American Perspectives: The precariousness of life regardless of class standing. Princess Agents Ep. 23-24!

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I was a bit agitated and exhausted while watching these episodes, which is why I watched two, instead of my usual three. So I'm not entirely sure if my writing will be very strong today, but I will most certainly give it my best shot. I'm mainly trying to avoid re-capping, a we most certainly have more than enough of that!

What was something that stood out for me today while watching? Aside from thinking that realistically, Yan Xun should be dead due to all the stab wounds after the fight scene in Episode 24; it was how precarious everyone's life in the kingdom is, regardless of social status.

For one thing, they are all at the mercy of a paranoid, genocidal, and irrational Emperor. (Yay)! For another, there's a specific class system in place that doesn't allow much room for upward mobility.  Downward, sure.  That's not hard to obtain at all.  Once you slide downward, not only are you that much closer to death, there really isn't much opportunity for your future generations.  For Westerners watching this, who have the quintessential western reaction of " aNd ThiS iS wHaT I hAtE aBoUt AsIaN cUlTuRe," what I just wrote in the previous sentence bears a lot of relevance to why the parents in these shows are so stringent about their children staying on the right path, and doing what's best for the family.  You don't have to agree with it, but I don't think it's too hard to be well informed (not Wikipedia or online he-said, she-said informed, but I read a bunch of books from a variety of highly credible resources and perspectives informed) on the cultural back story and to respect where it's coming from. When you slide down to the bottom of this very specific (and I do not say rigid.  Rigid invites condescending Western judgement which I absolutely do not allow in this space) class system, everything disappears.  Your protection, your finances, and alliances decrease very rapidly.

However, if you're in a high position, there are many compromises to be made in order to keep it.  In the United States, our narrative about privilege and oppression is very lopsided.  In that we like to tell a story about how the privileged never really struggle for anything, and the oppressed struggle for everything.  Therefore, the oppressed can do no wrong and are justified in absolutely everything they do.  And this is why I lose patience while watching Western television, and now western movies.  When I say Western, I mean American and Western European. Not "Shoot 'em up Cowboys and Indians" westerns.  In both the C-Dramas, and the K-Dramas, my thoughts on privilege and oppression have changed dramatically, in that: this is not a black and white, God vs. the Devil kind of issue.  It's complicated on all ends, it comes with a price, everybody loses, and everybody cries.

For instance, the Noble Consort may seem heartless; and in Western television and movies, she would be portrayed as exactly that.  There may be an obligatory back story, but it would be heavily hinted that we should all hate her.  Not in "Princess Agents."  She has to be emotionally removed.  She's in a relationship with the paranoid emperor (yipee!).  One wrong move, and it's game over for both her and her children.  Actually, if it weren't for the slave beating incident, I'd call her firm but fair.

Other members of the nobility consent to being pawns.  It's the lesser of two evils.  It's either that, or being a commoner who is even more vulnerable to society.  And it's done with the hope that something better will open up, or that limited opportunity for upward mobility will be theirs' for the taking.   In doing so, they quickly have to be accustomed to the idea of throwing friends, relatives, loved ones away in order to survive.

With as much complaining as I do about the US, I am glad that I'm not in a position where my life is that precarious.  However, I am also looking at that from Western Cultural context.  I was born and raised with it, and it's not something that can always be so easily disengaged.  One thing I learned from spending two years in various Native American communities is that things are not always what they seem, especially when someone who had a negative experience re-tells it way out of cultural context.

Thank you for reading my blog today.  Please come on by and check out my 사극 and C-Drama merch at www.sageukparadise.com   Don't be put off by my location in the US.  I am more than happy to ship internationally!