LOLs, I love the reaction of Baek Yi Jin when Na Hee Do was speaking French.
But, wasn't it a modern reaction? I don't remember that reaction back in the 90s. Haha.
His reaction, 'moving away' + 'stunned' can be interpreted as: "surprised" "I don't know you" "bring back the Na Hee Do I know" "scared someone's doing something you never taught they can"
It's the "moving away + stunned" reaction that looked too modern. I don't recall we're doing that in the 90s.
Finally! What I expected to happen finally did in episodes 11 and 12. And by the looks of it, the rest of it will be in episode 13.
We finally reach the point wherein the story can go either way. A. The original couples will be back together B. They will all split up, stay single or find other people C. They'll fix their problems and live happily ever after
So far, episodes 1 to 12 (and partly 13) are predictable if you've experienced most of the ups and downs of both couples. It's good, you get to reflect on your own past and current relationships … but it hurts a lot because "you've been there".
Even the third couple … Bo Mi's parents, you don't have to be married to experience the kind of conversation they had in episode 12 and what led to it.
Going back to the original couple, I also like how they showed that ex'es can be friends. It is, as I always say for 22 years now, strong evidence that the ex-couple have matured and truly let go. If you can't stomach seeing your ex, it means you haven't truly moved on, it means you are still feeling something-not necessarily love but hatred. A person who have truly moved on won't feel any emotion, not even hatred, which in turn enables them to not mind seeing or talking to their ex -- because they moved on, all emotions are gone, nada, zero, zilch.
It doesn't happen overnight, as obviously shown in the series. To some ex-couples, it can take years. That's fine but you need to be aware of it because you will carry that as baggage into your next relationship if you don't address it, if you don't truly moved on.
This is show is painful to watch if you can related with most of the plots and twists in each relationship shown--even between parents and kids. Yet at the same time, truly is a great watch because we learn from it and it reminds us of our past and current relationships.
I know I've said it a few weeks back, but that's exactly why this show is a must watch. It goes beyond drama and romance … it's about the reality of life and relationships, how we fail, how we succeed, how we trick ourselves into thinking it's all sweetness, and how we do not give our all because we've been hurt deeply before.
To those who haven't gone through any of what was shown in the series, good for you.
To those who have not been in a relationship, I hope you'll pick the lessons (and tips) from this series and apply it in your life, it can save you from a lot of pain that the rest of us had to go through.
As Bo Mi's father said, there is no manual about being a father. It's the same thing with being in a relationship, there is nothing to tell you if you are doing things right.
And like the original couple realized, you don't say things you should say because you expect each other to "know" and "understand" what's wrong … but in reality, neither of you will know if you don't say what you should say.
the only one 18 when they meet is Hee Do so it follows that Hee Do falls in love at 21. Yi Jin is already there…
I think you are confused about the different laws in Asia.
"Age of sexual consent" = anyone who engages in sexual intercourse with a person below a certain age is considered rape no matter what. If you engage in sexual intercourse with a person below that minimum age, it is rape no matter what.
"Age of consent to marriage" is the right of a person to decide to marry without asking for permission from their parent/guardian.
In Korea: "Age of sexual consent" is 13 and above. (Korean age)
"Age of consent to marriage" is 20 years old and above. (Korean age)
In the Philippines: "Age of sexual consent" is 16 and above.
"Age of consent to marriage" is 18 for men and 16 for women.
Yep, you're the only one. And her role in The Handmaiden was not "erotic", it was lesbian relationship and sex.…
Exactly. Also, she took on that role even knowing how conservative their own culture is, especially back then. Despite that, The Handmaiden received much acclaim and her acting was praised so much.
the only one 18 when they meet is Hee Do so it follows that Hee Do falls in love at 21. Yi Jin is already there…
You're missing the cultural context.
South Korea's law on "age of consent to marriage" or also known as "legal age", is 19 years old (International age) or 20 years old (Korean age). For most countries, the "legal age" or "age of consent to marriage" is 18 years old.
