Hey yall, I’m enjoying the discourse on this one and every single person’s opinion is valid, and I’m here for it. On the one hand, I agree that Rosa and her mother are extremely toxic people and that yeonwoo is their victim. On the other, I think this is a very intricate, thoughtful and entertaining exploration into power dynamics. I see Rosa’s position as a rich heiress as a double edged sword. Sure she gets material comforts, anything she could possibly want, and implicit respect just for existing, but we’ve all seen how soulless and truly dehumanising the world of the powerful is. It’s quite gross, frankly, and I think Rosa is fully aware of this. Power dynamics works much differently to the rich and powerful, and I would never expect her to pursue a BDSM relationship in a healthy way because….just look at her upbringing. Date rape drugs provided at their own parties, broken families, her controlling mother and all the eyes on her at all times.
As for Yeonwoo, it’s clear that he has masochistic tendencies, and is bonded to Rosa in a way that isn’t super clear to me yet, but I think that he is definitely being taken advantage of. I think that power dynamics like this are more comfortable to him, because it’s what he knows. I think he’s given up on leading a normal life and is just like “if I’m going to be in muck forever, might as well be tied down there so I never get to hope again”. I’m interested in seeing if he’d choose to be tethered over freedom if the opportunity presented himself, his decision depending on how far gone he feels himself to be, because I don’t think he believes he deserves or even thinks about being happy.
They’re both individuals who are trapped in different ways and manipulated by the people around them. Funnily enough, I actually don’t think Rosa has that much more agency than Yeonwoo, I mean she even controls what she eats in order to advertise the family business. Rosa and Yeonwoo’s only way of rebellion/release is this messed up exchange of power, and it seems like Rosa is abusing him unilaterally (it IS still rape), but I think that Yeonwoo lets her act out because he’s also allowed to act out in turn. They’re only able to be true to themselves when they’re together. The toxic part is that, you should never have only one person to dish out all your trauma at. A healthy person has support systems and some type of emotional release, but they have neither.
Hey yall, I’m enjoying the discourse on this one and every single person’s opinion is valid, and I’m here for it. On the one hand, I agree that Rosa and her mother are extremely toxic people and that yeonwoo is their victim. On the other, I think this is a very intricate, thoughtful and entertaining exploration into power dynamics. I see Rosa’s position as a rich heiress as a double edged sword. Sure she gets material comforts, anything she could possibly want, and implicit respect just for existing, but we’ve all seen how soulless and truly dehumanising the world of the powerful is. It’s quite gross, frankly, and I think Rosa is fully aware of this. Power dynamics works much differently to the rich and powerful, and I would never expect her to pursue a BDSM relationship in a healthy way because….just look at her upbringing. Date rape drugs provided at their own parties, broken families, her controlling mother and all the eyes on her at all times.
As for Yeonwoo, it’s clear that he has masochistic tendencies, and is bonded to Rosa in a way that isn’t super clear to me yet, but I think that he is definitely being taken advantage of. I think that power dynamics like this are more comfortable to him, because it’s what he knows. I think he’s given up on leading a normal life and is just like “if I’m going to be in muck forever, might as well be tied down there so I never get to hope again”. I’m interested in seeing if he’d choose to be tethered over freedom if the opportunity presented himself, his decision depending on how far gone he feels himself to be, because I don’t think he believes he deserves or even thinks about being happy.
They’re both individuals who are trapped in different ways and manipulated by the people around them. Funnily enough, I actually don’t think Rosa has that much more agency than Yeonwoo, I mean she even controls what she eats in order to advertise the family business. Rosa and Yeonwoo’s only way of rebellion/release is this messed up exchange of power, and it seems like Rosa is abusing him unilaterally (it IS still rape), but I think that Yeonwoo lets her act out because he’s also allowed to act out in turn. They’re only able to be true to themselves when they’re together. The toxic part is that, you should never have only one person to dish out all your trauma at. A healthy person has support systems and some type of emotional release, but they have neither.