In the course of my interactions with our readers here, I have started to think a lot more about why the Shin-Lee took the approach that they did regarding the WinterGarden and Bidulgi dynamics. Although there are distinct differences between the two sets of relationships, there are overlapping concerns that are unfolding because they serve an underlying message. I am not Korean but I’ve been watching K dramas for about a decade now and it struck me even very early on that the Korean preoccupation with suffering is embedded deeply in their culture. To the extent that no one can do anything that’s of any worth or lasting value unless they’ve been tested in the fires of suffering and come out the other side renewed. Whether or not the suffering comes from external/unpredictable forces or personal choices almost doesn’t matter. What does matter is that suffering is inevitable and if it doesn’t kill you or send you completely insane, it can strengthen you and reorient your perspective on life. Yes, the individual matters but individuals are also members of communities. The impact of the individual on the community has to be a consideration. It’s an ongoing conversation with plenty of tension but it’s one that informs many dramas.
I just want to applaud this essay, because it is so, so on point.
Suffering is a default mode of life. And when it is lifted or shared with someone, that's when we experience joy.
I mentioned previously that I was very moved by the 1.5 interactions between Jun-wan and Ik-sun. Both because we've been waiting for so long for this to happen and the idea you planted in my mind that this suffering made him a better person and a better doctor. And those long-awaited scenes reminded me of the Bible quote, "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world." The pain is real. But the joy after the pain has gone is real too. And this pain can bring forth wonderful fruit, in people and their relationship.
This post made me sad but hopeful at the same time. Like what you said, I agree that ShinLee did this for a greater purpose - to provide a “vehicle” for both Bidulgi and Wintergarden to “get to the promised land.”
They said “life is a series of positive events strung together by pain, or maybe it's the other way around?” Regardless, I think that when we focus on our suffering we can learn things that we would never otherwise.
They said that we are at our most human while dealing with pain and suffering. “Suffering is the one true equalizer; when we are at our lowest, we are all alike, while when we are all at our highest points, our differences become glaring.”
I think Hospital Playlist has been doing a wonderful job in portraying the true depth of human suffering, and to connect it to our everyday lives. For me, the show has been successfully depicting the lowest depths of our lives not only through the suffering of Iksun and Gyeoul, but through the suffering of the medical staff and all the patients and their families.
Hospital Playlist portray suffering in different ways, in different degrees, in different manners. But I think the show has only one message for us - we do not need to suffer alone. We need to allow ourselves to receive and we need to let love in.
A gem! What doesn’t kill you makes you not just stronger but kinder, empathetic, non judgmental. With so much out of our hands, the little control we have on our lives, when you have seen suffering, we are inspired not to inflict additional suffering on another soul. I so loved how gentle Junwan was with Ik-sun inspite of the turmoil inside of one year. Or with Jeong won ever being gentle with the parents as he knows a parent of a sick child has enough already on their minds to worry. Or with Gyoeul too.
My better half always says, when in difference with a loved one, make it easier for the other person instead of you.
HP touches a chord with so many because of the various scenarios of suffering that one can relate with the various characters. To show that with grace is no easy feat.
“What we can do is mitigate its effects by being with the people we love. We desperately need the people who love us around during such times to help us through.” - Hit the nail on the head especially when we hear of more loneliness in the world-a reminder that there is no shame in asking for help or the least not pushing away the help and love that is offered.
Just a little more rant and then would stop😃Once I had a minor surgery and coincidentally my mother was visiting me. She wanted to be with me at the hospital. But I didn’t want her to, my logic being it’s a minor procedure and I wouldn’t have bothered her if she wasn’t visiting. She was obviously upset. Then my husband drove sense to me saying, our parents don’t get much opportunities to care for us once we are adults and this is a rare chance for her to do so. And that I should let her do it. Prior, I too used to think I was doing a favour until I started seeing it from the other side.
In my middle age, I have come to realise that suffering is part of life, and the faster we accept this reality the more we will be ready mentally to go through it with grace. You have beautifully captured what I have been thinking about the stories in HP, and why so many people of different cultures are so drawn to this show. Thank you for being so eloquent in putting our thoughts into words. I can't wait to see Bidulgi and WinterGarden heal and grow as couples together.
Thank you as always for your thoughts written so eloquently, and also having this platform as honestly it makes the wait a bit more bearable. That is how much I am invested with HP and WG.
I was scrolling through twitter and I thought this quote best describes WG trajectory, In the short-distance course of love, Gyeoul run faster and waited for Jeongwon; while in the long-distance course of marriage, Jeongwon arrive first and waiting for Gyeoul. I can totally understand both Gyeoul and Iksun's need for independence, however I am less onboard with Iksun's action (the lie) and can understand a bit Gyeoul's non-disclosure.
Again, love, love, and love this post! I cannot agree more to what you wrote - "suffering is a fact of life. We can’t avoid it for ourselves or others. What we can do is mitigate its effects by being with the people we love. We desperately need the people who love us around during such times to help us through. Moreover, if they really care about you, they would want to be useful to you as well." - You said it so wonderfully that I got goosebumps reading it!
