So I have some thoughts on Her Private Life, but they are all disjointed, and if any beanies have some similar insights or can help bring some sense to all this, I would absolutely love to hear it.
Overall it seems like the show is trying to say something about the line between art and people, objects and humanity, and the feelings we have for each and both.
• Deok-mi’s fangirling isn’t of the violent/abusive kind, but it’s still an objectification of Si-an. My favorite evidence of this is the fact that you can look at him but not touch, hehehe, like he’s a painting in her museum. But also, she’s made tons of pieces of art of him. She’s literally turned the boy into art.
• That pairs well with the fact that she’s also an art curator—a person who collects marvelous objects for others to admire and appreciate. (I appreciate so much that the show avoids the “loves art but can’t relate to people” trope. This isn’t a show trying to draw a line in the sand; it’s not even making a hard-and-fast rule. She has great relationships with her BFF and family and with her fan-friends.)
• Another beanie pointed out that as Deok-mi’s relationship with Ryan develops, we see less of her fangirling over Si-an and more of her adoring Ryan. Some of that is just because the show’s a romance, of course, but I think there’s a message in it, too. (Interestingly enough, Ryan teases Deok-mi, saying how he wants to be her fanboy, which would imply seeing her more objectively, but I think that’s just a cute line, not to be taken too philosophically.)
• Si-an has his own arc, too; he starts out as an idol to Deok-mi and a means-to-and-end (the paintings) for Ryan, but he forcibly makes himself more human to Ryan, coming over unexpectedly, chatting genially, etc. As the arc progresses, he becomes pretty much as close a human to Ryan as another human can be (brothers). Deok-mi may still be his fan, but she’s also now his cohort (helping with the show, helping to reconcile Ryan and the mom). Si-an completes his arc (up through ep 14 at least) by reaching full personhood to both Ryan and Deok-mi, I think. I like that Si-an is, in effect, a rebellious piece of art lol.
• The paintings themselves: First, the fact that they were painted by an unknown person…they are art without a person, in a way. But the show revolves around the search for that person. The person behind the art. And when that person is found, these objects end up humanizing Lee Sol to Ryan and allowing him to connect to her. (I like very much that some of these paintings have to be restored.)
• Something should be said about the late photographer and his last picture; the anneyong photo. That’s a piece in this puzzle, for sure, somewhere…
Am I making any sense at all?? Well, anyway, just some thoughts. If you made it this far, then thank you!
All of the art pieces (and I include the people in this) begin as 2 dimensional objects. Admired for how they look, their shine, their color. But now we’ve reached the point where we see the depth and dimension in the art. The photos were a foreshadowing of this: there is always more than just what we see.
For many episodes, I’ve been talking to the screen and asking them when they were going to look at the reflections in the bubbles. The clues were there, just distorted.
Also, am I the only one to think that Ryan’s apartment is almost as if he is living inside a bubble? All those blues and with the gold accents. The way the light hits him, and other objects. Just me?
Even Deok-mi’s father’s rocks. To some (and I would be included in this) they are just big old rocks, but as we learned when he talked about them with Ryan, they are much more.
Her mother’s knitting is another form of art in the drama. Yes, its’s a bit kitschy, but it also provides warmth and color to their home. And, as we saw when she gifted the sweater she was knitting to Cindy, it is an expression of acceptance and protection.
(a mere like isn’t enough to show you & anothernicole how much I appreciate your takes and analysis on the show, the two of you brought out beauty that I hadn’t noticed. Thanks.)
yes! this is it! i knew there was some sort of key i was missing, and i feel like you’ve hit it. thank you thank you!
so, then, to continue digging into this, would it be fair to say that the show overall is a commentary on our role in art—and relationships? the responsibility(?) we have to humanize both. when we humanize art, we ourselves are enriched. the same with human relationships. (i’m suddenly reminded of seon-joo’s story: her husband who does love her, momentarily uses her as just an object–for his art, even—forgetting their humanity, and that threatens their relationship.)
I think what it may be trying to tell us is that art is something to be admired, but not necessarily in a reverential manner, but rather to embrace it as a something that is alive. We should live with the art. Not just see it, but feel it, try to understand the humanity beneath the surface of it. Art is more than the object. There is always something living and breathing beyond it. I mean, we may not understand or like it, but it’s there.
Even Cindy’s little project is making the art something tactile that the museum patrons will literally be able to touch, arrange, and make it something of their own.
Seon-joo and her husband are an interesting pair, and I think you’re onto something there. By commodifying her as an object for his own art in a grab for the sake of professional ambition, he forgot both his wife’s true value, and what he values in his own creativity. And I think in a way, the show is giving us three stages of a relationship. Deok-mi and Ryan’s glossy newness, Seon-joo and Seung-min in a crossroads that many couples find themselves in after a time, and Deok-mi’s parents, who appear to have little in common, and we probably wonder if they are together only out of habit.
