Everything that is alive will die eventually.
Right as a person is born, they begin to die. Regardless of this fact, every person struggles at least once in their life to continue their life. On the other hand however, there are a significant number of people who finds life pointless and end it sooner than it was meant to be. Currently, Korea stands at number 1 for having the most number of suicides out of all the countries participating in OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).
For what purpose do people live, for what do they live for and for what do they die? The answers to those questions may be contained in the SBS drama "That Winter, The Wind Blows."
"That Winter, The Wind Blows" is ranked number 1 out of all the Wednesday-Thursday dramas, in terms of viewing rates. There are many factors that contribute to its explosive popularity like Jo In Sung and Song Hye Kyo's professional acting, Noh Kee Kyung's beautiful writing, Kim Kyu Tae PD's ability to capture the perfect scene and more.
This drama contains two main characters who desire two opposite things. Oh Soo (Jo In Sung) wants to live while the woman he loves, Oh Young (Song Hye Kyo) wants to die. It is very ironic. Oh Soo, who is on the constant struggle to live each day at a time, wants to continue his life while Oh Young, the heiress of a major conglomerate, wants to end hers. It seems like they would want the opposite thing but if you carefully observe the drama, it may resemble what the reality is like.
Oh Soo, who is recognized as a gambler, was abandoned by his own biological mother right after his birth and struggled all throughout his life as an orphan. It doesn't appear as though he has a chance to turn his life around since he's constantly drinking and spending his days away with meaningless women.
One day, he falls into a life or death situation when he has to come up with $7.8 million USD. It's impossible for him to come up with such a large sum of money in the amount of time that was given to him. Luckily, he gets a chance to change his life around when he finds out that a man who had the same name recently passed away from a car accident. The man who died was an heir to a major conglomerate and if Oh Soo successfully stole that man's identity, he could get his hands on far more money than $7.8 million. To carryout his plan to steal somebody else's identity, Oh Soo goes into the household of the PL Group.
Oh Young was a girl who lived happily with her older brother. However when her father meets secretary Wang (Bae Jong Ok) and cheats on his wife with her, everything began to go down in a spiral. Oh Young's mother divorces her dad and leaves with her older brother. Oh Young develops a brain tumor and loses her sight as a result of the complications from her condition. Her father, her last hope at happiness, also passes away soon after and receives all of her father's assets. Even though she can do anything she wants and get everything she wants, she spends each day meaninglessly. Oh Young is surrounded by people who are constantly after her money.
While she continues to live her miserable life, Oh Soo appears. However, she is completely drained by people who have been after her money throughout her whole life. Oh Young is cold to him since she figures that he appeared after all these years just for her money.
It's true. He had only approached her for her incredible wealth. However, Oh Soo begins to change. He tries his best to show her a different side of life and humanity. Then one day, he begins to develop feelings for Oh Young.
Just as when Oh Young opens up to Oh Soo, she closes up again after finding out that the medicine he gave her are poisonous.
The reason Oh Soo wants to continue his life is because he is at the bottom and he can only go up from there. Even though he is leading a life full of troubles, he is hopeful that he may improve it somehow. Maybe tomorrow will be better than today.
Even though he is a pathetic gambler without anything to lose right now, he has hopes that he may someday have a stable lifestyle. If Oh Soo puts in a little more effort, he will be able to create a more suitable lifestyle for himself. That is the reason why Oh Soo wants to continue his life; because he knows he can improve it any time he wants.
In comparison, Oh Young owns an unimaginable sum of wealth. Every single person around her tries their best to make a good impression because they feel that they need to be on her good side. However, whenever she speaks to Oh Soo, she refers to herself as "We, the blind" and reveals her hopeless mental state. It seems as though she is letting her blindness affect every aspect of her life.
First, she is still traumatized. The reason Oh Young always speaks of her past is because she misses it. She thinks of the lake that she used to visit with her mother and brother. She wants to drown to death in the lake with all of her past memories. Oh Young longs to live in her past when she could see the world.
Oh Young does not know what shopping is about. Of course, she is unable to see so she doesn't believe in decorating herself with pretty clothes or accessories. Oh Young creates a will that says all of her assets must go to her brother in the case of her death.
Oh Young finds life meaningless since nobody approaches her with sincerity. From her secretary to her fiance, everybody is after her money. Her life is like a jungle with constant threats that could harm her. Living through the lies and fake smiles over and over all her life, she no longer has any desire to live.
One crucial element of this tragedy is that she is incapable of love. The only way for her to see is to touch and smell. Since Oh Young is constantly on the lookout and is not trusting of anybody, there is no room for love in her life.
A message "That Winter, The Wind Blows" is trying to send out is that the thing that motivates us to strive each and every day to continue our lives is love, not money. This is the reality. Money seems to bring hope and happiness but it eventually becomes poison that ruins any hope for happiness. Money is like the medicine Oh Soo and Oh Young have in possession.
Love is the only hope in life and without it, there will only be despair.
