The character of Jack Skellington made cracks in the fabric of heteronormative thinking with his performance of Santa Claus, skeletal reindeer and all, proving that these spaces are not permanent and can be changed– even if only for one sleigh ride.
As summer comes to a close, you hear whispers of desire in the air, wishes for cooler days, snuggly sweaters, and pumpkin flavored goodies. September knocks on the door and society opens it, welcoming the fall season with open arms and with this new season comes new societal expectations to abide by.
You can start decorating for Halloween in September, but don’t you dare start decorating for Christmas in November– it is just not right (at least that is what most of society says). This brings up the notion that holidays, in general, are just another method of enforcing norms upon the population that cause spacial divides; that cause power play between what is considered right and wrong; and that cause the establishment of normal and queer spaces.
Despite being set in the fictional past, My Happy Marriage exemplifies the modern importance of communication and a balance of power in a romantic relationship that many fictional platforms lack according to present day keyboard warriors.
Still from Ep 12 of My Happy Marriage (2023)
With society drowning in the communities of the online realm, it has never been easier for those to give their opinions on every single form of media that is placed in the public sphere– give this very blog post for instance. However, running rampant throughout short form media, are the heated debates of the many “morally gray” heroes of new fiction who some despise while others bear their beaten breast to. The men in fiction that young adults read are often criticized and put under a close feminist microscope; in the same vein, female protagonists sit in the petri dish right next to those men, wading in the juices of criticism. Is this character too unrealistic? Or too realistic that there is no pleasure in viewing their story? Is this character so shrouded in the shadows of the problematique that they are just utterly offensive?
“Showcased by each relationship in She Would Never Know, every person loves and reacts to being loved differently. Modern capitalistic society labels change and difference as negative and undesirable when in reality, it is what creates happiness and depth in ourselves and our relationships. Just as each of our skins need a different regime to keep it healthy, each of our hearts needs different care and steps to keep it beating.”
Now more than ever, it seems that make-up and the social norms that come with it affect and dominate over people’s perceptions of others and themselves. With the rise of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and many other social media platforms, the importance of being trendy and “sickening,” as Gen Z slang calls it, crowds media feeds and minds. So, as a result, when JTBC announced a make-up centered drama set for broadcast in early 2021, I was immediately interested; would it touch on the toxicity of beauty standards?
Won Jin-ah applying lipstick in She Would Never Know (2021)
She Would Never Know skirts by this opportunity, but opens the door (or compact) to other societal critiques— ageism, business corruption, toxic capitalism, and, most evidently, the oversimplification of what it means to love. Stereo-typically, love is romanticized as an everlasting, defined element of life in books, television, and movies. With the over saturation of these love stories, many seem to have one conception of what love should be— fireworks and a foot pop as we kiss at midnight. When, as this drama showcases, the word love is simply a place-holder for an intense range of emotions, actions, and moments that are different to everyone. Love holds different consequences, values, and sentimentality for each person that walks down the road, which makes its portrayal in She Would Never Know refreshing.
Among the dreamy color palettes and top notch fashion, She Would Never Know’s viewers discover a vast representation of what it means to love in our modern world. The drama’s characters explore the ways in which humans love along with how to make the hottest lip stain of the winter season. The drama erases the shallow, fragile rules society creates in its media about love and in their place welcomes the idea that love is all about you, what you need, and what you are comfortable with; as you change, the love you give and receive should too. This message encourages viewers to break away from stereotypes and normalcy in favor of ingenuity and individualism.
Despite its shortcomings, The Devil Judge delivers a fast-paced and eccentric societal commentary on the tainted relationship between capitalism and democracy with an impressive blockbuster-worthy budget and cast.
Still of Soo-young from The Devil Judge (2021)
With the current political climate that fogs the world, judicial dramas are on the rise within kdramaland. Dramas encapsulating the racial, sexist, and classist problems that plague democracy are the current money maker; thus, they are also becoming indistinguishable from each other as they are released in swarms. A man and a woman partner up to seek justice and revenge while blurring the lines between right and wrong— I just described Lawless Lawyer, Suspicious Partner, Witch’s Court, Vincenzo, etc. So when The Devil Judge premiered and flaunted two male leads with a burning tension between them within it’s first episode, it was different and intriguing, but as the show continued, the plot kept straying from the stereotypical path and set expectations pretty high, but did it follow through?
