inner peas and loaf

Youth Of May (2021) Study

YOUTH OF MAY, ep. 6 “A Cough, Love, And...” (KBS2, 2021) ⇉ “Jeong-tae may be tall, but he’s still only 12. Do you want to fight with a kid? Are you 12, too?”

Bonus:

and the way he tells her he’s an outcast in his family, that he has no family, but it’s with myunghee’s encouragement that he reaches out to his little brother and it’s that connection later on that allows jungtae to ask his mom to unbind heetae and let him out of their father’s office, and then helps move jungtae to run to myunghee’s rescue when their dad sends someone to assassinate myunghee. she tell heetae “i’ll be your family” and proposes to him, but she helped him find some semblance of family even before that.

another thing i like about the show is heetae’s father–like as in how he’s written, not the character himself. at home he’s a tyrant. he slaps heetae around and eventually straight up tortures him; he belittles and ignores both his wife and jungtae. and so his violence isn’t only confined to his work/position as head of the anti-communist investigation. he’s as violent with citizens as he is with his family. because he’s a violent man ho uses intimidation, pain, fear, and threats as tools of control to access power. he’s Bad, but it’s not an inherent quality. he *chooses* violence because of the position of power it gets him within the military and within the then-current political regime. he’s violent because it benefits him within the system he operates. 

the thing i like best about how the show handles him, though, is that by the end he is dwarfed by history, in a way no other character is. in the first 10, maybe even 11, episodes (the drama’s 12 eps long), he looms as the central villain, even when the military comes into gwangu and starts attacking civilians. but about midway through ep11, his power becomes unstable. we see that there are higher ups within the military who are invested in his failure, people he *can’t* intimidate with violence or bribe. within the structure of the military, even as he directs his henchmen to imprison and torture gwangu residents, he’s just some fucking guy. and just like his tyranny was both over citizens and his family, the stripping away of his power happens both in his work/public life and at home–jungtae eavesdrops on him and goes to save myunghee, his wife frees heetae and asks for a divorce. and then parallel becomes a confluence with hyegun. heygun is heetae’s friend, but he’s also one of the student proest leaders. when heetae’s dad captures him and has him tortured for days, and then threatens his family, he remembers something heetae told him–that if he ever gets acpatured all he has to do is mention his name and his dad will probably kill him on the spot. and that’s exactly what hyegun does. when he’s at the end of his rope and refuses to give up any information in the face of his grandmother being threatened, he drops heetae’s name and calls heetae’s dad “abeoji,” making as though since he’s heetae’s friend, he’s close with heetae’s dad. and he laughs in his face while doing this–just like heetae did when his dad tied and beat him up–cause he knows he’s got him. and the minute he acts like he knows him, an operative runs out to let military higher ups know heetae’s dad has been fucking around with a suspected communist spy. and so guilt by association with no evidence, the same things heetae’s dad has been using to torture and violently disrupt other’s lives, comes right back around to him.

the book that the drama writers based the story on is titled 오월의 달리기 / running in may / may's race (?) - it's a fairy tale by writer kim hae-won that won the changwon children's literature award, and was first published on may 18 2013.

the difference is that the book deals with the story of 13-year-old myungsoo (myunghee's brother in the drama) who was selected as a rep runner of the south jeolla province at the national youth sports festival and lived in gwangju in 1980 when protests demanding democratization continued every day.

while researching gwangju's history during that time, writer kim hae-won contacted a track and field athlete after seeing an article that the national youth festival was postponed due to the 5.18 pro-democracy movement back then (it will most likely be cancelled in the drama too, poor kiddos omg). the athlete turned out to be a national student at the time and lived in a dormitory in gwangju so the book is the product of her research and meticulous coverage.

and rather than emphasizing the painful wounds of the may 18 pro-democracy movement, the book focuses on showing the life of children who lived during that period. it depicts the life of myungsoo, an ordinary child who dreamed of becoming a national representative athlete, who wanted to be recognized by his father, and tried hard to beat his rival friend jungtae (heetae's brother). the book delves into painful history and the despair suffered during that time through children's lens and is even used as learning curriculum in schools to make children wonder why the may 18 pro-democracy movement that destroyed this child's life took place at all

writer's notes: "it’s good to be careful when talking about the may 18 pro-democracy movement in class. it is not possible to mention only objective dates and numbers with no context, so various materials and media need to be used, because students' reactions vary widely depending on which part is emphasized.

even now, the may 18 pro-democracy movement is at the center of controversy. although it was listed in elementary school textbooks as an important example of a pro-democracy movement and even listed as a UNESCO world record heritage, the claims that it was a riot are quite noticeable if you type 5/18 in the portal site search box. how should we explain the may 18 pro-democracy movement to children who are easily exposed to such confusing information?

