The dreaded D-day. Many want to avoid it but one way or another, it will eventually keep coming back.
It was 2 days before the D-day where the episode started off our infamous Hak-chan surfing the web for porn at the late hours of the night. It was before long that he was found out by his own father and hilarity ensued. Meanwhile, within the same day, Si-won and Yun-je share a meal together where Yun-je requests Si-won to see him after the national examinations. Perplexed, Si-won questions his reasons to which he replies “it is my life’s D-Day”, foreshadowing a greater event that would be revealed later on in the episode.
Back to 2012, the atmosphere is ecstatic. People are eating and drinking with laughter as the TV shows that there are only 200 days remaining until the crowning of the next president. Tae-woong’s D-day is finally coming as an off-screen Yun-je narrates how each one of them were preparing for their own D-days in their special ways.
Back in 1998, SATs are all that high school students talk about. While Hak-chan and Song-jae are being overly convincing trying to sell Hak-chan’s new porn tape, Yu-jeong ends us struggling with her own version of the D-day. Waking up Si-won from her afternoon high school nap, Yu-jeong is convinced that Hak-chan’s invite over to his place after the SAT exams could only mean that he wants to get laid. However, a problem arises: she’s on her period. Frustrated, she expresses her worries to Si-won only to receive a look of disappointment; brushing her concerns away as immature. “It’s my life’s D-Day! How could that day and that day overlap?”
Later that day as the boys file out of their classrooms, the tension of D-day is creeping up to them. In order to elevate the mood, Song-jae proposes that they should all go karaoke after the SAT exams however, everyone seems to be busy with the plans they made. It wasn’t long until Tae-woong abruptly stops the boys in their tracks, revealing a whole new character that contrasted his tough and composed math teacher facade. After calling Yun-je over, he expresses his brotherly love by fixing Yun-je’s tie and reassuring him that he would do well. (In the lack of a fatherly figure, how do you feel Tae-woong is portrayed in the show? Does he come off as too perfect or is he shown as more of a self-sacrificing figure? How common is this relationship in modern day Korea where families are mostly intact?)
The episode then rolls around a scene between Si-won and Tae-woong as she prepares for the SAT exams. Turns out that Tae-woong, being the kindhearted man that he is, has made a special tea for Si-won so that she can stay awake on the D-day. Tae-woong then offers Si-won a present after the completion of her exams to which she happy requests a beer and Tae-woong accepts. She then belatedly remembers that she agreed to meet Yun-je later on that day so they reschedule to meet after that.
Later on that day, Si-won is sent by her parents for a beer-buying errand as they decided to enjoy some time with each other alone. In this scene, Yun-je is seen to be returning home from his time at the cyber cafe and Si-won’s playful persona invites him to come have a drink with her at the steps. Engaging with playful banter, Yun-je and Si-won share a light-hearted moment whereby Yun-je gifts Si-won a taffy to wish her good luck on D-Day.
D-day finally arrives and two strong scenes immediately stand out. The first one being Yun-je about to leave the house when he is stopped in his tracks by Tae-woong who gives him a firm hug before he leaves. “You’ve worked really hard,” he’d say as he reassures Yun-je of his capabilities. Likewise, Si-won is seen to receive a hug from her f
ather however his words of advice were questionable to say the least. “Remember, it is 70% luck and 30% effort, our family is all luck’, bringing in an interesting, albeit hilarious contrast between the two fatherly figures. (Why do you think the directors made these two greatly contrasting scenes right next to each other? Are they trying to suggest something about Tae-woong and Dong-il’s parenting methods or do do you think Dong-il’s actions are justified due to reality?)
Finally, after the final exams, Yun-je is seen to bolt to catch a bus to Yangsan where he is greeted by his grandfather and a small puppy also named Yun-je! (What could this mean?) Flashback to two months ago, Yun-je is seen to be in search of a look-alike puppy. After helplessly searching he finally lands on one that unfortunately belonged to someone else. As a result, he ends up going to his grandpa begging to keep the dog to which he eventually accepted given that Yun-je finds another dog to replace the one he’s giving Yun-je to care for.
