Understanding Kdrama: Fate
When Kim Soo Hyun was discussing the love story in his new drama "Man From the Stars," he talked about how his character Do Min Joon waited 400 years to fall in love. Why the long wait? It was a matter of fate.
His character was an alien who fell to earth in the Joseon era but does not know the meaning of love. He figures he was never meant to experience the emotion until he falls for a movie star played by Jeon Ji Hyun.
"If there's a reason to meet, don't you think it will happen," he says. "It's what people on earth call fate."
Fate plays a part in many kdramas. Fate is deeply rooted in the Korean way of looking at things, says Robert Kohls in the book "Learning to Think Korean." Because of the Buddhist influence on Korean culture it's a common belief that a person's life and loves are determined by fate.
It's not really a Western way of looking at things because westerners, especially Americans, believe that a person makes his or her own fate. If you believe that the events in your life are to a certain degree predetermined, you are more accepting of whatever life hands you, good or bad.
The notion of fate is related to the Buddhist concept of karma, in which a person's actions result in a cycle of cause and effect. If you've seen a few dramas, you've no doubt heard the expression, "I must have saved a country in another life." Usually the expression is used in connection with a lucky love life or good fortune.
And the expression is even used by real-life actors and actresses. For example, actress Han Ye Ri recently said she must have saved a country in her previous life because she got to co-star with T.O.P. in a film. Singer Baek Ji Young said she must have saved a country because she got to marry her actor husband Jung Suk Won.
And what about the couples that discover that they met as children? In "Gu Family Book," it's a revelation that Suzy and Lee Seung Gi's characters met early on. Such early significant meetings usually seal the deal in letting the characters know they were fated to be together. Fate was setting them up. Also, note the number of times that kdrama characters may meet until they finally click. That proves they were fated for each other. Fate keeps pushing them together. And avoiding fate always involves a struggle, often a pointless one.
"Ill fate is still fate," said Na Mi Rae in "Future's Choice." "You will meet whoever you are destined to meet. That's why destiny and fate are scary."
Fate not only brings kdrma characters together. It also separates them. And whatever fate characters are faced with, it's still how they handle it that will define the outcome of the drama.
