2521 vs LA LA Land and Why it Hurts so Dang Much
I was trying to figure out why the ending of 2521 hurt like an absolute semi-truck to the face when La La Land (LLL), which has a similar narrative, is one of my favorite movies. It wasn’t that they didn’t get together that was causing the absolute sob-fest into my bowl of cereal, because there are many other movies, shows, or dramas where that is the case and it seems like the perfect ending.
So why does 2521 hurt so dang much?
If we compare the two stories of LLL and 2521 I think it shows us something very interesting. Both LLL and 2521 share the narrative of a couple being together, but ultimately letting go of their relationship because circumstance and the desire to pursue their dreams supersedes the functionality of their relationship. So why did one ending make me cry tears of joy and the other absolutely broke my heart when they were so similar in nature?
I also want to preface this by saying 2521 is INCREDIBLY well written and as a writer and a somebody with a psychology degree focused on marriage counseling, I cannot get over how healthy and beautifully written the relationship between Baek Yi-Jin and Na Hee Do is. Books upon books could be written on how well their dynamic was set up through the lens of a psychologically healthy relationship and we can only hope more stories follow their lead.
But the reason why one story ending hurts so much more than another when they’re so similar in nature lies in the difference between LLL and 2521’s story structure and the perspective used on the relationship. Mia and Seb in LLL are a fully completed Jenga puzzle that slowly gets torn down, while Yi-Jin and Hee Do were two piles of Jenga bricks that slowly got put together. Let me explain.
For Mia and Seb in LLL, their relationship is presented to us very early on as a fully completed Jenga puzzle. Within the first act of the story we see them jump from awkward strangers to two people in love, living together, and passing their first or second anniversary. The entire development of their relationship is shown in one quick montage and the audience is immediately thrown into the deep end of their relationship. It’s one big “plop” and the entire Jenga tower that is their relationship is presented to us right out of the gate. Then, the story becomes about how that Jenga tower is slowly torn down. Seb takes a job where he works crazy hours? A few bricks are pulled from the tower. Seb feels Mia isn’t supportive of his career? A few more bricks are pulled from the tower. Seb misses Mia’s play? A few more bricks are pulled from the tower. Mia considers taking a job in Paris? A few more bricks are pulled from the tower. By the climax of the film, their relationship Jenga tower is just a skeleton of what it was at the beginning. It had been slowly worn down by time, circumstance, and questionable choices that left it structurally unsound, until eventually they decide to knock over whatever remaining tower is left and go their separate ways. The viewpoint of their relationship is one that starts off completed, and then slowly degrades.
The viewpoint of Yi-Jin and Hee Do is the complete opposite. We start off with two separate piles of bricks, and the story revolves around us slowly watching them build that Jenga tower up. Hee Do tells Yi-Jin they can be happy together in secret? A few bricks of the foundation are laid down. Hee Do and Yi-Jin listen to each others messages for support while they’re away? A few more bricks are laid down. Yi-Jin protects Hee Do from his scary coworker during the documentary? A few more bricks are laid down. Hee Do provides a safe place for Yi-Jin to be happy? A few more bricks are laid down. Yi-Jin defends Hee Do by interviewing the ref? A few more bricks are laid down. Hee Do supports Yi-Jin in the tunnel? More bricks. Yi-Jin supports Hee Do in her fencing tournaments? More bricks. Then more bricks. Then more.
The course of the whole show is watching these two as their relationship is slowly built up over time, in the third act eventually reaching the place where they become a couple and their Jenga tower is finally “complete”; only for us to then watch it get knocked down in the duration of two episodes. With Seb and Mia we were presented with a completed tower that we watched slowly degraded over time. With Yi-Jin and Hee Do we were with them as they fought to build their tower in the first place. We were with them from the very beginning and we hand our hands on every brick as it was being laid down.
