Fatherly suicide in jdrama: methinks I spot a trend!

[dangermousie]

I have realized this morning that in three jdramas I’ve seen the male protagonist’s father killed himself. Seeing that I haven’t seen dozens and dozens jdramas, I think this is a curious concentration of that theme. So being me, I decided to blab and meta about it obsessively, to compare and contrast the treatment of this topic in Tatta Hitotsu No

Comments

[meganbmoore]

Not knowing the motivations beyond those in Kurosagi, I wonder if maybe it's leftover bushido sentiments, where a man who brought shame to himself, his family, his lord, etc., was expected to kill himself and sometimes his family(ditto if it was a family member doing it) Actually, aren't suicide rates high in asia in general?(i seem to remember reading that when that kdrama actress supposedly committed suicide not long ago) The entire "suicide out of shame" thing is in other culrures, too, just seems to be more prominent in samurai culture.

[dangermousie]

That might be it. I did read about the sucidie rates and the loss of face. So I wonder if the dramas demonstrate the clash of modern ideas (suicide is wrong, hurtsothers blah blah) with traditonal ones. It shows how following that traditional views leafes destruction in its wake.

[meganbmoore]

Sounds about right. I haven't noticed the suicide bit in cdramas or kdramas though(outside of period dramas...doesnt count there)

[dangermousie]

Well, there is Mars (twdrama), Love Contract (twdrama), Snow Queen (kdrama), A Love to Kill (kdrama), Something Happened in Bali (kdrama) I am sure there are more as these are the first things that came to my really zonked mind...

[lesbiassparrow]

Great post.

I keep wondering myself at all the truely horrific parents in doramas. That and school bullying seem to be the staples of the genre to an astonishing degree. For every good parent there seems to be 2 ones who would make Darth Vader look like a model dad.

[dangermousie]

Thanks!

Yeah, there are truly truly horrible parents in dramas, quite a contrast to Bollywood which I find interesting as both are medias for structured conservative societies. Hmmm. People are seldom loners in dramas (even when they are, there is a reason, and their lack of family and messed up reason for said lack influences them heavily, whether they are Kurosaki or Halu) but these families are often not benign at all.

[kitsune714]

[dangermousie]

If there is flashback fic, I would die of joy (not permanently, I shall revive to read said fic).

I do wonder about Hiroto working through the issues. I don't think he was 'allowed' to be angry or dysfunctional because he had dependents. He did not have the 'freedom' Kurosaki did.

Makes you wonder what he'd be like if he had no one left but himself, you know?Hiroto can be frighteningly intense and have a possibility for going all out to a scary degree, with utter disregard of self, when something he cares about is threatened (am thinking about him grabbing that blade with that guy who threatened Nao). So I can see him going dangerously dysfunctional

[ladysaotome]

Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world so it's no surprise suicide plays such a dominant role in their stories. Although suicide never happened, the lead girl in the movie "Friends" (the one I reviewed a while back) talked about having considered it in high school.

Fiction provides a somewhat safe portal to discuss sensitive social issues. Rouroni Kenshin had a message about redeeming oneself through actions rather than suicide. I've always thought Full Moon (o Sagashite) was the mangaka's message against suicide since those who killed themselves were punished/given a 2nd chance by becoming shinigami.

[dangermousie]

That is a really interesting point. I didn't know about the suicide rates, thanks! It really does make sense now...