Celebrating Alice at 150…conclusion
When you have been writing and writing, after a while, you forget what you have written. Since it is Alice’s 150th, I was in search of inspiration on the internet and came across this article “Cheongdamdong Alice (CDDA) – A K-drama like no other” on another blog.
Hmm, interesting! Hmm! sounds familiar…gee-whiz, did I write that? Was I sprouting utter nonsense much like Alice in Wonderland’s literary nonsense genre, but in my not so literary way?
So, today is Saturday, the weekend. If you have nothing to entertain yourself, you can try reading my interpretation of CDDA. Be forewarned, it is a very long article!
Cheongdamdong Alice (CDDA) – A K-drama like no other
If you asked me in November 2012 which is my favourite Park Sihoo drama, I would not hesitate to say “Family Honor” (FH). However, this has changed since the airing of CDDA. Now it is a toss-up between FH and CDDA. I love FH as a family drama with its traditional values. In CDDA, I enjoy the provoking realism wrapped under the guise of a children’s fairy tale – Alice In Wonderland (AIW) / Alice through the looking glass (ATTLG).
If I had to make the tough choice between the two, then I would go with CDDA [Nance – ok that was my feel, then]. Why? Because I felt that Park Sihoo-ssi’s maturity, versatility and depth of experience as an actor, and a great one at that, is reflected in that one characterisation of Jean Thierry Cha (JTC) /Cha Seungjo (CSJ). The other reason why I like CDDA is because it is a brilliant metaphorical masterpiece, a deviation from the conventional K-dramas.
CDDA transformed Park Sihoo into a really shining star
The No 1 reason why I like CDDA is without doubt – it starred my favourite actor Park Sihoo – and CDDA brought out the best in him.
The suave Park Sihoo in Cheongdamdong Alice
In an earlier interview Park Sihoo said that when he saw the script of CDDA, he really coveted the role of CSJ. Park Sihoo always had a knack for picking great works; in CDDA, he has picked yet another winner. In the complex, multi–faceted CSJ – JTC character that the writers created, Park Sihoo-ssi clearly showed his versatility and skill as an actor – from caring, in love, intense, maniacal, insecure, playful, emotional, sad, revengeful, angry, yearning…he excelled the myriad of emotions that would have stretched even the most seasoned actor! CSJ brought Park Sihoo to another level in his ability and credibility as an actor. I believe he won far greater recognition in the entertainment industry and like the piped piper, drew a whole new contingent of devoted fans.
CDDA – A brilliant metaphorical masterpiece
CDDA is not your typical K-drama. Take it at face value and you will end up sorely disappointed. The dialogues overshadowed the action scenes – so unlike the melodramas where you cry your guts out or rom-coms where they feed you romantic moments at frequent intervals.
Park Sihoo as Jean Thierry Cha & Moon Geunyoung as Han Sekyung in Cheongdamdong Alice
I admire the writers’ guts to take on the risk of a non-populist approach in crafting a thought provoking drama that subtlely and intricately weaved powerful themes on social and human behavior under the cover of a rom-com. This atypical approach resulted in an emotionally mixed audience – those who absolutely loved it, those who wrote it off completely and those who didn’t understand it at all. The loudest and biggest voices were from those whose concept of a rom-com is the “traditional boy-meets-girl, fall in love, face hurdles, kiss and make up, without the complex, mentally challenging crap”. CDDA’s rating did not hit the roof expected from a Park Sihoo-Moon Geunyoung combination. Instead, it drew a faithful following from even the highest ranked in South Korean society – a presidential candidate, no less!
The Clock Rabbit Emoticons, let them reflect your emotions
To enjoy CDDA, you need to open up your heart, your mind and your sense of sight and sound. It is a thinking woman/man’s drama. “Alice in Wonderland” (AIW) it was touted and I dare to say also “Alice through the looking glass” (ATTLG) – so everyone’s expectation is that it is a fairy tale. AIW is considered of a literary nonsense genre – and wasn’t CSJ’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and then non-PTSD at the end of the drama of a nonsensical nature?
Nonsensical fairy tale? I thought CDDA was much more than that! AIW/ATTLG loosely framed the plot and you were led to believe in this make believe “sigetokki” – clock rabbit – which would guide Alice through Wonderland. You were led to believe that Han Sekyung (HSK) was Alice only to discover that there was also Alice in CSJ! You were led through a make-believe world only to discover realism at the end. People talked good about the first half of the drama but felt deflated in the second half. To me, first half was more about fantasy, the make-believe – closer in tune with the regular K-drama rom-coms, and hence why people liked it. In the 2nd half realism set in and that was when people bailed out, just too heavy for their comfort (and the dialogues set the tone).