Focusing solely on the aspect of their relationship, (as this story isn’t just about first love), this show was about building. It was about them growing together, about learning more about each other, supporting each other against all odds, leaning on each other more, feeling deeper emotions towards each other, sharing bigger burdens together. They started off as strangers, and we were with them every step of the way as they grew closer and closer – slowly and beautifully building towards something. Only for, at the 11th hour, all that hard work to be quickly knocked down. With an added confusion of us holding on to extra bricks that we never even found a place for. (Who is Mr. Kim? Why is her woodwork shop called 2521? Where is Yi-Jin in 2021?)
The second comparison for why it hurts so much is the payoff. When Mia and Seb part at the end of their story, we see that their relationship was fundamental in them reaching their dreams. It salves the wound because even though they’re not together, their relationship served a greater purpose and they both reached their dreams. Mia becomes and actress and Seb gets his jazz club, and it’s clear that if they had never met they probably wouldn’t have ever made it there. Their dreams and their goals were set up at the very beginning and we see them become a reality when they meet again at the nightclub later in life. And it’s pointed and clear that they needed that relationship together in order to achieve those goals. We see this by how Sebastian names his club “Seb’s” and uses the exact design that Mia gave him. We realize in that moment that Mia was instrumental to him reaching his goal, and that their relationship served a purpose even if it didn’t work out. Same with Mia being an actress, if it hadn’t been for Seb driving to her house and encouraging her to do one last audition, she might not ever have come back and gotten the role. As an audience member we can walk away knowing that their relationship served a greater good.
In addition, we actually get to see Mia and Seb reunite after several years and have true closure with one another. We see how the two of them view each other now, how happy they are even if they're not together. There's peace between them. It's settled. It's okay now. Unlike with the 2009 interview where Hee Do and Yi-Jin appear to have unsettled emotional conflict and desire, and no reunion in the present 2021 timeline.
Peace vs unresolved conflict.
With Beakdo though, it hurts so much more because it feels like we’re missing the payoff. We were working towards something that eventually ended and the consolation is that life is hard and nothing lasts forever, that adulthood sucks and love will never last.
I was waiting for the reason why. Why did Min-Chae even read the diary in the first place? What was the point?
I thought that we might have gotten a Definitely, Maybe situation where the father is telling his daughter about how he met her mother, only for the daughter to figure out midway that her mother wasn’t the person her father should have ended up with, and she encourages her father to go after the one he really did love. But we don’t get that either? Or a Mamma Mia situation where the daughter reads her moms diary and brigns the guy her mom loved back into her life? But...no. Nothing.
In the present day there was no payoff or reason why Min-Chae was reading this story or what she was supposed to learn or take away from this.
We watched the beautiful building of a relationship that ended…but why?
Knocking over a Jenga tower that had already been sitting on the kitchen table is one thing, but if you were the one that sat there, slowly putting it together brick by brick, it’s going to hurt a lot more if somebody comes up to you and knocks it over just moments after you complete it. And knocking over a Jenga tower so that you can use the space on the table for a bowl of ice cream is one thing. But knocking over a Jenga tower so it can be replaced with a stack of HR forms and W2’s is something else entirely.
In the end, I guess 2521 is a beautiful and powerful story about youth and memory and the painful reality of life and adulthood. It's a commentary on growing up and all the challenges that entails, not a fantasy to escape in. The fact the Yi-Jin’s computer has a security question asking, “Who is your first love”, I think is a painful but accurate representation of something that is so common to the human experience. We all have a first love that we had to let go. And this story took us through the entire experience of that. While Mia and Seb’s story gives us a bit of a crutch by skipping the majority of the building of their relationship, only for us to walk next to them during it’s eventual downfall, we get to experience the rise and building of Yi-Jin and Hee Do’s relationship from it’s conception. And while Mia and Seb offer a consolation and a purpose for the loss, Beakdo doesn’t really give us that.
And that’s why it hurts so dang much when it eventually ended. Their relationship and story is realistic. It’s life. Life is hard and life can hurt, and sometimes there isn't a resolution or an answer no matter how badly we want it.
Does that make the ending any better? That's up to you to decide. But I hope this helps for anybody that was struggling with why the ending was hitting so hard.
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