Limited Omniscient POV (04 August 21)

A friendly reminder that the story is being told in a limited omniscient point of view.


In literature, this POV is an "over the shoulder" view of one character. In this drama, this is Nabi's.


As such, the better way to understand this series is by trying to enter into Nabi's sensibilities.


It is only by trying to look through her character's eyes that one would understand her every intent and action.

Omniscient: god-like, full knowledge of all characters feelings and emotions

Limited Omniscient: only know the thoughts and emotions of one character; may shift to other characters from time to time but will remain faithful to one character's POV most of the time.


We would often see the Omniscient POV being used in most dramas as this is the easiest, most objective, and most flexible POV.


There are instances, however, when the limited omniscient POV is a more effective device.


In this case, the limited omniscient POV is part of what drives the entire narrative forward.


The problems that Nabi encounters are problems which are created because Nabi sees what she only wants to see from her narrow POV. 


In real life, people view the world from lenses filtered by their own prejudices.


Nevertheless, being a hyper realistic drama, follows the same by showing us the perspective from Nabi's narrow lenses. 


We enter Nabi's POV each and every time she encounters JE. We are given a peek of her internal dialogue, of the words she wishes to say but never left her mouth.


You will observe that this literary device is only ever used on Nabi, as we never hear other characters' internal dialogue out loud even when the focus is on them.


This POV is exclusively for Nabi alone. 


The reason why Nabi's actions/decisions are making people uncomfortable is driven by the use of this limited omniscient POV.


And Nabi herself admits that she does not know much about JE.


By seeing JE almost exclusively through Nabi's lenses in the first half of the series, people only see JE following Nabi's limited POV. 


We view JE through Nabi's eyes, and somehow this and her opinions/presumptions of JE have pretty much shaped people's opinions of JE.


This is how effective the use of the limited omniscient POV is.


Through this device, the writer was able to affect people's opinion of JE. People were quick to jump on Nabi's thoughts of JE being a player and a total a**.


It was easy to jump on the JE hate club following Nabi's thoughts, and I'd like to think that this was done intentionally.


It was only by Ep6, when Nabi disappeared, that we were able to see JE from another perspective which is detached from Nabi's thoughts.


However, by this time, people have already formed their presumptions and prejudices against JE -- just like Nabi did.


To some people, it was enough to write JE off and jump over to what we were presented as the better option, which is DH.


mignonxminion

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nabi’s Sculptures and Growth (20 January 22)

Image
I found myself going back to Ep 2 and 3 -- episodes so pregnant with subtext, I'm itching to write about them. This scene in particular spoke about the gap between JE and Nabi at this time, the sculpture representing Nabi's internal struggle that comes between them.  Between them was the sculpture of a woman, bare and vulnerable, rough and seemingly unfinished. Its body facing towards Nabi's direction, like a symbol that Nabi needed to face her biggest nemesis -- her own self -- before she can finally close the gap between them. Nevertheless, towards the end, Nabi was able to conquer herself and bridge the gap between her and JE, the sculpture no longer between them but behind them, its wings spread wide open as if about to fly.  The room no longer blanketed with the shadows of doubt and hesitancy but rather illuminated by certainty. Because at last, they were able to realize that what keeps on leading them back to each other has always been what they have kept denying them...
Read more

Sex and Agency I (23 December 21)

Image
Not only did this show that it was ok for a girl to have a sex dream, it was good because she was so clearly pleasured. Coming from a relationship where she had to pleasure someone else at the risk of her own enjoyment and safety, this is what NB longs for. But more than that, what she longs for becomes reality. And lying in his arms after, she finds herself thinking, it was good. Her wonder causes you to think that perhaps it was never really that good before. And then you realise that while  JE barges in and corners her for a kiss in her dream, in reality he was about consent, about waiting for the go ahead, about stopping to check if he could continue. Ep 2 is good in its own, but even better in light of Ep 3. doramaticbites
Read more

Not Love at First: Learning Love (06 November 21)

Image
When JE was in the gallery, he was drawn to NB, but I don't think he realised that it was love at first sight. I think it was after Ep 6, when he spoke to KH and his mum, that he was fully able to evaluate and acknowledge his feelings. While he didn't involve himself with other girls (remember, there was nothing on with Seol-A) after his kiss with NB, I believe it was during the time in Ep 6 that he realises what he felt at the beginning when he first saw her. Fully committing, Ep 7 onwards we see him try over and over again to convey those feelings. Then in Ep 8, he saw how paralysed NB was at the gallery, but he also knew there was a painting there she wanted to see. So he gently encourages her to move forward. And when he does, NB is able to focus on her project, not her past. In the cafe again he tries to convey his true feelings, acknowledging that it was to the extent that he fell for her at first sight. Though he's weaker at verbal expression, he goes all in. JE ne...
Read more