twirlingtulles
The Strength of a Woman and the Love of a Mother
Under the Queen's Umbrella deserves to win an award for the bold exploration of often overlooked themes. There are so many thoughts and emotions running through my mind while writing this that I will try to distil them as clearly as possible!
1) Firstly, this was undoubtedly a women-driven show. The women were the stars of this show. The men played their complementary roles with charm, but this was a show about women. While it can be said that the handsome young princes were easy on the eyes, the main focus of the entire show was on the Queen, a mother of 5 boys, wife to the King, adversary to the Dowager.
The Queen Im Hwa Ryung was impeccably cast. I cannot imagine a better actress to play the Queen. She was graceful, fierce, protective, benevolent, sassy and vulnerable. She wore every single emotion as elegantly as I imagine a real Queen would. I love how it put an "older" woman as the star. I feel that with the huge number of strong female-lead shows coming out of China and South Korea - we are definitely moving in a more progressive era of entertainment.
The men played fantastic supporting roles. They held up the women so well and let the women actresses really shine like diamonds in this series. The King needed the Queen to help him make right decisions. The princes needed their mother to guide and protect them. The Crown Princess found the love of her life and pursued him. Unlike some older dramas which typecast opinionated Queens as power-hungry (cue almost every other palace drama), crown princesses as wishy-washy and weak and waiting for their prince, this drama portrayed them as women who knew what they wanted in life and went out to get them. It was absolutely refreshing. I really hope more such shows follow this.
2) Secondly, the special unbreakable bond between a mother and her son
This was undoubtedly a show that focused on the mother-son relationship. While some may question why the daughters were not featured in this show, I think for the limited episodes, they made a choice to just focus on the sons.
For such a long time, the mother-son bond has always been ridiculed. Men are called "Mama's boys" if they are too close to their mothers or mothers-in-laws are always stereotyped as "wicked" or "evil" or "selfish". I just loved the relationship between the Queen and the (new) Crown Princess - which was one of mutual respect and even admiration. Although she also had a deep relationship with the (old) Crown Princess. While some of the relationships between a mother and son in the show have brought about tragic endings, the relationships themselves have never been ridiculed or questioned - just the eventual actions and ambitions these women (and sons) have. In fact, for many mother-son relationships, the purity and beauty of their bond was the only redeeming quality for some of the pairs. The director and scriptwriters were very respectful of the bond between mother and son and even at the very end, the King struggled with coming to terms with what his mother did because of the great love and respect he had for her. Every conversation between mother and son was lovingly crafted, every scene and interaction almost sacred.
3) LGBTQ+ issues
I was very surprised to see that even the LGBTQ+ theme was brought up in a way that was extremely respectful and so tenderly. The bond between mother and child made it even more emotional because a mother would do anything to keep her child safe and yet the Queen went beyond keeping him safe, and made him feel seen. In the real world, not to mention that era, most parents would try to keep their own children to the "straight" lane because they think that's the way to keep them "safe" from external harm, but I love how she knew the way to keeping him safe from himself, is to also make him feel seen by himself or his own mother. It was so emotional.
Under the Queen's Umbrella was really one of the best Korean period dramas I have watched to date. The cinematography, script, acting, soundtrack. There is really nothing I can fault. I am also so delighted that these women character driven shows are now no longer the exception, but now, dare I say, becoming the norm! *my inner feminist is doing a happy dance*
1) Firstly, this was undoubtedly a women-driven show. The women were the stars of this show. The men played their complementary roles with charm, but this was a show about women. While it can be said that the handsome young princes were easy on the eyes, the main focus of the entire show was on the Queen, a mother of 5 boys, wife to the King, adversary to the Dowager.
The Queen Im Hwa Ryung was impeccably cast. I cannot imagine a better actress to play the Queen. She was graceful, fierce, protective, benevolent, sassy and vulnerable. She wore every single emotion as elegantly as I imagine a real Queen would. I love how it put an "older" woman as the star. I feel that with the huge number of strong female-lead shows coming out of China and South Korea - we are definitely moving in a more progressive era of entertainment.
The men played fantastic supporting roles. They held up the women so well and let the women actresses really shine like diamonds in this series. The King needed the Queen to help him make right decisions. The princes needed their mother to guide and protect them. The Crown Princess found the love of her life and pursued him. Unlike some older dramas which typecast opinionated Queens as power-hungry (cue almost every other palace drama), crown princesses as wishy-washy and weak and waiting for their prince, this drama portrayed them as women who knew what they wanted in life and went out to get them. It was absolutely refreshing. I really hope more such shows follow this.
2) Secondly, the special unbreakable bond between a mother and her son
This was undoubtedly a show that focused on the mother-son relationship. While some may question why the daughters were not featured in this show, I think for the limited episodes, they made a choice to just focus on the sons.
For such a long time, the mother-son bond has always been ridiculed. Men are called "Mama's boys" if they are too close to their mothers or mothers-in-laws are always stereotyped as "wicked" or "evil" or "selfish". I just loved the relationship between the Queen and the (new) Crown Princess - which was one of mutual respect and even admiration. Although she also had a deep relationship with the (old) Crown Princess. While some of the relationships between a mother and son in the show have brought about tragic endings, the relationships themselves have never been ridiculed or questioned - just the eventual actions and ambitions these women (and sons) have. In fact, for many mother-son relationships, the purity and beauty of their bond was the only redeeming quality for some of the pairs. The director and scriptwriters were very respectful of the bond between mother and son and even at the very end, the King struggled with coming to terms with what his mother did because of the great love and respect he had for her. Every conversation between mother and son was lovingly crafted, every scene and interaction almost sacred.
3) LGBTQ+ issues
I was very surprised to see that even the LGBTQ+ theme was brought up in a way that was extremely respectful and so tenderly. The bond between mother and child made it even more emotional because a mother would do anything to keep her child safe and yet the Queen went beyond keeping him safe, and made him feel seen. In the real world, not to mention that era, most parents would try to keep their own children to the "straight" lane because they think that's the way to keep them "safe" from external harm, but I love how she knew the way to keeping him safe from himself, is to also make him feel seen by himself or his own mother. It was so emotional.
Under the Queen's Umbrella was really one of the best Korean period dramas I have watched to date. The cinematography, script, acting, soundtrack. There is really nothing I can fault. I am also so delighted that these women character driven shows are now no longer the exception, but now, dare I say, becoming the norm! *my inner feminist is doing a happy dance*
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