Just 1 year difference, right? Correct. However, culturally speaking, there's a huge difference between Korea and the rest of the world. For them, when the state says "legal age" or "age of consent to marriage" is 19 (int) or 20 (Korean), then it means even entering into a relationship.
Isn't a relationship not the same as marriage? True, again, for Western cultures and cultures influenced by the West. But many Asian countries are still deep into their own cultures.
For example, in Hebrew culture (that means Western Asian), once a couple becomes engaged (a.k.a. "fiancee") they are considered "married" already. All they have to do is to formalize their "marriage". You can no longer "break" the relationship easily, you will follow the same rules as anyone who "formalized" their marriage already.
China used to be similar to Hebrew culture. I'm not sure today, but back then, once two people are engaged, they are practically "married", all that is left is formalizing it or in Korean terms "submitting your marriage into the legal registry".
Korea is no different. While relationships are not exactly "marriage", they treat it very seriously. They see it as something "going to end up in marriage". Or to put it another way, a relationship can easily become marriage or have the intention of getting married sooner rather than later. We can probably say that Koreans treat "engagement" similarly to Hebrew and Chinese cultures, to the point that if it's called off, everyone talks about them, takes pity, create rumours, and the reputation of the both families are tarnished … but they're fine with divorce (just like in Hebrew and Chinese cultures too).
I personally do find the high schooler thing uncomfortable considering it kinda added nothing to their dynamic…
Out of curiosity, take this as an educational question. Which country are you from and/or where did you grow up and take education?
Allow me to explain my "weird" question:
-------
The education "age" brackets of majority of countries in the world are practically the same, see this table:
* NA Grade 7: 12–13 years old (13–14 Korean age) -- South Korea: "Middle School 1st Grade" -- ASEAN: "1st Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 8: 13–14 (14–15 Korean) -- South Korea: "Middle School 2nd Grade" -- ASEAN: "2nd Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 9: 14–15 (15–16 Korean) -- South Korea: "Middle School 3rd Grade" -- ASEAN: "3rd Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 10: 15–16 (16–17 Korean) -- South Korea: "High School 1st Grade" -- ASEAN: "4th Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 11: 16–17 (17–18 Korean) -- South Korea: "High School 2nd Grade" -- ASEAN: "1st Year Senior High School"
* NA Grade 12: 17–18 (18–19 Korean) -- South Korea: "High School 3rd Grade" -- ASEAN: "2nd Year Senior High School"
Students start to have crushes at ages 14 and 15 (Grade 9; Middle School 3rd Grade; 3rd Year Junior High School) and starts to enter into relationships at ages 15 and 16 (Grade 10; High School 1st Grade; 4th Year Junior High School). It is also normal as far as history, social science, and psychology, goes. It is a human process and thus should not be weird or uncomfortable.
That makes me curious then, which country did you grow up in? And which country did you take your education? If you grew up and/or studied in Japan or Korea, it is understandable.
In Japan, they made it an education "rule" to forbid any relationship for non-college students. And students bring that "rule" outside of schools too (at least that's the image), and if caught, they will be forced to break up and all eyes will be on them "watching".
In Korea, their social norm (not education, like in Japan) is students should only enter into a relationship once they are of "legal age" or "age of consent to marriage"—which is 19 in International age, or 20 in Korean age. But they can secretly enter into a relationship.
In China, non-college students are also not allowed to be in a relationship, they are also not allowed to have crushes. If caught, they'll be forced to break up and will be watched closely by society.
But for most of the world, there are no restrictions. It is left to the parents to educate and guide their children on crushes, love, relationships, marriage, and sex. The only thing the government cares about are the "age of consent to marriage" or "legal age", and "age of consent to engage in sexual intercourse" (for example, here in the Philippines, anyone who engages sex with someone age 15 and below is considered rape no matter what your reasons are, whoever you are, whichever passport you are holding).
-------
I want to understand where you are coming from and I am very curious which other countries/cultures have similar restrictions like in China, Japan, and Korea.
