American Perspectives: If Blanche Deveraux and Malificent had a Baby...

I think her character is a perfect combination of Blanche Deveraux and Malificent

If Blanche Deveraux from "The Golden Girls" and Malificent from the Disney Classic version of "Sleeping Beauty" had a baby, it would most certainly be 미실.  And I say that with a lot of love and appreciation as she is one of my all time favorite 사극 characters.  She is unapologetically bitchy, and I love it.  It is unfortunate that the Great Queen 선덕 is no longer on Viki, and the video quality on dramacool isn't always up to speed, especially if it's an older drama.  I tried looking for the DVD set on Amazon.  I found a few DVDs, but not the complete set, which is what I'm most definitely wanting.

미실 is a really brilliant character, and she definitely stole the show. She reminds me of Blanche Deveraux from "The Golden Girls" because she is unapologetically promiscuous.  She was a concubine to 3 different kings, she has a husband, and she has an additional lover who is able to get along just fine with her husband.  She is able to, in the words of Blanche Deveraux get "many, many, many men" to respect her leadership and be blindly loyal to her.  However, her sexuality doesn't define her entire character.  It's not the punchline of a joke, and it most certainly isn't used for comic relief.  It's just one of many complex components of who she is.  Frankly, the show wasn't as interesting when her character died.

Artwork by Kdoraneow

I feel that she is like Malificent from "Sleeping Beauty" in that she is incredibly brilliant.  Other women fear her.  One of the twin princesses (Princess 덕만) had to go in hiding because of her, just like the princess in "Sleeping Beauty."  And just like the Princess in "Sleeping Beauty," Princess 덕만 had to live like a peasant for many years, and when her identity was discovered, she had to deal with 미실 trying to kill her. To top it all off, 미실 is rather adept at making natural phenomena look like prophetic magic, and using it to sway the public in whatever direction she determines.  And I don't care what anyone else says, that's freaking impressive.

So, yes, she is one of my favorite characters because I get tired of female characters who are heroes, but impossibly good.  I love 미실  because she's not the hero, she's flawed, and she's brilliant.