The episode wraps up by introducing the first love triangle of the show. As Si-won waits for Yun-je to show up, Tae-woong pulls over in his new car to offer him a ride. During so, he explains to Yun-je that he’s planning on buying Si-won a beer later on tonight to which Yun-je replied that if he was too nice to her she’d think he liked her due to her immaturity. However, no one could have expected Tae-woong’s words shortly after, ” I’m not kidding. I like Si-won, didn’t you know?”. Speechless, Yun-je looks at his brother as he explains how he’s already resigned from the school and plans to tell Si-won how feels about her tonight. “You’ve taken your exams so now I’m going to live my life too. Today is my D-Day.” Defeated, Yun-je slumps his back towards a wall in disbelief as he hold his puppy in his hand as his only solace only to reveal an eagerly waiting Si-won on the other side of the wall. (The concept of the “D-Day” has been a greatly explored theme in this episode. It is interesting to note that D-day for one person may mean something completely different to another. What would you consider a D-Day for yourself? I’d love to hear your answers. 🙂 )
This episode was viewed on Netflix.
-Raymond
Hi Raymond, thank you very much for your post, I’d like to address your first set of questions about the character of Tae-woong. I believe that Tae-woong is portrayed as a person who sacrifices much in order to provide a stable and secure environment for his younger brother. While he does have his brother’s best interests at heart, at times what he thinks he knows is completely different from what is true about his brother, one blatant incident captured in this episode.
With this considered, I would say that he is less of a perfect figure than he is a self-sacrificing figure. Superficially it may seem that he is perfect – he is intelligent, handsome, wealthy (or at least soon to be) and is family oriented. However, his life is not completely devoid of unhappiness, since he does not have either parent, nor is his lover living anymore. On this note, (I think it began from Episode 4) I definitely began to question the degree to which his affection for Shi-won was genuine. It seems that a large part of his affection came from his memories about her older sister. Is that a characteristic that makes him imperfect and even less genuine? In my opinion, yes!
Lastly, I would say that the brotherly love would be still present even with complete families, but it wouldn’t be as pronounced. One Youtube video (while it doesn’t have any English captions) shows how older brothers react when their younger brothers message them an “I Love You”. One brother doesn’t even read the message and others react with suspicion or do not care at all. However, it is apparent by their closing remarks that they love one another. Also, consider the movie Ode To My Father, where the older brother takes over the role of head of the household from his missing father and provides for the rest of his family. I would hesitantly say that these notions of responsibility to provide for one’s family in the absence of another are firmly encroached and expected within Korean society but it doesn’t mean it’s any easier for individuals to undertake.
Sources:
Kim, Yun-seok. “Real Brotherly Love.” Topics Online Magazine. http://www.topics-mag.com/folk-tales/folk-tale-brotherly-love-kor.htm.
Kim, Yvonne. “Movie Review: Ode to My Father (Korean title: Gukje Shijang).” Asia Society. February 9, 2015. http://asiasociety.org/korea/movie-review-ode-my-father-korean-title-gukje-shijang.
피키캐스트 Pikicast. “Sent ‘I Love You’ to My Older Brother”. Youtube video, 1:56. Posted [August 2015]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcW18CdQ2dY. [형에게 “사랑해” 보내보았다. 2015.]
Hi Raymond thanks for your post. Although, in present Korea I do not think there will be as much of a self-sacrificing figure, I still think it exists in Korean society. Especially after the Korean war, the eldest son replacing their father’s role in the family was more common when their father was conscripted or passed away during the war. The eldest son was expected to take care of their siblings as well as other family members. However, traditionally, the eldest son also received the most benefits including funding to pursue education and etc. whereas is less unfortunate families younger siblings was not able to pursue further education.
For your next question, i think their parenting methods do differ but they are also both being realistic. Tae-woong knows Yun-je’s capabilities as a student so, he expects him to do well through his effort and abilities. However, Dong-il knows that Si-won did not put in the same effort, so he is also reassuring her that luck is more important than effort, hinting that she can still do well on the exam.
As for D-Day, I know the countdown has started in South Korea as the exam is coming very soon. Although people who were raised in Canada do not experience such D-Day, when I was there I know that the government impose a rule to delay the start of work to decrease traffic congestion. Furthermore, certain flights are not allowed to pass during the time of the exam to prevent possible noise as well as if someone is late they will receive a police escort to arrive to the exam on time. The exam occurs once a year and if they do not receive the desired grade to apply to their choice in university, the student will likely study an extra year or years by themselves to rewrite the exam which can be financially difficult for them and their family. From what I heard from friends their degree program (Medicine) in Korea, the average entering student retook the exam 2 to 3 times to get accepted, although depends on the university. Hence, I am guessing that other popular majors like Business Administration will also be similar.
