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Notes on Heartless City II: Sex and the Heartless CityThere's an interesting post over at about soimtheng that we don't often see in KDrama: that scene where a couple actually couples, physically, that is. Jomo's observations about the dynamics of this coupling in chapter 10 of Heartless City really made me appreciate how well this series is developing its potential in the service of the story's more subtle ethical concerns. To wit, presenting the couple's sexual encounter not as an end in itself or some mere titillation for the public's entertainment, but rather as a window into our protagonist's hunger for a connection with another human being: Why did Baksa kiss Soo-min anyway? Before him sat a pretty, playful, interested girl who did not know anything about his past or present.He was lonely and frustrated. He needed to be himself for a moment. He needed comfort. It started out with him reaching for her, and Soo-min responding in kind.What we see next, back at Noonah’s, happened for the same reasons. It was beautiful beautiful to see how they connected. I wonder how long Baksa has wanted to be touched and to touch someone else in a non-threatening way. The acting and choreography were breathtaking.I quite like this reading of the scene: it underscores a judiciousness in the writers' and actors' choice to delve into the verbally inexpressible depths of natural human inclinations in order to explore what they say about how we experience life. For while Baksa might live in a cruel, cruel world, the brutality of his life has not eroded his need for intimacy and his impulse for tenderness.I am reminded at this point of how willfully blind we often let ourselves get to the fact that we are all driven by that basic impulse to genuinely connect with the world around us. How we set about satisfying that impulse speaks volumes not only of our experience of the world, but also how we chose to be as a consequence of that experience. I look forward to expounding on this some more later._________________________The section below, reposted from Jomo's blog, conveys some of the thoughts I had about how well this show makes use of the coupling scenario and the circumstances surrounding it; in essence, I found some insight related to the teaching of wait for it the Church Fathers(!) Go figure it's a hazard of the trade. People are attracted to people that the Rules say they must stay away from. They are married to someone else, the wrong gender, the wrong color, the wrong religion, whatever. Problem is the force that drives humans to keep the species on this earth is mighty. It doesn’t know the Rules and folks often risk everything for one moment of release.Reading this passage in your post reminded me how among all the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Arrogance), it is the one nearest to that “force that drives humans to keep the species on this earth,†i.e. Lust, that is actually considered the least ethically damnable of the lot. And, without including explicit acts of violence and exploitation which are recognizable as crimes, indulging the impulse of this force only becomes a sin when it is either damaging to some third party (e.g. adultery that destroys families) and/or when it is purely about self gratification without regard for anyone else’s welfare (including one’s partner) — all this according to Medieval thinkers who fretted over this sort of thing.I really like how Heartless City sounds out ethical complexities like these with both subtlety and clarity – a pretty rare feat in popular media. I like that they bring up the issue by dramatizing how two healthy human beings seeking to connect don’t know not to hurt each other as they try to navigate the crazy maze of Need and Desire that is so fundamental of the human experience…_________________________End repost.
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(VISITOR) AUTHOR'S NAME
Alexander
MESSAGE TIMESTAMP
17 december 2014, 07:32:15
AUTHOR'S IP LOGGED
62.210.78.179
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