Hey everyone! Hope you've had a great couple of weeks! It’s been kinda hectic, but I guess that’s normal? Haha. I do have news, though! I’ve not really announced this on any other platform because. Shy. LOL I’ve got a short story coming out soon! Not exactly sure when but it’ll be my first published piece of fiction and I’m pretty excited about it. I will share more details when it’s out :)
This week I'll be sharing some quick thoughts about Mad For Each Other. It started airing on Netflix just three weeks ago and is already about to air its final episode this Monday. Can I just say – this is a show I’m definitely going to rewatch multiple times. I miss it already. It stars Jung Woo and Oh Yeon Soo – both of whom I absolutely adore! I wish they showed up more on the small screen! The fact that a 13-episode KakaoTV web drama is on Netflix is a wonderful consequence of the Netflixation of kdrama. (They aren’t all wonderful) The episodes run at about 30 minutes, much shorter than what we’re used to but it’s a lovely show and I’m glad to have been able to watch it either way.
Mad For Each Other is about two neighbours, Hwi Oh (Jung Woo) and Min Kyung (Oh Yeon Seo), who both share the same therapist. They both have clinically diagnosed mental health disorders, as a result of traumatic events that they endured prior to the start of the story. I’m not going to give too much away – it’s a short show and I don’t want to inadvertently spoil it all.
The one thing I will say is that these characters start off being very isolated and alienated. The narrative itself is packed with astute observations that invariably led to personal reflections on how society’s insistence on maintaining systemic discrimination has detrimental effects on mental health.
Yet, watching Mad For Each Other has been a very healing experience. A huge part of it has to do with the chemistry between the main leads. They play off each other really well and, more than that, convey the full extent of the trauma they’re trying to work with subtlety. The pain they experience feels real to us and, as a result, the healing that they experience feels just as real and cathartic.
Yet, the narrative doesn’t shy away from displaying how fear and anxiety don’t just go away when people make positive connections. It reminded me and validated my own experiences with insecurity and anxiety and how being surrounded by supportive people doesn’t always mean that your fears just disappear. It takes time. It takes understanding. It takes support.
And…you know, I know that It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, which dealt with similar mental health issues, was super hyped up and super popular last year but I somehow never felt…the huge impact that everyone else said they did. I appreciated the story, what they trying to do but, for some reason, it didn’t sit with me the way that Mad For Each Other does…and, well, I still don’t know why IONTBO didn’t resonate in the same way but with Mad For Each Other, it possibly has to do with the setting?
The show is set in an apartment complex, so you’ve got a few side characters who add to their lives and experiences and that’s all very cute but maybe it’s about they live in these apartment complex buildings like I do, in my HDB flat. Sometimes, you look out and you see the houses stacked up on top of each other but do we really know each other? Do we really understand each other?
The past few weeks on social media have been difficult for minorities in Singapore and…I think a lot of the evidence that many people have been feeling isolated and alienated has burst out on social media. And…it’s been painful to read. How many people have been keeping this to themselves because we don’t have enough conversations with each other? Of course, one reason why many people stop trying is because there seem to be so many others who emerge from the woodwork to dismiss the traumatic experiences that others have had. And while we’re dealing mainly with the issue of race in the media this week, this lack of societal understanding also extends to other conversations relating to gender discrimination/violence, mental health stigma. Everything is messy and frustrating and, honestly, quite disillusioning.
But, maybe that’s why turning on Netflix and settling down for 30 minutes a night of Hwi Oh and Min Kyung taking slow, cautious steps towards healing has felt even more significant to me. It’s a show that reminds us that silver linings exist, while never shying away from what healing is actually like. Mad For Each Other embraces us, pats us on the back and reminds us of how healing is not…a clean, perfect, linear process. It is messy and painful and loud. But, if somehow, if we manage to push through all that, if we push through and open up and communicate, perhaps, true healing IS possible.
And that’s what we all need to remember, I guess.
See you in two weeks, friends. Stay safe. 💛
Coming up soon on My OTP Watch
Part 3 of my analysis of queer representation in kdramas - here’s Part 1 and Part 2
A rant on Netflix and their subtitling
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Thanks for posting. I was thinking about watching this when I saw it on Netflix.
I loved this kdrama and it was both healing and satisfying to watch. The character arcs were done really well. I also loved how their psychiatrist was actually competent.