A long ramble on Shin from Goong...
Mar. 13th, 2007 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieBecause I was talking about Goong with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
smartylibrarian yesterday and because I love to meta about Goong at the drop of a hat, I ended up thinking about Shin.
It’s funny, I started out loving Chae-Gyung and only mildly aware of Shin in a ‘wow, HE is going to be in love with her? How?’ sort of way.
But by the end, even though I never stopped loving CG, Shin ended up being my favorite character in the drama, in all his glorious, reserved, messed-up self.
I think he is probably the most reserved drama hero I’ve ever seen. In fact, to call him reserved is an understatement because in him, suppression of emotion and of impulse has gone so far at to make him almost dysfunctional in interpersonal relationships and in real world. It’s not that he doesn’t want to feel or to express those feelings. He feels entirely too much. And I think he does want to express himself. It’s that he doesn’t know how, it’s that he’s built protective walls miles thick. (I could strangle BOTH his parents).
I keep thinking about the scene that precedes The Kiss. How hard it is for him to even admit that he wants her, that he is vulnerable, even after she’s told him she loves him and all he has to do is say he wants her by his side.
It’s not that he is too proud or whatever. It’s just that opening up is incredibly hard for him, terrifying even. And yes, in part it’s because he’s told her he loved her (in an awesome awesome scene) and got his heart danced on with cleated boots for the trouble, but I really think it’s much deeper than that. He is incredibly emotionally reticent. He needs someone as warm and bubbly and impulsive like CG because no one else could ever get through.
Every time I see it, see how it’s scaring him to even blurt out ‘Don’t leave me alone’ I want to hug him (he’d be horrified, LOL) and tell him it’s OK, it’s safe to come out from beneath the shell, he won’t be repulsed by nearest and dearest for showing emotion this time. He seems to have gotten smacked down (metaphorically) for years every time he even attempted to open up or act human, so no wonder he has difficulties now.
Because really, his parents? Should be boiled in oil. There is his Mother. The scene where he stammers out ‘Mom?’ (after staying at CG’s place and seeing how real families interact) and she looks at him as if he is a rare species of toad and goes ‘You forget yourself, Prince’ is when I literally screamed (!!) ‘bitch’ at the TV.
WOMAN. He is your son. UGH.
I think it was probably the hardest on Shin, the sudden move, because his sister is rather older and was already more ‘established’ in herself (and also she seems a lot more of a pushy extravert, by nature). And unlike Yul who was brought up to the position from infancy (not that Yul doesn’t have his own trauma, but this isn’t a Yul meta), he had to shift from a semi-normal family life to the emotionless formality.
And then there is his father. Who wins the tough competition of ‘worst drama parent.’ I would (and could) rant about him for ages, but I already covered it in a post to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kitsune714 so I am lazy and will just copy them here. (I'd link but it's flocked :))
I think in a way, Shin's almost complete inability to express emotions stems from a very similar upbringing that gave Domyouji such rage and control issues. If Domyuji is the 'bad kid' who lashes out and rebels by showing he cannot be controlled and won't be told 'no' too, Shin is the 'good kid' who deals with the pressure and the stress by suppressing any emotion of his own and just doing what everyone else wants of him, and doing it really well. Part of the reason for the difference, IMO, is because Shin has a very elaborate set of duties and a lot to do, every day. While Domyouji? Really is left utterly to himself with nothing to do at all except raise hell.
It's also a reaction to the parent(s), I think. I think a part of Shin learned, since he was a child, that he will only get validation from his parents if he is a perfect little toy prince and does everything just right. And he thinks (rightly) his father disapproves of him and he has a feeling of him not being good enough so he keeps doing more and more to sort of achieve that ideal. While a lot of Domyouji's early acting out is also a cry for attention but of a different sort. If he was a perfect controlled upper class prince type person, Kaede wouldn't even look twice at him because she only deals with him when there is trouble or when she wants something. (And of course, he is also lashing out at all the control).
