Red Flag vs. Green Flag: The Perfect Drama Boyfriend
Heya folks, hope you are doing well. This is the first time I am writing an article all by myself and being very honest this ain’t an easy job. I really appreciate all the authors out there and especially my co-authors (Lilac, Shiro, Aehsassy) who made it look so easy.
To all my fellow readers, there could be a difference of opinion since there are multiple ways of looking at things, you might, at times disagree with what I say and at times you might find that I also have a point but none of it an issue if we both respect each other's opinion.
… I hope you enjoy the time you spend around my words.
Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. --Zig Ziglar (*added to make the article look cool)
Have you ever noticed the actions done out of gratitude in a drama? Does any drama pop up in your mind when you think of gratitude? I hope the answer to my questions is a big yes… but if that’s not the case no worries…I have got this!
You may call me unique (not weird... cause I am hoping, I am not the only weirdo) for noticing the acts of gratitude while watching a drama for entertainment purposes... but well, that's the beauty of drama land : you learn with fun and in case you miss something while you are busy enjoying, you need not worry for you got me and all the amazing MDL authors to bring it to your notice.
This article explores a different layout, something that takes you back to the good old times, be ready to deep dive into the nostalgic world of high school textbooks as you skim through (i hope not) the textbook called GRATITUDE!
* Welcome to the class, today we gonna learn about gratitude, through acts of gratitude shown in dramas… let’s go ; )
SPOILER WARNING ….
I am going to explain how the act does make for an act of gratitude ...so in the course of the explanation I’ll most probably be making some big and small revelations...and if you intend to see the drama watch out for spoilers ...instead of blaming me later!
- Please note, maybe all these acts aren’t solely out of gratitude- because human life doesn’t run by a particular emotion ...and hence the acts I am going to mention in the course of the article have other factors affecting them too… However, gratitude being the way I see it... they all get a mention.
What is Gratitude …?
A strong feeling of appreciation to someone or something for what the person has done to help you
(Definition from Cambridge Dictionary)
It’s the act of appreciating the things you have... realizing that there could be some you owe to others, the people around you, nature, or the stranger you met on the bus. Remembering, being thankful for, and trying your best to repay even the slightest amount of kindness shown towards you is what gratitude is about.
CHAPTER 1 ...
TALES FROM THE ANIMAL KINGDOM ...
Thankfulness is measured by the number of words ….Gratitude is measured by the nature of our actions … -David-o-McKay
In many cases, I have noticed that the animal kingdom attaches great importance to gratitude...
And I just thought it’d be a great idea to begin with these cuties…
One of the most popular dramas from the first half of 2021, Vincenz
o, features one such incident... I am sure everyone remembers our cutie pigeon Inzaghi, yep the savior of our beloved mafia Vincenzo. Their fated encounter and the following interactions could even make for a potential blockbuster spin-off but let’s stick to the point. Even tho cutie Inzaghi annoyed Mr. Mafia at first by disturbing his sleep and messing with his room, our (handsome, cute, talented... here’s me controlling my fangirling self) kind mafia, being the epitome of kindness, never tried to hurt Inzaghi, let him play around... even fed him, what else is missing... gratitude... To repay, our cutie Inzaghi brought his friends or family (we could find out in the spinoff I just suggested) to fight the evil guy gang (yes there are even worse people than Mr. Mafia) and saved Mr. Mafia… (Inzaghi be setting gratitude goals -- now that’s how you do it !!)
CHAPTER 2 …
GRATITUDE AND MIRACLES …
A Grateful Heart is a Magnet for Miracles — Jane Fuller.
Well nothing can technically be called a miracle in dramaland but well who cares about technicality anyway and especially when we are talking about a show that fits in the fantasy genre - The Untamed… No surprised faces please, this show might even cease to exist if not for gratitude
... From Wei Wu Xian getting adopted as an act of kindness to him repaying the sect by giving up on his spiritual core to bearing the wrath of his foster mother, all can be seen as acts done out of gratitude.
And that’s not all, I hope you remember Wei Wu Xian saving the Ghost general from the water spirit... that’s where all this actually starts... To repay this Wen Qing decides to help them with rehabilitation and shelter, and to repay this, Wei Wu Xian later comes up with his own sect, and then to save Wu Xian, Wen Qing, and Ghost General even decide to sacrifice their own life… (A gratitude streak going on here….lol )
What about miracles... well when you decide to help people out of genuine kindness and know how to be grateful... miracles find their way to you... him surviving in the land of the dead... him coming back to life… need I say more?
