#ocn

Kdrama: My Secret Romance (2017)

Here we go… | My Secret Romance- Episode 9 #shorts | K-Drama

Blind (2022)

sugestão!

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PSA: As someone who knows practically nothing about the korean military system and had to do some research on my own after watching, everything I'll be discussing will solely focus on the show and the depictions of the military in the show alone(though I do have my gripes towards most military systems so keep that in mind)!

** SPOILERS AHEAD **

Before I get into discussing the actual contents of the show, I just want to warn viewers interested that this drama is fucked up. There are comedic moments and we are blessed to watch an incredible friendship between An Jun-Ho and Han Ho-Yul but that is a small fraction of the show. There is constant depictions of suicide, abuse and sexual assault and its incredibly dark so watch at your own risk.

Alright, moving on...d.p. immediately opens with our main character, An Jun-Ho, being bullied by an anonymous character whom we are shown later on(and wow is this bastard a gem). The show doesn’t waste anytime setting the tone and we already know that we’re heading into some fuckery. An Jun-Ho is offered the role of becoming a D.P Officer and essentially is in charge of capturing and arresting army deserters. This specific scene stood out to me at first because we are shown just how hostile the atmosphere is. As AJH is being offered this opportunity, a few of his fellow soldiers are staring in disbelief and anger and soon he is accused, in a “joking manner”, of doing sexual favors in order to achieve this role. 

As the show progresses and we meet a few other army deserters, one of whom kills himself, we begin to realize that the soldiers are doing more than teasing others. We begin to open up to the brutal and corrupt world of the military service and the lengths high-ranking soldiers will go to keep this all under wraps in order to preserve their status and reputation. Between forcing one man to masturbate in front of the other, and putting a gas mask on a sleeping soldier all while filling it up with water just because he snores, the men are genuinely cruel to one another and it is hard to watch. 

The show does a wonderful job at holding everyone accountable. Higher-ranking officials are shown to care more about their reputation, and other soldiers who aren’t being bullied and abused are shown as bystanders who allow the bullying to happen, and AJH is one of them. There is no innocent person in these situations other than the one on the receiving end of the bullying. 

The character who made the largest impact in the show, in my humble opinion, is Suk-Bong, who is regularly harassed, bullied and sexually abused. We are only shown bits and pieces of his bullying in the beginning and assume that his role in the show will be minor, until he becomes a deserter himself. Hell bent on seeking revenge on the one who encouraged the bullying and harassment, the show captures as he slowly descends into a blind rage, rage that drives him to insanity. As we reach the climax of the show with SB pointing a gun to his abuser’s head, he utters the words, “If I want something to change, I should at least do something” and he then turns the gun on himself. These words are powerful and meant to show that this must be the beginning of change, that it has to be the beginning of change. By killing himself, SB believes that he is no longer becoming his abuser and that he is creating change that needs to happen in the military system.

The final closing scene crushes any last slither of hope we have when his friend is shown to be getting bullied and harassed as well. His suicide was nothing but another insane man killing himself because he couldn’t handle the pressures of the military. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change. We are hit with the cold reality that this is the flaw of an entire system and unfortunately one man can’t change something that has been the same forever. His friend then utters something similar, stating, “I should at least do something,” before turning his gun on everyone in the room and firing. Nothing has changed. It is the same cycle over and over again and we are left with darkness and dreary silence before the closing sequence begins.