Shirley has a pet peeve.I love almost all of Jo Hyun Jae's TV dramas and movies, except for one. And that is "Sunshine". Well, I enjoyed the beginning part of the drama, up to Episode 6. And I think Hyun Jae looked just like a prince in the drama. Plenty of praises have been devoted to this topic. But I had to stop watching in the middle of Episode 7 and haven't picked it up ever since. I was put off by some rather "touchy feely" things done by Eun Sup (the Jo Hyun Jae character). Let me be more specific.
If my memory serves me right, in Episode 6, Eun Sup had only known Yeon Woo for about 10 days. And what a 10-days it was! In those 10 days, Eun Sup was ruthlessly dumped by his former lover and had to stay with some total strangers just to hide from his own estranged father. He also lost his passport and could not go back home. It was rather amazing that he was not in a state of "mental wreckage", having gone through all these in such short period. A mere 10 days would be too short for one to recover from the pain of loss after a long-term relationship, let alone start to pursue a new one. At least that is my humble opinion.
But to my surprise, in the middle of Episode 6, Eun Sup started to comment on the relationship between Yeon Woo and Min Ho, which I took as a sign of showing interest in the leading lady. Eun Sup was then a half stranger to Yeon Woo's family which kindly took him in. And along the way, Yeon Woo had secretly developed some feelings for him . But he didn't know anything about it. He was expected to leave soon, after gathering all the necessary travel documents. He was also aware of Min Ho's love for Yeon Woo and sensed the reluctance on Yeon Woo's part. I think he should not have made such a comment. By all means, one's personal feelings is something, just like it is called, quite personal. That means now he had set his eyes on Yeon Woo? In that case, how should I label a charactor who can so easily forget and then quickly fall in love again (even if the girl was quite unusual and had remarkable qualities)? I know I would not use the word "solid" here. (By the day, he reminded me of Jung Woo Jin in "Love Letter", who knowingly wedged himself between Andrea and Eun Ha. I don't blame him for loving Eun Ha, but I detest what he did to the relationship between her and Andrea.)
Then a few minutes later, Eun Sup made an excuse and tried to get so close to Yeon Woo that eventually he forced her to stand up and leave the table. Eun Sup sensed her uneasiness but asked her why she couldn't bear to be so close to him, but would allow Min Ho to do that. OK, this time he found himself an excuse, that he was seeking friendship. Even if I could accept it at face value, I found it a bit bogus. Aren't we all yearning for true, trustworthy, long-lasting friendship? But we don't really go asking to have a 10-day acquaintance substitute for a twenty-year long friendship. It is not possible. And "Thou ought not invade other people's personal space" would be Social Etiquette 101. I don't really expect a well-bred Korean-born Frenchman to do such a thing.
In Episode 7, both Eun Sup and Yeon Woo started to work for Soo Ah, who was Eun Sup's ex-girlfriend. One day, Soo Ah told them that the cake made by Eun Sup was highly praised by the financial backer she was seeking for, and encouraged them to make an even better one that could meet the financier's specific needs. Of course they congratulated themselves for the achievement. Eun Sup was so happy that he put his hand on top of the girl's and would not let go of it. I was still puzzled with this when the final blow came.
Actually, there was a very sweet and sad moment in that part of the drama. Watching Eun Sup sifting the powdery ingredient for the cake reminded Yeon Woo of her father. She had flashbacks of her father working and smiling at her in her mind. She was too lost in her memory to notice that Eun Sup was waving at her all this time. Coming back to real life, Yeon Woo found out that Eun Sup was asking her about how she was doing on the cream. Then Eun Sup tried to show her how to correctly use the whisker. OK, to all the girls out there, if a man wants to show you how to properly make whipping cream, in which way would you expect him to do it？Normally, one would expect that person just to pick up the whisker and whisk away. Or maybe hold your hand if you know each other very well. To have someone wrap you in his arms and show you how to do it? Mm, you tell me who that person could be. But that was exactly what Eun Sup did to "show" Yeon Woo the correct way of making whipping cream. To me, that was the bottom line.
Playwrights can portray the unspoken attraction between two characters in very beautiful ways. When the affection is secretly broiling under the placid surface, the emotions are very delicate and beautiful. It is better to let actors' eyes and expressions do the work. Witty and interesting conversation definitely helps. The characters should adhere to the "hands-off" policy (if there is such a policy, but you know what I mean) until later when the time is right, in my opinion. In this drama, the lead male character was never touchy-feely to the leading lady. That means the scriptwriter knows how to make a character respectful. So to have Eun Sup behave in this Casanova fashion, the purpose was to instill some kind of imperfection in the second leading male character, I would have guessed. I was not sure which direction this character of Eun Sup was heading towards. To avoid more of such scenes or other "evil" traits that the second leading man normally must possess in order to make the first leading man more attractive, I did all a viewer could do when facing unwanted scenes -- stopped watching. I did just that.
(Since then, I learnt from other viewers that our prince had gracefully bowed out of the tangled relationship and there was no more "evil" spirit other than what I have felt dumped on his character. But I still don't have the heart to pick up from where I have left. Maybe some other time.)