Now that I think of it, the drama itself is also humanizing Kim Jae-wook in a manner that I don’t remember seeing him before. There is no denying the utter aesthetic beauty of the man, but we are now seeing him for a funny, cuddly, and downright more real person than I’ve seen before.
also YES TO THE BUBBLES. i was so frustrated trying to get closer looks to see what was in them. i just assumed there was some message or clues in them.
sidebar: deok-mi’s dad and mom, with their respective hobbies, are the undertold story in this drama. there is a wealth of richness there that could be explored and im always disappointed when they end up just as a grumpy-married-couple trope. i have secret high hopes that the orphaned little boy is some sort of key to their relationship’s trajectory for some reason, too. and their respective obsessions.
I was really hoping they would dig more into Deok-mi’s parent’s hobbies, which are to be frank (and I say this as someone who has done fiber crafts/arts for decades now), seen as low-brow, and not really art with the capital A. But they are passionate and creative in their creations too. They express love just as the photos and paintings do. They also, much like the photos in the early episode, as well as the bubble paintings, are expression of love that are, in a way, both reflection and deflection. If that makes any sense. All of the arts here, both separate the artists from their family/loves and yet are expressions of their feelings for them. I may be over thinking this.
not overthinking it at all (or if you are, i am too <3). i think their hobbies are deliberately chosen for the reasons you say. knitting can be seen as sort of "an old woman's craft" and stands in contrast to the highbrow art of the gallery. but as you say, textiles are passionate and creative and as old as painting, too, i would think.
the rock collecting is my favorite though. He obsesses over rocks and his daughter obsesses over a rock star. i'm dead. i think its a tongue-in-cheek reminder that rock stars are not rocks, that they are people (unlike rocks). but there is another level, too, and that's that rock collecting is a legit hobby too–with passion and creativity, and for all that rocks are not human, the way the dad feels about them is part of what makes him one.
(human, that is. even though the mom kinda treats him like a rock. oh halp. rabbit hole.)
ps. is it too much to say that rocks are also sort of the opposite of bubbles in a way? i don't know how significant that is; just a thought.
another woodalchi nicole recruit
May 24, 2019 at 10:08 AM
So I have some thoughts on Her Private Life, but they are all disjointed, and if any beanies have some similar insights or can help bring some sense to all this, I would absolutely love to hear it.
Overall it seems like the show is trying to say something about the line between art and people, objects and humanity, and the feelings we have for each and both.
• Deok-mi’s fangirling isn’t of the violent/abusive kind, but it’s still an objectification of Si-an. My favorite evidence of this is the fact that you can look at him but not touch, hehehe, like he’s a painting in her museum. But also, she’s made tons of pieces of art of him. She’s literally turned the boy into art.
• That pairs well with the fact that she’s also an art curator—a person who collects marvelous objects for others to admire and appreciate. (I appreciate so much that the show avoids the “loves art but can’t relate to people” trope. This isn’t a show trying to draw a line in the sand; it’s not even making a hard-and-fast rule. She has great relationships with her BFF and family and with her fan-friends.)
• Another beanie pointed out that as Deok-mi’s relationship with Ryan develops, we see less of her fangirling over Si-an and more of her adoring Ryan. Some of that is just because the show’s a romance, of course, but I think there’s a message in it, too. (Interestingly enough, Ryan teases Deok-mi, saying how he wants to be her fanboy, which would imply seeing her more objectively, but I think that’s just a cute line, not to be taken too philosophically.)
• Si-an has his own arc, too; he starts out as an idol to Deok-mi and a means-to-and-end (the paintings) for Ryan, but he forcibly makes himself more human to Ryan, coming over unexpectedly, chatting genially, etc. As the arc progresses, he becomes pretty much as close a human to Ryan as another human can be (brothers). Deok-mi may still be his fan, but she’s also now his cohort (helping with the show, helping to reconcile Ryan and the mom). Si-an completes his arc (up through ep 14 at least) by reaching full personhood to both Ryan and Deok-mi, I think. I like that Si-an is, in effect, a rebellious piece of art lol.
• The paintings themselves: First, the fact that they were painted by an unknown person…they are art without a person, in a way. But the show revolves around the search for that person. The person behind the art. And when that person is found, these objects end up humanizing Lee Sol to Ryan and allowing him to connect to her. (I like very much that some of these paintings have to be restored.)
• Something should be said about the late photographer and his last picture; the anneyong photo. That’s a piece in this puzzle, for sure, somewhere…
Am I making any sense at all?? Well, anyway, just some thoughts. If you made it this far, then thank you!
KSKalways
May 24, 2019 at 10:23 AM
great analysis and well-written!
(yes, it all made sense)
🙂
another woodalchi nicole recruit
May 24, 2019 at 10:31 AM
aw thanks! <3 <3 <3
egads aka Dame Maggie
May 24, 2019 at 7:14 PM
All of the art pieces (and I include the people in this) begin as 2 dimensional objects. Admired for how they look, their shine, their color. But now we’ve reached the point where we see the depth and dimension in the art. The photos were a foreshadowing of this: there is always more than just what we see.
For many episodes, I’ve been talking to the screen and asking them when they were going to look at the reflections in the bubbles. The clues were there, just distorted.
