We studied tragedies in class this week. This reminds me of Gloomy Salad Days, a Taiwanese TV drama taken from real social cases. The fist two episodes tell the story about Huanghe. Hunghe was born in a very wealthy family. He is a merit scholar as well as the leader of gangsters. He is very popular and respected because he does well in everything. He said that he wanted to be extremely good and extremely bad at the same time to experience life. He had a love relationship with his chemistry teacher. After the teacher gave birth to a baby boy, she told Huanghe that it was his child. She also divorced her husband. Huanghe was afraid that the baby would look like him one day and ruin his future. He told the Death Girl that he wanted the baby to disappear. The next day, he heard from the teacher that the baby was dead and the teacher quit her job. Huanghe committed suicide because he thought he killed his own baby. What makes it a tragedy is that after his death, he received an apology letter from the teacher. She told him that the baby is alive and is not his. She lied because she wanted him to get back with her again. It is really sad because he could have a really bright future. I could picture him being a successful businessman or a politician. His story tells us that the hardest thing to get over with is our own sins.
We also learned how Aristotle defines “tragic hero”. I think Hunghe is a tragic hero. First of all, he was born in a very wealthy family. Secondly, he is very wise and is respected by most of the people. He could have had a bright future. Finally, he made mistakes and the punishment he received exceeded the crime (In this case, he didn’t really commit a crime, he just thought he did).
From the way you describe it, I agree that the Taiwanese TV drama "Gloomy Salad," is a bit of a tragedy...Do you think that our view of a "tragic hero" has changed since Aristotle's time? He believed it had to be someone of noble status who got knocked down by his own faults/misfortune, but what do you think we consider tragic heroes now?
ReplyDelete- Katie Ho
was Gloomy Salad Days the saddest piece of media you have seen? Did it affect you?
ReplyDeleteI agree. I believe that one of the hardest things for a person to get over is their own sins. Especially when that sin includes hurting someone else that we care deeply for. It makes me think, why we keep repeating or committing new sins, even though we have already experienced the pain of another. I don't know, I think it has to do with the kind of person that we each are inside. I guess how you react to a certain situation, shows a person true colors. But one thing that I believe that we all have to remember as human beings, is that everyone makes mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with jackies comment. I think that it is hard to get over when you have hurt someone. It's not a very good feeling. I always wonder why do people continue to hurt someone they love so much? If they truly loved them so much why do they continue?
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