With a run time of just under an hour, The Stranger by the Shore depicts a queer coming-of-age in a much more intricate, mature and seasoned manner than many mainstream episodic stories.
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Amongst the wide array of symbolic settings found in media, no one quite matches the simple setting of the beach. Surrounded by salt and sand, one can face a plethora of happenings and emotions whilst beneath the waves. As a place of solace, new beginnings, tragic endings, and shocking revelations, it is no wonder the beach is chosen as the home base for many romances; just as the waves and the dry land, two people destined for each other can meet along the windy shores. This destined meeting starts off the story told in the Japanese 2020 anime film, The Stranger by the Shore.
Though a bit discombobulated and with inconsistent pacing, Cross Fire regains it’s momentum in allowing audiences to experience each character presented as player one; consequently, the team called Continue not only makes an impact in this fictional gaming world, but also in the hearts of viewers who watched it’s origins.
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While growing up, video games were never an essential part of my day-to-day life. Hearing “they’ll rot your brain!” and “they’ll make you antisocial” in rotation was not too encouraging to my child mind. To put it bluntly– I respect it, but I practically have no interest in video games or even online gaming. Besides the occasional Mario Kart or Mario Party session with my friends, I’m out of luck when it comes to online gaming culture.
In transcending stereotypical romance tropes, the intimate connection forged between the leads in Your Eyes Tell (2020) leaves viewers longing for the romance of springtime and in tune with the message of what it really means to see the world around you.
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this is not a spoiler-free review.
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Springtime is in full swing in the northern hemisphere and with spring comes romance. These twitterpated feelings that fall down with April showers and morning sunshine are unparalleled this time of year, which means the season for romance movies is upon me— and I am excited to say the least!
Scene from Bambi (1942)
My first romance film this spring was none other than Your Eyes Tell, a Japanese retelling of the South Korean film, Always, that explores the nuanced clear sight of self-purpose that we all strive for in life.
trigger warning // contains depictions of blood , death , knives
“The transformations of two perceived pedestrian men into a) a gigantic beetle and b) a psychotic killer queer the common metamorphosis story in hopes of festering disbelief in society’s beautiful swan of normalcy.”
The caterpillar transforming into a beautiful butterfly is one of the first metamorphoses humans learn in their lifetime. This word, metamorphosis, is caked with positive connotations associated with becoming better than one previously was; the ugly duckling turns into a beautiful swan, the mermaid becomes a human in order live the life she always craved, a puppet on strings turns into a real boy— the list could go on.
Still from Walt Disney’s Pinocchio (1940)
However, as previously mentioned, the transformations are beautiful and always result in something better— something perceived as more normal. But among this sweetly-caked meaning, one can find hints of a moldy cake one would find in the home of Miss Havershim, the abandoned bride that withered away into a moldy skeletal being from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. The word metamorphosis simply signifies a change; it is society that hopes for that change to be a return to normalcy. The 2019 South Korean horror drama Strangers from Hell or Hell is Other People explores what society hopes to avoid– this abnormal transformation.
To long time drama watchers like myself, the classic gender bender form of romance is not a new formula. The main character faces a dilemma that can only be solved by them pretending to be the perceived opposite gender and hoodwinks ensue. Some of my personal favorite dramas revolve around this humor-inducing trope, yet this trope is too often unbelievable, hard to execute, and almost always falls to harmful gender stereotypes. Yes, I am looking at you To The Beautiful You (KR) and You Are Beautiful (KR). This reasoning is why I am more hesitant these days to begin gender-bender dramas; however, Oops! The King is in Love, a 2020 historical romance web drama from Mainland China, had one thing that lured me in: Ma Meng Wei.
When immersed in a story, I resemble that one gif of Jay-Z hesitantly bopping to music; I dig it, but am cautiously ready for something to smash my rose-colored glasses.
In other words, I am always on the lookout for a plot twist. Yes, the gigantic plot twist in the last Twilight movie broke my trust in film forever. The capability of the media to build a bond between the consumer and the story, whether it be a novel, film, show, etc., is not something to bat an eye at. How is it that a writer can emotionally affect people across the globe? Why was seeing the decapitated head of Carlisle Cullen so shocking and bond-breaking? The consumers’ digestion of stories is largely based on the narrator’s telling of events; thus, a consumer’s immersion into a fictional world is largely dependent upon the narrator’s ability to efficiently showcase the details of a story and offer a ride into said world.
Grow the Roses 