A Gift to the People You Hate (2019)

Maybe the series is not getting attention because the English title isn't very catchy and the official YouTube videos don't even show the English title. But I'm glad the series is subbed. It's one of the more unique series that I have watched from GMM, starting with the idea of a supernatural shop that sells things for someone you hate.

It is ultimately not the shop that is frightening, but how people make use of it. The shops customers can be petty, vindictive, psychotic, manipulative and downright selfish. At first, the series seems to relentlessly show how everyone has a dark side, as if to emphasize that human beings are really ugly and horrible creatures. One character sends gifts to harm a girl he "loves", hoping to manipulate her into loving him back. A politician, in an incredibly heinous act, sends his own daughter gifts that kill her so that he can advance his political goals.

Yet, there is more to the show than simply saying that human beings are terrible. Despite their disturbing behavior, we may still find ourselves empathizing with the characters at some points. For instance, Khim, the teacher who wants to kill a corrupt politician partly to take revenge and partly as a form of vigilante justice, is by turns creepy and pitiable. Num, who goes overboard and kills several potential enemies because he doesn't know who is after him, is a caring and loving brother. Chut, the policeman who is the only unambiguously good main character for a large part of the story, eventually succumbs and sends death-causing gifts to two of his superiors. However, with corruption so entrenched that there is absolutely no way for him to bring the perpetrators of certain crimes to justice, what options does he have? He does not believe in vigilantism, but his only other option is to let injustice be perpetuated.

In an interesting plot twist in the final episode, it turns out that Ploy, the politician's daughter, has ordered gifts for all the customers of the shop. They get gifts labeled as Level 4 gifts (those that kill the recipient). But it is obvious that there is no way she has enough years left in her life to buy the gifts for so many people--payment for the gifts is in years in the buyer's life, not dollars and cents, and her own father's life already costs 80 years of life. We can understand, then, that these gifts are not the usual gifts from the shop despite how they are labeled. Indeed, inside the gift box is simply a piece of paper with the word "hatred". It is a reminder that what the thing that really kills others is hatred, not the gifts or the shop. Ploy's father becomes so guilt-ridden that he kills himself. Of course, not everyone really hates those they buy gifts for, but I guess hatred becomes a sort of term that also encompasses other negative human traits like ambition, vindictiveness and selfishness.

The ending of the series is somewhat disturbing but realistic. The shop continues to exist. There will always be hatred in people. But the characters ultimately have to live with their decisions. The shop does not force anyone to buy gifts, and every prospective customer can decide to say no. So even if one feels hatred, one can decide whether to act on one's hatred.

A lot of accomplished within ten episodes for a story with such heavy themes. There are quite a number of characters, but the story does not become confusing (even if a second watch will make certain things clearer). I'm particularly impressed by the acting of Ying who plays Khim, the teacher, but the actors have generally done a good job too.

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