Yep, you're the only one. And her role in The Handmaiden was not "erotic", it was lesbian relationship and sex. In one interview with the Director, he explained that he had to hire lesbians as boom mic holders during the bed scene and forced leave all male and female (who are not fine with it) staff during the filming of the bed scene (lesbian sex). He also explained he wasn't in the room, explained to them the scenes and shots he needed, and he controlled the cameras from another room.
That's how "heated" her role was in The Handmaiden, and no, I'm not bothered seeing her as a high school student or in any other roles for that matter.
She's an actress. Her character/role in one film/show does not carry over in another. Their fictional characters/roles does not define them as an actor/actress/person.
Episode 10: the beauty of being a junior/senior teenager. (Although in South Korea, they're 19 already, still the same … junior/senior high school students.)
It is true that our junior/senior H.S. years are the best, no matter what hardships and heartaches we experienced during and after.
The latest "Nation's First Love" because of her superb, all-out, acting in Twenty-Five Twenty-One … which practically overshadowed everyone. She's just that awesome. TOP-NOTCH. She's even outdoing herself in every episode.
Did you also notice that Lee Shi Woo has become not so good about the weather stuff and FL has? He is just a jealous…
It is not out of character, it is realistic.
His character portrayed what majority of people who are in love feels and reacts when their object of affection is: 1. out of reach 2. was in an accident 3. not contacting you __first__ when you are dating already
No matter how good you are at your work, when this happens to you, everything else goes out of the window. All you care about is the person you love, the person who expected to inform you __first__ and not their ex. You literally forget what you're doing, work or otherwise.
I am guessing you haven't experienced this? Good for you. I did … so I know how realistic his character is. They perfectly portrayed what it is like.
Again, good for you if you haven't experienced it, and pray that you won't. It is not something you want to experience. What you saw him do, that's minimal. ;P
I also like how in this week's episodes they further contrasted the two couples.
Main couple: no matter what they go through, they can find a common ground, and can meet half-way, which leads to solutions.
The second couple: no matter what they do, they always end up having more problems, even questioning themselves, and tears them apart more.
This contrast is good because we get to see from an objective perspective how two types of couples are handling their trials and tribulations, as well as how they treat each other and their relationship.
Let's admit it, we see these two types of couples in real life. Some of us probably experienced one or both types of relationships. BUT, often than not, we don't see these things from an objective standpoint because we're involved in it.
This story is giving us that opportunity to analyze things through. We don't feel guilty in doing comparisons because our "test subjects" are fictional characters. We also do not fall into subjective reasoning because we are not involved in it.
Simply brilliant story and storytelling. That alone is 10/10 for me.
I love how episode 7 ended with "hot" (as in relationships/conflict) then the following 8 was about "hot weather" and "hot relationships/conflict".
From Episode 1 to 6, they demonstrated how they can tie weather terminologies and phenomenons into relationships. In Episode 7 and 8, they upped it by playing with the dual meaning of words.
1 
But, wasn't it a modern reaction? I don't remember that reaction back in the 90s. Haha.
His reaction, 'moving away' + 'stunned' can be interpreted as:
"surprised"
"I don't know you"
"bring back the Na Hee Do I know"
"scared someone's doing something you never taught they can"
It's the "moving away + stunned" reaction that looked too modern. I don't recall we're doing that in the 90s.
Anyway, it was funny and perfect.
We finally reach the point wherein the story can go either way.
A. The original couples will be back together
B. They will all split up, stay single or find other people
C. They'll fix their problems and live happily ever after
So far, episodes 1 to 12 (and partly 13) are predictable if you've experienced most of the ups and downs of both couples. It's good, you get to reflect on your own past and current relationships … but it hurts a lot because "you've been there".
Even the third couple … Bo Mi's parents, you don't have to be married to experience the kind of conversation they had in episode 12 and what led to it.
Going back to the original couple, I also like how they showed that ex'es can be friends. It is, as I always say for 22 years now, strong evidence that the ex-couple have matured and truly let go. If you can't stomach seeing your ex, it means you haven't truly moved on, it means you are still feeling something-not necessarily love but hatred. A person who have truly moved on won't feel any emotion, not even hatred, which in turn enables them to not mind seeing or talking to their ex -- because they moved on, all emotions are gone, nada, zero, zilch.
