My Name Is Kim Sam Soon

Cast:

Kim Seon Ah
Hyun Bin
Jeong Ryeo Won
Daniel Henney

Two phrases to conclude this famous, controversial, tradition-breaking, culture-challenging drama: absolutely a laugh-trip and a certified tearjerker.

The name "Kim Sam Soon" has been ringing in my ears since last year. My students always have had mentioned this name and the drama for the nth time. I just did not give myself a chance to listen to them not until my friend encouraged me and voluntarily lent me her take note: original DVD copy of the Korean series.

I finished 15 out of 16 episodes in one sitting. Same as the drama, that's record-breaking.

Since the drama is very famous, I guess there's no need to do a blow by blow analysis of the plot, of the twists and turns of the conflict, climax and denouement. Same as most Korean and other dramas, there are the impossible and woah-inducing events that are inevitable. I want to focus on characterization of Kim Sam Soon. Since it's March, women's month as they say but I can't actually sense it, I decided to do a comparative study (this sounds too genius and too scholarly) of Kim Sam Soon as to that of famous Korean women in the world of Korean drama.


Kim Seon-Ah as Kim Sam Soon


But since a lot are surging into my head right now, I need to narrow down my list into 3:

1. Choi Ji Woo as Han Jung Suh (Stairway to Heaven)
2. Song Hye Kyo as Han Ji-Eun (Full House)
3. Chae Rim as Jin Sun Mi (All About Eve)

I have not even started this so-called comparative analysis and I'm already feeling all-geeky.


Choi Ji Woo as Han Jung Suh


Sam Soon and Jung Suh

Stairway to Heaven is no doubt one of the ultimate tearjerkers because of the series of unfortunate events that Jung Suh and Song Ju (Kwon Sang Woo) had gone through. And of course, the ending is unlikeable. Like Sam Soon, we pitied Jung Suh. But where our pity rises out from is the difference. We pitied Jung Suh's weakness and solitude. Even if she is being taken care of Han Tae Woo, we know she is alone. Everyone is against her will. She wanted to be with Song Ju but she has her stepmother and stepsister along the way. But we pitied her more when she became blind and seemed to be incapacitated to see her lover again.

My pity for Sam Soon on the other is because of her superficial physical appearance. Reality bites. We live in a cruel world. We hang with the noose of society's standards, the neck-strangling people's expectations and deep-rooted culture and traditions. The simple question of what makes a person beautiful in the real and cruel world is the most pitiful truth.


Song Hye Kyo as Han Ji-Eun

Sam Soon and Ji-Eun

Humor is a very effective ingredient in a drama. I guess it tells us more that human beings are always in desperate need of happiness. People like people who can make them laugh. Somehow, the perkiness or the clumsiness of a character in what we read or what we watch takes the bitterness in life, impedes boiling anger and irritation and cools us down to laughter and joviality. Both characters are funny. They have respective scenes and have been part of occurrences wherein you can't fail not to burst into chuckles, snorts and giggles.

Han Ji Eun is very light. Not the weight denotation but how she treats life to be. She is sunshine and rainbow. She does not take things seriously. She is a strong character, especially being an orphan and living all alone in that greatly built house. But I am annoyed when she shows signs of being feeble-minded. In Filipino term, "tatanga-tanga" That's most of the time evident in the drama. Imagine she entrusted her friends her house while she travelled (with the winning ticket) in Hongkong. She didn't sue her friends after realizing that they sold her house without her consent. She didn't notice how much Young Jae likes and loves her towards the end of the story. She agreed to Young Jae's tricky and cunning demands. And many more. Well, you couldn't blame her because she didn't finish school, her parents passed away when she was in need of moral lectures but that was the greatest challenge for all. She was in it. Solitude does not necessarily resort to misery and ignorance.

Sam Soon is also a light character. Definitely not the weight. But because she knows what other people think about her, the more that she doesn't care about serious things. Remember, she is a freeloader before getting the offer of Hyeon Jin Heon (Hyeon Bin) to be the baker in his Western restaurant. There's no pressure despite being a (according to Bridget Jones' and a whole lotta wagon full of Brits) "spinster". Even though she is carefree, she is way more mature and more intelligent than Ji-Eun. Unlike Ji-Eun, she had a relationship in the past so there is also a serious side in her. She knows men's ridiculous, insatiable and tempting ways. There are a lot of instances wherein she has the dare soul to show that she has already fallen in love with Jin Heon (no matter how she consistently wakes herself up that it is impossible to happen).

Oh, who can ever forget the famous line, "가지마" (ka-ji-ma, meaning "Don't go")? Ji-Eun had said it and so had Sam Soon. Both characters went through the denial stage of falling in love with the person that they hate the most. Both were bound by a love contract. Both were hurt when their respective loved ones end up choosing their first and real love. But I definitely would agree with the difference of age. Ji-Eun's character is that she should act as a 22-year old. Sam Soon is 30. Dialogue-wise, I learned a lot from Sam Soon's words of wisdom. But Ji-Eun, I only pitied her everytime she would cry or I guess, bawl in front of Young Jae.


Chae Rim as Jin Sun Mi


Sam Soon and Sun Mi

I chose Chae Rim's character because of what the drama All About Eve symbolizes. It's about women, understanding women. If Ji-Eun is a light character, Sun Mi is the lightest and brightest. She is the most cheerful one among all of these women I am comparing. She is the most pampered, sheltered and fortunate one. Financial-wise, she did not any problems. She has her wealthy father. She has her friend, Kim Woo-Jin (Han Jae Suk) to protect her. She has the MBS-owner, Yun Hyoung Chul (Jang Dong Gun) as her suitor and confidant by her side. And among all of them, she is the crybaby. Petty incidents make her cry. If not because of her friends and family, she would not be enlightened to grow up and to be strong.

Sam Soon is way too different. She also cries but because of how grave her problems are. Like Sun Mi, she has the support of her family but because she does not show them signs of a weak and helpless personality, they also take her lightly. Most of the time, her mother and sister just remain clueless of what she is actually going through because of love and the totality of life.

I guess that's it. If I missed out on something, forgive me. I did this review for just one sitting. I am actually in work and I don't know how the hell did I slip past my boss and colleagues while focused on making and working on this hopefully, sensible blog entry/review. On a more serious note, I don't want to create or induce favoritisms, who's the better character, who's the likeable one. It is not intended with my comparison. I want to show different kinds of women in the world, even if here, they just exist in dramas. Who knows? These people embody the real women in the real world. How can we know? We just have to show people and ourselves who we really are.