Stranger from Hell
So, I just finished it and I remember that during the last EP I recalled all the past events and concluded that the series is quite amusing and interesting but not overly thrilling. Pleasant to watch but not catchy. A series to watch while doing something else. But as the last EP came to an end and all the messed up pieces came together I was so shocked (in a positive way). Tbh, tho I read a lot of comments saying that the end ruined everything. In my opinion the ending was that missing piece to make that drama stand out more.
The whole drama felt like watching a silly and humble dude going through all sort of trouble. Step for step watching how miserable his life is getting. Feeling bad for him and being angry because everything seems so unfair.
It was around EP 6 when it all starts to change. Especially that one part:
cuz, its kinda true. Before that, Jong-woo rarely speaks up to anyone. Even if he speaks up, he gets shushed by everyone around him. Being all quiet even tho the people around were treating him extremely poor. For example the chef who always seemed to hit on Jong-woo's Girlfriend Ji-Eun right in front of him or his colleague who always bad-mouths him.
But after his encounterment with Moon-jo, Jong-woo starts to voice his thoughts. Not only that but even gets a knife. For me, thats the most interesting part because in that part he indeed looked like all the psychopath we met in that Studio.
Especially it reminded me of Nam-bok who always used to watch him with a knife behind his back.
Taking that scene and Moon-jo's words, it makes you ask: who are the real humans? The ones living up to who they really are, doing what they like, or the ones putting on a facade to please society. Every single Character in the Drama has some sort of inner conflict. For example, Byeong-min who seems to hold some grudges against Jong-woo for some trauma he's been through, or the chef having a hard time finding a girlfriend, and even Ji-Eun being overly stressed from all the backlashes she receives at work. Everyone seems to carry around some sort of baggage but never talks about it. Instead, they keep it within themselves or lash out at others if can't suppress it. To get back to the question, Considering all these aspects, isn't it better to simply voice out your thoughts and do what you want?
I'd like to say yes, but the short answer to this question is no. That's when society and law collide. According to the law. Everyone's free to do whatever they want as long as they don't bother others with their behavior or don't do anything illegal, but the truth here is that you might be allowed to do this by law but not by society.
'Weird' describes something unnatural or strange. But we as human beings love similarities: the more someone acts and thinks like you, the more you tend to like them. That's called the chameleon effect. We naturally exclude people who don't are like us, that's when they become 'weird' to us. And because no one in society is showing up as themselves or is putting on a character they'd like to be, the ones that do, stand out even more and have a harder time connecting to others. So instead they suppress it (like everyone else) or become the so-called outcasts. In the Drama that's the Eden Studio.
But the Eden Studio is a bad place full of bad people, right? So actually it's a good thing to not 'stand out', right? From here on it gets complicated. The Movie shows a humble, sweet character who turns into a reckless murderer, but that doesn't happen from one day to another. Jong-woo went through a horrible time with no one listening to him, no one caring for his concerns, and no end in sight. A process of slowly and painfully giving up on others and then on himself. He needed a helping hand that no one was able to give because everyone seemed to worry about their own misfortune. That's when he slowly turned into that 'weirdo', bringing back that scenario where he held a knife behind his back. "Monsters are not born, they're made".
Stranger from Hell is not necessarily an unknown person but rather an unknown side of human beings. Something everyone has within themselves.
There're a lot of other things in SFH that I'd like to mention but that would make the post way too long. The last thing I thought is pretty interesting is that the last EP was called 'Gaslighting'
'using psychological methods into questioning their own sanity or powers of reasoning.' Recalling the ending, this might be the most suitable name not only for that EP but for the whole series. Due to the restless nights and the unhealthy environment Jong-woo slowly loses touch of is own sanity and becomes a whole mess. Falling completely into Moon-jo hands.
As I just mentioned, there’s a lot about SFH that should be mentioned. Especially about Moon-jo. If some of y'all are interested I'm gonna link you a great Reddit post about the moral of SFH and the mindset of Moon-jo.
