#ji ah ~destroying the patriarchy~ while having no narrative of her own

[dramacravings]

some thoughts on twy...

narrative: a representation of a particular situation or process in such a way as to reflect or conform to an overarching set of aims or values

i like ma rin but why is this drama so intent on getting me to identify her as a victim?? everyone in her life (mostly women) mocks her, berates her, uses her, underestimates her, makes assumptions of and accusations against her, tries to manipulate her by holding favors over her head or hoops for her to jump through, or just makes her life more difficult in general.

there are at least ten other ways so joon could have prevented that car accident (stopped the truck, stalled traffic, pushed the god damn crosswalk button, said “hey, watch out for that truck”) but instead we have to watch him stalk and harass ma rin down the street and into the crosswalk jfc (they really want her to be a victim).

there are a thousand other scenarios ma rin could have needed to be rescued from (ferry accident. dock accident. overhead piano accident. bridge accident. did anyone watch early edition?) but we got the street harassment version and the scene ends with ma rin unconscious in the hospital (for no apparent reason) while so joon streams embarrassing videos of her drunken public encounters online, videos she never consented to appear in let alone get spread around the internet.

so joon later uses this knowledge of ma rin’s alcohol problem against her to coerce her to speak with him after she made it clear that she didn’t want to. (but this is supposed to be a funny bc she likes to drink/has a drinking problem. side note: are women only allowed to be funny or silly (or sad) when they’re drunk? that’s a depressing thought...)

when so joon causes ma rin to feel humiliated or ashamed or he’s impressing her we get her point of view but when ma rin is making so joon’s life ~difficult~ or if he pities her we get his point of view. why is that? why are they so invested in making her a victim!?

i feel like the drama is just tearing ma rin down so that... hell, i don’t know why. she’s great but the writers are creating a narrative in which literally everyone else is in control of hers. every scene is another opportunity to bring her down, for someone else to make or break her hopes and dreams, or simply sidetrack her from just living her life and pursuing her future career in peace. /we/ might like ma rin but this drama does not like ma rin.

let’s also not forget that at this point the story ends with ma rin’s and so joon’s deaths and it’s up to so joon and his godlike knowledge of their intertwined futures to prevent it from happening. ma rin is just a piece in this puzzle with no awareness of the overarching narrative driving the plot forward, or the factors motivating this man to follow her around, to be so hot and cold with her. he couldn’t care less about her.

i’m trying to compare this to something like qihm where the couple has to figure things out together and she constantly has to teach him about her world and they form a partnership. contrast qihm with this drama where so joon travels to the future and we only get his perspective as we all discover that he and ma rin are married. ma rin is only there to answer questions. there was nothing in their interaction that was for her or her story or even from her point of view. this was all about so joon. entitled, all-knowing so joon.

since most of the other annoying people in ma rin’s life are women there’s also this layer of ma rin being the ~exceptional woman~ who gets to be fleshed out and flawed while other women are just pathetic or petty. none of her friends, coworkers, nor her mother are written in a way that’s supposed to make you empathize with them.

those we do get to empathize with are ma rin (but only as a victim), so joon (a hard-hearted asshole; a man), and so joon’s time travel buddy (also a man). the only people who are ever nice to ma rin are her friend (who’s really only there to clap for ma rin when she gets a job--this is very low investment faux female friendship positivity imo) and the reporter ma rin went on a date with, who we’re supposed to appreciate bc he didn’t berate ma rin after her terrible mother told lies about her (and i’m just waiting for him to screw her over with his article).

i almost get the feeling that we’re supposed to respect or value ma rin more because she’s a victim and reacts to being a victim in a ~humble~ way. like, i wouldn’t blame this woman if she didn’t maintain a positive attitude and instead broke down whilst literally everyone tries to make her life harder. what does ma rin get out of telling the story this way? what does this narrative accomplish for her, specifically?

we have to stop putting the onus on female characters to respond to bad treatment in the Right Way (policing women’s behavior) and instead challenge narratives that validate a world in which women don’t have control of their lives and are expected to Deal With It ~admirably~

how is this not a form of victim blaming in which we wouldn’t be expected to like ma rin if she weren’t “lively and endlessly positive”? honestly?

this is Strong Female Character posturing (behaving in a way that is intended to impress or mislead others) where they set up scenarios in which ma rin is treated like shit specifically so the writers can put on a show demonstrating how Strong she is. this drama is more interested in putting ma rin on a pedestal for her Admirable Behavior in the face of constant attacks than it is in condemning or changing others’ awful behavior toward her.

why should i want to relate to or sympathize with this narrative structure? this isn’t my idea of an appealing high stakes time travel romance. a gross part of me wants to watch this drama play out just to confirm my suspicions. they’ve already made so many questionable narrative decisions that they’re setting things up to get worse for ma rin, for her to become more of a pawn in so joon’s ~destiny~. ma rin might end up with the material things she desires--the career, the guy--but i just don’t see this process being a nice experience for her. it hasn’t been so far and i don’t have any reason to believe that will change.

i’m going to relate this back to my earlier comments re the swdbs teaser in which we’re supposed to get excited about (literally “teased” by) a woman fighting off sexual harassment on public transportation. media co-opted feminism is jtbc and tvn raking in ad money so we can watch women get harassed for fun and for free lmao. we’re deep in the matrix.

i wanted to include what @gohyunjungfun wrote in response to my comments about the teaser bc it’s better articulated and influenced some of what i wrote here: it's a special brand of pop feminism that focuses on individual women being smart/strong/whatever enough to fight off certain types of male aggression but is uninterested in the structure of patriarchy in recognizing it as a system and uninterested in men simply *not* being predators.

i’d argue this also applies to patriarchal norms in dramas that tell us any narrative or story is fair game and it’s up to female characters to just be good enough role models or interesting enough characters to deserve our praise. we have to stop ignoring writers’ motivations and instead ask why we tell stories like this in the first place. narrative choices are choices, you can’t be neutral on a moving train, etc etc.