I will throw in another show that I bet no one has heard of:
Dae Jang Geum
I intend to provide a more proper review of this series at a future date on my blog, but here is a quickie on why I love this series.
It is a Korean mini-series of about 54 episodes and tells the fictionalized story of a real life historical figure, Dae Jang Geum, which stands for “Jang Geum the Great.” She was the first and only female court physician who personally served the king in 15th century Korea. Little is known of her life, except the above facts, and not much else.
The author of the mini-series took the above and created a story that is a remarkable work of art. It tells the story of Jang Geum from when she was a little girl, the daughter of a disgraced “court lady” and soldier who worked for the king. I will not tell much because anyone who sees this has to experience the plot first-hand and with no spoilers. I will add a little, though. Jang Geum rises from being the daughter of parents from the lowest class to someone who enters the royal court as a “kitchen lady” who prepares the king’s food, and eventually becomes the king’s physician.
Along the way, Jang Geum is revealed, not only as a beautiful woman, but one with a beautiful mind and a superb moral character. Above all, Jang Geum is first-handed. She forms all conclusions on her own, and then follows the conclusions of her mind to wherever it leads her, regardless of the risks she might face. There are tremendous scenes that illustrate her scientific character in a society that was quite primitive in many respects.
Along the way, she has the most beautiful love affair with a scholar-official from the king’s court, and she has remarkable friendships with various women and men of the court.
The theme of Dae Jang Geum is integrity, both intellectual and moral integrity. In fact, the series ably illustrates how the two forms of integrity are aspects of the same attribute. Dae Jang Geum’s moral integrity is driven by her intellectual integrity, which is that of a scientist.
Incidentally, this series is wildly popular in Asia, although it is unknown in the West. I hope that changes. If you watch it, you will have to read subtitles, which is not hard to get used to. Also, understand that the original Korean is more poetic and the subtitles sometimes imperfectly translate it, making it too short or altering the meaning slightly. I don’t speak Korean, but a good friend of mine does, so I benefited from explanations when this was happening. However, it turns out to be a minor flaw, because the meaning of all the dialogue is eminently clear from the context of the story.
Much else can be said about this wonderful series, which I will do. In the meantime, I commend it to readers of this Forum.
