Netflix’s “Kingdom” Writer Kim Eun Hee Blames Herself For The Mixed Reactions “Kingdom: Ashin Of The North” Received
In a new interview, Netflix’s “Kingdom” Writer Kim Eun Hee discusses the mixed responses “Kingdom: Ashin Of The North” has received and how she took it.
In a new online interview with the famous screenwriter, she addressed the mixed reviews and fans’ responses to “Kingdom: Ashin Of The North,” a prequel episode focusing on Ashin and the origin of the curse that’s been plaguing the lead characters in the drama. The one-hour and a half episode received mixed responses, while some fans loved it and thought it was a necessary look at the origins, others thought it was overall a boring episode in comparison to seasons 1 and 2.
Kim Eun Hee responded to the criticism saying,
“If there are any controversies or mixed reviews surrounding the work, it is the responsibility of the writer who wrote the script.
I think I should think more deeply about what I will write in the future while feeling responsible for it.”
She talked about the character Ashin and why the episode was comparatively slower than what fans are used to,
“In “Ashin,” I thought about the depth of emotion rather than action as I was mainly trying to express extreme emotions, who is the character Asin, and why did she have a hard time.
I thought it would be the darkest and brightest story I’ve ever made.
However, that was our intention and even if there were disappointed, it was an inevitable choice.”
What did you think of her response? Have you seen “Kingdom: Ashin Of The North”?
Source: (A)
My personal thoughts- by Jass K.
I must say, I really like the fact that she’s directly addressing the criticism against the drama, we don’t often see that in kdramaland. If the kdrama is a success, you’d read interviews with the screenwriter but if its a failure, often than not, they just never bring it up or address why they made certain decisions.
In many of my reviews, I talk about how I’d like to know what points the screenwriter was trying to make with the plot, I’m glad she’s directly explaining her approach, she’s truly admirable.
I kind of agree regarding what she said about the drama being the responsibility of the screenwriter if it fails. While directors, actors, and editors also play an important role, I think that in most cases, at least in what I have seen, many kdramas suffer because of the script, usually, the actors, director, and editors are all doing a fairly good job.
Therefore, in many cases we have amazingly talented people whose talent is wasted doing a project that has immense sweet Promises at the beginning only for it to fall flat at the end. It feels like a total waste of time especially because you know the screenwriter will likely refuse to explain their point of view or why they’d taken the plot in a certain direction. I certainly hope that we see more screenwriters in the future directly addressing criticism, not everything is hate, there’s a lot of valid criticism if you know where to look.
While I’m glad that a scriptwriter is acknowledging the criticism (especially so early on rather than reflecting it on ten years later) and taking responsibility for it, I honestly thought this special episode was absolutely brilliant in setting up the origin of all the events. I loved the way the plot and Ashin is written. Kim Eun Hee gave it more depth. I just… I don’t understand how people can criticize it. My conclusion is that this criticism is coming from the male audience.
why do you think this criticism is coming from the male audience. I think Ashin was brilliantly written and executed. Jun Ji Hyun played the role flawlessly.