K-netizens Dismayed at the New Character Posters for tvN Drama Melancholia Showing Im Soo Jung as Teacher and Lee Do Hyun as Student Staring at Each Other Intently

I understand that a story is a story and sometimes it’s taboo or uncomfortable. But in those instances the story doesn’t try to normalize or make it right, it’s narrating something as is. I don’t know which path upcoming tvN drama Melancholia will take, a story about a math teacher at a prestigious private school and her connection with a math prodigy high school student. Will it be merely admiration and kindred spirits during the school years and then romance after he becomes an adult, or will the romance be implied or explicit when she’s teaching him, and if so what does the story want us viewers to feel about it. I know if ANY teacher stared at my 16 year old son the way Im Soo Jung is staring at 17 year old (in the drama) Lee Do Hyun I would rush to that classroom and beat her senseless legal ramifications be damned. It makes me so uncomfortable, as it does to the K-netizens who have been quite upset and unhappy with the new character posters for that reason. The tagline in Lee Do Hyun’s poster says “Teacher or math, neither I can like.” So he likes her already, I hope she doesn’t like him back when she’s teaching him, major sigh.


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K-netizens Dismayed at the New Character Posters for tvN Drama Melancholia Showing Im Soo Jung as Teacher and Lee Do Hyun as Student Staring at Each Other Intently — 40 Comments

  1. Pingback: K-netizens Dismayed at the New Character Posters for tvN Drama Melancholia Showing Im Soo Jung as Teacher and Lee Do Hyun as Student Staring at Each Other Intently - Kpopnchill - All About K-pop News

  2. Ewww. Men would be called emotionally stunted pedophiles for doing this but it’s ok guys, look at how soulfully she is looking at her student! Kdramas would do well to remember that platonic love, friendship, mentorship etc do exist in the real world.

  3. Hope they can get a refund for the photo. Wow, they poster probably went through a couple layers of approval and the end result was eww. Please let her have a hot age-appropriate boyfriend while she was teaching during his school years.

  4. I’m a teacher by profession and stories like these do not ever sit well with me. Whether it’s a drama, film, novel, music video (heck even mangas) of whatever genre / gender / ethnicity, I drop it like a hot baked potato. -_- Just a big fat NO. Sorry. X_X

  5. Ewww…

    I have been reading about a teacher being charged for getting pregnant with her student right now this month. I am in Australia by the way.

    And to see this poster now. Omg.

  6. I think back then it wont become an issue because a lot of dramas use this kind of story but become successful instead, ex : I hear your voice about high school student and lawyer, doctors about high school student and teacher etc
    But this is 2021. This kind of story is so outdated

    • The relationship in IHYV was quite different. Big age gap, but no hierarchical relationship. She was not his teacher, or even his lawyer (at first). That absence of a power imbalance is important.

      The teacher-student dynamic is like the doctor-patient dynamic, which is why in most Western countries at least romantic relationships in those situations, even when apparently consensual, are treated as at the very least ethical violations, and often as legal violations.

    • Also in IHYV the relationship did not turn romantic on the FL part until much later in the story after they moved the ML into legal territory.

  7. They already put an indemnity clause on it by announcing on the get go that the story was inspired in part by French President Macron and his wife’s love story which imo is much worse because she was 40 and he was 15 and she was married with 3 kids. Just wikipedia it. At least he is 17. Eeks

      • urghhh, ‘inspired from THAT! urghh
        When I first read that story before, I barfed. and they glorified that as something of a romantic whatever, which I just can’t.
        All articles and features on that relationship, state that they only became a couple at 18, which probably was spun that way for his political career. And even then, she was still married when he was barely legal…
        so they were inspired by minor-adult taboo, teacher-student taboo and affair taboo. oh great going drama!!!

        And I was looking forward to the cast, but now I will skip this.