this book depicts the scene of the may 18 pro-democracy movement from the perspective of a child who lived at the time, and shows realistically how many people were lost due to national violence.

children who boldly attempt to escape from the training camp to avoid their coach, witness the sight of an airborne unit brutally hitting people in downtown gwangju. at the time, the soldiers only looked good in the eyes of the children so most of them said, “these soldiers are not the soldiers of our country. they must be the people's army sent by kim il-sung of north korea.”

however, the children end up learning that our country's soldiers can trample and kill their people. in 1980, gwangju had to make a huge sacrifice under the control of a real villain. most of them were hard-working people. why these people were killed for no reason, this book tells the truth and tragedy of the may 18 pro-democracy movement.

오월의 달리기 depicts ordinary people's desire for democracy, their tearful efforts to protect each other, and their heartbreaking sacrifices. in particular, through the images of myungsoo who lost his family and those who support him, the story shows hopeful gestures to heal the painful history and wounds of his heart, leaving a long lasting impression."

possible similarities with the drama

in the book, myungsoo's dad runs a repair shop in the market and has a weak leg just like in the drama. he also disapproves of myungsoo's dream to become a running athlete and myungsoo shows embarrassment towards his father. one day, an unexpected event occurs in the training camp, in which one of the kids came up with a plan to escape from the dormitory. however, downtown gwangju, which was thought to be full of interesting sights for the kids, turned out to be full of college student protesters, soldiers, and the nasty smell of tear gas

the children follow the protesters with curiosity and witness unbelievable scenes. soldiers beat college students with clubs (곤봉) and even kick the elderly who were watching. the children who see this are terrified and run away. they enter a billiard room in a building to escape and face an even more terrible scene. seeing the soldiers smashing the head of a student protester who had sneaked in there, and seeing the blood dripping out, even kicking the old uncles who told them to stop, and hitting them with a club...

soon, news comes out that the national youth sports festival has been postponed and the coach comes to the dormitory with tears in his eyes to deliver shocking news.

“myungsoo... your father is dead.”

in parallel with the book, the drama places a focus on radio and broadcast as these mediums suffered from censorship during that time... it's not a coincidence that jinah's character dreams to become a radio pd and that heetae who happens to be her tutor knows his way around radio and supports her dream the way he does. although the preview for ep 9 shows jinah being unconscious and heetae struggling to save her (a reenactment of his traumatic past in a sense), it is most likely that she will live, and through the support system heetae has around him (myunghee) this time, he will be able to save her and free himelf of his trauma. i think jinah will grow to become a radio pd, perhaps on the same frenquency bette midler was playing and to which heetae shared that intimate moment with myunghee at the end of ep 8... this is just my personal wish tbh but i find these details interesting to dig into

another item that figures in the story is the watch belonging to myungsoo and myunghee's dad... one of the questions asked in the school textbook based on the story is that the watch contains memories (as in pictures) of myungsoo... in the drama, the watch is the first thing we see in the first episode as recovered belonging to someone during the uprising. going by the book, it was the dad who ended up dying in the book... i don't know if the drama will follow the same narrative but if it does, the man seen in the beginning is most likely myungsoo

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(episode 03)

-heetae: (turning his head) it's not the month we have left that i'm afraid of, but how much I'll be hurt after that month is over. i like you myunghee, and i will keep liking you.

-> in the script, the writer used the word "갈수록" meaning "as days go by" so heetae says he will keep liking myunghee as time goes by but in the aired scene, dohyun changes it to "앞으로도" and "계속"

the subtitles don't really do it justice and tbh the meaning is the same but if you rewatch the scene you'll see how dohyun plays with the tone of his voice to ultimately say: "i like you, myunghee, and in the future too, i will cooooooon~tinue to like you."

[unaired part of the scene]

-myunghee: (looks at him for a while without saying anything) ... why do you like me?

-heetae: (with bright eyes) are you starting to become curious about it now?

-myunghee: no, that's not what i meant... i just wonder why, i can't understand. i don't know why (you like me).

-heetae: myunghee, it seems like you don't know how much of an amazing person you are.

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(episode 07)

-myunghee: (swallowing her words)

-heetae: i hope you continue to... bravely walk down the path you've always wanted to take. although you stumbled for a little while because of me, you are a strong person who can't be broken by others.

-myunghee: (barely holding back her emotions) you too, heetae. live your life bravely.