In a way (and it's a paradox because Shin is so icy and Domyouji so the opposite), Domyouji acts out the way he does because he has nothing to care for (witness how he becomes so scarily focused when he falls for Makino) and Shin acts the way he does because he has too much he cares for…
[snip kitshune714’s brilliant reply]
Definitely. I am also thinking of the scene in Goong which contrasts CG's happy crazy family argument about who gets the barbeque at the table with Shin's very formal recital event thingy. And the scene in HYD where Tsukushi's warm family dinner is contrasted with the dinner in Casa de Evil with Domyouji and Kaede on opposite sides of a really long table, in chilly silence, and her firing the chef in the middle. While I think both Kaede and Shin's parents are awful, I confess I hate Shin’s Dad more than Kaede, even though Kaede is Queen of Evil. Maybe it's because Domyouji is actually going majorly against Kaede's wishes, but Shin tries so heartbreakingly hard to be the best son he can. Or maybe because Domyouji pretty much gave up all hope for Kaede being a 'mommy' and doesn't expect anything from that quarter (perhaps except on a very subconscious level) but Shin is still clearly desperately wanting to be loved…
[snip more replying]
The sad thing? His horrid mother is the better parent of the two. Shin has done everything he can (food tasting, OMG) but in a way, because Shin is a living reminder he married the Queen but loved Yul's Mom, Shin's Dad never really reciprocates Shin's love. But forget just being formal or cold. He is actively horrible. He blames him for things that could not possibly be Shin's fault, he fails to relent in any way. Oh, just thinking about the whole thing makes me so pissed off. There are SO many scenes that just made me livid. And honestly speaking, Shin is the son any sane parent would be proud of: hard-working and intelligent and trying his best. But all the King sees are the failures (and who can always do everything right all the time. Events don't always work out after all) probably because he sees his own failure reflected in this living reminder of his guilt and his unfulfillment. In a way, I think the more Shin tries, the less the King wants to see anything, because if Shin is 'good' than he, the King, is at fault for not warming up to him.
And of course, due to the psycho upbringing, it's really hard for Shin to open up to anyone. Easygoing (though screwed up in other ways) Yul can interact much better.
I think in a way, both Shin and Domyouji (and some other drama heroes) attach themselves so much like limpets to their OTPs because they have no one else to love or to love them back.
I think part of the reason Yul can interact so well is because his Mother, while undoubtedly a horrible woman, is clearly devoted to him (even if it's for messed up reasons). Yul and his Mother have a close relationship, however dysfunctional. And in a lot of ways, it's a relationship of equals, with Yul having to be the caretaker for this nutjob woman who think trying to kill herself is a good way to get her way. Yul is in no doubt of her love for him, but he doesn't think it's enough for her, as he is not enough to keep her alive. In a way, he is also trying to be the best son he can be, but there it probably required amusing her and making her forget her losses by being overly affectionate and making her feel wanted and important.
Shin is always three inches tall in the presence of his parents and kept severely apart from them. They don't need consolation or any care from him. If Yul's relationship with his mother is too personal (you should NOT make your son try to prevent you from suicide on a regular basis) and he is warped because he is always walking on eggshells in that way, Shin's relationship with his parents is too cold however he tries to render a personal service: he food-tastes dishes for his father and what not. He wants a little of what Yul has too much of: taking care of a parent in a family fashion.
So, basically? Shin’s father? Does not seem to love him, knows how it makes his son feel and withholds approval as means of control. Is constantly blaming him for everything that could not possibly be his son’s fault. Shin ends up striving and striving and it never being enough.
So what does it leave Shin with? Things are pretty lousy when your biggest source of comfort is an old teddy bear toy. And that is the thing. Shin really has so little of his own. He is always in the public eye, and the public interaction/persona is all he has as his parents do not want any further interaction, subsuming emotion into form. His girlfriend didn’t even want to marry him and at first CG married him because he was a Prince (she would have married Yul just as well obviously). So he feels trapped by his position and he cannot even lash out because he is always on display. So he tries to be the ‘best he can be’ but it’s sucking him dry of any personality. No wonder he tries so hard to hold on to few personal things (I am thinking of his convo with CG about that).
And actually, that is why I love the kiss scene so much. Yeah, it’s hot and young, and sweet. But it’s also him losing control, losing those barriers (and not because of anger or misery, yay!) and the thing is, I just love how utterly happy, and at peace and relaxed he appears afterwards. Maybe he maintained those walls so much because once inside, all the defenses are made of paper? This is a fanciful way to put it, but what I mean is, once he gives in, he has no reserves or defenses with CG: he has been so lonely and it is so wonderful to have someone to share things with, to be emotionally open with and connected to someone and to be secure in it, that it’s like all the repressed stuff of 20 or so years is just ready to flood out. As I said above, he has no one else, so he attaches himself like a limpet.
smartylibrarian yesterday and because I love to meta about Goong at the drop of a hat, I ended up thinking about Shin.It’s funny, I started out loving Chae-Gyung and only mildly aware of Shin in a ‘wow, HE is going to be in love with her? How?’ sort of way.