It doesn't happen overnight, as obviously shown in the series. To some ex-couples, it can take years. That's fine but you need to be aware of it because you will carry that as baggage into your next relationship if you don't address it, if you don't truly moved on.
This is show is painful to watch if you can related with most of the plots and twists in each relationship shown--even between parents and kids. Yet at the same time, truly is a great watch because we learn from it and it reminds us of our past and current relationships.
I know I've said it a few weeks back, but that's exactly why this show is a must watch. It goes beyond drama and romance … it's about the reality of life and relationships, how we fail, how we succeed, how we trick ourselves into thinking it's all sweetness, and how we do not give our all because we've been hurt deeply before.
To those who haven't gone through any of what was shown in the series, good for you.
To those who have not been in a relationship, I hope you'll pick the lessons (and tips) from this series and apply it in your life, it can save you from a lot of pain that the rest of us had to go through.
As Bo Mi's father said, there is no manual about being a father. It's the same thing with being in a relationship, there is nothing to tell you if you are doing things right.
And like the original couple realized, you don't say things you should say because you expect each other to "know" and "understand" what's wrong … but in reality, neither of you will know if you don't say what you should say.
^_^
"Age of sexual consent" = anyone who engages in sexual intercourse with a person below a certain age is considered rape no matter what. If you engage in sexual intercourse with a person below that minimum age, it is rape no matter what.
"Age of consent to marriage" is the right of a person to decide to marry without asking for permission from their parent/guardian.
In Korea:
"Age of sexual consent" is 13 and above. (Korean age)
"Age of consent to marriage" is 20 years old and above. (Korean age)
In the Philippines:
"Age of sexual consent" is 16 and above.
"Age of consent to marriage" is 18 for men and 16 for women.
I agree, the way he's acting is way beyond the character's age that it made it appear he'd trying to date a high schooler.
South Korea's law on "age of consent to marriage" or also known as "legal age", is 19 years old (International age) or 20 years old (Korean age). For most countries, the "legal age" or "age of consent to marriage" is 18 years old.
Just 1 year difference, right? Correct. However, culturally speaking, there's a huge difference between Korea and the rest of the world. For them, when the state says "legal age" or "age of consent to marriage" is 19 (int) or 20 (Korean), then it means even entering into a relationship.
Isn't a relationship not the same as marriage? True, again, for Western cultures and cultures influenced by the West. But many Asian countries are still deep into their own cultures.
For example, in Hebrew culture (that means Western Asian), once a couple becomes engaged (a.k.a. "fiancee") they are considered "married" already. All they have to do is to formalize their "marriage". You can no longer "break" the relationship easily, you will follow the same rules as anyone who "formalized" their marriage already.
China used to be similar to Hebrew culture. I'm not sure today, but back then, once two people are engaged, they are practically "married", all that is left is formalizing it or in Korean terms "submitting your marriage into the legal registry".
Korea is no different. While relationships are not exactly "marriage", they treat it very seriously. They see it as something "going to end up in marriage". Or to put it another way, a relationship can easily become marriage or have the intention of getting married sooner rather than later. We can probably say that Koreans treat "engagement" similarly to Hebrew and Chinese cultures, to the point that if it's called off, everyone talks about them, takes pity, create rumours, and the reputation of the both families are tarnished … but they're fine with divorce (just like in Hebrew and Chinese cultures too).
