Being a student of psychology, I’ve always been intrigued with the concepts of psychological drama in movies or series. Recently I got to know about a Korean drama ‘It’s Okay To NOT Be Okay’. No wonder the name gave away the concept of the drama, as it was saying that no matter how you feel, it is always alright to feel that way because it is normal.
Our society has made certain rules regarding what is and what is not normal. Very conveniently we label the other person abnormal when we think he is not conforming to the societal rules. However, it should never be the case. How do we know if they are not normal and we are? Just because most of us actually hide our inner feelings doesn’t mean that we are normal. Expressing ourselves in any way is normal. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s fine to offend or hurt someone else.
Anyway, coming back to the Korean drama, it had three main characters and surprisingly it was not a love triangle. There were two brothers, one of whom was autistic and the other a worker in a psychiatric hospital, and a girl who was an anti-social writer. The drama closely untangles the complexities of life and the traumas that the characters were facing.
The background music and the songs complimented the theme of the story. There were five books mentioned in the series and we were shown the stories of those books along with the ongoing lives of the characters depicting how those stories were actually being lived by real people. Sometimes, while the stories were shown, the audience could not comprehend the hidden meaning behind it until it was shown through the main characters. This may be one of the beauties of the story writing of the drama.
The second half of the drama lagged a bit but it quickly picked up the pace before ending it in a beautiful way. There were several scenes where the audience might not help but shed a tear or two whether it was the realistic acting of the characters or the song playing in the background depicting the misery of life of humans or simply reminding you of your own hardships living a life according to others’ acceptance.
The direction wonderfully allocates time to each supporting character, giving each of them meaningful graphs within the different story lines. The sad and complex lives of the patients living in the psychiatric hospital is shown in retrospect of their past lives where we can delve deeper into their skin and understand why they ended up in the hospital after all. It gives us an opportunity to be empathetic and understanding towards even people we might meet later on, in our real lives.
The show is by all means a must watch for everyone. It is emotional and romantic but at times it also gets thrilling and suspenseful. There are some brief comic moments as well that will surely tickle you and make you want some more.
Do watch the show and share your comments here. And don’t worry, it’s okay to NOT share the same view. 😉
- Name: It’s Okay To Not Be Okay
- Director: Park Shin-woo
- Starring: Kim Soo-hyun
- Seo Yea-ji
- Oh Jung-se
- Original Language: Korean
- Country of Origin: South Korean
- No. of Episodes: 16