TV series 'My Golden Life' didn't follow Koreanovela formula

Promotional photo for a KBS family drama “My Golden Life”/ Courtesy of KBS

By Park Jin-hai

Popular KBS family drama “My Golden Life” that has aired every weekend for the past 26 weeks has finished with great fanfare. The drama, brought in typical elements of the Koreanovela _ a chaebol family, and a love story between a poor girl and a rich man, but it was praised as an atypical family drama.

The story revolves around Seo Ji-ahn, played by actress Shin Hye-sun, a hardworking contract worker who turns out to be the lost daughter of a rich family, but later learns the lost child is not her but her younger sister.

Instead of focusing on family values and sacrifices that took center stage in previous dramas, this neo-family drama centers on pursuing personal happiness based on one’s own decision. Unlike other, where after a conflict family members sit around the dining table together and forgive each other, in “My Golden Life” there was no family _ There is Seo's family with economic difficulties and a chaebol family _ depicted as a warm haven.

Since it premiered on Sept. 2 last year, the drama, penned by star writer So Hyun-kyung, has enjoyed soaring viewership. Its last episode that aired Sunday hit a record 45.1 percent in viewership ratings.

“The drama is such a huge hit because its concept was not the success of the characters but their coming of age. All four lead and supporting characters alike were featured as having grown into becoming mature human beings but only the very late episodes,” said Jung Sung-hyo, drama bureau chief of KBS.

He says it didn’t follow the footsteps of typical Cinderella stories, where a poor girl climbs the social ladder by marrying a rich guy. Neither was it a love story of the century.

“Apart from all various episodes, the writer has kept her way of depicting their growth,” he said.

Seo enters as a member of the rich family, but her life is not depicted as something that would make one envy her. She falls in love with the rich guy but there is no happily-ever-after marriage story.

Writer So Hyun-kyung, whose previous hits including weekend dramas “Seoyoung, My Daughter” (2012), made another mark with “My Golden Life.” The 52-part drama was told in a fast-paced manner.

The drama reveals all the problems of being in a family. It says the connections that once held family members tight can become sources of great agony that inflict pain on each member of the family.

In so doing, it suggests new family values, where each member’s individual life doesn’t get sacrificed in pursuit of keeping the family together, yet goes toward making a new form of happy family.

“There are many dramas run by plots or events. But, it is rare to see one where each character is given equal weight, being related to each other, and leading the drama,” said the drama chief, talking about what differentiates it from other dramas.