-> in the aired scene, dohyun doesn't say the line "although you stumbled for a little while because of me" and instead of telling myunghee that she's a strong person who can't be broken by others, dohyun changed the line to "no matter who it is, you're a strong person who can't be broken by anyone."

in the script too, minsi's line only says "live your live bravely" but in the final scene, she says "i hope you stay strong. i hope you live your life bravely." then she leaves.

writer's notes: heetae, teary-eyed, nods with a bright smile. myunghee looks at heetae and walks past him. seeing myunghee's back, heetae mouths to himself: "turn around, turn around." myunghee walks into the gate without looking back. only after hearing the sound of the gate closing, the tears that heetae held back fall from his eyes.

-> in this scene, dohyun was supposed to just shed a tear but he ended up full-on sobbing while holding his chest and everything

transcribed from @byldh_'s scans

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황희태 (HWANG HEE-TAE) / BORN ON JUNE 23, 1955

A tree frog (disobedient person) who refuses everything that predicates who he is.

To describe Heetae's life in a word, it would be 'war against prejudice.' In order to break the prejudice against children of single mothers, he entered the Seoul National University Medical School as a senior class leader and the top student in his department every year. When his colleagues looked down on him as the "brilliant hillbilly" (ie. unsophisticated countryside person) from Gwangju, he pulled out the latest car model, which he didn't need. Heetae is tired of the stereotype that university students should only carry Molotov cocktails (protest), that medical students should only be stuck in school (study) because they are medical students. Because he goes to Hakrim Dabang (music café) everyday with his acoustic guitar, the delinquent medical student image (ie. playing instead of studying) was a given and because he hated colored glasses, he studied hard in places where others couldn’t see him and maintained the top of his department.

However, that doesn't mean that only arrogance elevates his personality. Rather, Heetae is more of a nerd who enjoys watching his opponents bewildered with his unpredictable and characteristic audacity. Perhaps that was Heetae's way of surviving. He was a child who wanted to run to the drunkard who was getting wasted with his mother, a night-time singer, but got pocket money from him while running an errand for cigarettes instead. If you're strong, you break, but in the case of Heetae, if you break, it's over.

Although his living conditions with his mom were a little poor, or perhaps a lot, his childhood spent with her did not leave a scar on Heetae. The immaturity when Heetae told his mom they had to pay their monthly rent and she replied with 'Oh right', the naiveness when he showed her his first ranking in his grades report and she told him 'Don't work too hard, you can become a singer later', made Heetae mature a little earlier than his peers... In essence, Heetae's mother was a 'strong and funny' person and Heetae resembled her and grew up as an upright and warm person.

Rather, the conflict between the two began when his mother fell sick. Heetae, who grew up while blaming his father for abandoning him and his mother, visited the stranger who didn't even know his mom's face to beg for her medical expenses. However, that day Heetae saw his mother's unfamiliar face for the first time in his life. He cried, fought, begged and burned up in anger, but eventually his mother died in vain after refusing Kinam's help, and Heetae ended up visiting him under the guise of her funeral expenses. Heetae, whose animal instincts uncover his opponents’ clear motives, replied 'Revenge won’t pay for the funeral' to Kinam's cold question as to what purpose he came to visit.

That bold answer satisfied Kinam, and Heetae stepped into that house on the road and steadily adapted to his position of "bastard son." He did not feel discouraged that he was a freerider/parasite in that family, and deliberately acted shamelessly to ask for more bowls of rice.

Heetae, who had a talent for music due to his mom, got into university and formed a two-member group with Kyungsoo, his only friend. Unlike Heetae, who used to stay away from the democracy protests, Kyungsoo, who was enthusiastic about the student movement, often brought injured wanted students who couldn't go to the hospital, turning Heetae's room into an "illegal clinic." One day, Kyungsoo, who was on the run, carried Seokchul, who was severely injured, into Heetae's room. However, her condition was beyond Heetae at the time, and Kyungsoo, who went outside to get help, was arrested and forced to join the army. Heetae, who chose to defer his graduation at the time of his internship training due to guilt and trauma caused by the incident, is a person who's paying that debt.

As such, he sold everything in his possession and desperately paid for the hospital to keep Seokchul alive. When she briefly regained consciousness and pronounced the words 'I want to go home,' Heetae immediately headed to Gwangju, his hometown.

Heetae, who sneaked into Gwangju to transfer Seokchul to the local hospital, is eventually taken home by Kinam. He ends up getting the transfer's money by throwing a winner's punch, telling his father that he’ll do anything he wants him to. Instead, he is dragged into a blind date. Heetae, who was wearing a matching suit that his father had bought for him, had no idea what was awaiting him. The fact that Heetae, who has survived his lifetime on the lookout, would end up completely disarmed in front of one woman. That both of them will spend the most glorious May of their lives.

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오월의 청춘 (Youth of May)

Written by 이강 (Lee Kang)