Lately I’ve mostly been working on my work computer and my phone, but today I opened up my personal laptop, and I found the following “random thoughts” in an open notepad file. It’s my thoughts after episode 16 of Rookie Historian (so, not the latest episode), but I still thought I’d post it. #levelmeupsoonplease
Random Thoughts I Have on Rookie Historian
There is one moment where the potential brides are all speaking in front of the Dowager Queen, and Hae-ryung looks like she’d like to speak up, to say something, to do something–but she pauses and resumes writing; she realizes she can’t do anything. And I got to thinking: Writers are often accused of being nothing more than dreamers, of being people who aren’t actually “doing” things but who just imagine things and write about them. And Rim fits that stereotype very well—as Maehwa he writes romantic novels but he himself has literally zero experience of love. But historians share a strangely-parallel fate, this show shows us. As much as Hae-ryung would like to act, to jump into the fray, she has to sit back and simply write. Both kinds of writers are in a sphere of inaction. I dislike the truth this hints at; as a writer, I want to believe I can be both a dreamer and a doer, but I think the show does a good job of highlighting some of the tension therein. The show does a lot to contrast novelists and historians, but I think it’s also very intent on showing the similarities between the two. I think it wants us to remember that all written record–fictional or not—isn’t real life. Where the show will take this thread, I’m still curious to see.
Honestly, the hopeless romantic in me hopes that the shows goes in this direction: all written records are in contrast to real life; they are not themselves real life. and because they are not themselves real life, “history” is as fanciful and biased as a novel. both are pictures of real life but not actually real life. but by that token, even the things in novels can become real life. ERGO GHR AND RIM CAN GET MARRIED *AND* HAVE LIVES THEY LOVE
another woodalchi nicole recruit
September 18, 2019 at 6:27 PM
Lately I’ve mostly been working on my work computer and my phone, but today I opened up my personal laptop, and I found the following “random thoughts” in an open notepad file. It’s my thoughts after episode 16 of Rookie Historian (so, not the latest episode), but I still thought I’d post it. #levelmeupsoonplease
Random Thoughts I Have on Rookie Historian
There is one moment where the potential brides are all speaking in front of the Dowager Queen, and Hae-ryung looks like she’d like to speak up, to say something, to do something–but she pauses and resumes writing; she realizes she can’t do anything. And I got to thinking: Writers are often accused of being nothing more than dreamers, of being people who aren’t actually “doing” things but who just imagine things and write about them. And Rim fits that stereotype very well—as Maehwa he writes romantic novels but he himself has literally zero experience of love. But historians share a strangely-parallel fate, this show shows us. As much as Hae-ryung would like to act, to jump into the fray, she has to sit back and simply write. Both kinds of writers are in a sphere of inaction. I dislike the truth this hints at; as a writer, I want to believe I can be both a dreamer and a doer, but I think the show does a good job of highlighting some of the tension therein. The show does a lot to contrast novelists and historians, but I think it’s also very intent on showing the similarities between the two. I think it wants us to remember that all written record–fictional or not—isn’t real life. Where the show will take this thread, I’m still curious to see.
Honestly, the hopeless romantic in me hopes that the shows goes in this direction: all written records are in contrast to real life; they are not themselves real life. and because they are not themselves real life, “history” is as fanciful and biased as a novel. both are pictures of real life but not actually real life. but by that token, even the things in novels can become real life. ERGO GHR AND RIM CAN GET MARRIED *AND* HAVE LIVES THEY LOVE
Sa
September 18, 2019 at 7:40 PM
I love this!
another woodalchi nicole recruit
September 18, 2019 at 7:48 PM
hehe thanks 💕