The Glory (Korean series): Excellent if you can tolerate reading subtitles

netflixr (77)in #films • 27 days ago

I used to shy away from movies with subtitles because I had the opinion of "if I wanted to read I would get a book." The thing is, I tend to forget that I am even reading it after a while. If you are not a native-English speaker or subtitles for whatever language you do speak don't exist, this would probably be too much to ask but for me, I found this series to be absolutely excellent.

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For those unaware, there are types of genres that are very popular in Korean cinema and TV. One of those genres that I find particularly interesting is the "revenge" genre. I don't know if what is going on in this series is something that actually happens in Korean, I certainly hope not, but if anyone was ever bullied in their life something like this would appeal to them immensely.

I'm not going to list the names of the actors or characters because, no offense, but to a Westerner Korean names all kind of sound the same and are very forgettable.

The main character is an adult in the present day where the series is taking place and she has flashbacks to times that she was bullied to an extreme degree by a group of mostly wealthy and "popular" kids in her school. This bullying isn't just being mean to her or knocking her books out of her hands in the hallway, but by scarring her literally with things like curling irons and forcing her into sexual situations with the male members of the "gang." She tries to elude them and even get the authorities involved, but the authorities are tied into their wealthy families and instead of helping her, they actually make her situation worse.

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To make matters even more heartbreaking, the girl in question already had a terrible home life with a father who is not present in her life, and bullies her at home as well. We, as the viewers get so frustrated at the complete lack of help that she is receiving from anyone in her life.

While I don't want to spoil what happens, the series gradually unrolls as we are introduced to the now grown up girl who is successful and is meticulously planning her revenge against the people that were so terrible to her when she was in school. The kids who bullied her as a child have turned out to be bullies as adults as well and upon finding out her identity, they have zero remorse for the torment that they put her through. They continue to attempt to bully her as an adult as well.

I would imagine that this is a pretty far-fetched situation but that is what makes it so entertaining to watch. I don't know much about Korean society, but some of the things that happen in this series are a bit too crazy to have ever really happened in real life. I certainly hope that schools are not like this. I witnessed some level of bullying in my school days, but nothing on this level.

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Just like a lot of other Korean series and movies, this is extremely graphic and shocking and therefore it would not be something you would want to have your kids watch. Well, if I had any kids I wouldn't want them watching this. For the crazy kids of today it may actually give them some ideas that would land them in jail.

Should I watch it?

If you can endure reading subtitles I give this an emphatic "YES!" I absolutely loved this series and for those that are unfamiliar with Korean ways as far as things on a screen are concerned, this is an excellent example of how something excellent can be made with far less money than we see western films and series being made for. I've always appreciated this aspect of Korean cinema and shows, they are able to make something extremely good for very little money. When I see what they spend to make this, or even their blockbuster movies, I can't help but think that Hollywood must be padding the bill for money-laundering purposes.

I don't think you will regret giving this show a shot. It keeps you entertained the entire time.