If my memory serves me right, in Episode 6, Eun Sup had only known Yeon Woo for about 10 days. And what a 10-days it was! In those 10 days, Eun Sup was ruthlessly dumped by his former lover and had to stay with some total strangers just to hide from his own estranged father. He also lost his passport and could not go back home. It was rather amazing that he was not in a state of "mental wreckage", having gone through all these in such short period. A mere 10 days would be too short for one to recover from the pain of loss after a long-term relationship, let alone start to pursue a new one. At least that is my humble opinion.
But to my surprise, in the middle of Episode 6, Eun Sup started to comment on the relationship between Yeon Woo and Min Ho, which I took as a sign of showing interest in the leading lady. Eun Sup was then a half stranger to Yeon Woo's family which kindly took him in. And along the way, Yeon Woo had secretly developed some feelings for him . But he didn't know anything about it. He was expected to leave soon, after gathering all the necessary travel documents. He was also aware of Min Ho's love for Yeon Woo and sensed the reluctance on Yeon Woo's part. I think he should not have made such a comment. By all means, one's personal feelings is something, just like it is called, quite personal. That means now he had set his eyes on Yeon Woo? In that case, how should I label a charactor who can so easily forget and then quickly fall in love again (even if the girl was quite unusual and had remarkable qualities)? I know I would not use the word "solid" here. (By the day, he reminded me of Jung Woo Jin in "Love Letter", who knowingly wedged himself between Andrea and Eun Ha. I don't blame him for loving Eun Ha, but I detest what he did to the relationship between her and Andrea.)
Then a few minutes later, Eun Sup made an excuse and tried to get so close to Yeon Woo that eventually he forced her to stand up and leave the table. Eun Sup sensed her uneasiness but asked her why she couldn't bear to be so close to him, but would allow Min Ho to do that. OK, this time he found himself an excuse, that he was seeking friendship. Even if I could accept it at face value, I found it a bit bogus. Aren't we all yearning for true, trustworthy, long-lasting friendship? But we don't really go asking to have a 10-day acquaintance substitute for a twenty-year long friendship. It is not possible. And "Thou ought not invade other people's personal space" would be Social Etiquette 101. I don't really expect a well-bred Korean-born Frenchman to do such a thing.
In Episode 7, both Eun Sup and Yeon Woo started to work for Soo Ah, who was Eun Sup's ex-girlfriend. One day, Soo Ah told them that the cake made by Eun Sup was highly praised by the financial backer she was seeking for, and encouraged them to make an even better one that could meet the financier's specific needs. Of course they congratulated themselves for the achievement. Eun Sup was so happy that he put his hand on top of the girl's and would not let go of it. I was still puzzled with this when the final blow came.
Actually, there was a very sweet and sad moment in that part of the drama. Watching Eun Sup sifting the powdery ingredient for the cake reminded Yeon Woo of her father. She had flashbacks of her father working and smiling at her in her mind. She was too lost in her memory to notice that Eun Sup was waving at her all this time. Coming back to real life, Yeon Woo found out that Eun Sup was asking her about how she was doing on the cream. Then Eun Sup tried to show her how to correctly use the whisker. OK, to all the girls out there, if a man wants to show you how to properly make whipping cream, in which way would you expect him to do it？Normally, one would expect that person just to pick up the whisker and whisk away. Or maybe hold your hand if you know each other very well. To have someone wrap you in his arms and show you how to do it? Mm, you tell me who that person could be. But that was exactly what Eun Sup did to "show" Yeon Woo the correct way of making whipping cream. To me, that was the bottom line.
Playwrights can portray the unspoken attraction between two characters in very beautiful ways. When the affection is secretly broiling under the placid surface, the emotions are very delicate and beautiful. It is better to let actors' eyes and expressions do the work. Witty and interesting conversation definitely helps. The characters should adhere to the "hands-off" policy (if there is such a policy, but you know what I mean) until later when the time is right, in my opinion. In this drama, the lead male character was never touchy-feely to the leading lady. That means the scriptwriter knows how to make a character respectful. So to have Eun Sup behave in this Casanova fashion, the purpose was to instill some kind of imperfection in the second leading male character, I would have guessed. I was not sure which direction this character of Eun Sup was heading towards. To avoid more of such scenes or other "evil" traits that the second leading man normally must possess in order to make the first leading man more attractive, I did all a viewer could do when facing unwanted scenes -- stopped watching. I did just that.
(Since then, I learnt from other viewers that our prince had gracefully bowed out of the tangled relationship and there was no more "evil" spirit other than what I have felt dumped on his character. But I still don't have the heart to pick up from where I have left. Maybe some other time.)
Shirley, you haven't even finished the drama. How can you criticize JHJ? He's absolutely adorable in "Sunshine".
ReplyDeleteThere is a distinction between JHJ and the characters he plays. He is so good at portraying them that sometimes we forget he is just acting. Some other actors can only play themselves in whatever role they are in.
ReplyDelete