Although, not directly related to the episode, the difficulty of a senior high school student to enter into a prestige university is what sparked students to protest heavily against the unfair entrance given to the former president Park Geun-hye’s friend’s daughter to a prestigious university. An article by CBC that explains this is here http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/south-korea-tests-suneung-protests-park-1.3854968
It’s interesting to see the contrast between Tae-woong’s and Dong-il’s response to Korean SATs. These two main fatherly figures of the show demonstrate great understanding of their children’s potential and capabilities.
Tae-woong underwent the stressful process of preparing for his exams years before, thus he’s more sympathetic to how Yun-je must currently feel. Tae-woong reassures Yun-je with warm words of encouragement that validate his younger brother’s excelling intellect.No matter what the results are, Tae-woong knows that Yun-je has worked really hard, and that’s all that matters.
We also see Shi-won and her father engage in heartwarming father-to-daughter action. Dong-il’s words for his daughter most likely stems from the fact that he’s aware of Shi-won’s capabilities, or lack thereof. She’s still the last of her class, and shows no interest in school or academics, therefore standardized testing is merely based on luck. He also says that in their family, everything is based upon luck. Perhaps, this includes Shi-won’s lucky encounter with Tony Ahn in episode 3, or Dong-il overcoming his illness in episode 6. Assuming Dong-il nor Il-hwa never went to college (he’s a baseball coach, whilst she’s a stay-at-home mom), his idea of luck having contributions to exams derive from his awareness that students with parents that have no college/university background is positively correlated with the student’s performance. In other words, parents education has long-term effects on children’s academic performance (1) — higher levels of education for parents generally result in higher performance/achievements in school for the children, and vice versa. In addition, Shi-won has yet to be seen at a hakwon (perhaps in a later episode?), which suggests further disengagement from school/academics. Private educational institutions such as hakwon are popular amongst Korean families, aiming to improve or foster students’ educational capabilities and achieve greater scores in schools and tests. In a study by Kim and Lee (2010), results show that households that have a father with a master’s degree and a mother with a bachelor’s degree spend more than households which both parents only have high school educations (2). Perhaps there’s a reason why we don’t see Shi-won in extracurriculars or after-school programs.
(1) Topor, David R., Susan P. Keane, Terri L. Shelton, and Susan D. Calkins. “Parent involvement and student academic performance: A multiple mediational analysis.” Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community 38, no. 3 (2010): 183-97.
(2) Kim, Sunwoong, and Ju-ho Lee. “Private Tutoring and Demand for Education in South Korea.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 58, no. 2 (January 2010): 259-96.
I found Dong-il’s search for a baseball player with big potential really amusing. During his chat with Il-hwa, he mentions that he is scouting current high school baseball players for his university varsity team, hoping to find a jewel like Park Chan Ho. The first player he visits and fails to notice is batter Chu Shin Soo. Chu, a current major leaguer, is under contract with Texas Rangers. The second player he meets and fails to notice the potential in is Lee Dae Ho. Lee is known as one the best batters in South Korea. He has earned the title of All-Star MVP several times, along with the Golden Glove Award. He has also batted for the Seattle Mariners (minor league) in 2016 and has signed a four-year, $12.9 million contract with the Lotte Giants on January 2017. I just wanted to point this out for those who are unfamiliar with baseball because watching Dong-il making all the wrong advices for these players were super comical.
Lee Dae Ho batting on the left; Chu Shin Soo on the right.
Regarding your first set of questions, I do think Tae-woong is portrayed as a self-sacrificing figure. The oldest child, predominately male, taking on the burden of supporting the remainder of the family in fatherless family is not just a phenomena in Korean society, but one that occurs at a universal level. Yoon-jae is well aware of Tae-woong’s sacrifice of pursuing his life to look after Yoon-jae until he graduates high school—which is why Yoon-jae gives up on confessing his feeling to Si-won. I can secondhandedly relate to this relationship between Yoon-jae and Tae-woong because my brother and mom have a similar type of bond. My brother, although he was not the breadwinner of the family, he became decision maker in our household at an early age during the times my father was in Korea which may be why my mom still relies heavily on my brother. My mom, like how Yoon-jae feels toward Tae-woong, will always feel in debt to my brother.
