Go Ara, L, and Sung Dong Il are Curious Judicial Oddities in Preview for jTBC Drama Mis Hammurabi

I really love the official drama poster for jTBC drama Miss Hammurabi. It delivers a scene full of emotional and life as Go Ara drags along her more stodgy and senior judges L and Sung Dong Il in a local market backdrop. I still think the casting of two out of the three leads is way wack but then I remember the times I liked L in My Lovely Girl and Go Ara in Answer Me 1994 and have a smidgeon of hopefulness. Miss Hammurabi will air in the Mon-Tues time slot for jTBC, a good spot for a legal drama centering solely around judges in the notoriously privileged and insular South Korean judicial community. I thought J-dorama did a great job of peeling of the veneer of judges in Japan being unbiased but it went a little too far. I’d love to see what Miss Hammurabi has to say about being a judge in South Korea ranging from young, academic, to a seasoned veteran.

Miss Hammurabi preview:

 


Comments

Go Ara, L, and Sung Dong Il are Curious Judicial Oddities in Preview for jTBC Drama Mis Hammurabi — 12 Comments

  1. Go Ara is not watchable, though. SSH finally had a good acting drama in Black but she ruined it with her acting. Honestly. It is so hard to watch her. I’d rather watch Suzy than watch her, and that’s saying a lot. I wish they have this role to someone else. She will ruin it for everyone else.

    • He ruined himself alone though lol i’m not a fan of Go Ara’s acting skills but SSH was way worse than her in black.

  2. I’ve liked Go Ara in Reply 1994 and Dance Subaru and apart from her incessant waterworks in Hwarang I still like her as an actress. However after seeing the trailer for MH I was kinda put off by her wearing a burqa and this is in no reflection of her as the character so I’m gonna take aim for the scriptwriter and PD. I don’t need to understand Korean to know that in this particular scene; is she doing this in jest? If so and if this was the writers intention then can I write that you Mr or Ms Writer absolutely suck big time. The PD, production company and JBTC did you not learn anything from ‘The man who dies to live’? I am bitterly disappointed. And if any of you respond that I’m over reacting? Well yes I am. Being a person of colour myself; I feel outraged when I see cultural misappropriation of a significant piece of dress worn by Muslim women being bandied about in a Korean drama for a few cheap laughs. It’s not funny not a damn iota and I suggest that these creatives wise up and become more informed about the world beyond Korea. Thank you Mz Koala for the post though and for the opportunity to comment. My original comment on Asianwiki got pulled an hour after being posted.

    • I interpeted the burqa scene like this: in the second teaser, Sung Dongil’s character criticized Go Ara’s outfit saying that it’s too fancy and the skirt too short for a judge. So I guess she retaliated by wearing a burqa because she was saying that it’s inappropriate for women to show their shoulders to the horrified expression of her male co-workers. So I guess this scene was dealing with slut shaming in a way women have to accommodate their outfits to their male colleagues at work and they still deal with criticism even they dress accordingly.
      However I do agree that cultural appropriation should not be employed, even it’s for laughs, since it’s offending international audiences when they support the Korean wave and it appears the drama writers do not respect them.

    • The word misappropriation is used so incorrectly when talking about culture. Must be the word of the moment. How about just seeing it as a Kdrama for what it is, funny fantasy tomakw you forget your worries. Why get so worked up about something that is not even your culture to begin with?

      • @Anon -Oh okay you wanna go there? I guess that’s what happens when you educate the savages. Obviously
        you must be of ‘white privilege’ to comment like that. Why are you so
        Mis informed? And for your information I might not be of the Islamic faith but my brother has adopted the religion and way of life, so guess what? I’ll call it the way I see it. It is misappropriation, nothing new about it. Just that a few of us will actually say/write it when we do encounter it. Korean dramas are watched globally and have a huge fan base and if they’re going to mock a particular group then get ready for the retaliation and backlash. And yes your tag name is relevant as ‘Anon’ so best you stay anonymous for this particular forum. Wearing a burqa for fun for screen purposes is not funny – it’s offensive and an insult to Musim women around the world. Seriously go enlighten yourself.

      • Misappropriation is indeed the latest greatest trend by those who dare not think… As a black American I find it’s a great way of getting folks to back down, of bullying. ‘White privilege’???? Why? What makes a person commenting on a Korean comedic moment, white privilege??? And if ‘misappropriation’ means to steal without permission, from whom would we get permission and how would we assure we’re got the right owner? This teaser, this scene looks like a laugh and if comedy has to beg permission, would it ever be funny?

      • @ladywant2know – I know where you’re coming from and respect your response. However there are many ways to find comedic elements in anything without resorting to mockery of any race, culture, religion and I can assure you I do think before I post here. But I feel disheartened enough to state a fact that the scene where Go Ara wears a burqa – that is not funny in the context as it means to mock and offend then I’m standing by it. Yes, you are right no one should seek permission to make people laugh but at what price? To the detriment and degradation of another culture? You might call them buzz words – misappropriation; white privilege and that my intention is to bully? Quite the contrary, I’m here to inform that a certain scene in MH was not the least bit funny and I am of Pacific Island descent and if this left unchecked; who’s next on the mockery wheel of Korean scriptwriters? ❤️

    • Thank you so much for pointing this out. I actually thought no one would notice it. It’s rather disrespectful the way they represented this specific garment. In addition they failed to consider that not all Muslim women wear the burqua, so what they are trying to suggest is that Muslim women are homogeneous, wearing a long black veil. Truth is it’s a cultural thing and nothing to do with religion. So in my opinion they not only showed disrespect but also a lack of knowledge and understanding on Muslim women garments.
      Seems like they ignore diversity.
      Anyways thanks again for pointing it out ??

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