Jo Hyun Jae

I’ve always felt that one glaring weakness of “3 Dads/1 Mom” is the casting of Eugene as the female lead.  I find it inconceivable that her Song Na-Young (SNY) could be the dream girl of 5 most eligible bachelors, one of whom is our very own Jo Hyun-Jae (or rather his character Han Soo-Hyun (HSH.)  Maybe the way men look at a woman is different from the way women look at a woman.  But I have not found a single champion of Eugene among the JHJ fans I’ve canvassed who all feel, as I do, that she is too common, she looks too plain, she acts without depth, in short, she does not deserve our JHJ.  (And her wigs are hideous!)

But I am not here to denigrate Eugene.  I just want to rehabilitate Han Soo-Hyun’s other love interest in the drama — the rich girl Park Seo-Yeon (PSY – played by Kim Bin-Woo.)  HSH’s ambition is to be rich, and marrying a rich girl is a short-cut to fortune.  PSY’s father is wealthy and powerful, a valued client in HSH’s brokerage firm.  HSH sets his sights on her and goes about pursuing her — he frequents her art studio and pretends to be an art connoisseur (remember that hilarious “Wonderful!” scene?) ; he accompanies her to a molecular cuisine dinner and stone therapy; and he takes up golf to cater for her father’s hobby.  

Even though HSH is way out of her league (below her social and financial status), PSY is captivated by him.  JHJ’s exceptional good looks make it credible (JHJ is at his handsomest in this contemporary drama.)  PSY bends over backwards to accommodate him.  Very few girls would go out with the man again after that most embarrassing fiasco on the dance floor (caused by SNY’s ineptitude with the iron, among other things.)

PSY is attacked by a lot of viewers as heartless and insensitive when she makes this comment in Episode 9 after encountering a young couple with 3 kids when she and HSH are in the car: “People who do not have the financial capability should not have so many children.”  I happen to agree with her 100%.  This is one of the few sensible lines in this lightweight comedy.  PSY also receives a lot of flak for saying in Episode 12 that young people should set up home on their own when they get married rather than living with the man’s parents.  This may be contrary to Korean tradition but it is the most commonsensical arrangement, perfectly in tune with today’s world.

The scene that really endears PSY to me is her reaction in Episode 15 after she discovers HSH’s father is not a retired schoolmaster (as he claimed) but just a retired security guard with Alzheimer’s.  Instead of making a scene or throwing tantrums, she says: “It’s all right.”  and “Don’t worry.  Leave my father to me.”  She would handle her father; she saves HSH the ordeal of having to explain his duplicity to his future father-in-law.

And how does HSH treat PSY?  He has not been honest or sincere with her from Day 1.  His relationship with her is cloaked in deceit and lies.  He treats her like a third class citizen — after SNY and her daughter Ha-Seon.  Worse, he jilts her at their engagement ceremony!  There is a name for such a man — a cad!  He has every right to love SNY, and he has every right to pursue the rich girl for mercenary reasons (not everyone marries for love), BUT he cannot leave a lady stranded at the altar (practically.)  How can she live down the shame (not to mention the trauma)?  This is not the first time JHJ has done this, or rather his characters.  Han Yi-Joon in “Only You” does exactly the same thing.  Why do Korean scriptwriters resort to such tactics time and time again?  Do they think this is dramatic (or melodramatic)?  Do Korean viewers approve of such ungentlemanly behaviour?  In HYJ’s case, at least he is forced into the engagement, but in HSH’s case, he enters into the engagement of his own freewill.  I find this appalling, a great affront to female dignity.

Why does Jo Myung-Joo, the scriptwriter of “3 Dads/1 Mom”, have to make it into a romantic hexagon (5 men in love with a woman)?  Why can’t she(?) make it into a social comedy?  OK, SNY is married.  After her husband dies, his 3 good friends help raise his child (who may or may not be theirs.)  They are like foster fathers, or uncles to Ha-Seon.  SNY meets her rich boss — young, good looking, loves her, accepts her child — perfect for her.  What more can she ask for?  After a false start (when they initially harbour amourous feelings towards SNY), the 3 “dads” settle for their own love interest — HSY with the rich girl, Hwang Kyung-Tae (played by Shin Sung-Rok) with the cute little policewoman, and Choi Kwang-Hee (played by Jae Hee) with his editor (No! she’s too much! in any case, he has no shortage of girlfriends.)  Meanwhile they are like one big happy family, including the assorted mothers and fathers of the 3 dads and 1 mom.

But no, the scriptwriter has to make this a romantic comedy.  There isn’t much romance in an ordinary woman wasting the lives of 3 most eligible young men, one of whom is our gorgeous HSH.  They all revolve around her and her daughter; she does not choose any one of them because she wants them all!  She toys with the affection of her rich boss (surely she must know he’s interested in her) and then just drops him.  (Poor little rich boy! but that’s another story.)  Maybe the scriptwriter thinks the subject of 3 men helping their dead friend’s widow and child is heartwarming, yes, for a couple of years until she finds her feet, but with no end in sight, it’s unrealistic and unhealthy!

What’s wrong with being young and beautiful, rich and elegant?  Maybe the problem with PSY is — she is too independent; she can take care of herself, unlike SNY who needs not one man but 3, actually 5.  PSY is superior to HSH in many respects, and she doesn’t need him to take care of her.  HSH, like most men, needs a woman to bring out his chivalrous and protective instincts — a helpless, useless woman.  SNY is not the first widow with a child and no assets and she will not be the last, but survival in this drama apparently is not about the fittest but about the most pathetic. 

The scriptwriter of “3 Dads/1 Mom” is obviously appealling to the average viewers’ empathy with the weak, the helpless, and the downtrodden.  The rich girl has everything, so she is not entitled to anything more, not even the man she loves.  This is unfair, not just to PSY but also to HSH who has to be content with living with his dead friend’s widow and child – with two other men – in a sort of polygamous non-marriage.  After the novelty of the situation wears off, this is not even funny.  And the open ending — can they all live happily ever after?

(Credit for photos: KBS2 and names on photos.  Thanks!)