Historical inaccuracy, or dramatization?
The following is interesting to me because I don’t know much of the Chosun background during which Hong Gil Dong takes place, and because I had this exact conversation with my parents in discussing the drama’s historical accuracy. On a separate level, there’s also the question of how many liberties one can take when dramatizing factual events, which is probably something that’ll never be answered to satisfaction.
Personally, I vacillate on how much I care about historical purity in terms of a fictionalized bit of entertainment. On one hand, I’m perfectly fine with new takes on history I’m familiar with (i.e., Western history) because I know enough of the factual version to be able to distinguish the differences in the fictionalized version. On the other hand, I’m a little leery when concerning histories I’m less versed in, because I have little way of knowing how much is poetic license and therefore a contradiction of verified fact.
In any case, my parents (who’ve only seen a few scenes here and there of Hong Gil Dong) voiced the same issues with the series’ departure from history, and in particular the portrayal of Kwang Whe, who’s based on the king Kwanghaegun (1574-1641). My mother’s more forgiving, although she had issues with the disparity between truth and drama, while my father haaaates it, citing Kwanghaegun’s widely recognized brilliance and political pragmatism. The Crazy Kwang Whe routine has gotten old for me too, and I don’t even have the same kind of knowledge base to offend; I can only imagine how grating it would be for those who disagree with the portrayal.
I hope I’ve managed the translation decently; I did a lot of researching and cross-checking to make sure the facts and names aligned. As always, corrections for mistakes are welcome.
Hong Gil Dong criticized for distorting Kwanghaegun’s history
KBS2 Television’s Wednesday-Thursday fusion sageuk drama Hong Gil Dong, which has risen to the #1 rating position, is gathering criticism for distorting history. …
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Tags: drama production, Hong Gil Dong, Korean history, sageuk dramas