      • Google it. Its sooooo bad. Her first husband died last year. Pretty much a broken hearted man and a recluse. Apparently her first marriage was happy, but she was so besotted with a teenager she threw everything away. Bleh

  8. just curious, how is this different from biscuit teacher and star candy? i honestly asking because i did remember enjoying the show, and now i’m questioning my sense of morality…

    • It helped that the premise of the show was totally ridiculous when Gong Yoo is actually older than Gong Hyo Jin in real life. You could see why she’d be attracted to him.

  9. Ugh, I hope the entertainment industry will stop romanticizing teacher-student relationships. This should be R18, for a sensitive subject matter, right?

  10. I think it’s quite normal to have crush on your teacher/tutor and other but what important is what they do after that. How they resolve this feeling and this situation.

    • Lol calm doooown. We don’t even know if they will act up on their feelings. They might as well have just a platonic relationship during his high school years, while secretly being in love with each other. Maybe the people in the drama just think they are Lovers , which they aren’t, and therefore FL and ML get in trouble. So both the FL and ML feel wronged and 4 years later decides to clean their names and reveal the corruption.
      Just what I think

      • That is also bad as they are trying to normalize teacher-student relationship. There are so many cases where students are taken advantage of from the people who are suppose to protect them..!!!

  11. In REEL and REAL, age and power dynamics are so skewed and arghhhhh. And based on posters, this is a straight-up romance-centred drama. They were trying to get-away with the ewww on the 1st released poster with LDH in a trench coat, but still the plot and succeeding materials peeled the core of this teacher-student “romance” drama. *speechless

  12. How did this story even get approved? How did both actors think it was a good idea to sign on to this?

    Maybe it’ll turn out to be like My Mister where the outrage ended up being a nothingburger.

    • I do hope it will be like My Mister. But I do remember that My Mister did a second interview midway thru the drama just to emphasize that there is no romantic angle between two lead characters.

    • Yeah, that as my reaction. I’m actually watching more J than K these days but this is one genre I avoid like the plague. The marketing of this one feels very J too – unapologetically PRO the relationship. Just hideous.

    • I’m having nasty flashbacks to that drama Chugakusei Nikki, but that one was more awful because the romance started in middle school and there was even cheating lol.

  13. Outside of the premise, the poster itself is UGLY. Plus, the team keeps emphasising on how the Math teacher likes Math more than Art/Humanities. I’m not sure if they are trying to imply something or I’m just over-interpreting things. Just a lot of dumb stuff going on.

  14. The reason I couldn’t finish I Can Hear Your Voice was because of the age gap. This is even worse because she is his teacher.

    Maybe they are soul mates and even if she never intended to fall for her student it still is a big no for me.

    A few years ago, there was a young man who fell for his mother’s friend. Well after the TV news reported about the couple, they split up.

    If they are basing it on Macron and his wife, I must say it is quite disturbing to see them side by side.

    • One of my best friends married his wife she was around 40 and he was 21, about 5 years older than her son. They’re still together more than 20 years later – and he has a great relationship with his “grandkids” . So I have no problem with the age gap itself, it’s the power dynamics that are icky.

      • Lol calm doooown. We don’t even know if they will act up on their feelings. They might as well have just a platonic relationship during his high school years, while secretly being in love with each other. Maybe the people in the drama just think they are Lovers , which they aren’t, and therefore FL and ML get in trouble. So both the FL and ML feel wronged and 4 years later decides to clean their names and reveal the corruption.
        Just what I think

  15. Everything about this is vile. Trying to normalise a student teacher relationship with a minor and act as if there is something romantic about it. If the teacher does go after the son I hope his mum beats her arse and she goes to prison. How did the actors think this was acceptable to sign on for? I rarely wish this on a project but I hope it flops hard.

  16. why they feel dismayed?! Like what?! Why some people are so narrow minded? Can you just watch and see how this beautiful drama could be and be open minded about the story this drama trying to depict, Let’s just support them ppl. ?

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