The writers made the audience reflect at every turn – not everything was what you perceived, not everything was clear cut– look through the looking glass and reflect on yourself, just like in the fairy tale AIW/ATTLK. Amazingly clever!
Let Cheongdamdong Alice lead you into wonderland
Reflect on the complex macro-societal issues of prejudice, materialism, rich-poor divide, society norms and expectations. Think about beautiful love between the rich and ugly love if a poor loved a rich. Reflect on typical human behaviours that we take for granted – paternal love (CSJ’s father’s love for him), protective instinct and withdrawal at being hurt (CSJ’s PTSD), back stabbing (Shin Inhwa vindictively showing the video for revenge) etc. Not everything was straightforward and in your face, you needed to open your eyes and ears for hidden and inferred messages and meanings. And what I really liked was that the writers were non-judgemental, no right or wrong, no black and white – exactly like in real life how people behave and react to circumstances. Think So Yoonjoo (SYJ) who dropped CSJ like a sack of hot potatoes when he gave up his inheritance and plotted her way to successfully become a CDD wife. In SYJ, the writers developed what the audience would consider a greedy, devious, manipulative woman at the beginning to being admired and supported by said audience at the end of the drama.
The amusing, yet sad, father-son relationship in Cheongdamdong Alice
The writers group had us twisted around their little fingers that we couldn’t second guess their next move. Take their writing any which way you wanted – so deep in meaning that you had to dissect it like a literary masterpiece or treat it like a piece of literary bullshit. For me, I fell into the former camp – I enjoyed the metaphorical approach to the drama and the intrigue of not knowing what was around the corner and to be surprised! Take the final episode – the scene of HSK visiting and declaring her love for CSJ when he was in drunken stupor, the writers and directors had cleverly played around the theme of “dream” in AIW and twisted CSJ’s perceived dream and made it real. And I liked how they depicted the different perspectives of the rich and the poor by using CSJ’s painting. The rich folks (CSJ and his doctor friend) just didn’t get it but the ordinary folks (HSK, SJY, Tommy Hung (TH) and Secretary Moon) figured it out immediately who bought CSJ’s painting. Your call on literary masterpiece or literary bullshit!
Park Sihoo in Cheongamdong Alice. Dream or Reality?
AIW’s “A Mad Tea Party” talked of an inverse relationship (‘I see what I eat’ equalled ‘I eat what I see!”) and this was depicted by the HSK/CSJ relationship. HSK was prepared to throw everything away because she was not useful to anyone and couldn’t succeed no matter how hard she worked. By entering CDD, she wanted to be saved and CSJ did just that by having everything she needed. Instead, she found that she was the one who did the saving – to protect him and be his “home”. Daebak portrayal of inverse relationship indeed!
And I just loved the quotable quotes and pockets of wisdom the writers built into the drama. My favourite was Nazim Hikmet’s poem which JTC read out during Artemis’ X’mas party – great inspirational piece! And despite CSJ’s half crazed concept of love and being absolutely truthful, he did utter a memorable piece in “If we have unveiled everything and we can accept all and still embrace each other, then it is love.”
The Artemis X’mas Party with the most memorable poem
I could go on raving about why I so love CDDA but I think this is already an extensive essay, so I shall stop before I bore you to tears, if I haven’t already done so. I am sure everyone has his/her own opinion on the subject – so I hope you can share your perspectives.
Obviously CDDA has its flaws – but that is something else I shall not cover here. My one regret is that the series is not much longer. With 16 episodes, it is neither here nor there – too little to expand on the social issues and to develop the characters (and there is potential for further development on Team CSJ/HSK –TH, SYJ, CSJ’s doctor friend, Secretary Moon, HSK’s best friend, her sister, Driver Kim…maybe even SIH); and too long to merely scrap the surface of these.
PS: Have you thought about why they used French in CDDA? Ok, France is the fashion capital of the world…but there might be another reason – because Alice spoke French to the Mouse in AIW 😊 “Où est ma chatte?”
