Office Romance Cruelty (2022)

Tone deaf, no accountability, some repulsive writing

The show had a good premise, but was crippled by bad writing/characterization, which we can narrow down to a lack of accountability. Loved Penguin couple (the only thing I would save... liked the protagonists' love story, but not how they started out strong and turned into doormats without self respect). On one hand, the show had an utterly broken moral compass that wanted to push us to root for a toxic second couple that doubled down on their adultery, and an abusive father that treated his son as an ATM, giving them a happy ending. On the other hand, the protagonists unrealistically self flagellate and become chummy with those that horrifically betrayed them, having conversations about very personal issues with people that abused their trust (particularly the initially strong female lead later on abandons all self respect). I found the idea repulsive (as anyone endorsing it). I appreciate the fact that looking at the forums 99.999% of people find this equally unrealistic and intellectually insulting, it restores my faith in humanity. In terms of redeeming the irredeemable, the issue with the father should be self evident, so let's look at the others.

The cheating is that it was entirely pointless (even worse since they were planning to have us root for the cheaters later on). They were both ready to split up with their partners anyway, they could have literally just waited and parted honestly. The guy had cancelled the wedding. Him having sex with his mistress in the house and bed he shared with his partner of 10 years was wholly unnecessary, as was his mistress cheating with him right before dumping her boyfriend. It just seem needlessly cruel and lacking the barest shred of respect for their partners. And she liked someone with a gf of 10 yrs because he was the 1st that wanted to marry her. Why not choose someone unattached, but cheaters in a relationship (goes for both)?

The ex bf betrayed the FL physically, emotionally and financially. He gaslighted her, after she helped him with his job and paid for most of their stuff, he had the gall to complain about basically her having a career, with obligations she didn't have any choice but to attend to, and for which she notified in advance and apologized... we know that he would sing a different tune if the roles were reversed, but then again we are speaking of someone that wanted his wife to give up her career because he was jealous to see her work in a place where she could meet her former boyfriend. He was a stalking, violent, drunk, possessive, self entitled creep. Up until almost the end he was whining due to his fragile male ego getting hurt by his wife having lived with another guy and the situation with their exes. He even dared to make compare with his ex this with what she felt when she walked in on him having sex with his lover in their house, on their bed. Plus the other faults during their relationship (the mess he did with the insurance, the way he was unsupportive of her profession, and pressured/resented her about obligations with her career that were outside her control... it was not her fault, she deserved better, a supporting partner).

The ex gf was at least as bad, in her own way. She didn't regret, feel guilty or apologize for, or even acknowledge, the cheating, and was never taken to task for it (contrary to her husband). She mistreated her ex bf, telling him that she regretted living with him and she accepted her husband's sexist position that "no man could tolerate his wife having lived with another man" (I think he managed to change her mind on this, telling her that it's nothing to be ashamed of and he told his own gf -showing that he was not a judgmental scumbag like her husband-), while she had sex with her lover in front of his gf of 10 years right before splitting up with her bf. Again, in all this she admits that her ex was a good guy -kind and handsome-, and that her only issue with him was his stance on marriage, that he was always honest about. The worst moment was probably when she self righteously talked to the woman that saw her have sex with her boyfriend of 10 years in her own bed, telling her that she didn't break up with her boyfriend because of his dad. Well, considering you were willing to cheat on him with someone that was about to marry his gf of 10 years, and didn't feel any guilt, remorse, or need to apologize either to her ex bf or to her husband's ex gf, I don't think it's unfair to set the bar pretty low when it came to assessing her character.

Neither her nor her husband ever actually regretted, felt guilty or apologized for sleeping with someone in a long term relationship, hurting and humiliating people that they didn't know and had no beef with (then again, they didn't hesitate to hurt their significant others, so what about strangers).

The ML and FL were also problematic. They started out okay, in particular I appreciated the strong, confident female lead standing her ground on the issue of the house and not accepting moving to Switzerland and compromising her career for the sense of entitlement of someone that had horrifically betrayed her. I also found understandable that she was emotionally scarred and devastated by the experience her ex put her through, and this led to trust issues in her next relationship. A bit surprising that the ML didn't suffer from similar issues, since he too was cheated on and betrayed. What I didn't find acceptable was both protagonists, but the FL in particular, starting them to act chummy with the very people that hurt them, for no good reason.

