This review may contain spoilers
"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
Reminiscent of the social satire "A Modest Proposal", a short story by Jonathan Swift, this drama, like "A Modest Proposal" focuses on the theme with power comes responsibility. While "AMP" focused on the effects of the Irish potato famine on the poor, each episode of the drama explores a problem within the Korean educational system. A system controlled by rich, powerful, influential people hell bent on making sure they get and keep their piece of pie while the poor just have to make do with the crumbs. As the episodes progress, the revelations of how and why these problems exist are reveled. Because these issues are well ingrained in the system during each episode, the viewer is given adventure, comedy, therapy, and justice. This is what makes it different from other school dramas. This is a very well written and intelligent no holds barred drama.
When it comes to fighting, episodes 1, 2, 7, and 10, be prepared for the male lead to use very controlled corporal punishment against some not so innocent older male minors (1 & 2). The most violent fights are with male adults who have weapons and fighting experience (episodes 2 & 7). In episode 10 the older high school students have weapons (pipes and knives). One episode about 14-year-old males, when fighting occurs, the main female lead takes over, and she is also very controlled (even though she is the "crazy" half of the duo). The male lead never lays a hand on younger students. In fact, there is one serious scene where the main male lead seems to be holding back a laugh while talking "seriously" with the boys. So the violence towards male minors is very carefully handled. The same with the females. Neither the male nor female protagonist use martial arts on female students. So the writers went out of their way to make sure that females are not physically assaulted by the people from the bureau as they are setting the example.
The rest of the drama deals with cyber and psychological bullying, drugs, gambling, exam fraud, and parental pressure. Even though it is episodic, the episodes do tie together with an overall arc dealing with the main male protagonists. By the end, the Korean educational system is turned upside down. It was a wild ride.
What I liked but others were concerned about:
1) Many commenters have written about the protagonists having full immunity from the law (in their personal life as well as their work life) as they dish out corporal punishment, but that is where the satire comes in. For whatever reason, these bullies have long been able to do these things without any consequences, it is like they have had immunity from the law, so why should ordinary people have to follow the law while rich, powerful, and influential people don't. So it is quite therapeutic to see the bullies get bullied in the exact same way as they bully their peers. Yet, we understand that this is not the way to deal with these issues in the long run. This is even mentioned in the drama. This drama is satire. This drama is not advocating for teachers to go out and beat up their unruly students. It is advocating that something needs to be done. They even give reasonable solutions as well as the over-the-top solutions. For the most part it is about changing the laws and adding protection for all people involved: teachers, parents, and students. Since the people with influence run the school system, they need to be aware of and do something to make the educational system equal for everyone. Rather than abuse the power that is given to them. So having someone with immunity come in and take them out is the icing on the cake for comedy, but also show that with power comes responsibility.
2) Another area of concern viewers had was with the issue of the teacher who was afraid to discipline a specific student in fear of retaliation. Once the teacher got up the courage to discipline this student, she used a wand to smack the girl's hands when the girl refused to solve the problem on the board. The teacher kept smacking the girl's hands when the girl continued to refuse to answer the problem. When the girl finally decides to do the problem, you could see that she had no trouble using her hands to do the problem, so you know the teacher did not hit her very hard with the wand. Again, very controlled use of corporal punishment. Viewers commented on the fact that the teacher used the wand instead of just asking the student to leave the room. This wouldn't have solved the problem. For me, the teacher's act symbolized the teacher having the power over the classroom again instead of the power being "in the hands of the students". Will the teacher continue to use the wand? I seriously doubt it as you could tell that it hurt the teacher more to have to use the wand than it hurt the student. With power comes responsibility.
3) The most serious is the issue of false allegations whether of child abuse or sexual assault. The drama handles the child abuse case really well. It is the sexual assault allegations that viewers are concerned about. In the drama, a girl accuses two male teachers of sexual assault. Both teachers are innocent of the allegations. However, by the time the investigation is done, both teachers have committed suicide. Viewers are concerned that because the writers didn't make one of them true that people will get the message that all sexual assault cases are false. While I understand this concern, for me, this was not the issue the writers were dealing with. We all know that teachers sexually assault students and these cases should be taken seriously, but it is the power these accusations have on the accused, the family of the accused, and the society as a whole. The girl posted these accusations online and commenters wrote about harming the families of these teachers before even hearing the whole story. Both teachers committed suicide. These false allegations harmed innocent human beings. This is what I liked about that episode. They explored the impact of these allegations on the accused. The one thing I didn't like about the episode was the ending. The girl is punished, but it wasn't really clear what she was being punished for as she had done so many things to deserve punishment.
4) Loved the quirky "romance" between the computer guy and the female lead as it brought some frivolity to balance out the seriousness of the male lead's love life. Commenters have said that it wasn't needed.