Here is a story of a brother taking on the role of his deceased father in Yeman.
Nazzal, Noor. “Martyr: ‘My brother acted as a father figure to family.” Gulf News. November 18, 2015. http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/government/commemoration-day/martyr-my-brother-acted-as-a-father-figure-to-family-1.1621997.
Hi Raymond. To answer your question about whether Tae-woong comes off as too perfect or a more self sacrificing figure, I think both. Because he comes of as too perfect, he is seen as a self-sacrificing figure. He had the opportunity to bask in the light of fame and move to Seoul to uptake a successful career after achieving a perfect score on his Korean SAT. However, he sacrifices all of that to take care of his brother. I don’t find this very surprising because Korean society is heavily influenced by Confucius values. In Confucian cultures, Asian siblings ties are traditionally hierarchical based on age, unlike western sibling (Miai 2013). Usually the eldest male son ranks the highest among his siblings but simultaneously carries the most responsibility. Because Young-jae and Tae-woong’s parents passed away, in a confucian society, Tae-woong is obligated to uptake the role as the eldest son as well as the role as a mom/dad. The writer of Reply 1997 likely emphasized Tae-woong as a near “perfect” character to dramatize the effect of him sacrificing for his brother. Because the audience members are mostly Korean, they can easily accept or override the fact that Tae-woong is giving up a lot for Young-jae because in Korean society that would seem obvious. Were Tae-woong to be a “normal” character and he stayed next to Young-jae to take care of him, his sacrifices and love for his brother may not have been so clear to the Korean audience.
Sung, Miai, and Jaerim Lee. “Adult Sibling and Sibling-In-Law Relationships in South Korea: Continuity and Change of Confucian Family Norms.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies 44, no. 5 (2013): 571-87. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23644619.
Zifeng, good job setting this up. I don’t think that’s Yunje’s grandpa. That’s just an old man that Yunje calls grandfather as it’s a respectful thing to call an old man.
Yechan, in the time period of 국제시장 there was no option but to take over the family headship with the absence of the father. Good job finding a bunch of sources again. I do worry, though, that you’re focusing a lot on non-ac sources and just accepting them without wondering if they’re well made or accurate or whatever. Always be a smart media consumer! (About ac sources, too, as they can be biased or based on faulty data, too).
Edward 규훈, Great job drawing the Choi scandal into the discussion of college entrance. Def. a very sore topic for Koreans, and good job searching out extra sources of info (it seems like almost every week^^).
Kelly, fabulous job, even bringing in some solid academic references.
Dohee, I know, that was so funny “he’d be a better pitcher than a batter!” ummmmmmm 20/20 hindsight says otherwise! Now some other students wrote Yoonjae and I didn’t say anything BUT you can read the Korean– 윤제. 재 jae and 제 je are not the same. Writing Yoon instead of Yun is common, if incorrect, Romanization, but the use of Jae in some subtitles is pure sloppiness on the part of the subtitler, since no one would write 제 as jae — not in either Romanization system or in common habit.
연실, Confucianism is the basis of your comment. By this time you know what i think of that.
Great write up Raymond, my thoughts on your questions are as follows. If we are talking about what a D-day is for me personally, it would be a day where something I’ve wanted for my goals reaches a climax. A D-day could be buying my new car I’ve always wanted, or it could be having that special girl say yes to being my girlfriend. My grandpa’s meaning of D-day was much different, as he was part of the World War II D-Day military operation. The reference of World War II’s D-day aka Normandy landing, was a historical military operation for the US and its allies. Other definitions include a day that is chosen for an important activity. In this case it seems Tae-woong’s important activity is exploring his romantic feelings towards Si-won. In this episode It feels as If Tae-woong has been waiting for this moment for awhile. He has everything setup and a plan to finally express his feelings toward his crush which is a big moment he has been waiting for.
As far as Dong-ils tough parenting methods vs Tae-woong’s motivational message its polar opposites. It seems the spotlight paints Dong-il as a tough non-conforming parent who wants to act like you need to do better and hope for “luck.” While Tae-woong compliments hard work and motivates instead of pointing the finger at you right before the test as if you’re not working hard enough. Tae-woong does come off as perhaps too perfect-he’s considered handsome, smart, and confident. I would say he is portrayed as the ideal perfect guy in the series.