I was watching the Netflix documentary Asia Street Foods. The noodle lady featured for Korea opened her part with the statement that Koreans do not like to talk about sufferings with others, but those sad feelings bottled in our hearts eventually become bitterness / hatred. Since I watched it right after Ep 8, that statement really hit me, especially after seeing the Bidulgi and WG development in S2. Not only the Korean culture, I think many cultures do not like to talk about personal sufferings. Even more, there are subtle social implications that going thru your suffering alone, not burdening others and surviving it, is something to be encouraged, and it would give you the qualification later to be "proud" of your strengths & independence, as well as justification to be perpetually bitter because you have been dealt harshly by life.
While I have seen a few shows examining the sensibility of one's insistence in "not being a burden", not one show has invested that much of its main storylines and dug as deep as HP. Through both seasons, ShinLee have deliberately and successfully challenged many social and cultural beliefs, and I believe this would not be an exception.
I was surprised when hints started to be dropped of GU's backstory in Ep5. Why now after we have seen this independent, no prejudice, super talented & devoted iron lady for 16 episodes do we need to bring in the suggestion of a very dark past? However, thru what we've seen in the last few episodes, I start seeing all those great attributes of GU differently - she probably grew up having to force herself to be independent, solve things for herself and potentially her brother quickly, while protecting her mother fiercely. It made me feel sad for her. But it also made me more amazed about GU - she had all the "right" to be bitter and cold in heart but she did not. Her being prejudice free could be attributed to her low self-esteem (i.e believing she is to blame in most situations), but I do not think that's it. Through all that had happened (and hopefully we will soon find out what that was), she remained pure, sincere, and curious - or simply, childlike. While we are now mainly seeing her mom as the potential victim of DV, I also believe she must have been a brave and caring mom, trying her best to protect GU - probably more than she focused on protecting herself.
Many of the traumas that impact us the most are from our childhood, because they occurr at a time when we have no capacity to protect ourselves physically and emotionally, and very often they are done by people that we love and trust the most. Even when the physical trauma heals quickly, left untreated, the emotional trauma would continue to manifest into our adult life and skew our views of the world, what is normal and acceptable, and what the healthy boundaries should be between adults, especially if you have been repeatedly told that you are worthless and are to blame for other people's cowardly and cruel actions. There will be a lot for GU to "unlearn" and "un-believe" about herself & her past before she can see how valuable she is, how much she is loved by many, and how she does not have to and should not fight all the battles alone. And who is a better person to help her do that other than JW?
While they are fictional characters (and I have to constantly remind myself), I am so glad that they found each other - In S1, the childlike GU helped JW see that his true calling is to be at the hospital, by the side of his little patients and GU, and S2, we will see the loving JW helps heal the emotional wounds of the little girl under GU's strong façade.
And I believe after all the revelation and reconciliations, the healing would not be just for GU, for Iksun, Junwan, or any other characters in HP, but also for us viewers. HP has been uncomfortably unrealistic in many ways, but also because of that, many of us have been really comforted. It will always be one of, if not my most favorite drama.
I just want to applaud this essay, because it is so, so on point.
Suffering is a default mode of life. And when it is lifted or shared with someone, that's when we experience joy.
I mentioned previously that I was very moved by the 1.5 interactions between Jun-wan and Ik-sun. Both because we've been waiting for so long for this to happen and the idea you planted in my mind that this suffering made him a better person and a better doctor. And those long-awaited scenes reminded me of the Bible quote, "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world." The pain is real. But the joy after the pain has gone is real too. And this pain can bring forth wonderful fruit, in people and their relationship.
This is amazing, really! 👏👏👏
This post made me sad but hopeful at the same time. Like what you said, I agree that ShinLee did this for a greater purpose - to provide a “vehicle” for both Bidulgi and Wintergarden to “get to the promised land.”
They said “life is a series of positive events strung together by pain, or maybe it's the other way around?” Regardless, I think that when we focus on our suffering we can learn things that we would never otherwise.
They said that we are at our most human while dealing with pain and suffering. “Suffering is the one true equalizer; when we are at our lowest, we are all alike, while when we are all at our highest points, our differences become glaring.”
I think Hospital Playlist has been doing a wonderful job in portraying the true depth of human suffering, and to connect it to our everyday lives. For me, the show has been successfully depicting the lowest depths of our lives not only through the suffering of Iksun and Gyeoul, but through the suffering of the medical staff and all the patients and their families.
Hospital Playlist portray suffering in different ways, in different degrees, in different manners. But I think the show has only one message for us - we do not need to suffer alone. We need to allow ourselves to receive and we need to let love in.
A gem! What doesn’t kill you makes you not just stronger but kinder, empathetic, non judgmental. With so much out of our hands, the little control we have on our lives, when you have seen suffering, we are inspired not to inflict additional suffering on another soul. I so loved how gentle Junwan was with Ik-sun inspite of the turmoil inside of one year. Or with Jeong won ever being gentle with the parents as he knows a parent of a sick child has enough already on their minds to worry. Or with Gyoeul too.
My better half always says, when in difference with a loved one, make it easier for the other person instead of you.
