Dear friends, behold, the finest historical specimen of the Golden Age* of Korean dramas: Fight For My Way! Insanely cute and funny, just as much problematic.

?"I'm dating you, and why do you have to do everything your own way?" While the drama is literally called "My Way" and sends the message of embracing your own desires and independence, this message arrives twisted when it came through the hours of childish interactions between the characters who try to make their romantic partners comply with their whims. But this message doesn't come out of thin air, and the exceptional rating of 13.8% demonstrate what was amusing for the Korean society in 2017 and what was its itch.

This drama characterized by a radical intolerance to others' choices, and that intolerance is often presented as humorous or romantic. But tell me, please, if your partner said this to you, would you think of it as romantic?

- "If you do martial arts again we break up. We won't stay friends either and will never see each other again". (Says someone who is dating them and supposed to support and encourage).

- "I'm not going to marry anyone else, and if my burn gets infected I will die, so come apply the ointment today". (Says someone who got broken up with and doesn't want to let their partner go).

- "Why are you wearing such a short skirt?! Every man will look at your beautiful legs. Go and change right now!!!" (Says a male character to a female character)

The writer doesn't ever trust the characters to be truly self-reliant. She keeps glueing them together when they part their own ways, and this defies the whole narrative of the drama. The most interesting character is the aspiring announcer Choi Ae Ra. She doesn't have a documented proof of her talent and support system like the athlete Dong Man with his medals and a coach. She has to take many rejections and be flexible to achieve her goal, and I love a story like that. Unfortunately, her career didn't get a lot of runtime comparing to Dong Man and the romantic plot. It's such a big lose.

"철들수록 꿈이 사라지는 거면, 나는 그냥 철들기를 포기할라고. 그냥 남 보라고 철든 척 할 필요도 없고, 아끼면 다 똥되는 거고."

?The itch of finding a fulfilling career and pursuing your true passion is still very much present today, and it only grows bigger as Gen Z is entering the work force. But I hope that all these toxic traits in K-dramas are left in the past. Let's support K-dramas that don't romanticize manipulation!

* It's the Platinum Age now, post-Netflix. Don't you think?