'mr. plankton'’s writing is a miserable mess, but it sells better
a personal essay about my thoughts on Mr. Plankton (k-drama), the art of human flaws, and tragedy 101
A bit of an introduction
When you consume any form of media on a regular basis, it tends to answer a lot of your questions that you might not even realize that you ponder over it. People often disregard the importance of storytelling whenever we decipher anything estimated as art, but I would sell my soul to perceive the past of Ophelia; what did she do deserve that- drowning in the marshes of ennui while clasping on the dying flowers? Did Hamlet realize what his undertakings had done, why did Millais paint this? Why do we make art? Why do we devise cinema? Why do we write? Why do we compose music? According to T.S Eliot in his essay “Tradition and Individual Talent”, we shall separate the poet ‘from their work by contending that, as opposed to expressing their own emotions, the poet serves as a conduit for transforming emotions into art’; so, the creators aren’t supposed to endure what they mould and construct? As spectators, we are supposed to empathize with the characters but not the establishers; hence there’s clearly no artist’s statement in the process.
In Aristotle’s “Poetics”, he talks about the purification theory conceptualizing Catharsis referring to the purging or cleaning of emotions that occurs when a tragedy is viewed; it arouses pity and fear. The aforementioned philosopher also contends that tragedy profoundly mimics life; it is not just a depiction of events but an exploration of mortal existence. Therefore, a large amount of explication is freighted upon us as audience, what and how do we signify a piece of art or media is good or even great in fact?
We talk about films and online shows, selectively elucidating on the director’s and screenwriter’s life simultaneously, but they didn’t go through an ugly divorce- their characters did; on the other hand, Celine Song directed the Oscar-nominated film “Past Lives” from a semi-autobiographical point of view. Consequently, we shall sink into today’s principal concern, korean dramas/shows have captivated viewers globally in the past few years- if I start writing about the current Hallyu wave in society I might fray away too much so that will be an essay for next time. One of the most talked about K-dramas of this year was Mr. Plankton, released in the last half of 2024 with just ten episodes- everyone had just too much to discuss; it had an obvious tragic ending- someone most likely died. But I wasn’t surprised to witness such, the screen-writer of this show, Jo Young, also wrote another genius yet aching drama called “It’s Okay to be Not Okay”. Now from this outlook, I personally just accepted that because Jo Young wrote this show, the tragedy wasn’t as bewildering as others deduced.
Diving into the mains
The characters in the show are written only to imitate the gross and displeasing sight of the human condition. Hae-jo (also Choi Seunghyeok) is a 32-year-old man who runs an errand house where he is a contract worker, he takes money and completes any jobs (illegal activities too except murdering people). The entire drama’s timeline goes back and forth, present and past; it’s not an expected depiction of a “happy life first, but it starts getting sad”; taking the pattern of how actual life works- it follows a story where a lot of bad things have already happened and now it’s upon the characters to live through it. The female lead, Jo Jae-mi is in her late 20s and wants to be a mother; both the leads have one thing in common- they were abandoned by their parents. One grew up in an orphanage, and one was deserted by his father; now you see it is a story of extreme loneliness and fear of never experiencing what being in a family feels like. Jo Young (the screenwriter) is known to write about the human psyche specifically dealing with melancholy and terror of isolation. The “relatability” factor that we use just to exploit our audience’s emotions is one of the highest selling points of the media that we consume. Now, is it a good thing? Because Jo Young is an immensely successful writer who has a lovely family too; so, she clearly doesn’t write about her own life. Personally, I watch films and shows not to escape but to understand real life; to comprehend death and “grief” I have had years of trouble processing it. Seeking refuge as an audience to experience my own pain through the character’s life portrayed on screens- an easy way to project my suffering so I don’t feel alone.
We see a rendering of the lovers meeting each other again after three years of breaking up, Hae-jo gets diagnosed with a terminal illness with only three months to live; whereas Jae-mi is diagnosed with premature menopause. Hae-jo’s lore is something that makes me question my morals too- his biological father was a sperm donor- but he was born to the wrong father as the medical staff messed up the IVF tubes. Hae-jo was called tube no. 139 by his “wrong” father, now will you still love your child who was not your blood? The little boy was just eight years old and witnessing his mother committing suicide- leaving him stranded. Where would he go to? His father is not his father, and now in his 30s, his terminal illness is supposedly hereditary. One whom his father left, now was he really apparent to find his biological father and ask him why he had to pass such pathetic sickness to his future children and not even take any accountability.
The only wish Jae-mi had was to create her own family as she had none of hers, her premature menopause interrogates the virtuousness of an already misery-led life; what did she do to deserve it? After her breakup with Hae-jo, she got engaged to Eo Heung; an absolute opposite character from both Jaemi & Haejo; born into a traditional korean clan family with centuries of history; a tight-knit mother, and numerous relatives. Yes, the unusual contrast between the characters suggests the ups and downs in the trajectory of people around us; but I think it does more than that. If we dive into Hueng’s relationship with his mother, his mother treasures and protects him from the world and he doesn’t know how to cease such burdensome shielding. In one element where Hae-jo and Jae-mi have no parents to confide in, alternately Heung can’t seem to get away from his mother’s toxic affection- all three of them are embroiled in this circle of hesitation, what is a ‘good’ parent be like? This particular screenwriter often inculcates difficult human extremities when it comes to interpersonal relationships, as much as platonic and romantic relations can be a feat of preference; we as individuals cannot escape the mere need to recognize the place we come from, and the reason we are here existing.
