Listening to Lofi music while writing, when last did I do this? Some kid just asked me why I’ve been writing a lot recently, we have the hive blog to thank for that. It’s been one week and 2 dyas since I last posted on this platform. Yeah I know that’s not very good on my consistency streak but hey.. shit
happens..
Inner peace..bi**h.. inner peace
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I just want to thank every one of you who have supported my posts in the past few weeks, it has been crazy the amount of support and responses I’ve been getting and it just truly overwhelms me. I want to say a big big thank you to the 
Today I want to talk about the best Korean TV show I have ever seen and the reason why I think it is the best Korean TV show out there.
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Released in January 2019 and directed by Kim Seong – hun and Park In – je this series was highly commended and received some very great review scores scoring a whopping 8.4/10 on IMDb and 96% on rotten tomatoes ( now we are at it don’t you think rotten tomatoes is a weird name for a movie review company let’s be honest.. I should consider working there though, watching movies and reviewing them, sounds like a dream job to me.) Public sentiments aside, this was quite an amazing, series. It was kind of an unusual mix of themes and genres and I didn’t really know what to expect when I first saw the trailer and read its synopsis. I mean, flesh eating zombie horror and a historical thriller how could anyone possibly make that work? Kingdom is well….. special.
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It got a lot of things right. It wasn’t just interested in trying to make a genre defining show, no.. more than doing that it wanted to tell a compelling story and it succeeded in doing this beautifully while having genre defining elements infused into it.
I would say it had a bit of everything and it did everything in a balanced position. It didn’t try to over compensating in any aspect (like I am doing in this post). It was well rounded and well thought out. A big kudos to the actors who were in this film, they were absolutely phenomenal. Alright! That’s enough commendations. Let’s look at why I think this show deserves all the credit it gets, the protagonist let’s look at how I think you can create the perfect protagonist.
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Active protagonist = Engaging plot
A central protagonist is the key to every story. He is extremely crucial because the story teller tells the story to the audience through the eyes and experiences of the protagonist. Now keep in mind this is not done all the time especially in certain genres of movies as some of them opt for having multiple characters stories told only to have them all converge at a common cross road case in point Game of Thrones. While others choose to have characters introduce us to the story through their perspective and have said characters then detached from the story only to then reattach other characters to the story while still keeping the story and the central plot intact, case in point the walking dead and Game of thrones. An active protagonist is drives a major portion of the plot forward. He or she is the character whose actions have the most consequence to the story. This type of protagonist is different from passive protagonist who is one which the story pushes. In kingdom we are first introduced to Ju Ji-hoon’s character Lee Chang (the crowned prince) a highly intelligent but spoiled Korean prince of a protagonist who knows there is more to him then reading books in his court. We see that he seeks to change the political status quo of the kingdom and usher in a new and better government for the people of Joseon. The first thing the show does is to establish the kind of character Lee Chang is and his primary motivation in the first episode and then slowly in two seasons, develops him into his full potential by making him go through hell (more of that in a second).
The first 15 minutes give a clear picture of who he is, the situation he finds himself, the opposition he faces and subtly gives you reasons to like this guy i.e his step mom is a cunt and so is his power hungry elder statesman step grandfather, no he is a bigger cunt. By doing this, the show gives us reasons as to why Lee cannot afford to be an inactive protagonist in the story even though he somewhat starts up as one. What this does to as viewers is that it engages us in the film subconsciously one with the protagonist, following him through his triumphs and suffering in his defeat There are many examples of this throughout the show from the moment he suspects his step mother and her father are trying to conceal truths about his ill father from him, we actively see him make the decision to find out what was going on. This causes his step family to actively try to get rid of him hence his decision to investigate the truth propels the plot, which in turn moves the story forward. Then there is fact that he is the son of a whore and the king and the king has no other male heir to inherit the throne until his new wife turns up pregnant. The whole situation is uniquely set up to revolve around him, and the decisions he has to make in order to survive and several times we see this in the story. His constant search for answers about where the zombies are coming from, his decisions to fight off the zombies using tactics and strategy.. there are several other examples.. Heck the synopsis literarlly reads
“Unlike most zombie flicks, this is set in the Joseon dynasty. Kingdom follows crown prince Lee Chang (Joo Ji-hoon) as he tries to uncover the mystery behind the zombies, prevent them from spreading, and reclaim his place on the throne. While the zombies are truly terrifying, the cruel machinations of prime minister Cho Hak-ju (sageuk veteran Ryu Seung-ryong) and his daughter/Lee Chang’s stepmother, Queen Cho (Kim Hye-jun) are a driving force behind the undead terror."
Hero and Villain dynamics; internal conflicts vs external conflicts
The next thing this series does right in crafting the perfect protagonist, is in making the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist an internal one i.e a personal conflict. The conflict between Lee Chang and Lord Cho (bastard step father I have been talking about) and his family, is a personal one. A fight for who will emerge as the new king of Joseon, the bastard son or the corrupt “kingmaker” and onto it the problem of the zombie outbreak which is as a result of Lord Cho’s actions and the fact that he utilizes the zombie situation and his status as the most powerful man in the kingdom after the king have these two combinations put together and you have yourself a David vs Goliath story with an added twist of a personal grudge. This gives the audience another reason to connect to the story through the protagonist. It makes for an understandable and more relatable protagonist. If you want to write a memorable hero, make his conflict with the antagonist a personal one, an internal one and if you do want to have an external conflict make sure that it is tied to the internal conflict.
A Hero is only as good as his obstacles (character development and a pinch of high stakes)
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Watching the show I felt so connected and sympathetic towards the lead Lee Chang. Here’s a guy who everybody thinks has the best life because he is royalty and all he really wants is to change status quo of the nation to become something more. And then all of a sudden, his life is changed drastically by house hold enemies and now he is forced to metamorphose into this capable leader who is to save the entire nation from poverty, starvation, disease and yep you guessed it ZOMBIES. My man is out here fighting zombies with a sword, some arrows and 15th century doctor. Meaning he has the odds incredibly stacked against him. Now what this scenario does for us is two things 1. It heightens the tension and the dread of the drama and 2. Subconsciously drives us to root for our hero, even if he were to do something questionable because let’s face it our boy is going through a lot and he is human so he is definitely going to make some mistakes. Doing this makes us empathetic towards our hero and makes us interested in his character development and growth. We are aware of his challenges and we see him overcome his challenges and in overcoming his challenges we see him develop qualities that make him more likable and supportable. These traits are not traits we see him with initially but in facing various obstacles with high stakes our character slowly becomes better and better.
Well that's all I could possibly think of right now..
Please do remember to upvote and share thank you so much for your time and please comment your grievances down below and don't forget..
Live long and prosper