But by the end, even though I never stopped loving CG, Shin ended up being my favorite character in the drama, in all his glorious, reserved, messed-up self.
I think he is probably the most reserved drama hero I’ve ever seen. In fact, to call him reserved is an understatement because in him, suppression of emotion and of impulse has gone so far at to make him almost dysfunctional in interpersonal relationships and in real world. It’s not that he doesn’t want to feel or to express those feelings. He feels entirely too much. And I think he does want to express himself. It’s that he doesn’t know how, it’s that he’s built protective walls miles thick. (I could strangle BOTH his parents).
I keep thinking about the scene that precedes The Kiss. How hard it is for him to even admit that he wants her, that he is vulnerable, even after she’s told him she loves him and all he has to do is say he wants her by his side.
It’s not that he is too proud or whatever. It’s just that opening up is incredibly hard for him, terrifying even. And yes, in part it’s because he’s told her he loved her (in an awesome awesome scene) and got his heart danced on with cleated boots for the trouble, but I really think it’s much deeper than that. He is incredibly emotionally reticent. He needs someone as warm and bubbly and impulsive like CG because no one else could ever get through.
Every time I see it, see how it’s scaring him to even blurt out ‘Don’t leave me alone’ I want to hug him (he’d be horrified, LOL) and tell him it’s OK, it’s safe to come out from beneath the shell, he won’t be repulsed by nearest and dearest for showing emotion this time. He seems to have gotten smacked down (metaphorically) for years every time he even attempted to open up or act human, so no wonder he has difficulties now.
Because really, his parents? Should be boiled in oil. There is his Mother. The scene where he stammers out ‘Mom?’ (after staying at CG’s place and seeing how real families interact) and she looks at him as if he is a rare species of toad and goes ‘You forget yourself, Prince’ is when I literally screamed (!!) ‘bitch’ at the TV.
WOMAN. He is your son. UGH.
I think it was probably the hardest on Shin, the sudden move, because his sister is rather older and was already more ‘established’ in herself (and also she seems a lot more of a pushy extravert, by nature). And unlike Yul who was brought up to the position from infancy (not that Yul doesn’t have his own trauma, but this isn’t a Yul meta), he had to shift from a semi-normal family life to the emotionless formality.
And then there is his father. Who wins the tough competition of ‘worst drama parent.’ I would (and could) rant about him for ages, but I already covered it in a post to
kitsune714 so I am lazy and will just copy them here. (I'd link but it's flocked :)) I think in a way, Shin's almost complete inability to express emotions stems from a very similar upbringing that gave Domyouji such rage and control issues. If Domyuji is the 'bad kid' who lashes out and rebels by showing he cannot be controlled and won't be told 'no' too, Shin is the 'good kid' who deals with the pressure and the stress by suppressing any emotion of his own and just doing what everyone else wants of him, and doing it really well. Part of the reason for the difference, IMO, is because Shin has a very elaborate set of duties and a lot to do, every day. While Domyouji? Really is left utterly to himself with nothing to do at all except raise hell.
It's also a reaction to the parent(s), I think. I think a part of Shin learned, since he was a child, that he will only get validation from his parents if he is a perfect little toy prince and does everything just right. And he thinks (rightly) his father disapproves of him and he has a feeling of him not being good enough so he keeps doing more and more to sort of achieve that ideal. While a lot of Domyouji's early acting out is also a cry for attention but of a different sort. If he was a perfect controlled upper class prince type person, Kaede wouldn't even look twice at him because she only deals with him when there is trouble or when she wants something. (And of course, he is also lashing out at all the control).
