KDrama Club: White Christmas
Welcome to our weekly KDrama Club Meeting! It’s a KDrama-style whisper the password, give the secret handshake, fangirling club. Just like a book club, everyone is encouraged to freely join in with their thoughts and ideas. This week we are discussing the classic KDrama “White Christmas.”
If this is your first time to DramaCurrent’s KDrama Club, welcome! Just like a book club, in the KDrama
How to participate in the “White Christmas” Chat:
Step 1. Take a look at our list of questions. If one, some, or all spark your interest then…
Step 2: Pop down to the comments section and leave your response.
It’s that easy!
Bonus: If you have a comment about “White Christmas” that isn’t an answer to a question, please feel free to say it anyway. Think of our questions as conversation starters, not limiters.
Warning: Spoilers are not only rampant, they are encouraged. We want an open chat where you can talk about any part of the drama you like.
Let the commenting games begin!
Discussion Questions for “White Christmas”
Click to jump to my response or the comments section
- How did you like “White Christmas?”
- Which student’s story fascinated you the most?
- How did the music/OST affect the story for you?
- Were the students “guilty” of Kim
Jinsu’s suicide like the letters said? - What did you think of the ending?
- What do you think will become of the kids next?
1. How did you like “White Christmas?”
DramaCurrent Unni’s Comment:
What I love most about this drama is that it slaughters all preconceptions about what a Korean Drama should be. There are no wrist grabs, back hugs, trucks of doom plot devices to keep us watching. The story never needs them. Without any help, it is piercing, painful, and unpredictable. It’s not a candy story, or Robin Hood story, or any of the many set-ups we’ve come to expect as “Korean Dramas.” “White Christmas” doesn’t just break our preconceptions, it literally drops them off the roof.
So yeah, I liked it…a lot.
2. Which student’s story fascinated you the most?
DramaCurrent Unni’s Comment:
Kang Mi Rae was the most mysterious and interesting character of all the students to me. He didn’t have an existential fixation or depression, so he seemed more level-headed than the rest, and even though he wanted to stand out, he also hated being misunderstood – hence the reason he stayed behind to catch whoever set him up for the statue crime. But most importantly even though he terrified everyone around him, he was a big softie: caring enough to comfort his grieving friends or fall in love at first sight.
It is a shame the writer never filled in the rest of Kang Mi Rae’s story. I would have loved to have known the origin story of our rosey-haired rascal.
3. How did the music/OST affect the story for you?
DramaCurrent Unni’s Comment:
To me, the music was a major part of why this drama was so powerful. Every time an opera aria or monastic chant began, I felt gripping chills and uncertainty. It was spellbinding, and it was brilliant.
On the other hand, the music kept me as off-kilter during this drama as did the story. Who puts Britney Spears’s “Toxic” next to an operatic chorus? Well played drama. Well played.
4. Were the students guilty like the letters said?
DramaCurrent Unni’s Comment:
Let’s review:
Jo Young Jae: threw a blue water balloon. (How is this supposed to make him guilty? I get he’s a bully, but that was just clean fun — sort of like the color run (marathon where everyone gets splashed with colors.) Probably everyone had water balloons that day. Heck, I want to play.)
Yun Su: thought Kim Jinsu was a monster in the corner. (The kid was high as a kite. He could have just as easily thought Jinsu was Barney. Yun Su needed help as much as Jinsu did.)
Choi Chi Hyun: forgot him. (Really? Was Kim Jinsu so vain that he thought everyone must remember him? Come on. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve forgotten someone’s name. Real world, Jinsu, real world.)
Yoon Eun Sung: laughed at his stalker letter. (He STALKED her. He’s lucky she didn’t take that letter to the police and have a restraining order whipped across his behind. Of course, she laughed. She was trying to mask how freaking scared she was.)
Park Moo Yeol: published the letter in the school paper. (Okay, this one was weird. How did Moo Yeol think this would be a good plan? What if Kim Jinsu had liked the anonymous attention to his letter and it urged him on? Come on, there is no good scenario for this. Maybe Moo Yeol was a little guilty here, but I’m chalking this one up to teenage stupidity.)
The teacher: kept it a secret. (Again, the teacher kept Yun Su’s secret. Kim
Yang Kang Mo: didn’t like him. (Yes, Kang Mo was touchy about his disability, and Jinsu did say the wrong thing at the wrong moment. It’s understandable, but it still must have been hard on Jinsu when he just wanted a friend. Kang Mo could have been nicer.)
Lee Jae Kyu: got into the school. (REALLY? Your crime is that you took his place? Jae Kyu, you do realize the school was going to fill that slot regardless of whether you got in? Not seeing a crime here.)
Seems to me that most of their “crimes” were accidents or misunderstandings that Jinsu’s mind twisted into sins.
More likely, the real sinners were the school, teachers, and families who allowed these kids to be abused in the name of education. If he hadn’t been sleep-deprived, unsocialized…isolated, ignored, sunlight deficient…overworked, overwhelmed, paranoid…bullied and probably malnourished then maybe he would have seen the world as a better place.
5. What did you think of the ending?
DramaCurrent Unni’s Comment:
Maybe you saw it coming, but I couldn’t have seen this ending with a telescope.
That being said, I LOVED it. It was so disturbing and intense, and fulfilling to see these kids finally snap and watch as the murderer’s plan backfires right in his face. Missed that calculation much, Mr. Psycho?
6. What do you think will become of the kids next?
DramaCurrent Unni’s Comment:
This is THE question, isn’t it? After everything they’ve been through, can these kids be sane, happy members of the world again? Will they get jobs, marry, have kids, do all those normal things we take for granted in life, or has the monster’s egg cracked beyond repair?
I tend to think it will be a little bit of both. They will never be completely whole, and normal will probably seem like a fantasy after what they’ve been through –but let’s face it, they weren’t normal to begin with. But they have each other, and I think that will save them. They will create a support system within their click: protecting, comforting, and maybe breaking the rules together. No one will ever understand why their mismatched clan is so deeply bonded, but when asked their answer will be only a smirk and dark silence.
But then, maybe that is only my wishful thinking. After what has happened to them, seeing each other may be the worst reminder of all.
Or maybe we just witnessed the birth of a secret sect perversely bent on ending evil by undermining law and order. In the future maybe we would watch and cheer as these same people are destroyed by a hero like City Hunter or Healer. The sadistic part of me thinks this would make the better story.
Please leave your comments about “White Christmas” below. I really look forward to chatting with you. Happy Commenting! ~Unni
Kdrama Club chats remain open forever, so feel free to join in on any chat at any time.
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Drama Unni
Drama Unni is a Korean Entertainment Journalist and blogger based out of the US. She enjoys late night kdrama binges with her two dogs. Email: unni@dramacurrent.com
3 Comments
Tess
Q1-just wanted to watch it even though I didn’t understand the kids story
Tess
Q2-Sung Joon he was a thinker
Tess
Q5-6, didn’t surprise me , I think pushing evil over the roof empower them to overcome anything that comes their way as a adult ,they took back their lives when they push him over, I don’t understand why the kid killed himself but he was weaker then the deaf kid