Extreme Fusion Historical Dramas, Fantasy Or Historical?

A widow from the Joseon Dynasty, who suffered persecution, breaks ties with her in-laws and is reborn as a female doctor, and a bold maid who forces the king to drink, melts the king's heart.

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Recently, fusion historical dramas with imagination added to historical facts are attracting viewers one after another.

MBC's drama "The Forbidden Marriage", which has been on air since the 9th of last month, is more of a fantasy in terms of genre.

It unfolds the parallel universe worldview from the beginning, stressing that the drama is a story that takes place on a planet other than the Earth we know.

"The Forbidden Marriage" which eases the burden of proof by applying a multiverse (multi-space theory) setting, freely spreads its imagination. So-rang (Park Ju-hyun), a con artist who is dragged in front of the king, dances to the famous pop song "Hey Mama", while a court lady (Park Gyeongree) approaches the king without hesitation and takes off her clothes.

The dialogue is also not limited to extreme honorifics, which is commonly used in historical dramas. It approaches viewers with a friendly and pleasant image through lines that are easier to understand.

"Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist - Season 2", which aired for the first time on the 11th, is also a fusion historical drama with a fictional setting that psychiatrists exist in the Joseon Dynasty.

Director Park Won-gook, who is in charge of directing, said in a previous production presentation, "The work started from the imagination that there must have been a heartbroken person in the Joseon Dynasty and there must have been a willingness to treat heartbroken patients".

It tells the story of Yoo Se-poong (Kim Min-jae-I), a genius lawmaker, with Seo Eun-woo (Kim Hyang-gi), a widow who becomes a female doctor, giving a warm prescription to the sick and a refreshing shot to the bad guys.

"Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist" is said to have conveyed warm emotions by portraying the process of people in the Joseon Dynasty, who suffered from mental illness, overcoming their wounds and finding happiness.

Just as Seo Eun-woo, who was constantly bullied at her in-laws and lost her will to live, bows to her husband's grave and cut ties with her in-laws, the drama conveys exhilaration through the genre of fusion historical drama.

Fusion historical dramas are a genre of drama that has been in the name for a long time, appearing once in a while and making a hit.

Since the early 2000s, dramas such as "Dae Jang Geum", "Yi San", and "Dong Yi" have led the heyday of fusion historical dramas based on characteristics rather than historical facts, but recently fusion historical dramas have chosen to rewrite the ideal history altogether.

The KBS drama "The King's Affection" looks back on the weak, including women and the poor, with the main character Lee Hwi (Park Eun-bin), who was abandoned just because she is a girl, and the tvN drama "Under the Queen's Umbrella" expresses emotion by portraying the motherhood of the queen (Kim Hye-soo), who respects and embraces her sexual minority son.

Fusion historical dramas based on this modern sense give fun to project the real world in the past.

Hwang Jin-mi, a pop culture critic, pointed out, "Recent fusion historical dramas only come out in hanbok, but even the time and space behind them are often not clear, so it is sometimes ambiguous to classify them as historical dramas".

"Rather than using historical backgrounds for simple eye-catching purposes, works that break the conventional wisdom with a sense of criticism of the past will be supported by viewers", she said.