A Mirror to Every Self-Righteous Fool — The Tragic Comedy of Mr. Kim
After watching the first episode, I have to say the drama does an amazing job portraying its characters. The writing, pacing, and especially Ryu Seung Ryong’s performance are phenomenal. He plays Mr. Kim with such realism that you almost feel uncomfortable watching him — not because he’s badly written, but because he’s exactly the kind of person you meet in real life.
But despite the drama’s description, I don’t see Mr. Kim as a hero. He isn’t a humble man who lost his way — he’s an arrogant, self-centered individual who hides his jealousy and inferiority behind the mask of “hard work” and “morality.” He convinces himself that only his way of living — serving a private company for a paycheck — is honest, while anyone earning differently must be corrupt or undeserving.
The perfect example is his attitude toward his so-called “jobless” friend who owns an eight-story building. Instead of feeling inspired or happy for him, Mr. Kim mocks and belittles him to protect his ego. His logic is pathetic — by his definition, even shareholders, business owners, or landlords are “jobless,” while he, the obedient salaryman, is the only one living “the right way.”
In truth, Mr. Kim isn’t glorifying hard work — he’s glorifying slave mentality. He worships the system that exploits him and believes serving a company faithfully is some kind of moral virtue. What’s tragic is that he feels proud of owning a flat, yet can’t see the bigger picture — owning a flat isn’t the same as owning land. His juniors, who he looks down on, are already investing in real estate and building wealth, while he’s stuck polishing his illusion of stability. He owns walls, not freedom — a symbol of how small his world really is.
It’s like he’s driving an old Hyundai while his juniors are in Rolls-Royces — a perfect metaphor for how wide the gap has grown between his delusion of success and their reality. One day, when that company he worships kicks him out just like he once kicked his own friend out, he’ll finally see the “real world” he keeps preaching about.
So far, The Dream Life of Mr. Kim isn’t a hero’s journey — it’s a painfully accurate portrait of a man destroyed by pride, jealousy, and blind loyalty to a system that never cared about him in the first place.
But despite the drama’s description, I don’t see Mr. Kim as a hero. He isn’t a humble man who lost his way — he’s an arrogant, self-centered individual who hides his jealousy and inferiority behind the mask of “hard work” and “morality.” He convinces himself that only his way of living — serving a private company for a paycheck — is honest, while anyone earning differently must be corrupt or undeserving.
The perfect example is his attitude toward his so-called “jobless” friend who owns an eight-story building. Instead of feeling inspired or happy for him, Mr. Kim mocks and belittles him to protect his ego. His logic is pathetic — by his definition, even shareholders, business owners, or landlords are “jobless,” while he, the obedient salaryman, is the only one living “the right way.”
In truth, Mr. Kim isn’t glorifying hard work — he’s glorifying slave mentality. He worships the system that exploits him and believes serving a company faithfully is some kind of moral virtue. What’s tragic is that he feels proud of owning a flat, yet can’t see the bigger picture — owning a flat isn’t the same as owning land. His juniors, who he looks down on, are already investing in real estate and building wealth, while he’s stuck polishing his illusion of stability. He owns walls, not freedom — a symbol of how small his world really is.
It’s like he’s driving an old Hyundai while his juniors are in Rolls-Royces — a perfect metaphor for how wide the gap has grown between his delusion of success and their reality. One day, when that company he worships kicks him out just like he once kicked his own friend out, he’ll finally see the “real world” he keeps preaching about.
So far, The Dream Life of Mr. Kim isn’t a hero’s journey — it’s a painfully accurate portrait of a man destroyed by pride, jealousy, and blind loyalty to a system that never cared about him in the first place.
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