What I didn't like: Sometimes the female lead is way too the over the top in her acting, but I understand that she is the "crazy" to the male lead's seriousness, and he is serious enough for the both of them. Also, the rush wears off at around episode 7 and found myself just listening rather than watching.
Advice: If you are sensitive to violence, do not watch. If you are looking for realism, this is not that drama. If you are looking for fun, excitement, and a lesson, enjoy the ride!
Happy drama watching.
When it comes to fighting, episodes 1, 2, 7, and 10, be prepared for the male lead to use very controlled corporal punishment against some not so innocent older male minors (1 & 2). The most violent fights are with male adults who have weapons and fighting experience (episodes 2 & 7). In episode 10 the older high school students have weapons (pipes and knives). One episode about 14-year-old males, when fighting occurs, the main female lead takes over, and she is also very controlled (even though she is the "crazy" half of the duo). The male lead never lays a hand on younger students. In fact, there is one serious scene where the main male lead seems to be holding back a laugh while talking "seriously" with the boys. So the violence towards male minors is very carefully handled. The same with the females. Neither the male nor female protagonist use martial arts on female students. So the writers went out of their way to make sure that females are not physically assaulted by the people from the bureau as they are setting the example.
The rest of the drama deals with cyber and psychological bullying, drugs, gambling, exam fraud, and parental pressure. Even though it is episodic, the episodes do tie together with an overall arc dealing with the main male protagonists. By the end, the Korean educational system is turned upside down. It was a wild ride.
What I liked but others were concerned about:
1) Many commenters have written about the protagonists having full immunity from the law (in their personal life as well as their work life) as they dish out corporal punishment, but that is where the satire comes in. For whatever reason, these bullies have long been able to do these things without any consequences, it is like they have had immunity from the law, so why should ordinary people have to follow the law while rich, powerful, and influential people don't. So it is quite therapeutic to see the bullies get bullied in the exact same way as they bully their peers. Yet, we understand that this is not the way to deal with these issues in the long run. This is even mentioned in the drama. This drama is satire. This drama is not advocating for teachers to go out and beat up their unruly students. It is advocating that something needs to be done. They even give reasonable solutions as well as the over-the-top solutions. For the most part it is about changing the laws and adding protection for all people involved: teachers, parents, and students. Since the people with influence run the school system, they need to be aware of and do something to make the educational system equal for everyone. Rather than abuse the power that is given to them. So having someone with immunity come in and take them out is the icing on the cake for comedy, but also show that with power comes responsibility.
2) Another area of concern viewers had was with the issue of the teacher who was afraid to discipline a specific student in fear of retaliation. Once the teacher got up the courage to discipline this student, she used a wand to smack the girl's hands when the girl refused to solve the problem on the board. The teacher kept smacking the girl's hands when the girl continued to refuse to answer the problem. When the girl finally decides to do the problem, you could see that she had no trouble using her hands to do the problem, so you know the teacher did not hit her very hard with the wand. Again, very controlled use of corporal punishment. Viewers commented on the fact that the teacher used the wand instead of just asking the student to leave the room. This wouldn't have solved the problem. For me, the teacher's act symbolized the teacher having the power over the classroom again instead of the power being "in the hands of the students". Will the teacher continue to use the wand? I seriously doubt it as you could tell that it hurt the teacher more to have to use the wand than it hurt the student. With power comes responsibility.
3) The most serious is the issue of false allegations whether of child abuse or sexual assault. The drama handles the child abuse case really well. It is the sexual assault allegations that viewers are concerned about. In the drama, a girl accuses two male teachers of sexual assault. Both teachers are innocent of the allegations. However, by the time the investigation is done, both teachers have committed suicide. Viewers are concerned that because the writers didn't make one of them true that people will get the message that all sexual assault cases are false. While I understand this concern, for me, this was not the issue the writers were dealing with. We all know that teachers sexually assault students and these cases should be taken seriously, but it is the power these accusations have on the accused, the family of the accused, and the society as a whole. The girl posted these accusations online and commenters wrote about harming the families of these teachers before even hearing the whole story. Both teachers committed suicide. These false allegations harmed innocent human beings. This is what I liked about that episode. They explored the impact of these allegations on the accused. The one thing I didn't like about the episode was the ending. The girl is punished, but it wasn't really clear what she was being punished for as she had done so many things to deserve punishment.
4) Loved the quirky "romance" between the computer guy and the female lead as it brought some frivolity to balance out the seriousness of the male lead's love life. Commenters have said that it wasn't needed.
What I didn't like: Sometimes the female lead is way too the over the top in her acting, but I understand that she is the "crazy" to the male lead's seriousness, and he is serious enough for the both of them. Also, the rush wears off at around episode 7 and found myself just listening rather than watching.
Advice: If you are sensitive to violence, do not watch. If you are looking for realism, this is not that drama. If you are looking for fun, excitement, and a lesson, enjoy the ride!
Happy drama watching.
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