After reading the comments section under the Mr. Sunshine episode 8 recap, I feel some types of ways regarding how people so differently view Gu Dong-mae. I understand both sides of the equation, those who see the wounded/tormented man who kills ruthlessly, harbors love for Ae-shin, and is aligned politically with the Japanese—and the ruthless, obsessive man who comes off as creepy, stalker-ish, and didn’t hesitate to still shoot Ae-shin. People are torn over the fact that he grabbed Ae-shin’s skirt: is that action romantic? Obsessive? Dangerous? I also saw some people suggesting that some viewers are confusing Dong-mae for Yoo Yeon-seok and being blinded by his looks, thus not judging Dong-mae purely based on the character we see in the show. But then there are some people who don’t find YYS attractive and haven’t seen him in previous works before, so it’s really a mixed bag.

If anyone pays attention to my fan wall, it’s obvious I fall into the “I love Gu Dong-mae” camp, but it’s not blind love for his character. I see the flaws, I see the immensely deep flaws he has, but when looking at his decisions through his lens, I can see how he justifies them. Dong-mae may come off as a bloodthirsty villain to some, but I don’t think he’s evil. Yes, he shot Ae-shin, but he purposely chose not to deliver a killing shot because he couldn’t bring himself to kill the girl he likes and finds intriguing. She’s the only one who can cut him with words and be able to walk away after the confrontation. Dong-mae is incredibly complex and ties with Eugene for most traumatic childhood.

I could probably write an entire paper on Dong-mae’s good and bad qualities and what makes him so enthralling that people are so divided, but I’ll stop here. Feel free to chime in if you want. I welcome talking to people who have a different opinion regarding Dong-mae. I personally like him a whole ton despite recognizing his antagonistic actions, and I’m not afraid to admit it. As long as we’re respectful of one another and debate likewise, I have no problem with the fact that there are quite a few people out there who verbally admit they are baffled that people love Dong-mae.

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    I love Dong-mae—okay, love is the wrong word to use, but let’s just use it for simplicity’s sake—not because he is likeable—he’s nowhere near that—but because his character is villainous and his villainy makes sense. (That makes it sound like I’m twisted, but no.) I’m just the sort of person who loves evenly matched characters—like the evil ones in Nirvana in Fire, man, the bad guys there are BAD—it’s much more satisfying and exciting to see the good and bad guys try to one-up each other when they are evenly matched. Strong lead character/s deserve a villain that is at par with them, and vice-versa, and Dong-Mae fits that role perfectly.

    His story also makes sense. He just didn’t wake up one day thinking, ‘Just so that there’s a bad guy in the story here, from this day forward I’m gonna be bad.’ He chose to be that because of the ignominy of his past, and to make people pay for the abuse he and his family suffered—I’m not condoning him let’s be clear on that—it’s just that story-wise his trajectory to villain territory is not illogical. In addition, although there are other characters in the story that pose incredible threat to Ae-shin and what she believes in and holds dear—like those Evil Ministers—their actions do not threaten her in an intimate and personal level—they have always done bad deeds even before she was born and will continue to do so—but Dong-mae on the other hand presents a real threat to Ae-shin because of his close proximity to her and his knowledge of her on a personal level. Drama logic is confounding enough, but at least with Dong-mae they gave us a reason to believe that his choice didn’t just come out of nowhere, and just as you said, looking at his actions through his eyes his logic makes sense, and that his being a threat to Ae-shin is not something purely coincidental.

    Also personally, I’d pull my hair out if suddenly he decides to let go of the injustices of the past because of Ae-shin—I’d rather have a consistently believable bad character with no room for redemption whatsoever, than a half-baked illogical redemption arc merely for redemption’s sake. Nothing is more fearsome than someone who has tendency for violence who is also definitely neither a pushover nor a fool—and that’s what makes him a really scary fellow and a perfect foil to our good guys.

    Whew! 🙂

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      What you said about heroes and villains needing to be on par with each other, I agree completely. Dong-mae is powerful and not afraid to get messy, but so is Eugene. They come from very similar beginnings, have sided with countries outside their own, and do what they want when they want it. They complement each other very well, you’re so right.

      I will also pull my hair out if he does something inconsistent with his character. People are pretty consistent in real life. To have Dong-mae do a 180 because of true love or some other bs would be really cheap to his characterization and to us, the audience.

