You love me? No matter what kind of person I am?
So, I've been spending the evening of working through my Miss Ripley backlog.
You know, a lot of people have said that even though they like MR, they can't really root for anyone, but I root for Miri to the inevitable dead end - sure she is broken, manipulative, scary but she has been so abused by the world and is so desperate to escape her true self, I cannot help but want her to get what she wants. And I genuinely ship Miri/Yuhyun, though chances of them ending up happily together is approximately 2%.
Because their scenes, if shown to someone who has seen no other MR scenes and does not know the story, would look so typically kdrama-romantic. But to me, they give me shudders. And no, it's not because Miri is using Yuhyun. Sure, she starts out using him for security, position and money he can provide, but she ends up falling in love with him for real - the bulk of their romantic scenes are post ep 7 or so, which is when she began falling for him in earnest. And yeah, it might seem he falls in love with a mirage built on her lies, but not really because he was obsessed with her before he knew anything about her and stayed obsessed after he knew everything - clearly he was drawn to her no matter what. No, it's because the two of them are a walking, talking, breathing personification of the bad deeds of the past generation coming to roost - of karma. If Miri's mother and Yuhyun's father weren't such soulless, selfish monsters, who ruined the life of a young child just so they could satisfy their greed/lust respectively, none of this would have happened. Miri and Yuhyun would have either (a) never met (b) met and Miri would have been a normal girl instead of borderline-sociopath, emotionally destroyed wreck of a person as a result of child abuse and forced prostitution (c) grew up as a brother and sister.
But instead they are getting punished - Yuhyun's father might see his business empire get dragged down by scandal and certainly will watch his only child be hurt beyond bearing. And Miri's mother has to live with the fact that her greed has destroyed her own daughter and that she accomplished this downfall with her own two hands.
Karma is a bitch and it couldn't have happened to more deserving people. Too bad Yuhyun and Miri get chewed up by its wheels in the process.
I really really want Miri to find peace at the end - I don't care if it's with Yuhyun or by herself or some other way (let's face it, how likely is the former?) but I just want her to finally be OK with being in her own skin. Maybe the fact that she was loved despite the truth of her by both Yuhyun and Myung Hoon and even Hee Joo, would help her find that equilibrium.
Side note - I've seen comments all over complaining that Miri/Yuhyun are oddly pure - not even any mouth kissing to satisfy the fangirls. But to me, this makes perfect sense! The fact that the sex side is pretty much absent, that he treats her as this pure thing, imo, is in large part what allows her to fall for him and be vulnerable with him - she's a sex worker. She's been someone who has been objectified all her life and/or had to use sex to survive and get her way - whether with clients, Hirayama, disgusting wannabe employers, or even Myung Hoon - she was either pawed or (best case) used her sexuality as a tool. I think, any relationship that is strongly sexual, is automatically tainted for her, it would automatically make her put her 'game face' on, shield herself and play a role. The fact that Yuhyun never even makes the slightest move in that direction, not even when she was trying to get him that way in ep 6 in her hotel room, not even post-engagement when you think he'd feel confident about it - I think that is a huge draw point for her. I am not saying she could never enjoy sex (though tbh, she'd probably need therapy) but the fact that this isn't what he wants from her above all is huge huge huge for her - he sees her as she wants to be - worthy of respect, pure, untouched.
Have some caps:
And a MV:
You know, a lot of people have said that even though they like MR, they can't really root for anyone, but I root for Miri to the inevitable dead end - sure she is broken, manipulative, scary but she has been so abused by the world and is so desperate to escape her true self, I cannot help but want her to get what she wants. And I genuinely ship Miri/Yuhyun, though chances of them ending up happily together is approximately 2%.
Because their scenes, if shown to someone who has seen no other MR scenes and does not know the story, would look so typically kdrama-romantic. But to me, they give me shudders. And no, it's not because Miri is using Yuhyun. Sure, she starts out using him for security, position and money he can provide, but she ends up falling in love with him for real - the bulk of their romantic scenes are post ep 7 or so, which is when she began falling for him in earnest. And yeah, it might seem he falls in love with a mirage built on her lies, but not really because he was obsessed with her before he knew anything about her and stayed obsessed after he knew everything - clearly he was drawn to her no matter what. No, it's because the two of them are a walking, talking, breathing personification of the bad deeds of the past generation coming to roost - of karma. If Miri's mother and Yuhyun's father weren't such soulless, selfish monsters, who ruined the life of a young child just so they could satisfy their greed/lust respectively, none of this would have happened. Miri and Yuhyun would have either (a) never met (b) met and Miri would have been a normal girl instead of borderline-sociopath, emotionally destroyed wreck of a person as a result of child abuse and forced prostitution (c) grew up as a brother and sister.
But instead they are getting punished - Yuhyun's father might see his business empire get dragged down by scandal and certainly will watch his only child be hurt beyond bearing. And Miri's mother has to live with the fact that her greed has destroyed her own daughter and that she accomplished this downfall with her own two hands.
Karma is a bitch and it couldn't have happened to more deserving people. Too bad Yuhyun and Miri get chewed up by its wheels in the process.
I really really want Miri to find peace at the end - I don't care if it's with Yuhyun or by herself or some other way (let's face it, how likely is the former?) but I just want her to finally be OK with being in her own skin. Maybe the fact that she was loved despite the truth of her by both Yuhyun and Myung Hoon and even Hee Joo, would help her find that equilibrium.
Side note - I've seen comments all over complaining that Miri/Yuhyun are oddly pure - not even any mouth kissing to satisfy the fangirls. But to me, this makes perfect sense! The fact that the sex side is pretty much absent, that he treats her as this pure thing, imo, is in large part what allows her to fall for him and be vulnerable with him - she's a sex worker. She's been someone who has been objectified all her life and/or had to use sex to survive and get her way - whether with clients, Hirayama, disgusting wannabe employers, or even Myung Hoon - she was either pawed or (best case) used her sexuality as a tool. I think, any relationship that is strongly sexual, is automatically tainted for her, it would automatically make her put her 'game face' on, shield herself and play a role. The fact that Yuhyun never even makes the slightest move in that direction, not even when she was trying to get him that way in ep 6 in her hotel room, not even post-engagement when you think he'd feel confident about it - I think that is a huge draw point for her. I am not saying she could never enjoy sex (though tbh, she'd probably need therapy) but the fact that this isn't what he wants from her above all is huge huge huge for her - he sees her as she wants to be - worthy of respect, pure, untouched.
Have some caps:
And a MV:
Click to view