What a fizzled drama taught me about AGENCY

A show I really loved just ended with not a bang, but a whimper.

It was really too bad, because it had a lot of meta about storytelling. The premise was that a webcomic character starts to change his story when the writer makes choices he doesn’t agree with. Talk about a huge question about agency and humanity!

So when the finale didn’t let the heroes determine their own ending, but instead put a lot of the power and emphasis back on the cartoonist (who through the show was unheroic and running from his responsibility) it seemed more than a waste.

It seemed like the screenwriter was failing themselves, self-sabotaging.

Boy, does that strike close to home.

While I am glad to be where I am, I also know that if I had been more confident of my work earlier in life, I might be making money writing by now. If I had been less wishy-washy about profit, I might have a successful online yarn store.

If I hadn’t allowed my self-doubt to keep me back…I might not be questioning myself so much right now about my coaching, future, relationship status.

One of the main things flaws in the drama is that the characters we assumed were the heroes didn’t have flaws they had to overcome. In a story, it’s the most compelling if we see a hero fail–and get back up to try again. Try something different. Face their failure and finally acknowledge when they’re wrong. Have to overcome that.

And while the cartoonist (erstwhile villain) does have a major flaw, I wasn’t satisfied enough in his ending to feel he earned the hero seat, either. He gave up on himself because of his flaws.

He’ll never go on to write a better webtoon that’s plotted more responsibly. But I hope the scriptwriter behind the drama WILL.

Maybe she’ll join my Unlock Your Agency webinar…

Because one of the main things I’m going to cover is what I’ve been discovering about failure: you have to own it. You have to use it to learn more about yourself.

Right now I’m getting quite the education. I hope you’ll join me next week as I share some of the tools that make owning your flaws a hero’s journey–not the end of the story.

Unlock Your Agency: Friday, September 30th – 7pm Central

 

Petition to Stop Bagging on Makeover Scenes

There is a pernicious sort of cliche (at least in k-dramas, which are more my area) where the girl is dragged off to the high-end of town to be made to try on clothes she would never have picked out for herself, and leaves the place aglow with beauty and a suddenly new idea of her own worth.

Since this is often done under the eye of a male character (or better: on his credit card), there’s a justifiable cynicism toward them. Since (especially in k-dramas) the more deprecating the guy is toward the girl’s appearance the more you know he’s the rich Prince Charming…well. Problematic is a good word for it.

The character is discovering their value as determined by sex appeal.

I assume that’s what happens in this movie I haven’t watched

However.

I was thinking about this as I watched Mean Girls for the first time. (Pondering also a SMS post about the issue with making “evil” girl characters or alter egos inevitably be sexy in counterpoint to the ingenue.)

See, makeovers are about hope.

I’m not even going to pretend I haven’t watched this movie… several times.

This was what you know as a young girl: looks matter. You may never become a princess (and goodness, you might not even really want to, apparently you have to behave) but the way people treat you has a lot to do with how well or badly you do the beauty thing.

Which takes time, skill, money.

Even girls like me who spent years feeling vaguely morally superior for not learning these skills and investing that time and money, we knew that it mattered.

And maybe we just needed more help.

Princess = Ridiculous Closet Space + Personal Shoppers. Plural.

So let’s not bag on the way this fantasy of support plays out in media. Instead of making fun of makeover scenes, or even blaming girl characters for having them, how about we talk real about the fact that the skill of dressing and redrawing oneself is complicated?

Because it’s hard to be good at it, and it’s totally okay to not care to be that good.

But it’s also cruel to pretend that hope is silly.

celebrating female characters – KDRAMA

Last week, I participated in a fandom-led K-Drama Women’s Week, culminating in International Women’s Day.

A lot of the prompts ask about characters who are sidelined or treated unfairly–and I love the way I get to hear what other fans love about characters.

Some of my own posts:

Rewrite: Character Most Likely to Escape Abusive Relationship – GIL RA IM (Secret Garden)

picking a character who, in retrospect, should have enjoyed herself and then moved on…

Favorite Overseas Returnee: Coffee Prince’s YOO JOO

because Coffee Prince is still just the greatest in some things – the returned ex is a trope that is often deployed thoughtlessly for tension, and this is not one of those

And definitely not least:

Favorite Fridged Mom – PINOCCHIO

She didn’t even get a name, though she got an actress I hope to see in more high-profile projects.

Top Picks from Other Bloggers

Fridged Mom: Arang and the Magistrate (spoiler alert! spoiler alert!)

Favorite Matriarch: Miss Korea

Favorite Lead: Go Dok Mi – Flower Boy Next Door

Celebrate the ladies!

Top 3 K-Dramas to Watch as an SF/F Writer

Today I’ve got a video for you!

Just for fun, I’ve made my case for my 3 top Korean dramas that I think are most interesting to speculative fiction writers (sci-fi/fantasy). Not only can I unreservedly recommend them to anyone, each has a specific nerd appeal. 😉

Bonus Blog Content! Unlocked:

Queen In-Hyun’s Man

Note the Joseon hat he’s carrying over his pack. This is a detail that made me go watch the show.

Recap: Well-thought out time-travel rom com.

As I mention in the video, this show lets it’s scholarly hero BE smart in practice. He uses deductive reasoning and picks up quickly on things.

I didn’t have time to mention the leading lady, so I’ll do that here: she’s great. She’s a B-rate actress finally landing a big role. She’s not booksmart, and the show lets her be that way without taking away her deserving love, or having agency. She’s a really unusual heroine in a world populated by super-achievers. Also, they are super-cute together.

Arang and the Magistrate

This poster pretty much encapsulates everyone’s personalities perfectly.

Recap: Ghost-girl seeks her murderer, with the reluctant help of the new Magistrate in town, and a hapless shaman.

One of the facets of this show I didn’t get to really go into on video was that it has an EXCELLENT baddie. It would be spoiler-ish to say too much, but it involves a creepy magic that is so organic with the meeting of the world of the dead and the world of the Heavenly Court we see that I just was in awe, as a fantasy writer.

While some of the tone is often hijinks-y and cute, it also goes to darker places emotionally–after all, confronting that you are dead and that someone did that to you is pretty intense.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal

You eventually get used to the hats. They even become adorable plotpoints!

Recap: Scholars preparing to become government officials get hot under the collar about human rights.

One of the biggest charms of this show was its friendships. Before any romantic tension comes into the equation, the debate between scholars, some of whom have a ground-level perspective on the injustices of the class system, is just so fun.

The fact that it happens all in the context of Confucian teachings made the time period really come alive to me in a unique way, too. I love that it’s a school drama set centuries in the past. Also, the gorgeous sets are just incredible.