I finished my melodrama recently, and I wanted to discuss the overall development of each of the main characters by the end of the show. I think it’s important to consider how each main character has evolved to understand what makes this show and the characters so complex. I will analyze their complexities through a comparison of traditional telenovela character structures to modern K-drama characters. I also want to add before I go into the characters that I truly enjoyed this class. As someone who has been very interested in melodramatic television since childhood, this class has helped me understand the depth of this type of television. There is so much effort that is made by actors, actresses, producers, and anyone else involved in the creation of the melodrama just for the simple entertainment of others. Now, let’s move into my character discussion.
Na Hee-do: She clearly isn’t the conventional telenovela female protagonist. She barely possesses the “Cinderella” qualities. She is very beautiful, I have to admit, but she isn’t very naive at all. If anything, she is the opposite of naive. When her enemy in the fencing industry, Ko Yu-rim, told Na Hee-do she wouldn’t make it to nationals or ever become her enemy, Na Hee-do preserved despite her critical words and actually defeated Ko Yu-rim in nationals. I do think, for a brief period of time, she displayed some naivety in the presence of the male protagonist, Baek Yi-jin (he wasn’t the boyfriend). Na Hee-do had a relationship that lasted for a very short amount of time, but during that relationship, she expressed to Baek Yi-jin that she only dated her ex-boyfriend because she wanted to feel what a relationship feels like. That was truly an expression of flawed judgment on her part, and it showed how pure and naive she was when it came to relationships. She wasn’t poor because her mother was a news anchor, and actually this trait is more prevalent in our male protagonist.
Baek Yi-jin: He’s literally like a “reverse Cinderella”. Instead of going from “rags to riches”, he went from “riches to rags”. Generally, the male protagonist would be the “prince” character, but he doesn’t have the wealth that this character represents. He does have the looks of a “prince” character, though. Unlike a “prince”, he even makes mistakes and DOES NOT redeem himself. Na Hee-do even did a way better job of redeeming herself by becoming one of the best fencers in South Korea. The relationship between Baek Yi-jin and Na Hee-do is inherently flawed because of Yi-jin’s actions. He would constantly make plans with Hee-do, and then cancel them whenever he had some sort of news emergency. I also need to mention he did build his way back up to some financial stability with his career in the news industry but definitely didn’t make enough money to call himself wealthy.
Ko Yu-rim: I actually want to establish a slightly different perspective on her than I did in my last blog post. I do still think she is more of a “Cinderella” character, but I actually think what happened to her in the show is what typically happens to the main couple in traditional telenovelas. Ko Yu-rim finds her “prince”, Moon Ji-woong, and he possesses all sorts of “prince” qualities, like being good-looking, making mistakes and redeeming himself, and not being so smart. He may not be wealthy and he never helped Ko Yu-rim overcome poverty, but he still possessed several other traits of a “prince”. Ko Yu-rim was briefly rude to Hee-do, and I don’t think that validates her being anything like an “evil stepmother” at all. I truly just think “Cinderella” is more fitting because she was poor, naive, and good in the eyes of her high school boyfriend.
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