HP touches a chord with so many because of the various scenarios of suffering that one can relate with the various characters. To show that with grace is no easy feat.
“What we can do is mitigate its effects by being with the people we love. We desperately need the people who love us around during such times to help us through.” - Hit the nail on the head especially when we hear of more loneliness in the world-a reminder that there is no shame in asking for help or the least not pushing away the help and love that is offered.
Just a little more rant and then would stop😃Once I had a minor surgery and coincidentally my mother was visiting me. She wanted to be with me at the hospital. But I didn’t want her to, my logic being it’s a minor procedure and I wouldn’t have bothered her if she wasn’t visiting. She was obviously upset. Then my husband drove sense to me saying, our parents don’t get much opportunities to care for us once we are adults and this is a rare chance for her to do so. And that I should let her do it. Prior, I too used to think I was doing a favour until I started seeing it from the other side.
In my middle age, I have come to realise that suffering is part of life, and the faster we accept this reality the more we will be ready mentally to go through it with grace. You have beautifully captured what I have been thinking about the stories in HP, and why so many people of different cultures are so drawn to this show. Thank you for being so eloquent in putting our thoughts into words. I can't wait to see Bidulgi and WinterGarden heal and grow as couples together.
Thank you as always for your thoughts written so eloquently, and also having this platform as honestly it makes the wait a bit more bearable. That is how much I am invested with HP and WG.
I was scrolling through twitter and I thought this quote best describes WG trajectory, In the short-distance course of love, Gyeoul run faster and waited for Jeongwon; while in the long-distance course of marriage, Jeongwon arrive first and waiting for Gyeoul. I can totally understand both Gyeoul and Iksun's need for independence, however I am less onboard with Iksun's action (the lie) and can understand a bit Gyeoul's non-disclosure.
Again, love, love, and love this post! I cannot agree more to what you wrote - "suffering is a fact of life. We can’t avoid it for ourselves or others. What we can do is mitigate its effects by being with the people we love. We desperately need the people who love us around during such times to help us through. Moreover, if they really care about you, they would want to be useful to you as well." - You said it so wonderfully that I got goosebumps reading it!
I was watching the Netflix documentary Asia Street Foods. The noodle lady featured for Korea opened her part with the statement that Koreans do not like to talk about sufferings with others, but those sad feelings bottled in our hearts eventually become bitterness / hatred. Since I watched it right after Ep 8, that statement really hit me, especially after seeing the Bidulgi and WG development in S2. Not only the Korean culture, I think many cultures do not like to talk about personal sufferings. Even more, there are subtle social implications that going thru your suffering alone, not burdening others and surviving it, is something to be encouraged, and it would give you the qualification later to be "proud" of your strengths & independence, as well as justification to be perpetually bitter because you have been dealt harshly by life.
While I have seen a few shows examining the sensibility of one's insistence in "not being a burden", not one show has invested that much of its main storylines and dug as deep as HP. Through both seasons, ShinLee have deliberately and successfully challenged many social and cultural beliefs, and I believe this would not be an exception.
I was surprised when hints started to be dropped of GU's backstory in Ep5. Why now after we have seen this independent, no prejudice, super talented & devoted iron lady for 16 episodes do we need to bring in the suggestion of a very dark past? However, thru what we've seen in the last few episodes, I start seeing all those great attributes of GU differently - she probably grew up having to force herself to be independent, solve things for herself and potentially her brother quickly, while protecting her mother fiercely. It made me feel sad for her. But it also made me more amazed about GU - she had all the "right" to be bitter and cold in heart but she did not. Her being prejudice free could be attributed to her low self-esteem (i.e believing she is to blame in most situations), but I do not think that's it. Through all that had happened (and hopefully we will soon find out what that was), she remained pure, sincere, and curious - or simply, childlike. While we are now mainly seeing her mom as the potential victim of DV, I also believe she must have been a brave and caring mom, trying her best to protect GU - probably more than she focused on protecting herself.
Many of the traumas that impact us the most are from our childhood, because they occurr at a time when we have no capacity to protect ourselves physically and emotionally, and very often they are done by people that we love and trust the most. Even when the physical trauma heals quickly, left untreated, the emotional trauma would continue to manifest into our adult life and skew our views of the world, what is normal and acceptable, and what the healthy boundaries should be between adults, especially if you have been repeatedly told that you are worthless and are to blame for other people's cowardly and cruel actions. There will be a lot for GU to "unlearn" and "un-believe" about herself & her past before she can see how valuable she is, how much she is loved by many, and how she does not have to and should not fight all the battles alone. And who is a better person to help her do that other than JW?
While they are fictional characters (and I have to constantly remind myself), I am so glad that they found each other - In S1, the childlike GU helped JW see that his true calling is to be at the hospital, by the side of his little patients and GU, and S2, we will see the loving JW helps heal the emotional wounds of the little girl under GU's strong façade.
And I believe after all the revelation and reconciliations, the healing would not be just for GU, for Iksun, Junwan, or any other characters in HP, but also for us viewers. HP has been uncomfortably unrealistic in many ways, but also because of that, many of us have been really comforted. It will always be one of, if not my most favorite drama.