Comments on: The Ending of “Love Letter” http://jo-hyun-jae.com/2009/11/05/the-ending-of-love-letter/ Tue, 22 May 2012 00:46:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: prissymom http://jo-hyun-jae.com/2009/11/05/the-ending-of-love-letter/comment-page-1/#comment-1206 prissymom Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:01:00 +0000 http://jo-hyun-jae.com/?p=6553#comment-1206 HYM, I agree with you, the producers of LL seemed unable to make up their minds and ended up confusing the viewers. The producers/director/writer couldn't make up their minds whether to present LL as a romantic drama or a drama about religion/faith. I think starting out, it was supposed to be a story about a young man's (Andrea) journey towards his path in life (the priesthood), the romance part was just supposed to be one of the contrivances that the writer used to make that journey more dramatic. But somewhere along the line, the romance part overtook Andrea's journey towards the priesthood, hence the scenes of the priest sleeping with a woman and the romantic kiss at the end instead of a platonic one. I have a feeling that LL, like most kdramas, is a live shoot drama. They shoot episodes while the drama is airing. They do this so they can change the flow of the story to meet the demands of the viewers. Sometimes this set up works out, sometimes it does not. In the case of LL, the viewers most probably were clamoring for more romance between Andrea and EH. The production gave in, hence the confusion. Note: this is just speculation on my part. Why do I say that LL is actually a story about a young man's journey to priesthood more than a story about romantic love? There are many indications to support this early in the drama, but the most telling indicator is Andrea's name. Did you know that Andrea is the Italian form of Andrew? Andrew is a direct reference to St. Andrew, the first disciple of Jesus Christ. As early as ep. 1 (when the young Lee Woo Jin took on the name Andrea), the writer was already telling us that Andrea will end up as God's disciple and that this drama is his journey towards that path. HYM, I agree with you, the producers of LL seemed unable to make up their minds and ended up confusing the viewers. The producers/director/writer couldn’t make up their minds whether to present LL as a romantic drama or a drama about religion/faith. I think starting out, it was supposed to be a story about a young man’s (Andrea) journey towards his path in life (the priesthood), the romance part was just supposed to be one of the contrivances that the writer used to make that journey more dramatic. But somewhere along the line, the romance part overtook Andrea’s journey towards the priesthood, hence the scenes of the priest sleeping with a woman and the romantic kiss at the end instead of a platonic one. I have a feeling that LL, like most kdramas, is a live shoot drama. They shoot episodes while the drama is airing. They do this so they can change the flow of the story to meet the demands of the viewers. Sometimes this set up works out, sometimes it does not. In the case of LL, the viewers most probably were clamoring for more romance between Andrea and EH. The production gave in, hence the confusion. Note: this is just speculation on my part.

Why do I say that LL is actually a story about a young man’s journey to priesthood more than a story about romantic love? There are many indications to support this early in the drama, but the most telling indicator is Andrea’s name. Did you know that Andrea is the Italian form of Andrew? Andrew is a direct reference to St. Andrew, the first disciple of Jesus Christ. As early as ep. 1 (when the young Lee Woo Jin took on the name Andrea), the writer was already telling us that Andrea will end up as God’s disciple and that this drama is his journey towards that path.

]]> By: HYM http://jo-hyun-jae.com/2009/11/05/the-ending-of-love-letter/comment-page-1/#comment-1204 HYM Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:23:01 +0000 http://jo-hyun-jae.com/?p=6553#comment-1204 A friend of mine was so put off by the priest sleeping with a woman in the same bed, although supposed to be all chaste and innocent, that she stopped watching the drama. The producers of "Love Letter" seemed unable to make up their minds, and only succeeded in confusing the viewers. A friend of mine was so put off by the priest sleeping with a woman in the same bed, although supposed to be all chaste and innocent, that she stopped watching the drama. The producers of “Love Letter” seemed unable to make up their minds, and only succeeded in confusing the viewers.

]]> By: prissymom http://jo-hyun-jae.com/2009/11/05/the-ending-of-love-letter/comment-page-1/#comment-1203 prissymom Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:15:37 +0000 http://jo-hyun-jae.com/?p=6553#comment-1203 What is actually confusing about the ending is the kiss on the lips. That ending kiss is not supported by what went on before it. We all know that Andrea has already surrendered himself to God's will, he has already accepted that his path is with his Lord (whether we agree or not with the device used by the writer to bring this about). What confused people is the kiss on the lips. We all know that a kiss on the lips is a romantic kiss not a platonic one. If the writer/director were aiming for a platonic relationship (based on Andrea's surrender to God), then the kiss should have been a platonic one. A warm hug then a kiss on the forehead would have shown Andrea's platonic love for Eun Ha, and EH's acceptance of that kind of kiss would signify her own acceptance of God's will in her life. But, alas, the director/writer, in their infinite wisdom decided to confuse viewers by ending it with a romantic kiss. What is actually confusing about the ending is the kiss on the lips. That ending kiss is not supported by what went on before it. We all know that Andrea has already surrendered himself to God’s will, he has already accepted that his path is with his Lord (whether we agree or not with the device used by the writer to bring this about). What confused people is the kiss on the lips. We all know that a kiss on the lips is a romantic kiss not a platonic one. If the writer/director were aiming for a platonic relationship (based on Andrea’s surrender to God), then the kiss should have been a platonic one. A warm hug then a kiss on the forehead would have shown Andrea’s platonic love for Eun Ha, and EH’s acceptance of that kind of kiss would signify her own acceptance of God’s will in her life. But, alas, the director/writer, in their infinite wisdom decided to confuse viewers by ending it with a romantic kiss.

]]> By: Ruby http://jo-hyun-jae.com/2009/11/05/the-ending-of-love-letter/comment-page-1/#comment-1196 Ruby Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:48:20 +0000 http://jo-hyun-jae.com/?p=6553#comment-1196 Maybe non-Catholics don't understand this, but Catholics know that Andrea's love for God is greater than his love for any human being. As a priest, his love for Eun-Ha has transcended corporeal desires to a higher, spiritual plane. Maybe non-Catholics don’t understand this, but Catholics know that Andrea’s love for God is greater than his love for any human being. As a priest, his love for Eun-Ha has transcended corporeal desires to a higher, spiritual plane.

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