      Great points you brought up!

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    Hiiiiii! Okay, I don’t have a lovely essay like yours, which is a great one, but I’ll start the ball rolling with a loose thought or two (btw, why didn’t you put this on the recap page?)

    One thought is that Dong Mae is incapable of loving Ae Sin, what he has is a maelstrom of warring passions that have become obsession over her. He’s a character that’s too far gone to be able to be “saved” by her love and go live a normal life out in the country, for example. “Just” love, even an epic love, doesn’t begin to cover everything he’s feeling. He is obsessed.

    Thought two is that if Dong Mae were being played by, say, the actor who is playing the blacksmith I suspect there might be a whole different level of viewer engagement about the character and his motivations. Just throwing that out there. 😉

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      I saw some pretty heated comments and threads on the recap page and decided I didn’t want to deal with that, just in case. The fan wall has always been a really safe, respectful place for me, I think because it’s mostly the serious Beanies who interact on the fan wall, whereas recap comments can get gnarly on occasion, especially for the really popular dramas. Like, there was a troll in the episode 8 comments! A troll! I haven’t seen a troll on Dramabeans in a long time!

      I do see Dong-mae bordering on obsession with Ae-shin. I think he feels an immense amount of gratitude to her for saving him as a boy, mixed with guilt because he’s aligned himself with the Japanese and Ae-shin is so not about that life. But then there’s anger that she can’t understand his actions. And interest in her because she doesn’t cower in fear like everyone else. His “love” for her comes from a much darker place than Eugene, for example. He definitely can’t be saved by her, as you pointed out. With 16 episodes to go, he could certainly turn into a much darker villain and become a far greater danger to Ae-shin. He’s a tricky character with so many different emotions to grapple with and that guide him.

      I think you’re also totally correct that Dong-mae would come off differently if played by a different actor. While a character might be the same on paper, it’s the actor’s job to bring them to life. At this point I wouldn’t want anyone else but Yoo Yeon-seok playing him, but Dong-mae could seem a lot more villainous or sympathetic depending on the actor.

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        😆IKR, a troll on DB! It was like, no one knew whether to laugh or scold or pull up a chair for a closer look!

        I think Dong Mae is both grateful beyond words and repelled by Ae Shin’s power to save him as a child (she, a younger child and a girl at that). He can adore and admire the Lady Bountiful that she’s become (probably somewhat through his influence) and still detest everything she stands for. He’s committed to the Japanese but I think at this point they just represent money and modernization, it’s not clear yet that they intend to crush the Korean identity. I wonder if he knows that her parents were in Japan as part of the Righteous Army. And you’re so right that it drives him mad that she’s not afraid of him. Well, anyway, I’m pretty committed to Dong Mae being a bad guy so I’ll likely stay on that side of the fence and be looking for that in his behavior.

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        I also agree that it would have garnered a different reaction if the character was played by other than YYS. I may still be invested but that is subject to the performance of the actor on how he is going to deliver DM. I can’t helped being fussy on that, it’s a matter of life or death to me…hehehe…. Thus far, I am really really glad and thankful that YYS picked this up and nailed it. He became DM and I am thanking drama god for giving him this opportunity, and us the satisfaction. Truth is, I think complex and emotionally heavy character is what YYS forte is. I want to see him in an action role next, something like The Man From Nowhere or War of Arrows. That guy has a black belt and I don’t even know it until it was mentioned in an article on Mr. Sunshine! Dang… babe this is one perfect guy/bachelor. He can clean and cook, build your furniture, drive you around, a barista, a perfect travel planner cum companion, a sommelier, a gardener, he can protect you with those taekwondo moves and he will buy you french candies. Ok I am gonna shut up now. *hide!*

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          Now that you mention it, I would also love to see him in a true action role and show off his blackbelt skills. Or else a really fluffy rom-com because I need that contrast! But he does seem to excel in playing much more emotionally-heavy characters. He has a gravitas about him and great presence.