CHAPTER 3 …
A LIFE THAT ENDED WITH GRATITUDE… WORTH IT?
Another gem from this year’s first half Move to Heaven presents a very beautiful example for gratitude.
They say trust actions, not words and they are right (them being right is actually quite rare ain’t it)... Cho Sang Gu our ML might not seem kind if you trust his words 
but if you judge based on actions... you might draw a whole new image with him being an epitome of kindness... One kindness driven encounter leads to his and Kim Su Cheol's meeting. Kim Su Cheol, who was a victim of bullying (kdramas without some sort of bullying are a very rare scenario, do they even exist? lol ) and had almost given up on his life, finds himself wanting to live again after this encounter, where Cho Sang Gu saves him.
As the story progresses we see a beautiful mentor-mentee relationship developing and a love that goes beyond blood bonds.
To repay for his kindness, Kim Su Cheol decides to help Sang Gu reunite with his brother whom he had lost touch with years ago. But this reunion wasn’t gonna be as easy or simple as it might sound and maybe it could even cost Su Cheol his life. Yet he chose gratitude and love over everything else, even his life.
CHAPTER 4 …
LIMIT TO FORGIVENESS …
Forgiveness is a form of gratitude. When we forgive others, we show them the mercy that we have often received and been thankful for.— Sarah Ban Breathnach
I always ask myself: is there a limit to forgiveness? What acts should lie in the "can be forgiven" region? Dramas often push me to reconsider these set limits
…
Children of a Lesser God is one of such drama. What if your foster parent turns out to be an assassin? Okay dramas have it... fine... what if he turns out to be the murderer of your biological parent too? The world shattered into a million pieces, didn’t it? What if someone is still willing to be forgiving? For the sake of all the happiness, love and care they received.
This drama challenged the limit to forgiveness, for how much is acceptable and what is not can never really be defined, can it? I’ll just put forward my point of view... people should be punished for their crimes, but they should also be allowed to change for good, forgiveness is the opportunity and hence with context from the drama seeing how Mr. foster father cared for our FL all the t
ime, how he supported and protected her knowing she was special, going through all sorts of trouble to give her a normal happy life, even tho I am not sure of what’s the right thing to do I just can’t help but support forgiveness…
Another example, could be Children of Nobody... what if your stepmom turns out to be your biological sister’s killer? What if everything around you, every memory of yours was nothing but a lie? is forgiving the liar an option? What if I say yes, it is…
That's the story you come across in this drama; FL lives her life unaware of her biological sister’s death, in a world full of lies with all her memories manipulated. After she finds the truth her broken heart still wishes to forgive the liar, for all the happiness she had in her life, all the love she received wasn’t a lie, she agrees for it to be built on lies but denies to it being a lie.
CHAPTER 5 …
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE …
You need not move mountains to show you are grateful …
All these glam sham deeds fit well in dramaland and look too glamorous to be taken as examples but seem quite difficult to implement in everyday life …from all these examples you may feel like it does requir
e moving mountains to express gratitude... well that’s not the case... simple acts do hold the same value... because it’s not the act that holds the value... it’s gratitude that does.
Sell your haunted house puts forth one such example ...the simple act of staying by someone’s side when they are going through tough times is all it takes to express gratitude. The FL’s mother helps Miss Joo to get over her guilt and pain of losing her child. She was a young single mother and maybe somewhere her carelessness led to the death of her child. FL’s mother helps her meet her daughter’s ghost so she can bid goodbye to her daughter, get over what happened and live again. To repay FL’s mother, Miss Joo decides to stay by FL’s side as her secretary, as a friend, and mentor helping her with everyday life.
of course, we gotta end this with a quote ; )
So that’s it from my side ...you have now come to the end of this article. I hope that you have found some food for thought and maybe from now you’ll also start being a weirdo like me and notice these small and big acts done out of gratitude… Though gratitude might not make for a hell ride in a storyline it does make the stories special, for me at the very least.
So while we are at it, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards fellow MDLeres who have always made sure I go back to the real world happier. To name a few would be unjust (but... @saarthak, @paper, @lilac , and all my friends...I really really love you guys), cuz each of my interactions, be it on the feeds or comment section, has gone a long way, and ensures the supremacy of MDL over everything!
Thank you for being such an awesome family.
I would love to hear about what you think of the portrayal of gratitude in dramas... what’s your idea of gratitude... anything I missed that caught your attention. The comment section is all yours.
Credits: I do not own all of the images. Images that do not belong to me are linked to their sources. Link for the feature image here. Link to respective dramas is embedded in the title. Special thanks to the editors! |