真是我写的吗？
庆祝爱丽丝150…终
当你一直在写呀，写呀，一段时间后，你会忘了你写了些什么。既然是爱丽丝的150周年，我在互联网收缩看看有没有什么资料可以激发我的灵感的。在另一个网站上，发现了这个博文，“清潭洞爱丽丝 – 没有类似的韩剧”。
嗯，有意思！哼！看起来好熟悉……哎呀，真是我写的吗？就像爱丽丝梦游仙境归类为废话文学体裁，我是纯属无稽之谈吗？
今天是星期六，周末。如果妳有时间，闲着没事做，妳可以选择阅读我的这篇“清潭洞爱丽丝”的辩解。事先警告，这是一篇很长，很长的文章哦！
清潭洞爱丽丝－ 没有类似的韩剧
如果妳在2012年11月问我，我最喜欢的朴施厚电视剧是什么，我会毫不犹豫地说“家门的荣光” （“家门”）。然而，“清潭洞爱丽丝” （“清爱”）的播出改变了我的想法。现在是“家门”和“清爱”之间胜负难料。我爱“家门”家庭剧的传统价值观。在“清爱”，我喜欢儿童童话“爱丽丝梦游仙境”/“透过镜子看爱丽丝”的包裹下，涵盖着现实主义的概念。
如果我不得不做出两者之间的艰难选择，那么我会选择“清爱” [N姐- 那时确实是我的感觉]。为什么呢？因为我觉得Jean Thierry Cha/车胜祖的那一个角色的表征，充分的体现出施厚君的成熟，多才多艺和作为演员的深度经验。为什么我喜欢“清爱”的另一个原因是，它是一个辉煌隐喻的杰作，和传统的韩剧的偏差。
“清潭洞爱丽丝”转化施厚君成一个真正闪亮的明星
Park Sihoo’s Cha Seungjo in Cheongdamdong Alice is full of idiosyncrasies
我最喜欢“清爱”的原因是，我最喜欢的演员朴施厚出演男一号 ，“清爱”带出了他最好的一面。
在早先的采访中，施厚君说，当他看到“清爱”的剧本时，他真的想望车胜祖的角色。施厚君总是会挑选好的作品; 在“清爱”，他又挑了一部王牌赢家。施厚君演车胜祖 – Jean Thierry Cha这复杂，多情绪的角色，清楚地显示出他的多才多艺和演技 – 从关怀，爱情，紧张，疯狂，不安，俏皮，情感，悲伤，报复，生气，向往……他的表情出色，我相信即使是最老练的演员也很难演出这么丰富万变的情绪！车胜祖给施厚君一个好机会来发挥他的能力，也把他的演员信誉提拔到另一个层面。我相信他在娱乐界赢得了更大的认可。就像管道吹笛者，他吸引了一大批全新，忠实的厚粉。
“清潭洞爱丽丝” – 一个辉煌隐喻的杰作
“清爱”不是典型的韩剧。如果只是表面看它，你最终会大失所望。对话盖过动作场面 – 所以不像情节剧，使你哭得死去活来，或者是纯粹的爱情喜剧，只管不时出现浪漫时刻。
The cast of Cheongdamdodng Alice
我很佩服作家的胆量，他们承担着非公众可接受和支持的风险，在爱情喜剧的主题下，微妙的穿插了对社会和人的行为的强大复杂概念，引发深省。这种非典型的做法导致成情绪和看法分散的观众 – 那些绝对喜欢的，那些完全不能接受的，和那些完全不明白的。最响亮的，规模最大的声音来自那些认为爱情喜剧的概念就是“传统的男孩遇上女孩，谈恋爱，面对障碍，吻和化解，无需复杂智慧上的挑战”。“清爱”的观众评估数没有应为朴施厚-文根莹组合预期来得高。相反，它吸引了忠实的追随者，包括排在韩国社会最高级别的总统候选人，毫不逊色！
要欣赏“清爱”，妳需要打开妳的心房，妳的脑袋，妳的视觉，听觉和感觉。这是一个有思想的女人/男人的电视剧。 “爱丽丝梦游仙境”和“透过镜子看爱丽丝”是童话故事。 所以大家也认为“清爱”也是一部童话剧。“爱丽丝梦游仙境”被认为是文学的废话体裁 – 而车胜祖的创伤后应激障碍（PTSD），然后在电视剧结束之前变成非PTSD，是不是无厘头性质的？
Park Sihoo as the clock rabbit or is he Alice?
