#thetrunk

I made it a point to finish this on the 16 November 2024, well in time before its premiere on Netflix. I finally, managed to put together Tumblr and Instagram today, and I hope you enjoy the commentary below.

Themes:

Global themes

LGBTQ+, sex, sexuality, gender identity, consumerism, difficulty in finding a job post graduation and the discrimination faced for not fitting within the bounds set by society.

Unique to Korean society

The Ageing population, youngsters opting to remain unmarried, filial piety, pressures from family/society, power dynamics in relationships (family, friends or spouse), hierarchy and class.

Synopsis:

Noh Inji ends up working as a contract spouse for New Marriage (NM) upon graduation. In her role, she has had several husbands, but a previous husband (music composer) strangely asked for her again. The problem arises when an awry blind-date keeps on pestering her, like an overt stalker. As much as Inji appears elegant on the outside, she is actually still trying to find herself.

Commentary:

The Trunk follows the story of Noh Inji, a 30 year-old who has been a ‘field wife’ for New Marriage (NM) for some time . It recounts some of her experiences with different husbands, her frustrations with a referred “introduction” to Om Tae-seong (who establishes stalker-ish behaviours), shocking discoveries about NM, and her relationships with others, including Granny (her neighbour), her friend Shi-Jeong, her colleagues and her mother.

Granny is a sexually frustrated elderly woman who is being strung along by a younger man. Other than purchasing whatever he tries to sell to her, she has even gone to the extreme of undergoing plastic surgery perhaps to appeal to him.

Shi-jeong, Inji’s old friend, is responsible for introducing Inji to Om Tae-seong, a peculiar man who cannot take a ‘no’ for an answer, which of course, is problematic. There are also flashbacks about Inji’s friendship with Shi-jeong and Hye-yeong from school and other revelations in the friendship that Inji is not expecting.

The book briefly touches upon the plight of her naive colleague, Yoo, who has found herself in an unfavourable situation from the marriage she is in. She reminds me of someone who is idealistic and unselfish, to her detriment. Despite her parents being non-present, she feels obligated to the concept of ‘filial piety’. For instance, when Yoo’s father requests for money, she proceeds to give him her earnings, only for him to disappear after. The story explores how along the way, Inji is trying to find herself and own her sexuality. I get the impression that she may be bisexual, but perhaps hasn’t admitted it to herself. This book definitely has a feel of feminism towards it.

Additionally, the society that is portrayed in this story appears to bear certain similarities with current societies. Society, in general, has certain standards of what is deemed to be a norm. This book largely talks about issues within society that fall outside of those boundaries. The first, of course, is the unconventional concept of marriage that NM provides for a clientele that wants the benefits of marriage, but without investing their heart into it. Secondly, similar to Granny who appears to be in a relationship with a much younger man, Inji was previously married to a much older husband.

Other themes that are illustrated in the story’s society which are relatable across the world would be LGBTQ+, sex, sexuality, gender identity, consumerism, difficulty in finding a job post graduation and the discrimination faced when you fall outside of that parameter established by society.

The themes that are depicted in the book, which are unique to Korean society were - ageing population, youngsters opting to remain unmarried, filial piety, pressures from family/society, power dynamics in relationships (family, friends or spouse), hierarchy and class.

The book certainly piqued my curiosity regarding hiring a spouse so I Googled ‘rent a spouse in South Korea’. The results came up with ‘rent an Oppa’/’hire a friend’. I was somewhat not surprised given that this had taken off in Japan, South Korea’s close neighbour by proximity.

Netflix has announced the production of The Trunk, a mystery series starring Korean A-listers Seo Hyun-jin and Gong Yoo. The story revolves around a whirlwind of unforeseen events and secrets that follow after a mystifying trunk is found in the depths of a lake.