First, what I found right in this drama. Our actors are really phenomenal overall, give or take a few scenes. The level of professionalism on their part carried this piece. I felt proud, as a performer myself, of our young female actors in their boxing roles. It takes so much to get into these types of roles. I was also great to see Lee Sang Yeob try some new things. I liked the cinematography and the tone of this genre. Obviously a whole lot of hard work went into this. At twelve episodes, it was just the right length.

Now my main critique of this piece lies in the Romance, and the huge shadow it represents of our global culture (not just Korean). First, we have a very young woman, sixteen years younger from her main romantic interest. This in and of itself is not a problem for me, however, when you add a power over dynamic, where he is in charge of her livelihood, where her relationship with her father is wounded, and then he becomes her love interest, I find this problematic. Had it instead addressed our societal issues around these types of relationships and how much trauma is interwoven, the way people get hurt, how unconsciously it can play out, that would have been amazing. I would have loved to have seen him claim the role as a protector, but have a passion with his first love. Perhaps our sweet boxer could have been paired with someone that could meet her youthful, lively demeanor. The entire first love story would have been really cute with someone else, the way she was having her first kiss, and first time pining for someone, so sweet.

To illustrate how our writers were somewhat aware of the fire they were playing with, we even had the father and our ML acknowledging that her attraction to him was not the healthiest for her (or either of them), and he asked her to back off, because “she is young”. By the time Kim So Hye’s character ordered him to kiss her at the end and that peck happened, I felt so uncomfortable I was almost gagging. Not to mention that the entire scene felt like an afterthought in their story arc. I felt on edge that Lee Sang Yeob as Kim Tae Young had to approach this young actress in this way, it was unsettling and unromantic. A peck is all that he could muster, I thought to myself. I am very disappointed at this choice by the writers, even the directing and acting was cringey in that moment, and it was the pinnacle of the piece. Why, dear artists and and storytellers? Why?

*trigger warning*

The fact that we also had a guest actor in the drama that has been convicted for his relationship with minors made this dynamic all the more obvious to me. I am ashamed that we still haven’t found a way to look at these things as humans, to become accountable and responsible for our hidden urges and the harm they cause. Large age gap coupled with power over dynamics is often not sexy in real life, but rather rooted in a great deal of unconscious patterns and pain.

I was glad that at the least our female lead had a year to “grow up” as she said. Of course, she was a legal adult, able to make her own choices. And still…. it left me uneasy. Even if I am the only person, I felt it important to address.

Wish everyone involved in this piece much reflection, growth and success and us a supporters as well.

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