Jang Geun Won
Okay, I’m going to start with saying if you have not watched Itaewon class and the finale do not read the following cause it will contain spoilers!
With that said, I loved his character. And yes I know he was a shit person but I loved the complexity of his character. He was a shit person but I felt for him.
His character is essentially the exact parallel of Sae Ro Yi’s. Both of them wanted to be good sons to their fathers. Both of them wanted to make their dads’ proud. The difference was in the parenting and having supportive people around you. Had things been different, they both could have been in each other’s shoes.
Let’s start with the parenting. Geun Won had a manipulative and abusive individual for a father. He was constantly told that other people did not matter and feelings did not matter. Any time he acted in contrary to this, he was physically beaten up and emotionally abused. This is clear from the beginning with his bullying and especially highlighted when Geun Won wants to turn himself in for the hit and run that killed Sae Ro Yi’s dad. He felt guilty for it but was immediately reprimanded for feeling that guilt by his dad. Not to mention, the sheer trauma of having to kill the chicken with his bare hands as his dad laughed at his misery. Even with all of that, he still loved his dad and just wanted to be someone he could be proud of. He genuinely believed that everything his dad did was because his dad loved him and wanted what was best for him. And then, BAM, to be abandoned without a second thought by the one person you thought cared for you. I cannot even imagine the emotional turmoil that such an event can have on one’s psyche. And even then, he thought, that’s okay he must have his reasons and I’m sure he’ll protect me from this. Yet, his dad did not even visit him once in jail or help him out in any way. He was once again abandoned; that he really is disposable. Then he comes out of jail and sees that his dad has replaced him with his brother Geun Soo and that his dad doesn’t regret his choice throw him away. Again, being abandoned. Even in the finale, he’’s abandoned once again. The only difference is this time he knows it and it’s shown in the phone call scene with his dad.
In contrast, Sae Ro Yi had a supportive and loving father. He stood up for his son and was willing to protect him even at the expense of himself. The scene where he quits his job and says he is proud of his son in front of Geun Won and his dad really just shows the difference. For Geun Won, I think this is a moment of disbelief and jealousy. Disbelief in how a father should act and a jealousy at Sae Ro Yi being told what he was always wished to hear from his own father. I think this moment really is what defines Geun Won’s dislike towards Sae Ro Yi.
In terms of having supportive people around you, Geun Won had no one. Not one person. The one person he thought he had, his father, he never really had anyways because his father will always choose Jangga over him. Even Min-Jung who he thought of as a noona who cared for him, told him he was not worthy. However, I personally think the deciding factor/pinnacle of his character arch the deciding scene of whether he would get a redemption or not was the scene with Soo Ah when he came out of jail. When she doesn’t really give him a chance to speak and says “You haven’t changed at all”, that was it for him. He replies with “I guess I’ll always be a horrible jerk to you ” and you can just tell he made up his mind in that moment. That he stops fighting everyone’s perception of him. He’s like if everyone thinks I’m a terrible person anyways, I might as well be that. Had she answered his question, had she given him the time to speak, I genuinely believe he wouldn't have gone through with his subsequent actions of kidnapping Yi Seo to kill Sae Ro Yi; he would have walked away and quietly lived his life. I think he was checking if she still liked Sae Ro Yi because if she did and they were together and he went through with his plan, he would have been ruining the life of the girl he likes. That was one thing he said he didn’t want to do. Instead, she dismissed him and said “You haven’t changed”. The thing is no one gave him the chance to. No one gave him the space to. Every single person assumed he was the same shit person before he went to jail. No one gave him the chance to be reformed. His past defined him. That being said, I’m not saying Soo Ah owed him anything, she definitely didn’t, but we cannot just ignore that she clearly played a huge role in his plot line.
In contrast, Sae Ro Yi had supportive people around him who were willing to go to any lengths for him. He had people who cared for him and wanted to see him succeed. He had people who did not let his past define him and gave him a chance to show them who he really was.
Anyways, this post is getting long too and my brain is kinda shutting down lol but the point is Jang Geun Won truly was a complex character and I honestly would have loved to see more of his story.
Lastly major props to Ahn Bo Hyun for bringing such a character to life! He did an amazing job and I am definitely going to be looking into his past and future works!
