What Happened in Bali

[lesbiassparrow]

In between trying to read the pile of novels I have in the 'must be read before leaving Los Angeles so I know whether they are worth keeping' pile I've been watching the uber-angsty kdrama What Happened in Bali. It's not just regular angst: it goes so far beyond that that it enters new and completely depressing territory. Which is a pretty impressive achievement given some of the stuff kdramas go for.

Having been forewarned by dangermousie and after reading her write-ups I decided to skip the first 5 episodes and move right in ye miserable love quadrangle of dooooomed love. Then I couldn't get episodes 12-15 online so I missed the middle bit as well. Probably just as well because the level of misery in this show should get it a public health warning and I suspect that one's head would explode if you watched the entire thing.

The plot: rich guy falls for Poor Young Thing, Poor Young Thing sees in him her meal ticket out of the slums but despite having the instincts to sell herself always falters at the last minute - because she's interested in her next door neighbour, a Bright Young Man who is working his way out of the slums and who is desired by the fiancée of Rich Guy. I hate fiancée by the way: stupid bint goes along with Rich Guy's family forcing him* to marry her and then is all mopey when he hates her. What did she expect given that he was almost insanely in love with and obsessed by Poor Young Thing? Stupid bint I say, and mean it. (Though I do rather like that she's now trapped in this hell of her own making.)

Rich Guy has horrid parents and (now) mother-in-law who specialise in not noticing that he is going to go spectacularly off the rails if they keep him from Poor Young Thing and also in beating and humiliating her for good measure. They are all Obsessive Control Parents of the sort that these dramas seem to possess in abundance. I really find it interesting that most of the time parental figures are just absolutely horrid and do not really care at all for their children's happinesss - and even when they must know it will destroy the child, the desire to control them overrides any other impulses. If they even have any other impulses, that is. In dramaland family hierachies are about the most damaging thing there is.

I like the two poor slum people and the Rich Guy, even though clearly he is not the sanest guy around and would in real life freak any sensible girl. But in fictional land he is interestingly disturbed and also clearly willing to stand around in alarming cold moping over his love, thus fulfilling many kdrama hero requirements.

Will all of this be resolved? Hell, no. There's no way anyone is getting out of this happy. As long as the wretched parents and older brother spend the rest of their lives regretting what they've done, I don't really mind.

ETA: Though this kdrama is (quite clearly) terribly melodramatic and over the top in many ways, it is terrifically honest in the humiliations that poor people have to bear without saying anything just so they can get by. There's a great scene where the two horrid rich mothers are battling it out for whose maid should clean the new couple's apartment and the misery and uncomfortableness on the maids' faces as they're dragged into this and have to tolerate the things being flung around about them without saying a word is just horribly, horribly good.

ETA 2: Rich Guy and horrid fiancée (now Horrid Wife) have clearly decided that their one strategy to dealing with being thwarted in love is to turn up at the object of desire's doorstep drunk and impose and insult people. Extra points if you also drag along your spouse at some time! If I were the poor slum people I would be more careful about giving out my home address as obviously the rich like to keep you awake to all hours with their alcoholic melancholy and weeping even if you have to work the next day.

*To achieve this Rich Guy's father beats him senseless with a golf club and then threatens to go after Poor Young Thing thus winning worse dorama parent award amdist some pretty close competition.

Comments

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

The thing is, though, if RG could have her, without freaking out about losing her (and as Domyouji gets Makino for keeps), he would become less absorbed and slowly more integrable into the norm.

I was thinking about this and also thinking about the Trollope novel 'He Knew he was Right' and wondering if that's the case (you could really do a lot with how the obsessions and interests of both Victorian fiction and these dramas parallel each other). Because in that one (and in Trollope in general) obsessive love is a sickness and a sign of something deeply flawed in the character: it's good to stand firm in your love and refuse to bend about taking other people but relentless pursuit is the sign of something terribly awry.

In Bali and Hanadan you wonder how one person could possibly supply what these two guys really need - in Hanadan, at least, though the guy has a sister and good friends, but in Bali even though he looks in much better shape he really is even more isolated.

I also liked the fact that Bali didn't go for the noble poor - they'll do what they have to to survive. I actually liked the friend who talked mean but never actually threw PYT out on the streets. I also liked that this was also a critique of the 'hard work can get you places': no it won't, not if the people at the top are waiting to screw you over.

It's very bleak in because everyone is rather damned no matter what route they take.

And if you can upload those episode I would be very grateful - but please don't bother if it's too much of a chore!

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I am not the hugest Trollope fan (though I loved Barchester Towers) because a lot of his philosophy really isn't mine, but I do think he has a point. Obsessive love (as glorified in Bollywood) can mean the person is very passionate. It can also mean he is unbalanced. I think dramas like Bali or Hanadan (or Bollywood movies or even novels like Jane Eyre) present in a safe (because you are not in it) environment the desire that a lot of people have to be loved so utterly and completely that the person would self-destruct for you, that nothing exists for them. Like a lot of things that are great in fiction, it would be damn exhausting in real life.

I think that is the appeal of a Domyouji or Jae-Min or whoever: they might be poorly socialized and self-absorbed, but they are going to utterly give themselves to love. But of course, I think a really healthy person wouldn't be this way because you wouldn't be the only thing in their life worth living for.

When I was talking about integration into the norm, I was actually referincing a somewhat personal experience. I was rather self-absorbed before Mr. Mousie. I was well adjusted and all, but I wasn't particularly interested in what other people wanted or anything. Being with him and caring for him, actually made me care for other people as well. And there is the fact that when we first met, Mr. Mousie was...well...he wasn't a Domyouji or Jae-Min (thank the Lord) but I think more like Rui prior to Shizuka and after seven years together, both of us are pretty normal and I've gotten him so laid-back his family comments on the difference. I don't really want to go into more details as it's not my stuff to tell, but I do think that being with another person in a healthy environment can do wonders.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

Like a lot of things that are great in fiction, it would be damn exhausting in real life.

That's certainly one of the appeals of all of this - you get to see all the things that might fictionally appeal but would horrify you in real life. In rl I like my men very sane, very grounded and with as few issues as possible. And P. is usually those things. (I say usually because he does become temporarily unstable during hockey playoffs.) But fictional men are entirely different. The more messed up the better for them! (As long as they look rather hot being that way, for I am exceedingly shallow).

Thanks for sharing about Mr. M and yourself. And I do agree that being with the right people at the right time can make a lot of difference.

P.S.

[dangermousie.livejournal.com]

I also agree that dramas and Victorian literature have similar themes in a lot of ways. I wonder if it's because are set in somewhat similar societies where there is social repression in what are the acceptable ways you can behave yourself but also the society is changing very rapidly.

And I'll definitely try to ul. I love to share the angst :)