In a way (and it's a paradox because Shin is so icy and Domyouji so the opposite), Domyouji acts out the way he does because he has nothing to care for (witness how he becomes so scarily focused when he falls for Makino) and Shin acts the way he does because he has too much he cares for…
[snip kitshune714’s brilliant reply]
Definitely. I am also thinking of the scene in Goong which contrasts CG's happy crazy family argument about who gets the barbeque at the table with Shin's very formal recital event thingy. And the scene in HYD where Tsukushi's warm family dinner is contrasted with the dinner in Casa de Evil with Domyouji and Kaede on opposite sides of a really long table, in chilly silence, and her firing the chef in the middle. While I think both Kaede and Shin's parents are awful, I confess I hate Shin’s Dad more than Kaede, even though Kaede is Queen of Evil. Maybe it's because Domyouji is actually going majorly against Kaede's wishes, but Shin tries so heartbreakingly hard to be the best son he can. Or maybe because Domyouji pretty much gave up all hope for Kaede being a 'mommy' and doesn't expect anything from that quarter (perhaps except on a very subconscious level) but Shin is still clearly desperately wanting to be loved…
[snip more replying]
The sad thing? His horrid mother is the better parent of the two. Shin has done everything he can (food tasting, OMG) but in a way, because Shin is a living reminder he married the Queen but loved Yul's Mom, Shin's Dad never really reciprocates Shin's love. But forget just being formal or cold. He is actively horrible. He blames him for things that could not possibly be Shin's fault, he fails to relent in any way. Oh, just thinking about the whole thing makes me so pissed off. There are SO many scenes that just made me livid. And honestly speaking, Shin is the son any sane parent would be proud of: hard-working and intelligent and trying his best. But all the King sees are the failures (and who can always do everything right all the time. Events don't always work out after all) probably because he sees his own failure reflected in this living reminder of his guilt and his unfulfillment. In a way, I think the more Shin tries, the less the King wants to see anything, because if Shin is 'good' than he, the King, is at fault for not warming up to him.
And of course, due to the psycho upbringing, it's really hard for Shin to open up to anyone. Easygoing (though screwed up in other ways) Yul can interact much better.
I think in a way, both Shin and Domyouji (and some other drama heroes) attach themselves so much like limpets to their OTPs because they have no one else to love or to love them back.
I think part of the reason Yul can interact so well is because his Mother, while undoubtedly a horrible woman, is clearly devoted to him (even if it's for messed up reasons). Yul and his Mother have a close relationship, however dysfunctional. And in a lot of ways, it's a relationship of equals, with Yul having to be the caretaker for this nutjob woman who think trying to kill herself is a good way to get her way. Yul is in no doubt of her love for him, but he doesn't think it's enough for her, as he is not enough to keep her alive. In a way, he is also trying to be the best son he can be, but there it probably required amusing her and making her forget her losses by being overly affectionate and making her feel wanted and important.
Shin is always three inches tall in the presence of his parents and kept severely apart from them. They don't need consolation or any care from him. If Yul's relationship with his mother is too personal (you should NOT make your son try to prevent you from suicide on a regular basis) and he is warped because he is always walking on eggshells in that way, Shin's relationship with his parents is too cold however he tries to render a personal service: he food-tastes dishes for his father and what not. He wants a little of what Yul has too much of: taking care of a parent in a family fashion.
So, basically? Shin’s father? Does not seem to love him, knows how it makes his son feel and withholds approval as means of control. Is constantly blaming him for everything that could not possibly be his son’s fault. Shin ends up striving and striving and it never being enough.
So what does it leave Shin with? Things are pretty lousy when your biggest source of comfort is an old teddy bear toy. And that is the thing. Shin really has so little of his own. He is always in the public eye, and the public interaction/persona is all he has as his parents do not want any further interaction, subsuming emotion into form. His girlfriend didn’t even want to marry him and at first CG married him because he was a Prince (she would have married Yul just as well obviously). So he feels trapped by his position and he cannot even lash out because he is always on display. So he tries to be the ‘best he can be’ but it’s sucking him dry of any personality. No wonder he tries so hard to hold on to few personal things (I am thinking of his convo with CG about that).
And actually, that is why I love the kiss scene so much. Yeah, it’s hot and young, and sweet. But it’s also him losing control, losing those barriers (and not because of anger or misery, yay!) and the thing is, I just love how utterly happy, and at peace and relaxed he appears afterwards. Maybe he maintained those walls so much because once inside, all the defenses are made of paper? This is a fanciful way to put it, but what I mean is, once he gives in, he has no reserves or defenses with CG: he has been so lonely and it is so wonderful to have someone to share things with, to be emotionally open with and connected to someone and to be secure in it, that it’s like all the repressed stuff of 20 or so years is just ready to flood out. As I said above, he has no one else, so he attaches himself like a limpet.
