Thread by @nyxthings, Koo Seo Ryeong and the Dangers of Labels and Images(Don't just read [...]

Koo Seo Ryeong and the Dangers of Labels and Images

(Don't just read the title, read the whole thing so you'd understand my point!)

#TheKingEternalMonarch #TKEM #KooSeoRyeong

So in today's episode of 'thoughts nobody asked for' we're going to be talking about #TheKingEternalMonarch's second female lead, Koo Seo Ryeong.

I just wanna say beforehand that I BELIEVE THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH SELLING FISH OR BEING THE DAUGHTER OF SOMEONE WHO SELLS FISH

Who is Koo Seo Ryeong?

KSR is the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Corea. Not only is she the first female prime minister, but she's also divorced & the youngest PM which is the exact opposite of the usual image we have of politicians: old, married, and male.

She seems like the perfect woman. She's smart, strong, and capable so why? Why is she hellbent on being queen when she's a queen in her own right?

She wants the motherf*cking title, everyone.

KSR lived in the fish markets of KOC where she was raised by her loving mother.

Being poor didn't stop her from studying hard, getting into a good school, become a respected news anchor, marry in and out of a chaebol family, and get into politics.

However, despite all these struggles, people only remember her for one thing: she's the fish vendor's daughter

Don't get me wrong, she's not ashamed of being a fish vendor's daughter. She even used that to her advantage during her campaign and still embraces that part of her very much

(ref. ep 2, after a stressful day she finds peace in her mom's home, asks for comfort food, and rests)

but she is aware that being poor is just one aspect of her character and she wants people to stop making it seem like that's all she was, is, and ever will be.

(1 character that I believe shares this same problem is WWWSK's Goo Gwinam, who's fine with being poor but wishes for everyone to stop bringing it up every time.)

She probably did try to break free from this one definition-image during the early years of her career but as we can

see, even after becoming PM, her peers refuse to see her as an equal and even resort to sexist and discriminatory remarks every time she wishes to discuss something. This lack of acknowledgement probably made her feel that her journey was invalid and labels were the only thing +

that mattered. Seeing that royalty was the only position higher and much more permanent than PM, that's when she started to pursue the king.

Near the end of her term, I believe that she yielded to the fear of losing, getting stripped off of the title, and going back to being

'just a fish vendor's daughter'. Seeing that the King will never make her the queen, her desperation led her to join hands with Lee Rim and do some evil stuff along the way.

( I know there's a chance that the one we see now is actually Eun-a, but the behavior is too on-point +

for it to be somebody else)

Either way, I believe that KSR's struggle is that she's deprived of the kind of acknowledgment people of her caliber usually get due to her circumstances.

Does her struggle make her a relatable character? Yes.

Does it excuse her from her actions? No

She should still be held accountable for her actions.

All in all, KSR is the perfect example of how one definition-labels and images can be limiting and disruptive to even the strongest of characters. I personally believe that it's futile to describe one person in a single word+

as people are designed to be more complex than that.

In conclusion: Yes, she is Koo Seo Ryeong, the fish vendor's daughter, but she's also so much more than just that.

#TheKingEternalMonarch

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