It is simply not believable or realistic that, for example, the ML would calmly talk in a bar about his current gf with the man that cuckolded him, or that the FL would give someone that betrayed her physically, emotionally, financially, stalked her, behaved in a possessive and self entitled manner, and all the other horrible things he did, advice on his relationship. Or calmly talk about her current relationship with the woman she caught sleeping with her husband. Or congratulate him on his son, which she might have witnessed the conception of, having walked in on him having sex with his lover on their own bed. Again, she was scarred so badly that it affected her next relationship, but by the end (ep 12/23) she was self flagellating, praising him, making this about the relationship as a whole and general incompatibility, rather than about what it really was, which was basically whether she felt she deserved the emotional abuse he put her through. This is like a battered housewife thinking about what she did to displease her wife beating drunk of a husband (and a wife beating drunk with a sob story is still a wife beating drunk).

Again, it's perfectly useless to have the token "pregnant career woman" social criticism attempt, and then have the second FL initially "understand" her husband's ridiculous stance on her previous cohabitation (even hiding it from him, knowing he would react like a sexist, insecure brat, despite them having both cheated on their long term partner and not having any leg to stand on). On having the FL self flagellate about having a career (and helping her ex with his job and paying for most of their stuff, might I add) and therefore not being always available (she was most of the time, and when she had tasks she couldn't delay she notified in advance and apologized... again, it wouldn't have been a problem for him in reverse, as we see with his behavior when he misses his mother's birthday, and the way he casually suggests his wife stop working because having her around her ex bf hurt his fragile male ego).

In general, them having these deeply personal conversation with people that betrayed their trust, or being chummy with them, helping them wit their relationship, etc. after their horrific betrayal showed a complete lack of self respect, which was disappointed in particular for the FL which was initially portrayed as strong. The same could be said for his father. Sorry, but "sorry" doesn't cut it: too little and too late (not that they all said or ever felt sorry, see the ex gf that never ever addressed her betrayal).

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Now I will address some comments that I found factually, demonstrably wrong (actually, an inversion of the truth).

"""
despite Lee Si-Woo’s dedication to his career, the same cannot be said about his relationship with his disengaged girlfriend Chae Yoo-jin
...
Despite Si-Woo being an intelligent individual who struggles to understand empathy at times, the narrative rarely offered opportunities for Si Woo to reflect upon his breakup or actions in the past, or at least attempt to reconciliate and display an element of maturity by trying to understand his ex-girlfriend’s perspectives. ( Even if Chae Yoo-Jin’s motives were often villainous, this would’ve easily presented and allowed opportunities for viewers to comprehend Si-Woo’s struggles and journey as a character.)
...
Ha-Kyung had a lot of potential to grow or at least mature through her experiences. ( Such as her breakup or her tumultuous experiences with her ex-fiancé. )However rather than giving screen time for Ha-Kyung to be explored as a character and learning self-acceptance,
"""

This is just factually false, in the sense that ML and FL did self reflect, etc. and this self flagellation and becoming chummy with the people they were the victim of was a clear characterization error, completely unrealistic, and a sign of them having zero self respect, particularly after a good start as a strong female lead. At a basic level, their fundamental mistake was giving the time of day to the kind of people that would horrifically betray their partners.

The guy was clearly dedicated to his relationship, always texting his gf even when he was away. He simply didn't read the sign because he didn't expect her to horrifically betray him. She herself admitted that he was kind and handsome, and she had no complaint towards him: when asked point blank, she admitted that she broke up with him because he didn't want to marry, which was something he was always upfront about (and frankly, in this day and age, not that uncommon of a position). So, there is nothing much to reflect about regarding his actions or the end of the relationship. For that matter, the issue is not really the breakup, but the fact that she slept with her lover right before dumping her boyfriend. The cheating was entirely pointless, given that she planned to leave him anyway, she could have merely waited and broke things off honestly, as she wanted to do for months, treating him with respect. She should have really bailed as soon as she decided that his stance on marriage was a deal breaker. In any case, factually speaking he did talk to her to understand her perspective on marriage, so that too is a false statement. And it's impossible to understand how anyone could think that he, the victim, should be the one to reach out for her, the one that horrifically betrayed him, for reconciliation. Or why reconciling with her or having her in his life in any capacity would be at all desirable. I liked that he didn't change his perspective on marriage in the end: there is nothing intrinsically "wrong" with him, he just has a different perspective (nowadays shared my a lot of people). Them eating together, etc. is ludicrous.

