Perfume View (Mugen Mirai)

Before watching e2, I’ve heard from some people that some problematic stuff happened. So, as soon as the subs were out, I watched it. And turns out that e2 was a really good surprise!  I think that everyone who found the episode homophobic didn’t understand at all what the writer did.

Around the middle of the episode, a very important scene takes place. All the girls minus Jo Eun gather in one of the rooms to eat, they start to share the weird things they saw Eun do and come to the conclusion that she is lesbian. That’s when Eun Jae and Ye Eun say they are unconfortable. But that’s also when the writer gets pretty clever in the writing. Eun Jae and Ye Eun say some homophobic stuff, both for different reasons: the first one is ignorant, she has never met a lesbian and her head is filled with stereotypes; the former thinks being LGBT+ is against her religion.

Even if they say those things, Eun Jae insists that they aren’t discriminating. Here’s Ji Won and Jin Myung’s role: they are here to educate them and make them realize that, even if they feel like they aren’t doing anything wrong, they are. Ji Won has always been the open-minded girl among the group, she has always been the one to call them out when they are judging or being mean to others. So of course, she calls them out here, she tells them they are discriminating. Jin Myung sounds more neutral next to her, but she’s the one to point out Eun Jae’s uneasy feeling comes from her ignorance, and she’s also the one who says to “Let [Eun] be” when Eun Jae asks what to do if what they think is true (the fact that she’s a lesbian). This brings us to another point I felt was important: the girls were speculating whether Eun likes girls or not, but never ever said the word lesbian, as if it was a bad word they wouldn’t dare to say. Jin Myung was the one to say it, as if it was nothing. Because it is nothing; it’s not a bad word, it’s not something we should fear to say. However, while she’s helping Ji Won calling the girls out, she still makes sure they are ok. She asks them if they’ll be confortable, why they aren’t and what they should do. The scene ends with the girls saying they have to accept the situation and that they are the ones who will have to adapt themselves.

Watched the episode and felt that moment was really important. It’s such a big step forward that this conversation happened, especially in a Korean drama where there’s almost none to meager LGBTQ representation. I felt as though the older girls were speaking to the viewers when they gently called out the younger roommates on their ignorance and homophobia. 

From Perfume 6th Tour 2016「COSMIC EXPLORER」Standing Edition -Live Experience Edit-

That one moment when Nakata was pure genius #3