When all the characters are thwarted from attaining the only purpose they have in their lives, you start to wonder about the maker’s philosophy; why they must always strip away their sense of shelter and vulnerability to engage with the audience to create the perception of basic sympathy? What is the point of making your roleplay identities go through hell when you won’t adjust to that same pain? The art of storytelling is not supposed to be used for how we can gravitate to the highest form of human tragedies, how adversely one can fall? Does only a catastrophe welcome the sensitivity and powerlessness of the mortal prerequisite? Contentedness in stories seemingly doesn’t prove the influential command that we might have in our lives, happiness and satisfaction are looked upon as the obvious “goals” and hence when we don’t achieve them; our lives become extraordinary- we are known as the failure or helpless. Do you see, where am I going with this?
Might I add there's a trope of a love triangle in the show, very mindful? Hae-jo broke up with Jae-mi on the account of commitment, so she got together with Hueng because she craved fidelity and security in the relationship. But neither Haejo nor Jaemi move on from each other, so the decision to make a choice; who’s the one for her? In all of this, my sweet boy Hueng gets most hurt; he gets drifted from his mother and his lover. When nobody could understand him, I from the other side of the screen cried with him. My heart broke for him, there’s a scene in episode number 7; where he is sitting outside Jae-mi’s room- she has to make the decision. But deep down Hueng knows his love for her was always greater than she ever liked him, there’s so many immense flaws in the characters, who decides which defect is nastier than the other? Hueng breaks down outside the room, Jae-mi knows she will hurt him; how do we stop being the villains of each other’s story? The hurt seeps into our body, to the point that we humans only emanate of cruelty; and to diminish it we shall commit the same harm to others to feel light- but that’s a myth, we rather become heavier with shame. There’s so much pain in unrequited love, and yet the creators aren’t bored writing about it on a constant foundation; the acceptance of the fact that, yes- some people can’t be loved the same way they love- is just surely miserable.
In episode 9, when Hae-jo abandons Jae-mi on her birth mother’s doorstep so that she can learn her real birthday, and while coming back he stops the car and picks up Hueng. Hae-jo cried on Hueng’s shoulders nonstop, saying he was the worst person ever and Hueng agreed. The dynamic between both the male leads is not of jealousy or anger, but it is of hopelessness. Both of them love the same person tremendously and yet can’t do anything about it, they both try to be horange (tiger) but in reality, they are just wimpy gae (dog). As Hae-jo cries uncontrollably, Hueng sees himself in him and provides his handkerchief to blow his nose, and when Hae-jo calls him ‘hyung’ (big brother in korean)- you can feel the sense of camaraderie connecting them. Everybody is just supposedly a bad person unless someone loves them even so, an animal going back to its own vomit without any strong or strange purpose- but it must be nice sometimes to see them smiling at us even though they cleaning our muddle.
Final thoughts
The show ends, did Hae-jo die? If he did, Jo Young's writing of such a story would make sense and it would complete this sphere of justification. Aforementioned, I wasn’t surprised to spectate such a finale, like of course we are fed with nothing but an empty plate! However, if we examine it thoroughly; the entire series was a quest to find meaning in their lonesome life. Can we still grow even if we aren’t allowed to emerge from our darkness? The writing leaves an expression of incompleteness, that we can extensively affiliate with; escaping and coming back- the cycle of truth and revelation. Jo Young’s “It’s Okay to Not Be Okay” also has a similar thematic ending, but does this writing make this show better than other dramas?
It answered my questions about what happens if you only love once, what’s a good and realistic romantic relationship? Parents make mistakes and yet children tend to blame themselves for it. Messy personas are part of our lives, and imitating them to create a medium of art so that the audience falls for its authenticity appears to be relatively a stretch of emotional exploitation. Therefore, though I am aware literary critics would disagree so; as a matter of fact, no one gets to say which art is better and which art is deficient in presumed merits.
Ultimately, why the name “Mr. Plankton”? Inherently this is a very small organism that has no particular group of creatures; they are alone and independent bodies that drift away in the large ocean and propel themselves against the water currents. This plankton is none other than Hae-Jo, with no home to return to and no person to call his own; lives through the way the world throws curve balls at him. These creatures die too soon, but if they find a partner- their death process becomes slow as they have another one to hold onto. Notwithstanding the fact that Hae-jo most probably dies, does it mean Jae-mi was never the one for him? Or is our beloved screenwriter playing with us again? Do we expect a second season, him magically alive? Such a smart move to intrigue the audience, seated hungrily for the next; that’s how it works.
Wow, this was exceptionally a big write-up, but I had so much nonsensical fun with it!! I don’t know if many people will be able to comprehend it, but I think that is the whole point of this piece, this show wasn’t my favorite as such but it made me think so much; I just had to write about it. Thank you for reading, I hope you liked this one as well; please check out my other works too <3
Ending this with a song recommendation,
Love,
Akira
Beautiful essay<3 you’ve successfully convinced me to watch Mr.plankton 🙏