The Glory: Rethinking Revenge
This is a rambling post. Beware.
Introduction
Finally finished watching The Glory kdrama — record breaking fastest kdrama me and my husband watched (Took us 2 days for part 1, then 3 days for part 2)
It was edgy, gripping, and definitely got us hooked and invested in the show. The performances of the actresses and actors were just superb. We were crying and clenching our hands in anguish with Dong-Eun as she is tortured by the socialite psychopaths in her school.
This series definitely made me think about revenge in a deeper yet wider and compassionate sense. I will share more about this in detail in the following sections.
Vengeance is not Ours, but…
“Vengeance is not ours, it’s God’s” is a quote I heard growing up—that we should not put justice into our own hands, that holding on to anger will only consume us. But in Glory, I have to admit, I cannot help but side with Dong-Eun and cheer her in her quest for vengeance. You know how powerful a series or movie is when it makes you question right and wrong, good and evil. When it makes you see beyond the black and white, the wide spectrum of ‘grayness’ in morality and ethics.
Remember the Heinz Dilemma used to assess people’s moral reasoning, to identify what stage they are in the moral development stage? The Glory may well be used for this too. It has definitely opened my eyes and shaken me in a good way. I am in the post-conventional moral development stage I hope?
Fight or Flight? Not everyone has the privilege to choose
When we are blissfully ignorant of the pain and trauma bullying can cause, I think it’s so easy to gloss over the depth of the wounds it leaves someone. And we might end up offering cheap encouragement or advice because of our inability to empathize. Saying cheap words like, “Fight back!” “Don’t tolerate them!”, as if the person did not wish they could actually do that. If only it were that easy and straightforward, right? I can imagine my old ignorant self prior to watching this show say exactly that.
This also made me realize how the ability to fight back is actually a privilege in itself. It’s our God-given right, but the sad reality is that, not everyone can afford to exercise that very right.
Those who know they can easily bounce back, those who can bear to lose what they have after facing strong (and corrupt) opposition are the ones who have the courage and privilege to fight back. If you had so much to lose, when the stakes are too high, and with basically no one on your side, try as you might to fight or ask for help, the opposing wind can be too strong to face head-on. And that’s exactly what Dong-Eun’s situation was.
Why didn’t she just leave school earlier? some might say. That’s easy to say for someone who can easily afford to quit or transfer schools, which Dong-Eun most likely isn’t. We can see how her family is not that well off economically, and her mom couldn’t care any less about her. I doubt her mom even knows her dream to be an architect. She basically traded her daughter and her dignity for money (and from the very people who assaulted her!)! So I doubt she will have any support had she decided to move schools.
Plus, with a family as wealthy, influential, and corrupt as Yeong-Jin’s, I don’t think she would let Dong-Eun off the hook even after she moves to another school. I can easily imagine Yeong-Jin following Dong-Eun’s whereabouts and continue to terrorize her even if they are no longer in the same school, with her family’s level of influence.
Basically what I want to say is, I can see how Dong-Eun would choose to stay in that hell of a school no matter how inhumane and cruel her situation is. And while her resilience and perseverance is admirable, this is not something to applaud about. For someone to want to choose that hell because they feel like they have no other choice? Gosh! This should completely and utterly break our hearts.
You know there’s something wrong in the system when people would rather choose to endure such abuse rather than fight — when that is the accepted norm.
Why do we tolerate bullying? How can we even do that?
I wonder how long that bullying lasted. I would imagine that even a few weeks in that situation can feel like years of agony and pain. Physically and sexually abused. Mentally tortured. Stripped of your dignity. A living hell. Dying might well be easier than to live through all that, along with the stigma and feeling of shame.
What pains me so much while watching is that no one bothered to stand up for Dong-Eun when it happened. Her friend even abandoned her after that! I know this is easier said than done, but the main reason why bullies like Yeong-Jin thrive is exactly because no one has the courage to fight them. Those who know what’s right and just, those who know better, hide in the dark in fear. And the cycle of corruption and evil goes on and on.
I know, it’s not that easy; but is there really no other way than to give a blind eye to this when you see it happening in front of your eyes? Where are the other good influential people who actually can do something about this and turn things around? If there happened to be Christians there, I would ask my fellow brothers/sisters: where were you when all this was happening?! Where is your light?!
Not doing anything about it when you know something is going in is like being a perpetrator yourself. Understandable as it may be given the circumstances, it should not be accepted as a norm.
I really hope more people will have the courage to stand up for people who are weak and oppressed. Be the friend of the bullied, don’t be afraid to be hated. Just like Jesus did back in the day, fighting for the minority and showing them they are not forgotten; that they are loved more than they ever know. Stars shine brightest when the night is darkest, right? That’s where we can become the light of this world.
The Makings of a Yeong-Jin
Ever wondered what creates a monster like Yeong-Jin?
Thankfully I have never met someone like her in my life, but the fact that this series was inspired by a true story (and possibly other things happening behind closed doors that we are not aware of), we know this is closer to reality than we think.
We can think of several factors that give birth to Yeong-Jins in society. But I believe the major factor that make them thrive is a society and system where the rich and privileged can act like kings and queens and be above the law, above God even. How will people learn when they are not being punished for their actions but even rewarded, right?
A society that gauges people’s value based on external material things, rather than their principles and values. A society that has forgotten the essence of being human; forgotten that we humans are first and foremost soul creatures, and so unknowingly keep doing things that hurt their souls.
Sadly this is probably the reality for most people. Corruption thrives, and justice system does not work for the people it’s supposed to be defending.
Conclusion
I am usually not a fan of dark, vengeful dramas/movies, but there’s something about Glory that drew me in and got me hooked until the end. Perhaps it’s the realism (realistic depiction) of the show; having a protagonist whom you can empathize with, whose journey you want to witness and cheer on, like Kang Hyeon-nam ahjummah who has grown fond of Dong-Eun too in the process.
Far unlike sappy melodramatic kdramas in the past like Winter Sonata, the characters in Glory and what all of them went through are actually believable. Perhaps we owe this to the great writing of Kim Eun-sook, with the depth of thought and heart she poured into making this. And of course the directing, and the stellar performance of the cast.
This series has definitely got people talking, as even friends and colleagues I know who usually do not watch this kind of series are hooked like me too. And this is a very good thing in my opinion. If you’re drawn to this series, that means it tugged something in your heart that made you want to follow Dong-Eun’s story, perhaps see her triumph over her enemies in the end. And hopefully, opened our eyes to the harrowing reality of bullying and corruption.
Beyond enlightenment, I hope watching this stirred us enough to want to take action — to fight for a society where corruption and bullying will and should not thrive.
May we use our power to fight for Dong-Eun’s in society, and fight against Yeong-jin’s no matter how seemingly big of a giant we may be facing. So that the bullied and oppressed no longer have to go to extreme lengths (like Dong-Eun did) and wait for 20 years just to get the justice they deserve.
I pray for a society where love reigns supreme and divine justice prevail, where people who are privileged do not abuse their power but use it for good. For a society where the weak and poor no longer have to hide in the dark.