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    Some people just can’t handle complex characters. It’s frustrating for me that there are people who don’t want to acknowledge that a person can be all those things you mentioned (i.e. good, bad, etc.) It’s the same with the story especially those who give flak on how the story is somehow pro-Japanese. As that op-ed in Korea Times mentioned, when you think of it, Koreans just want their side of the story told. And I’m not saying their feelings are not valid. I’m just saying Dong-mae’s story could’ve happened. As @annerl says, his story makes sense. It’s a possibility. Also, I believe there’s good and bad in any side when it comes to war. It’s murky at best, never black and white.

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      I personally love morally gray characters. Very few people in real life are 100% good or 100% bad. (100% bad might be harder to fathom, but if you think about it on a large AND small scale, it’s usually true. Usually.) And I wish more people also liked really complex characters. War changes people and forces them to make hard decisions, and people mainly just want to survive another day, so they’ll do anything to achieve that. Murky is such a good word.

      It’s also true that there were people in history who were pro-Japanese, and, as you said, Dong-mae’s story could definitely have happened. I’m glad Kim Eun-sook took the risk and wrote a complicated, historical political drama. I’ve only seen her other shows DotS and Goblin, but Mr. Sunshine is definitely the heftiest so far in terms of characterization and plot, and I am all for it. If there weren’t so many lingering shots and people staring at each other for minutes on end, I wouldn’t be able to tell you with confidence this was a KES drama!

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        Dong Mae’s story could definitely have happened, and I’d really love to see what did happen to take that butcher’s boy to Japan, make him literate in two languages, a swordsman, a crack shot and the head of a yakuza gang. And I agree that rarely is anyone all good (Melanie in GWTW?) or ever all bad (but it’s easier to write characters that are simpler), and there were lots of pro-Japanese Koreans. Murky is a great word and I dread to think how quickly I would compromise my convictions in anything approaching a war situation.

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    Ahh, that ep 8 recap page. I put a nail to that coffin, it’s giving me headache trying to be understood, I knew I should not even try *sigh*

    Likewise, I see DM as a very complex and flawed character, like the other flawed characters in the drama. But what makes him interesting and intriguing to me as compared to the rest, is how consistent the character has been so far, along with his backstory, in which I can totally relate and understand, was what made him who he is now. Maybe I am just a logical person but this type of character is my cup of tea from ages ago, and I just cannot turn a blind eye when I come across another such as this. It makes me think hard of what he will and will not do next. It makes me look for more substances than what are more apparent to others. When there are views that see him as pure bloodthirsty, bullish villain, I always wonder how come those scenes that showed another personality of his (e.g. those scenes while with HN and the mute geisha) escaped them. These scenes, I believe were meant to give a different perspective of his character. He was not a bad guy who woke up one day and decided he needed to kill to satisfy his thirst for blood, I agree to this. So, no I don’t see him as 100% evil. Maybe it is just me, but I also can see from his many interactions with his clients that he despises the Japanese he took jobs from. I find it is really satisfying to try to get into his mind and outguess his next course of action. I also agree that I don’t want EC, DM and HS to fight merely because of a girl and her dream. But for them to do it, finding the reason and believing it is a just cause on their own accord. Like how DM started questioning himself in ep 9 from the interaction he had with the righteous army guy. Like how EC still didn’t 100% buy AS’s motivation, hence we saw him asking her the very question I raised before while commenting on the inconsistency of her actions towards DM and EC. Flaws aside, I like that the drama makes me think a lot about many different perspectives, as a person and a viewer.

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      Dong-mae is a consistent character, as are all the characters in this show thus far, and I hope they all stay that way, that they grow over the course of the story but don’t become unrecognizable. Because of their consistent characterization, it is a lot of fun to predict what they’ll do next and how they’ll react to various situations.

      I view Dong-mae as aligning himself with Japanese for money and power, and initially because he harbored resentment toward Joseon, but it does appear in more recent episodes that he likes them less and less. It would be interesting if he eventually decides to ditch his allegiance with the Japanese, though I doubt that’ll happen anytime soon. He’ll probably come to the conclusion himself but not cut off his foreign ties for a long time.

      I really like Mr. Sunshine for being such an engaging show. I haven’t been so verbal about a show in a while, spending a lot of time picking it apart and writing essays like this, haha.

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        Same here…Mr. Sunshine has successfully made me come back to writing. I like that I can share my thoughts and have a good discussion with you all. ^_^

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    Reading this gave me so much life!!!! I wish Drama Beans had a PM system so that I could privately message you all my feelings over Dong-mae~

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