K-lover61
UK
Refreshing
I was captivated from the get-go and became thoroughly engrossed in this series.
Out of 16 eps, only one made me cringe a bit and that's probably more about my own discomfort over certain situations than the story!
An excellent cast, especially Park Eun-bin; without her extraordinary acting, which made Attorney Woo just that, this series could have failed.
However, this is a drama. It is not a reality programme centring around an actual lawyer who lives with autism, going about her daily life and work representing those that can afford it, at a high end legal firm.
S.Korea seem to be introducing characters with disabilities more (I thought the character in Our Blues, actually played by an actress with Downs Syndrome, was really ground breaking, yet rarely got mentioned). I hope it educates people (shocking they are so far behind), that treating those who are different to the 'norm' badly and dismissing members of society with any form of disability, or looking down on them, is unacceptable and shows poor and ignorant behaviour.
I think it is highly unlikely one would see many of the scenarios in real life, however, the way in which the programme brought to the fore Young Woo's different (often enlightening) perspective on things, was a joy. It showed that whilst she struggles with understanding human emotion, that didn't mean the character has none, and also felt hurt or concerned for others, just in a different way.
There are autistic savants (I have a cousin-once-removed that is, but he is more severely affected by it at the same time), so her amazing memory is not a step too far. Her obsessions, OCD and discomfort with human contact, I thought were well represented. I also applauded the episode showing the fact not all people with same disorder will be identical ~ there are different levels and the more severe cases are nothing like Young-woo.
Incorporating a romantic element for the character was good to see as well ~ why shouldn't or can't people care about and date someone with autism, if it works? However, whilst it touched on the fact Joon Ho was going to have to work harder at the relationship, would experience discrimination toward her (and their relationship) and would definitely feel lonely and frustrated at times, that aspect was rather romanticized. I think the reality would be more difficult, but equally, if it can work, hugely rewarding for both.
Issues of abandonment were upsetting, I thought and one character was/is irredeemable and not fit to parent. Young-woo definitely gets used, very coldly.
Sometimes aspects went a step too far out of what would be possible and the legal cases did at times feel like their authenticity was secondary, but overall it is a compelling series and I look forward to the developments in S2, even though we'll be waiting for some time.
Out of 16 eps, only one made me cringe a bit and that's probably more about my own discomfort over certain situations than the story!
An excellent cast, especially Park Eun-bin; without her extraordinary acting, which made Attorney Woo just that, this series could have failed.
However, this is a drama. It is not a reality programme centring around an actual lawyer who lives with autism, going about her daily life and work representing those that can afford it, at a high end legal firm.
S.Korea seem to be introducing characters with disabilities more (I thought the character in Our Blues, actually played by an actress with Downs Syndrome, was really ground breaking, yet rarely got mentioned). I hope it educates people (shocking they are so far behind), that treating those who are different to the 'norm' badly and dismissing members of society with any form of disability, or looking down on them, is unacceptable and shows poor and ignorant behaviour.
I think it is highly unlikely one would see many of the scenarios in real life, however, the way in which the programme brought to the fore Young Woo's different (often enlightening) perspective on things, was a joy. It showed that whilst she struggles with understanding human emotion, that didn't mean the character has none, and also felt hurt or concerned for others, just in a different way.
There are autistic savants (I have a cousin-once-removed that is, but he is more severely affected by it at the same time), so her amazing memory is not a step too far. Her obsessions, OCD and discomfort with human contact, I thought were well represented. I also applauded the episode showing the fact not all people with same disorder will be identical ~ there are different levels and the more severe cases are nothing like Young-woo.
Incorporating a romantic element for the character was good to see as well ~ why shouldn't or can't people care about and date someone with autism, if it works? However, whilst it touched on the fact Joon Ho was going to have to work harder at the relationship, would experience discrimination toward her (and their relationship) and would definitely feel lonely and frustrated at times, that aspect was rather romanticized. I think the reality would be more difficult, but equally, if it can work, hugely rewarding for both.
Issues of abandonment were upsetting, I thought and one character was/is irredeemable and not fit to parent. Young-woo definitely gets used, very coldly.
Sometimes aspects went a step too far out of what would be possible and the legal cases did at times feel like their authenticity was secondary, but overall it is a compelling series and I look forward to the developments in S2, even though we'll be waiting for some time.
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