Cultural context. ^_^
Allow me to explain my "weird" question:
-------
The education "age" brackets of majority of countries in the world are practically the same, see this table:
* NA Grade 7: 12–13 years old (13–14 Korean age)
-- South Korea: "Middle School 1st Grade"
-- ASEAN: "1st Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 8: 13–14 (14–15 Korean)
-- South Korea: "Middle School 2nd Grade"
-- ASEAN: "2nd Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 9: 14–15 (15–16 Korean)
-- South Korea: "Middle School 3rd Grade"
-- ASEAN: "3rd Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 10: 15–16 (16–17 Korean)
-- South Korea: "High School 1st Grade"
-- ASEAN: "4th Year Junior High School"
* NA Grade 11: 16–17 (17–18 Korean)
-- South Korea: "High School 2nd Grade"
-- ASEAN: "1st Year Senior High School"
* NA Grade 12: 17–18 (18–19 Korean)
-- South Korea: "High School 3rd Grade"
-- ASEAN: "2nd Year Senior High School"
Students start to have crushes at ages 14 and 15 (Grade 9; Middle School 3rd Grade; 3rd Year Junior High School) and starts to enter into relationships at ages 15 and 16 (Grade 10; High School 1st Grade; 4th Year Junior High School). It is also normal as far as history, social science, and psychology, goes. It is a human process and thus should not be weird or uncomfortable.
That makes me curious then, which country did you grow up in? And which country did you take your education? If you grew up and/or studied in Japan or Korea, it is understandable.
In Japan, they made it an education "rule" to forbid any relationship for non-college students. And students bring that "rule" outside of schools too (at least that's the image), and if caught, they will be forced to break up and all eyes will be on them "watching".
In Korea, their social norm (not education, like in Japan) is students should only enter into a relationship once they are of "legal age" or "age of consent to marriage"—which is 19 in International age, or 20 in Korean age. But they can secretly enter into a relationship.
In China, non-college students are also not allowed to be in a relationship, they are also not allowed to have crushes. If caught, they'll be forced to break up and will be watched closely by society.
But for most of the world, there are no restrictions. It is left to the parents to educate and guide their children on crushes, love, relationships, marriage, and sex. The only thing the government cares about are the "age of consent to marriage" or "legal age", and "age of consent to engage in sexual intercourse" (for example, here in the Philippines, anyone who engages sex with someone age 15 and below is considered rape no matter what your reasons are, whoever you are, whichever passport you are holding).
-------
I want to understand where you are coming from and I am very curious which other countries/cultures have similar restrictions like in China, Japan, and Korea.
Thank you!
That's how "heated" her role was in The Handmaiden, and no, I'm not bothered seeing her as a high school student or in any other roles for that matter.
She's an actress. Her character/role in one film/show does not carry over in another. Their fictional characters/roles does not define them as an actor/actress/person.
It is true that our junior/senior H.S. years are the best, no matter what hardships and heartaches we experienced during and after.
His character portrayed what majority of people who are in love feels and reacts when their object of affection is:
1. out of reach
2. was in an accident
3. not contacting you __first__ when you are dating already
No matter how good you are at your work, when this happens to you, everything else goes out of the window. All you care about is the person you love, the person who expected to inform you __first__ and not their ex. You literally forget what you're doing, work or otherwise.
I am guessing you haven't experienced this? Good for you. I did … so I know how realistic his character is. They perfectly portrayed what it is like.
Again, good for you if you haven't experienced it, and pray that you won't. It is not something you want to experience. What you saw him do, that's minimal. ;P
Main couple: no matter what they go through, they can find a common ground, and can meet half-way, which leads to solutions.
The second couple: no matter what they do, they always end up having more problems, even questioning themselves, and tears them apart more.
This contrast is good because we get to see from an objective perspective how two types of couples are handling their trials and tribulations, as well as how they treat each other and their relationship.
Let's admit it, we see these two types of couples in real life. Some of us probably experienced one or both types of relationships. BUT, often than not, we don't see these things from an objective standpoint because we're involved in it.
This story is giving us that opportunity to analyze things through. We don't feel guilty in doing comparisons because our "test subjects" are fictional characters. We also do not fall into subjective reasoning because we are not involved in it.
Simply brilliant story and storytelling. That alone is 10/10 for me.
From Episode 1 to 6, they demonstrated how they can tie weather terminologies and phenomenons into relationships. In Episode 7 and 8, they upped it by playing with the dual meaning of words.
"If I put all my heart into it, I don't regret anything".
Exactly! I'm like that too.