lirazel | (no subject)

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I finished Extraordinary Attorney Woo last night, and on the whole I very much enjoyed it, and Park Eun-bin is a wonder. But there is one thing about it that drove me absolutely batty and I need to rant about it.

Okay, so our main character Woo-young has been raised by a single dad. We find out later that her Biomom is not dead--she got pregnant when she was in law school and wanted to have an abortion, but her boyfriend begged her to have the baby, said he would raise it, and that he would never bother her again.

So Biomom gives birth to Woo-young and is not part of her daughter's life at all.

And...she's the villain of the show. She's now a powerful lawyer and is being considered for a high position in the government and the show tells us that she is bad and does not deserve it. Why is she bad? Well...I don't know? I mean, she's a high-powered attorney at an extremely expensive law firm that defends a lot of corporations, which imo is why she is bad, but...our heroine is also at an extremely expensive law firm that defends a lot of corporations, so the show doesn't think that's the reason she's bad.

The head lawyer at Woo-young's law firm tells us she's bad and that she will do anything to keep Biomom from getting that ministerial position. But we know NOTHING about Head Lawyer, so why should we take her word for it?

Dad thinks that Biomom is a terrible person, but then, he would. It makes a lot of sense that he's got bitterness even if I think he's not being entirely fair.

Woo-young is very hurt by Biomom's existence, which makes total sense--she feels abandoned by this woman, which I think is a totally reasonable thing for a child to feel about a parent who does not want to be part of their life.

But other than that...we're just supposed to take the show's word for it that Biomom is bad, and I guess we're supposed to believe it because she "abandoned" Woo-young? Even though she did no such thing? She wanted an abortion, she was VERY clear about the fact that she would not be a part of this baby's life. I do, personally, think she should have just had the abortion instead of giving birth when she didn't want to, but she was very, very clear about her intentions.

And I really think the show just expects us to be so horrified that she abandoned this child that we're supposed to go, "Oh, of course she should never have a high role in government! That would be injustice!"

So that was annoying.

And then also: the show has Woo-young's morality clash with what she has to do as a lawyer at a fancy law firm; in general, these morality clashes are handled very well. It's a fairly consistent theme throughout the show. But what morally makes sense to me--Woo-young should take the job she is offered by an activist lawyer who fights for social justice--does not happen. The show basically just shrugs and says, "Sure, our heroine's principles conflict with what she's asked to do by her job a lot, but look at the found family she's got there!" And I love the found family! I love her mentor lawyer! I love her old school friend who has mixed feelings about her! I love her love interest! I even think the resentful co-rookie lawyer has the potential to be a good person! But a found family of coworkers does not make up for the fact that your job conflicts with your values! It just doesn't!

So I found that deeply unsatisfying, especially because the show had provided us with another option that she could have taken. The show has a moment where it's like, "Yeah, they defend corporations, but also sometimes they do pro-bono work so that all evens out!" And I'm like NO. It doesn't.

I think it bothers me so much precisely because the show has a wonderful sense of morality on many occasions and is really dedicated to seeing the humanity in most people (other than Biomom), even ones that normally don't get a good portrayal on Kdramas. But that makes it worse when it handwaves things at the end--if this was just one of those fantasy types of shows where we're all pretending that it's totally fine to be a corporate lawyer because this is just for fun, I would be far less annoyed.

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I don't know that I saw Tae Su-Mi as the antagonist, or that she didn't deserve her government position... certainly she was a central figure for a lot of interpersonal conflict with various characters, and both a highly competent and highly ambitious person. The show does suggest that where a woman's family values collide with their career, choosing the career is the poorer choice which is a little unfortunate; but not an unheard of moral (hello dozens of 90s and 00s flicks about parents accidentally neglecting their children, etc etc). I initally expected Su-Mi to have abandoned Young-Woo because of her disability, so I was pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case, nor that it was ever an issue for her after they met.

The one person really saying Su-Mi didn't deserve to succeed was her opponent at Hanbada, who takes such calculating and shady actions - hiring Young-Woo just to have her as a political weapon! manipulating her old school friend, and being entirely willing to upend Young-Woo's life! - which makes me hesitate to say the narrative thought Su-Mi deserved punishment. But it may depend on how the second season goes from here. I hope the Hanbada CEO becomes a more openly concerning figure, because she very much is behind those closed doors!

I was definitely disappointed they didn't do more with the social justice lawyer arc though. I have my fingers crossed that this is early foreshadowing and the little lawyer family may yet break off and do their own thing in season 2, considering Hanbada is, as noted, run by a somewhat questionable CEO, facilitates the success of jerk employees, and forces the team to deal with unappealing cases.

The reason that I think that the narrative thinks Su-Mi deserves to be punished (by not getting what she wants in the former of the ministerial position) is that multiple side characters also say that she shouldn't have the job and there is not a single character in the show who indicates that she should. No one is on her side. If there were a mix of characters for and against her attaining the position, I would not have this complaint at all! But when not a single supporter is depicted, and then the she doesn't get it, and this is framed in a positive or at least neutral light, it makes me feel like the show is supporting the view that she is not worthy of the position. And there is zero reason given for why!

