@actionscript gives his perspective on Dong Hoon’s narrative arc and why it matters.
“When he is caught between desire and conscience, he always leans towards the latter.” Thus speaks Ki Hoon of his brother Dong Hoon in episode 1, and these words introduce us to the kind of man our protagonist is. I’d say it’s quite consistent with the image that Dong Hoon had exhibited in the first few scenes – in how gentle he was with the ladybug, and in how dutiful he was as a brother to both Sang Hoon and Ki Hoon. But Ki Hoon follows up those words with a seemingly ominous declaration: “I pity him the most.”
The chance encounter between Dong Hoon and Ji An to complete My Mister is magical, from the onset when Ji An hears the voice she had become so intimate with, to the camera as it follows her over the shoulder to reveal a reborn young woman, standing in the beautiful sunlight and finishing with a handshake that is anything but.
It’s wonderful that Ji An, the mentor, has seen her student Dong Hoon become so happy. BUT WAIT, you may be thinking, Dong Hoon is obviously the mentor here. Hear me out though as I make my case. I think the Writer, Park Hae Young is brilliantly flipping the obvious roles of mentor/mentee here in ways that on the surface appear one way but in actuality are reversed.
As mentioned in Part 1, Do Joon Young and Ji An spend a lot of time together. For someone who says, “What man would eat and drink with a woman he doesn’t like?” he meets up with her quite often. He even has her over to his house a couple of times. If only the Managing Directors knew about that!
Tracing the progression of Do Joon Young’s relationship with Ji An, we see how and when things start to turn against him. At first he believes (understandably) that Ji An is working with him to fire Park Dong Hoon. Then as he attempts to use her to trap Dong Hoon further, he starts observing troubling things about her — she seems to have feelings for the loser engineer! Suspicion turns to confirmation, confirmation turns to fear as Ji An starts working against him, and finally what he thought was a win-win situation crumbles.
By the end, Do Joon Young is our disgusted shipper in the show, the one that drives Ji An more into Dong Hoon’s orbit and then names the love between them. He had tried to pair them off to create a scandal….but his plan comes back to bite him.
Do Joon Young is the slimy CEO we all love to hate, the cause of many of Park Dong Hoon’s problems and the one who doesn’t care if people get run over on his quest to maintain power.
There’s so much to say about him, but I want to focus on his relationship to Dong Hoon and his relationship with Lee Ji An. His interactions with these two demonstrate his character as well as one key role he plays, that of naming the love between Dong Hoon and Ji An.
Dong Hoon goes to the convenience store, buys cigarettes, and then throws them away on two different occasions.
The first time takes place in Episode 2 when he’s lost the bribe. He goes to the store, buys it all, throws it all away, and then the next thing he does is visit Yoon Hee in her office and tell her what’s happening.
Throughout the show we see close-ups of the other characters’ hands. But I noticed the show hardly ever shows Yu Ra and Ki Hoon’s hands — and I do think this is because the show wants us to listen carefully to what they’re actually saying.
I thought Gwang Il represented the general audience, initially skeptical and mocking their relationship…but he came out of it transformed, just like us.
If Gwang Il is the one who has an intimate look into Park Dong Hoon and Lee Ji An’s relationship because he has access to all the wiretap recordings, Park Dong Un is the character who discovers the truth of all the shenanigans that have been going on and synthesizes that truth for everyone in the story. His access, power, and even mobility are at a level that no one else has, except perhaps the Chairman. He becomes a major playmaker in My Mister. Not only that, Park Dong Un actually saves both Dong Hoon and Ji An at different times: Dong Hoon in the beginning of our story, and Ji An at the end.
Glass is hard yet transparent. It blocks entry, but at the same time allows us to peer into the space it shelters. Looking through a glass window or door, we see without touching. We are able to watch and scan every object, action and expression, but we should not be fooled for there is still an invisible barrier that shuts us out. And sometimes, if we look carefully, we see our own reflection. Continue reading Seeing Through a Glass, Darkly→
The only way the writer can reveal Dong Hoon’s feelings for Ji An is through a third party. If he says it out loud, he loses his integrity, and everything goes downhill. He is a married man. Remember, everything he says is being recorded. For example, if Kwang Il had heard words of love between them, he would never have trusted Dong Hoon with those recordings, and Ji An would have gone to jail. ~by Fauna
My Ahjussi / My Mister Fan Site 