'Weak Hero: Class 2' Delivers on All Fronts, Emotional and Action-Oriented
K-drama phenomenon reminds me of when I pretended I was a boy (and still do)
“Weak Hero: Class 2” — and “…Class 1” — makes me want to be a boy. And that is my deep, dark secret.
Growing up, I gravitated toward martial arts, action-adventure thrillers, basketball, and playing Kikaida with my monster dolls. At the time, I thought I did it to impress the boys in my neighborhood, and some of that’s true. But on a deeper level, I felt more comfortable around them.
For a split second in high school, I wrapped my chest to appear more boyish. When the boy I planned to marry told me he was gay, I offered to transition — for him.
I was only half-kidding.
I never liked being a girl. Girls were a lot meaner, more devious, and held grudges forever. Girls did boring things like sit around and gossip, or poke proverbial needles in their voodoo Barbie dolls. They went to the restroom in packs, even when they didn’t have to go, and made fun of other girls who didn’t do what they did. They picked on anybody who didn’t fit in, whether it was a weird laugh or weird clothes.
When girls grew up to become moms, they went on wine weekends, pretending to have the times of their lives. But they never gave up the petty girl shit.
Most of my experiences with racism, too, were from girls and grown women.
To this day, I still fight anxiety whenever I hear high-pitched, squealing laughter and see those packs of wolves in skinny jeans huddled around their lattes, eyes darting for the next hapless victim.
I never knew where I stood with any of those moody little fucks.
Watching this k-drama, both seasons, did more than entertain me. It gave me an outlet for all my growing pains. For eight episodes, I lived vicariously through these troubled boys who found what I never could: true friends.
As a boy mom, I even glimpsed what it must have been like for my son and his friends to navigate school and that land mine of two-faced evil, and why James never poured his little heart out to us, and on the rare times he did, how much of an honor that was.
I got to see some kick-ass fighting scenes, as well as the emotional impact of putting yourself out there for somebody else, loyalty, trust, courage…the hallmarks of being a boy.
They say very little. They let their action do most of the talking.
That’s what I’ve always wanted. Always.
For a brief period, I got to be Si-eun, the weak hero. I got to see what it’s like to let friends in and heal my own trauma that I talk too much about, because I had the great misfortune of being born a girl.
And the ending? Worth every moment of suffering.
When you watch the “Weak Hero” series, you can’t understand how THE POWERS THAT BE [TPTB] over in k-drama land can put out duds like, “Sweet Home” and “Goodbye, Earth.” They’re capable of so much more.
Next to “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” “Weak Hero: Class 1 and 2” is my absolute favorite.
They even got me wishing I could find my own Su-ho, Baku, Jun-tae, and Hyun-tak…real friends.
I don’t think it’s possible with girls…women.
I find I just don’t care enough to bother trying anymore.
What are we gonna do, talk our enemies to death? Boring.
Maybe in another life, I’ll go back to being a boy and find my crew again, and we’ll go off on so many fucking awesome adventures.
Until then, hat’s off, “Weak Hero: Class 2,” for, well, you know…