The situation is even more ludicrous for the female lead, who starts off as a strong female character, and then undercuts herself and shows she has no standards or self respect. Her ex's whole problem boiled down to her having a career. So she had to attend to some unavoidable tasks for work when they were working on the house or had to meet his classmates. She warned in advance when she knew, and apologized. This would have *clearly* not been a problem for him if the roles were reversed (see above paragraphs). Despite that, they become chummy, praises him (his current wife disagrees with him being a good husband and father, and for objectively good reasons) and self flagellate (really, being a perfectionist earned her the trauma he inflicted on her? As if he didn't have his defects -see above-, plus the cheating, which kind of overshadows everything: this is like saying that Hannibal Lecter is a good person, except for his tendency to eat your liver, or that a wife beating drunk started out good and fixed the sink... yes, but the physical abuse is kinda of the dominant factor her (emotional in her case): a wife beating drunk with a sob story is still a wife beating drunk. In general, I didn't like how emotionally traumatic events that had life altering (wrecking) consequences on their lives are suddenly brushed aside and minimized as minor inconveniences, when they had concrete impacts on their successive relationships. Her walking in on her husband having sex with his mistress, his father's life long abuse... "I am sorry" and it becomes water under the bridge? No, it's not realistic, it insults the viewer's intelligence. Furthermore, getting past trauma does not mean lying to yourself about the life altering impact and severity of the emotional wound you suffered. Nor does it does it mean trusting or wanting back in your life the people that victimized you (why would they want them in their lives in the first place?). This is poor writing that did not respect or treat seriously their trauma.

"""
However this problem was not just limited to our main characters.Park and Yura’s acting was respectfully credible but the same cannot be said about their screen personas. Indeed one of the main areas of debate with Park and Yura’s onscreen characters came through their “ villainous” roles throughout the duration of the series. Of course it isn’t always necessarily out of the question to create despicable villains, nor is it always necessary to allow moments of moral redemption either.

However where ‘ Forecasting Love and Weather’ often fell short was how the narrative truly wanted to portray these characters. At times, the series could often lean into presenting Ki-Jun and Yoo-Jin as intrinsically hollow individuals with egocentric goals and motives. ( In particular with Ki-Jun’s megalomaniacal tendencies and Yoo-Jin’s manipulative attempts to climb up the social ladder in the workplace.) However. , the series often seemed to lean into some moments of potential “ sentience ” for these characters which while having the potential to be dynamic and meticulously written, often felt conceited. ( For example Ki-Jun’s “ ambivalent” feelings as well as Yoo-Jin’s workplace drama.)

Of course this isn’t to say that as an audience we didn’t see some moments of error or weaknesses for the characters in this series, this was rarely given more reasoning. When Si-Woo or Ha-Kyung were at fault the series would often find excuses to justify this as “ morally right” without necessarily highlighting the faults or flaws at the heart of their issues. Similarly Ki-Jun and Yoo-Jin’s actions and misdeeds were often labelled as purely diabolical or a cause of disgust and shame, without always necessarily digging deeper into the causes or allowing viewers to see a full-side of the picture .
"""

This has been explored at length in the above paragraphs, so I will be quick. The ML and FL never did anything even remotely comparable to the horrific betrayal they were the victim of, and they most certainly shouldn't be the ones that should do some self reflection. But the fact is, the actually do, so the criticism is not only unfair, but factually false. The issue with their attitude towards marriage is explored (and I find it correct that the ML is not labelled as "wrong" and shamed/made to change his mind for what is just a different perspective). Their issues with keeping the relationship hidden and FL's lack of trust after the emotional trauma she was the victim of at the hands of her ex are explored. In terms of their role in the breakup, the points, already mentioned are that the issue here is not the breakup, but the horrific betrayal (and we should really stop equivocating between the two and evading), and that nothing they did was so terrible as to deserve this.

I think that the bit about "demonizing" the adulterous couple is ludicrous. They merely present what they did, as well as the fact that they did it to fundamentally decent people. Their actions are not *presented* as filthy and disgusting, they *are* filthy and disgusting (and pointless, and unnecessarily cruel and disrespectful). There is really no way to put a positive spin on their actions. If you give a wife beating drunk a sob story, they remain a wife beating drunk. In this case, we are talking about people that would pointlessly betray, hurt and humiliate their long term partners. Again, this is not about them breaking up with them because they wanted something else, and trying to move the narrative to the relationship as a whole is really a way to avoid discussing the main issue. There is really no proportionality between their and their partner's actions, and clearly there is no way to "both side" this. Given that their victims were basically good people, maybe not perfect (though certainly much better partners by comparison, since *they* never betrayed their partners trust and emotionally wounded them with such an horrific betrayal -they treated them much better than they deserved-), but certainly not deserving of what they have been put through, there is really nothing much to say in terms of "perspective". We are given the reason they wanted to break up. The reasons for their betrayal are a different matter: unhappiness is not a sufficient condition, but lack of any respect for your partner is a necessary one. The betrayal was wholly unnecessary (see above).

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