[The horror] Foxy hearts

by Guest Beanie

Master’s Sun

By night owl

My grandmother was said to have seen a few ghosts. Because of my grandfather’s job, the family had to move around every few years. Finding an affordable house to rent that could accommodate the large family meant some of the houses they could afford had a bit of a reputation.

My grandmother was just an ordinary housewife but she had the heart of a tiger. Unlike K-drama characters like Gong-shil in Master’s Sun, she was not perturbed by such incidents because of her strong religious faith. Within our culture (I live in Asia), no one dismissed or mocked her experience. My father and his siblings were always very serious and earnest when they recounted stories about their mother. Even when I shared with my colleagues, they simply listened and found the stories as creepy as I did. One said, “there are so many things we don’t know when we go to check a house to rent, no?”

So when you come from a family as well as a cultural view that believes there are things we do not necessarily understand or see, watching supernatural dramas can be a bit tricky as the lens is different. You are always checking the first few minutes to see if the mood, tone, music, lighting is right before you watch. I like sleeping at night and I don’t want to be petrified and scared out of my wits in my own home.

Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child

Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child seemed interesting and the initial episode was not scary. Based on a folktale, it was a sageuk about a nine-tailed fox creature named Gu San-daek who marries a human and asks him to make a promise. She gives birth to a daughter Yeon-yi and is waiting for the 10th year when she and her daughter can turn fully human. However, her husband breaks his promise, thus cursing San-daek and their daughter to a shape shifting existence caught between being human and gumiho. In anguish, he kills himself and the mother and daughter duo are forced to move around.

They come to a village where a kind official Lord Yoon takes an interest in them. He has a very spoilt and bratty daughter Cho-ok who suffers from some disease which cannot be healed. The shaman tells him that his daughter is under a curse and she is bound to die unless he finds another child born on the same day, month and year as his daughter. The shaman’s solution – eating the liver of that child will cure Cho-ok! His household does not initially understand his interest in San-daek and Yeon-Yi. On learning about the shaman’s words, his wife Lady Yang soon comes around and even encourages her husband to form a relationship with San-daek and ensure the mother and daughter stay. While Cho-ok’s parents wait for the right time as dictated by the shaman to strike, the two girls (now step-sisters) are entangled in rivalry and competition.

Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child

Watching the drama had me on the edge of the seat. You keep telling yourself that Lord Yoon and Lady Yang are normal good parents for the most part and surely they won’t go to such extents to save their child? You are horrified to watch Lord Yoon form a connection with Yeon-Yi and San-daek but yet continue with his plan. Lady Yang keeps convincing herself and him that their child’s life is more important than another. When San-daek loses Yeon-yi, she vows revenge on the humans and thus begins her journey.

In the horror genre, you expect to be spooked by the supernatural creatures. However, in this drama, I was most terrified by the humans in the story. Cho-ok’s parents were not viciously cruel people but just normal flawed human characters. Yet their love and concern for their sick daughter motivated them to do cruel acts.

Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child

Watching the drama made me think about the lengths some parents will go for their child and whether that is healthy. Rather than the supernatural, it was the human characters in the story that should have come with a warning sign on their head. So what does it tell us about human nature? What does it mean when a human heart can be more scarier than a supernatural creature? It had me reflecting for days.

We generally imagine cruel acts coming from an evil place and hearts but what about when it comes from love? How do we process that? Therein lies the tragedy of the story.

Gumiho: Tale of the Fox’s Child

 
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