[HanCinema's News] Popular Dramas Take Unapologetic Pro-revenge Stance

Traditionally in South Korean dramas, revenge may be a dish best served cold, but it's also a dish that leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. Typically themes in such dramas have focused on how the act of obsessing over revenge can tragically cause a single-minded hero to lose something important to him, leading to a bittersweet ending. Yet present day popular dramas like "Vincenzo" and "Taxi Driver" have dispensed with such moralizing, validating revenge as being in itself worthwhile.

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The social reasons behind this are complex. But a major part of the appeal of such stories is the growing dissatisfaction with official institutions. While revenge becomes questionable if police can bring the perpetrator to justice, institutional validation of South Korea's generational corporate economic system even in the wake of major arrests has put a damper on such fantasies. By the end of "Vincenzo" justice via Italian mafia style killing appears to be the only real servicable method.

Of course, "Vincenzo" is itself a screwball comedy, with an antagonist who functions more as a rival than someone the lead character actually has cause to despise. But in "Taxi Driver" the titular hero runs across various disadvantaged persons in society with no real means of confronting their tormentors. Nonconsensual sex video uploads, prejudice against the disabled, phishing scams, and hacking are among the many issues confronted by the drama with no clear hope of resolution.

Even a more traditionally styled revenge story like "The Penthouse 3" is likely moving in this direction. The notoriously monstrous villain played by Uhm Ki-joon proved himself at the end of "The Penthouse 2" as capable of spiteful malicious evil against the protagonists even behind bars. The trend is a troubling one- although one that is far more likely to be a symptom of mistrust of official institutions than it is likely to be cause.

Written by William Schwartz