Desperado
wulijohyunjae | March 31, 2010 | 7:00 am
Our Contributing Editor prissymom is still fixited on “3 Dads/1 Mom” (by her own admission.) Here’s her latest take on the drama (You all know the Eagles’ classic “Desperado”, right?):
DESPERADO by The Eagles
Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses
You’ve been out ridin’ fences, for so long now.
Ohh… you’re a hard one.
I know that you’ve got your reasons.
These things that are pleasin’ you
Can hurt you somehow.
Don’t you draw the queen of diamonds, boy
She’ll beat you if she’s able.
You know the queen of hearts is always your best bet.
Now it seems to me, some fine things
Have been laid upon your table.
But you only want the ones that you can’t get.
Desperado,
Ohhhh… you aint getting no younger.
Your pain and your hunger,
They’re driving you home.
And freedom, ohh… freedom.
Well, that’s just some people talking.
Your prison is walking through this world all alone.
Don’t your feet get cold in the winter time?
The sky won’t snow and the sun won’t shine.
It’s hard to tell the night time from the day.
And you’re losing all your highs and lows
Aint it funny how the feeling goes away…..
Desperado,
Why don’t you come to your senses?
Come down from your fences, open the gate.
It may be rainin’, but there’s a rainbow above you.
You better let somebody love you.
(Let sombody love you)
You better let somebody love you…ohhh…hooo
Before it’s too…oooo… late.
In “3 Dads/1 Mom”, Episode 5, there is this scene: JHJ’s character Han Soo-Hyeon (HSH) is at the friends’ favorite hangout, Cafe Agit, drinking by himself (he has downed 5 bottles already and is about to start on the 6th.) The song “Desperado” is playing softly in the background. HSH has just come from visiting his sick father from the nursing home, and he is at the bar trying to drown his problems/sorrows in alcohol.
I admit I am still a bit fixated with HSH, because of all characters JHJ has given life onscreen, HSH is the least developed.
Whenever I read a book or watch a movie/drama, I always look for the “why” in the characters, more than the “what”. The “what” refers to the goals of a character, the “why” refers to the backstory of a character. I feel that the “why” is more important than the “what”, because the “why” gives the reader or viewer a deeper understanding of the character. I feel that the writer of 3D1M failed in giving me a deeper “why” to the HSH character.
We know that HSH’s goal is to climb the social ladder up to South Korea’s top 1%, but we don’t know why he wants to belong to that select group. Is it just natural ambition or did something happen in the past to make him so ambitious? This is never made clear in the drama.
We know from the father’s ramblings that HSH is an intelligent student in high school - the smartest the father has seen in the years that he served as security guard in the school. Could there have been classmates, envious of his good looks and intelligence, who tried to put him down because of his father’s job? And HSH, instead of buckling under such bullying, promised himself that he will show those bullies how far he can go with his good looks and brains. Could something like that have happened to make HSH so ambitious? We will never know because this is not tackled in the drama.
We all know that money makes HSH tick. He is stingy with it. He will do anything to have money. But what is it about his life that makes him so desperate for money that he would humiliate himself in front of other people just to get back on the good graces of a rich client? What makes him desperate enough to lie about his family background just to ensnare a rich girl? What makes him desperate enough to want to marry a rich girl even if he doesn’t love her?
Okay, I agree that his father being sick with Alzheimer’s is enough to drive anyone to think money all the time. But is it only his father’s condition that makes him put money over everything else? According to studies, Alzheimer’s is a disease that can be passed on to the sufferer’s children if the disease starts at an early age (as early as in their 40s-50s). Could this be the reason for HSH’s desperation and love for money? Is he trying to save up enough money so that he will not burden his future wife and kids if ever he contracts the disease in the future? We will never know because this is never explored in the drama.
We also know that HSH tends to keep an emotional distance from people other than his childhood friends. What makes him that way? We know that HSH’s mother died while he was still young. Could the lack of a mother figure while growing up contributed to his stunted emotional development? Or is his father’s illness also at the core of his tendency to put people at a distance? It must hurt him deeply that his only living relative can’t even recognize him. Is he that forgettable that even his own father cannot remember him? Maybe he doesn’t want people to wonder what it is about him that even his father wouldn’t want to remember him.
In one episode, Kyung-Tae (Shin Sung-Rok) tells Na-Young that HSH doesn’t like talking about his father. HSH later explains to NY that he doesn’t talk about his father because some people just don’t understand the illness. But if he doesn’t explain or if he’s not willing to discuss it with other people, how will they understand? Is this reticence on HSH’s part to discuss his father’s illness responsible for him not forming new friendships? He would rather keep new acquaintances at a distance than allow them into his personal space and have them ask questions. Could this be the reason for his emotional stinginess?
The song “Desperado” gives hints on some things about the HSH character but doesn’t really answer all my questions. I feel as if the writer has not put enough depth into the character, and it is just JHJ’s acting that makes some viewers see layers in his character.
I feel I will never find the answers to my questions about HSH. Is this the reason why some fans of the drama are asking for a sequel? Am I one of those fans who wants a sequel to 3D1M? No! I have so many issues about the writer, Jo Myung Joo. I feel she will just disappoint me with the sequel. I have a feeling that instead of giving answers to my questions, her sequel will just give rise to more questions. BUT if ever there is a sequel, and JHJ will reprise his role, then YES! I will watch it.
(Credit: We thank the creator of this collage of HSH photos.)
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