This review may contain spoilers
Not your usual sageuk
(Quick review: Worth the watch, good chemistry, ok acting, solid drama 7/10 )
I am perplexed on how to feel about The Red Sleeve because it was also never clear on what it wanted to show us.
The drama starts as a normal Sageuk love story, bright and opinionated servant girl meets the prince in disguise. They banter , they bond, the first sparks fly.
It seems like there is a genuine connection from both sides but we are quickly introduced to the palace dynamics that would deem their love story doomed from the beginning(?). She realised their relationship would have never been as that of two equals; even if she likes him, at the end of the day, he is just the king with all the power. The logic was also that if the prince (later king) pursued her, she would be unhappy due to his other duties and concubines. FL told us; she will suffer and it's better to not have him at all, she would rather live a simple life with her friends.
But the problem is, they never really showed us her suffering after they got together, we assume she had to follow a protocol that made her feel trapped? They only hinted at those parts and showed us that the king no matter how much he loved the FL he would put his duty first.
Which I get, from our perspective all these people are slaves. Even the royals were prisoners of their own device never truly free. It was pitiful, however if the FL was still a servant what difference would it really make? We saw her being abused under a capricious master, being in immediate danger, being wrongfully accused and unable to gain her independence or build her own family. As a concubine ,the king was loyal to her, still adored her and treated her with dignity.
So being a slave is more free from being trapped in a gold cage? If that's what they wanted to show they should have done a better job to showcase it. Also, during the scene of her death we saw her beg the king to ignore her if they meet in the after life. She showed immense regret. And then what do we see at the end? Them meeting in the after life ( or whatever it was ) ... being all lovey dovey .
So did they want a cautionary tale about the power dynamics and a feminist ode that women would never be free if they do not have independence or a love prevails all romance ?
I am perplexed on how to feel about The Red Sleeve because it was also never clear on what it wanted to show us.
The drama starts as a normal Sageuk love story, bright and opinionated servant girl meets the prince in disguise. They banter , they bond, the first sparks fly.
It seems like there is a genuine connection from both sides but we are quickly introduced to the palace dynamics that would deem their love story doomed from the beginning(?). She realised their relationship would have never been as that of two equals; even if she likes him, at the end of the day, he is just the king with all the power. The logic was also that if the prince (later king) pursued her, she would be unhappy due to his other duties and concubines. FL told us; she will suffer and it's better to not have him at all, she would rather live a simple life with her friends.
But the problem is, they never really showed us her suffering after they got together, we assume she had to follow a protocol that made her feel trapped? They only hinted at those parts and showed us that the king no matter how much he loved the FL he would put his duty first.
Which I get, from our perspective all these people are slaves. Even the royals were prisoners of their own device never truly free. It was pitiful, however if the FL was still a servant what difference would it really make? We saw her being abused under a capricious master, being in immediate danger, being wrongfully accused and unable to gain her independence or build her own family. As a concubine ,the king was loyal to her, still adored her and treated her with dignity.
So being a slave is more free from being trapped in a gold cage? If that's what they wanted to show they should have done a better job to showcase it. Also, during the scene of her death we saw her beg the king to ignore her if they meet in the after life. She showed immense regret. And then what do we see at the end? Them meeting in the after life ( or whatever it was ) ... being all lovey dovey .
So did they want a cautionary tale about the power dynamics and a feminist ode that women would never be free if they do not have independence or a love prevails all romance ?
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