to us, and now that we see a little clearer, we can't un-see it any longer. For this I'm extremely grateful.
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This is one of the reasons why I love Just Between Lovers so much. The two leads are both average - meaning they aren't particularly great at anything, not like the prodigies in most dramas. We're not introduced to the ML (thankfully) by showcasing how great and powerful he is - on the contrary, the adult ML is introduced as he (slight spoiler) does some legally ambiguous things but then pays a price for it. (The one scene where he really does break something - literally - might be the one place where the drama would fit into the category of male rule-breakers, but I actually like how they handled it afterwards.)

They both have goals, but they're relatively attainable goals and they help each other attain them as best they can, within the circumstances that they're dealt. Not to mention that the severe traumas they both suffered continue to affect their lives throughout the whole drama - they're not magically cured by the end (other than some really fortunate medical interventions). They're not superhuman, they're not rich, and when they both show each other (and the audience by extension) their deepest wounds they find repair and companionship in the process. They take turns being the emotionally stable one in the relationship and at times they both feel hopeless as well as hopeful that things will improve for them.
There is just so much about this drama that is different than others, and thankfully different from the gender disparities that you very helpfully outlined in your article. Thanks again!

So just think hard about how comments like this could cause her even more pain.

Agreed!

I loved this - great acting and funny writing and some important things to say too.