Also, am I the only one to think that Ryan’s apartment is almost as if he is living inside a bubble? All those blues and with the gold accents. The way the light hits him, and other objects. Just me?
Even Deok-mi’s father’s rocks. To some (and I would be included in this) they are just big old rocks, but as we learned when he talked about them with Ryan, they are much more.
Her mother’s knitting is another form of art in the drama. Yes, its’s a bit kitschy, but it also provides warmth and color to their home. And, as we saw when she gifted the sweater she was knitting to Cindy, it is an expression of acceptance and protection.
greenfields
May 24, 2019 at 11:30 PM
(a mere like isn’t enough to show you & anothernicole how much I appreciate your takes and analysis on the show, the two of you brought out beauty that I hadn’t noticed. Thanks.)
another woodalchi nicole recruit
May 25, 2019 at 4:57 PM
yes! this is it! i knew there was some sort of key i was missing, and i feel like you’ve hit it. thank you thank you!
so, then, to continue digging into this, would it be fair to say that the show overall is a commentary on our role in art—and relationships? the responsibility(?) we have to humanize both. when we humanize art, we ourselves are enriched. the same with human relationships. (i’m suddenly reminded of seon-joo’s story: her husband who does love her, momentarily uses her as just an object–for his art, even—forgetting their humanity, and that threatens their relationship.)
Am I taking it too far?
egads aka Dame Maggie
May 25, 2019 at 5:31 PM
I think what it may be trying to tell us is that art is something to be admired, but not necessarily in a reverential manner, but rather to embrace it as a something that is alive. We should live with the art. Not just see it, but feel it, try to understand the humanity beneath the surface of it. Art is more than the object. There is always something living and breathing beyond it. I mean, we may not understand or like it, but it’s there.
Even Cindy’s little project is making the art something tactile that the museum patrons will literally be able to touch, arrange, and make it something of their own.
Seon-joo and her husband are an interesting pair, and I think you’re onto something there. By commodifying her as an object for his own art in a grab for the sake of professional ambition, he forgot both his wife’s true value, and what he values in his own creativity. And I think in a way, the show is giving us three stages of a relationship. Deok-mi and Ryan’s glossy newness, Seon-joo and Seung-min in a crossroads that many couples find themselves in after a time, and Deok-mi’s parents, who appear to have little in common, and we probably wonder if they are together only out of habit.
Now that I think of it, the drama itself is also humanizing Kim Jae-wook in a manner that I don’t remember seeing him before. There is no denying the utter aesthetic beauty of the man, but we are now seeing him for a funny, cuddly, and downright more real person than I’ve seen before.
another woodalchi nicole recruit
May 25, 2019 at 5:03 PM
also YES TO THE BUBBLES. i was so frustrated trying to get closer looks to see what was in them. i just assumed there was some message or clues in them.
sidebar: deok-mi’s dad and mom, with their respective hobbies, are the undertold story in this drama. there is a wealth of richness there that could be explored and im always disappointed when they end up just as a grumpy-married-couple trope. i have secret high hopes that the orphaned little boy is some sort of key to their relationship’s trajectory for some reason, too. and their respective obsessions.
egads aka Dame Maggie
May 25, 2019 at 5:13 PM
I was really hoping they would dig more into Deok-mi’s parent’s hobbies, which are to be frank (and I say this as someone who has done fiber crafts/arts for decades now), seen as low-brow, and not really art with the capital A. But they are passionate and creative in their creations too. They express love just as the photos and paintings do. They also, much like the photos in the early episode, as well as the bubble paintings, are expression of love that are, in a way, both reflection and deflection. If that makes any sense. All of the arts here, both separate the artists from their family/loves and yet are expressions of their feelings for them. I may be over thinking this.
another woodalchi nicole recruit
May 25, 2019 at 5:27 PM
not overthinking it at all (or if you are, i am too <3). i think their hobbies are deliberately chosen for the reasons you say. knitting can be seen as sort of "an old woman's craft" and stands in contrast to the highbrow art of the gallery. but as you say, textiles are passionate and creative and as old as painting, too, i would think.
the rock collecting is my favorite though. He obsesses over rocks and his daughter obsesses over a rock star. i'm dead. i think its a tongue-in-cheek reminder that rock stars are not rocks, that they are people (unlike rocks). but there is another level, too, and that's that rock collecting is a legit hobby too–with passion and creativity, and for all that rocks are not human, the way the dad feels about them is part of what makes him one.
(human, that is. even though the mom kinda treats him like a rock. oh halp. rabbit hole.)
ps. is it too much to say that rocks are also sort of the opposite of bubbles in a way? i don't know how significant that is; just a thought.
egads aka Dame Maggie
May 25, 2019 at 5:37 PM
Rocks, rock stars, I’m also dead. LOL.
I think we’ll learn more when we find out exactly what the childhood connection is.
egads aka Dame Maggie
May 25, 2019 at 5:33 PM
Good grief, I just realized Deok-mi’s parents are literally using sticks and stones as shields.
another woodalchi nicole recruit
May 27, 2019 at 5:32 PM
waaaat!!!!!!