I agree that the depiction is more nuanced than it would be on a lot of other shows--the show lets her be a good mother to her son, which most shows would not have done! And certainly the show is not any worse in its depiction of ambitious women/women who don't want to be mothers than any number of other shows. But it's precisely because it's so good on some issues (humanizing Woo-young, the lesbian couple, the Children's Liberation Army episode, etc.) that it disappoints me that it's not good on this one.

The writers could have either included a handful of lines showing that, actually, Su-Mi is qualified for this position OR alternatively a handful of lines telling us why she's not. It would have taken so little for me to feel completely differently about it!

I hope the Hanbada CEO becomes a more openly concerning figure, because she very much is behind those closed doors!

Agreed. She's shady!

I also did not realize that there was going to be a season 2 or that such a season was planned! If this was not, as most Asian dramas are, a complete series in one season, then there's plenty of room for them to change my mind about things! And I definitely hope they dive more into Hanbada's CEO who, I agree, has is an unsavory character!

Immediately after I sent this post I remembered that Su-Mi does also try to get Young-Woo disgraced and fired which is a little villainous XD It's been a good while since I watched the show, so I don't remember how many people spoke against Su-Mi as a suitable candidate for minister; I might argue that her track record speaks for itself in that she is publicly regarded as such a strong candidate and is well known as a fantastic if ruthless lawyer, but I'll agree that some more nuanced takes from the main cast would have been a good thing. The fact she IS willing to be so underhanded and do whatever it takes seems to be the main reason why she might be an unsuitable minister, but it's not exactly uncommon behaviour :|

I see Su-Mi not getting the position as simultaneously a defeat and a victory for her. A defeat for the ambitious woman who cares most about her career and social status, and also for the person who has tried hard to succeed in an unforgiving environment (in another culture, having a child out of wedlock would be a non-issue!). A victory for the mother who cares about her son, and for the person who is able to do the right thing at personal cost; and for the young woman who was once willing to take a huge risk to let Young-Woo's father have the child he wanted.

The Children's Liberation Army episode was so interesting! First I'd heard of the cram schools. Poor kids, I don't think I can complain about my workload ever again.

I didn't realise single seasons were the norm! It stands alone pretty well so I would not have been too disappointed, but I think there are some fun possibilities in a second season too. I just hope we get Young-Woo and Jun-Ho as a stable couple throughout, I've had quite enough back and forth there XD

Immediately after I sent this post I remembered that Su-Mi does also try to get Young-Woo disgraced and fired which is a little villainous

Haha, that's true! I'd forgotten about that too!

but I'll agree that some more nuanced takes from the main cast would have been a good thing.

I didn't even need them from the main cast! It would have been fine if everyone in Woo-young's life hates her--but at least a side character could have said something positive about her!

A victory for the mother who cares about her son, and for the person who is able to do the right thing at personal cost; and for the young woman who was once willing to take a huge risk to let Young-Woo's father have the child he wanted.

I get that, but to me it feels like saying that motherhood is more important than anything else. And of course I do think that once you have children, you should make them your priority, but I think it could have been written in such a way that she both chooses her child AND gets what she wants re: her career.

Yeah, the ROK has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, and a TON of it has to do with the intense pressure they put on children re: schooling and getting into the best university and then getting the best job. It's very, very intense and I thought that episode handled it well. I was 100% on the side of Bang Gu-Ppong and frankly would have watched a whole show about him!

Yes, I would say that 95% of Korean dramas are limited series, designed from the start to be a single season. The whole second season thing is becoming more common because of the reach of Netflix, but beyond a few that became big hits outside of Asia (Kingdom, Age of Youth, etc.), it still almost never happens.

I just hope we get Young-Woo and Jun-Ho as a stable couple throughout, I've had quite enough back and forth there XD

Agreed. I think the back-and-forth made a degree of sense, more so than is usual in such situations, but if there is a second season, they should definitely move on from that.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of glorifying motherhood :/ It's an important responsibility! But not automatically greater than any other important responsibility.

That said, I've been wrinkling my brain to scrape up the details again, and isn't what ultimately sinks Su-Mi the fact she initially wants to protect her reputation AND her son by using her influence and sweeping everything under the rug? And it's her son who's like mom, this somehow means you're managing to both do what's worst for me to advance your career AND abusing your position to protect your family?

So it feels as if there ARE good reasons to question Su-Mi's integrity, but what ultimately costs her the position is framed as her stepping down to be a better mother, rather than stepping down to be a more honest person. And if she hadn't, Hanbada CEO would have put her on blast for having a child out of wedlock which is just unfair. It's like they half built a case why she deserved to lose the position, but then focused on the other bits of it.

Oh I would so watch a show all about Bang Gu-Ppong!

So it feels as if there ARE good reasons to question Su-Mi's integrity, but what ultimately costs her the position is framed as her stepping down to be a better mother, rather than stepping down to be a more honest person. And if she hadn't, Hanbada CEO would have put her on blast for having a child out of wedlock which is just unfair. It's like they half built a case why she deserved to lose the position, but then focused on the other bits of it.

Yeah, this is a big part of it!

I just so feel like the writers could have either a) shown us reasons why Su-Mi is not appropriate for this role or b) let her have the role AND let her have her relationship with her son! I think I'm really sensitive to the sexism of this particular scenario!

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