Compilation

It's Okay to Not Be Okay: A Cultural Critique

There has long been a stigma around mental illnesses, caused by a lack of understanding amongst the general public and negative misrepresentations of mental issues in the media. These misunderstandings dehumanize and demonify people all around the world who suffer from mental illnesses, conveying a harmful message to society: the message that it's somehow wrong or scary to not be okay.

Netflix's 2020 hit Korean-drama, "It's Okay to Not Be Okay", conveys the entirely opposite message. It introduces the lives of a children's book author and a worker at a psychiatric ward, and what happens between them after they meet. It's a story that blends romance, comedy, and drama, combined with elements of mild horror and mystery. The plot follows our three main characters — antisocial writer Ko Moon-young (Seo Yea-ji), noble caregiver Moon Sang-tae (Kim Soo-hyun), and his autistic older brother Moon Sang-tae (Oh Jung-se), who deals with the traumatic memory of his mother's murder. Every episode gives us a closer perspective on the lives of the patients living in OK Psychiatric Hospital, all who suffer from various conditions like dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, anxiety, dissociative identity disorder, mania, psychotic depression, and more. The show does an excellent job of debunking myths and misconceptions of these mental illnesses, and the actors, Oh Jung-se especially, portray these illnesses exceptionally well and with accuracy; however, I believe the producers should have cast somebody with actual autism for the role, instead of a neurotypical actor. True representation and authenticity goes a long way in uplifting voices of the neurodivergent community.

Moreover, while the drama has an ingenious plotline and unique characters, the romance aspect of the show holds it back from its full potential. Many particular romance scenes fall into the cliche k-drama trope of long, awkward stares and prolonged camera zooms; these scenes diminish greatly the flow of the plot and take away from the overall wow-factor of the drama. Rather than pandering to the audience, more emphasis should be placed on amplifying the issues surrounding mental illnesses the show so markets itself for doing. After all, the title of the show is its message to its viewers — it's okay to not be okay.