无厘头的童话？我认为“清爱”远不止于此！用“爱丽丝梦游仙境” /“透过镜子看爱丽丝”的故事来当松散框架，使妳相信“sigetokki” 时钟兔子，相信韩世景是爱丽丝，却发现爱丽丝可能是车胜祖！妳被带入一个虚幻的世界，最终才发现现实。很多观众纷纷称赞电视剧的前一半，但对下一半感到失望。对我来说，上一半更多是幻想，虚幻世界，接近平常韩剧的爱情喜剧，因此许多观众会喜欢。在下半部，就是沉重的现实（在对话当中带出沉重的感觉），所以观众很难接受，感到失望并放弃。
在每一个阶段，作家令观众深省思考 – 不是一切是你所认为想象的，不是一切都可以清楚看到的，通过镜子，反思自己，就像童话中的“爱丽丝梦游仙境”/“透过镜子看爱丽丝”。好聪明的编辑啊！
反思那复杂宏观社会的问题， 如偏见，唯物主义，贫富差距，社会规范和期待等。想想富豪之间的美丽爱情和贫穷富豪之间的丑陋爱情。反思我们认为理所当然的典型人类行为 – 父母之爱（车胜祖父亲对他的爱），保护的本性和被伤害后的退避（车胜祖的PTSD），背刺行为（申仁华报复的视频）。并非一切都简单直接，你需要打开你的眼睛和耳朵，觉察隐藏的信息和含义。而我真正喜欢的是，作家是非判断，没有判定对或错，没有黑或白的 – 完全像在现实生活中，人的行为和反应情况。想想徐允珠，车胜祖为了她放弃自己的家庭和富裕的生活，可是徐允珠却因为钱，而把他像热土豆烫手般的给甩了，还有她如何计划，成功地成为清潭洞少奶的方法。在作者的笔下，徐云珠开始时，是一个贪婪，狡猾，操纵的女人，然而在电视剧结尾时， 受观众的佩服和支持。
Park Sihoo’s mood swings drastically with his PTSD in Cheongdamdong
编剧组把我们扭曲在他们的小手指，我们无法捉摸他们下一步行动。他们所写的，妳想要如何分辨由妳自己 – 妳可以把它像一个文学巨著来仔细分析或把它当成一个毫无意义的文学垃圾。对于我来说，我偏向前者 – 我很喜欢隐喻的方法来处理这电视剧，喜欢不能捉摸剧情会如何发展，让编辑给我惊讶！就拿最后一集， 韩世景来到车胜祖家里，在他酒醉昏迷之中，对他示爱。 编剧和导演巧妙地利用“爱丽丝梦游仙境”的“梦”主题，把车胜祖的“梦”转变为事实。我喜欢他们如何使用车胜祖的油画，来显示贫富不同角度的看法。富有人家（指车胜祖和他的医生朋友）看不出，但普通百姓（指韩世景，徐云珠，汤米洪和文秘书）立刻就知道谁是车胜祖那幅画的买家。你认为是文学名著或文学垃圾呢？
Park Sihoo – to save or be saved?
“爱丽丝梦游仙境”的“一个疯狂的茶党”谈到反转关系（“我看我吃的”等于“我吃我看的！”）。这描述了韩世景/车胜祖的关系。韩世景无论如何努力工作也无法成功，所以她认为自己是没有用的人。她想被救，所以准备抛开一切，进入清潭洞。 车胜祖就是能救她的人，因为他拥有她所需要的一切。相反的，她后来发现，不是她被救，而是，她救了车胜祖，她可以保护他，成为他的“家”。 编辑写反转关系是那么的到位啊！
我喜欢编剧组在电视剧里加了许多名言谚语。我最欣赏的是Jean Thierry Cha 在Artemis的圣诞派对里，读出Nazim Hikmet的那首诗， 是一首伟大的励志作品！虽然车胜祖有着半疯狂的爱和需要绝对坦白的概念，可是他也说出了难忘的一句， “如果我们已经显示出了一切，而我们可以接受一切，仍然能够互相拥抱的话，那这就是爱情。”
Team Cha Seungjo – Han Sekyung in Cheongdamdong Alice
我可以继续热烈讨论，为什么我这么喜欢“清爱”，但我认为这已经是一个广泛的一篇文章，可能你已经看得不耐烦了，已经放弃了，我就在此停止。我相信每个人都有她自己的意见和看法 – 所以希望妳也可以分享妳的观点。
显然，“清爱”也有其缺陷 – 但那是另一篇文章了。我的一个遗憾是，该电视剧并不长。16集其实不伦不类 – 太短了不能深入针对社会的问题和发展剧里的人物（如车胜祖 /韩世景的有潜力团队 – 汤米洪，徐云珠，车胜祖的医生朋友，文秘书，韩世景的最要好的朋友，她的妹妹，金司机……甚至申仁华）。
后语：你有没有想过，为什么他们在“清爱”里会用法语吗？是的，法国是世界的时尚之都……但有可能还有另一个原因。 因为在“爱丽丝梦游仙境”里，爱丽丝对老鼠说法语 “Où est ma chatte?”😊
Cheongdamdong Alice is like other fairy tales with happy ending, … and they lived happily ever after. Did they or did they not?
Credits – Many thanks! Video – Youtube, Sun Juu; Photos – Weibo, Twitter, Dramabeans, www.sbs.co.kr
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