#Jong Bum is an obsessive psychopath stalker who makes me nauseous and physically uncomfortable

[theoptimisticdaydreamer]

Born Again finishes in less than 3 hours and can I say I have never been happier for a drama to be over.

I am calling it- Born Again is the 2020 example of how a show can be absolutely destroyed by its TERRIBLE WRITING. Its

TERRIBLE WRITING!

I went into this show purely because of Soo Hyuk and Sa Bin’s relationship. I saw a couple of videos on YouTube, saw that they had amazing chemistry and I was hooked. The concept of the show didn’t necessarily appeal to me because I was not in the mood for murder and death (though I do enjoy a little detective work here and there and have been watching those types of real life shows for a good part of my life).

So I skipped to the scenes of them together only. They were all I cared about.

And it looked like a relationship that was going to grow and going to last. In the face of all the drama that was going on in their lives, they were going to be there for each other.

Wow did I have way too much faith in the writer

This lasted for perhaps a millisecond and then the WRITER PROCEEDED TO SEND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TUMBLING OFF A CLIFF AND SET THE REMAINS ON FIRE AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT ON FIRE.

I had to stop watching soon after because I couldn’t witness this train wreck for over an hour two times a week.

I hate SOO much about this writing but what realllly got to me was one thing:

HOW DARE YOU ROMANTICIZE STALKING?!!!! HOW DARE YOU PUSH A TOXIC RELATIONSHIP AS THE IDEAL RELATIONSHIP AND THE DEFINITION OF LOVE?!! HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST THAT PSYCHOPATHS CAN BE FIXED?!!! THAT A WOMAN’S ROLE IS TO FIX A BROKEN MAN AND FORGIVE THEM OF ALL THEIR SINS?!!

Stalking is a real life issue that affects sooooo many people and it is wrong. The victims of stalkers can be traumatized, injured or even killed. STALKING IS SERIOUS. It is a felony. So for this show to excuse stalking and OBSESSION by having Jung Sa Bin forgive Jong Bum is outrageous. It is INCREDIBLY INSENSITIVE to all the people who have suffered because of obsessive stalkers.

And for the writers to have the AUDACITY to try to make the audience pity THE PIECE OF SHIT that is Jong Bum is INFURIATING.

He is not pitable. NO. His shitty upbringing does not excuse ANY of his actions. Does not excuse him stalking Sa Bin. Tracking her location. Obsessing over Sa Bin. Invading her privacy. Touching her so casually when SHE IS HIS TEACHER. KISSING HER WHILE SHE WAS UNCONSCIOUS WHICH IS SEXUAL ASSAULT. PLOTTING TO MURDER SOO HYUK. Standing by and watching his brother drown. Aiding a murderer by watching her attack someone and doing nothing. PUTTING EVERYONE IN DANGER BECAUSE THEY SEE THEMSELVES AS A HERO. FORCING HIS LOVE AND AFFECTIONS ON SA BIN. The list goes on.

I was physically uncomfortable whenever he came on the screen and I couldn’t bear to watch any of his scenes and detested the scenes he shared with the people I cared about.

This speaks volumes.

Normally, when it comes to villains it is quite obvious from the audience’s perspective. And me, from the comfort of my couch, jeer and curse at them and wish them endless bad karma and misfortune. I am pumped up to see the villain receive his just desserts.

Jong Bum made me physically nauseous.

And the fact that he will never recieve the consequences of his actions and is being made out to be some sort of hero is SICKENING.

I found it incredibly stupid for the relationship of Sa Bin and Jong Bum to have developed in the first place. For Sa Bin TO IGNORE ALL THE RED FLAGS and ALLOW THIS SHIT TO HAPPEN. But my real hatred of her character started when Jae Yi told her that Jong Bum was a stalker and instead of taking action she just fucking forgives him as if nothing he did was wrong at all. My hatred of her deepened when after the whole unconscious-in-the-elementary-school-rescue incident SHE NEVER LISTENED TO SOO HYUK’S SIDE OR FORGAVE HIM AND PROCEEDED TO IGNORE HIM FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR YET WAS ALL CONCERNED ABOUT JONG BUN. (The year time jump was such bullshit) THE DOUBLE STANDARD. It just got worse from there with her showing that she cared about him less and less even though he was dying with worry over her.

So much for “in every life time I will love only you” and “I won’t be a scar on your life like your father”. Lies.

I cared about her in the beginning but after seeing how she treated those around her, I ended up hating her. She in no way deserves Soo Hyuk at all.

Also- how is she so incompetent at her job?!!! It is pathetic.

The relationship between Jong Bum and Sa Bin is by far one of the most TOXIC relationships I have seen in my life.

And the fact that it is being promoted is disgusting.

He needs professional help you fools. To suggest that Sa Bin can “save” him is preposterous and incredibly damaging. Just like the other mental illness dramas of 2020, there was an appalling lack of research.

Soo Hyuk was the only reason I have hung on even distantly and he deserves so much more than what he is getting. He deserves so much more than the pain Sa Bin is inflicting on him and so much more than being painted as the villain WHEN HE IS NOT.

He is relegated again to second lead pain and I hate that.

He deserves to walk away from all this BS and be happy.

Lee Soo Hyuk the actor deserves a proper lead role because he is the only one carrying this piece of shit drama. He deserves a proper lead role where he gets the girl, is not the one constantly suffering, and has a happy ending.

Lee Soo Hyuk and Jin Se Yeon have adorable chemistry off screen and I hope that there is another drama that captures the both of them better. The tortured audience deserves that.

But this drama can rot in hell. And the writer who decided to write this horrorawful storyline deserves to be black listed.

And writer- just because an actor is popular doesn’t mean you should shift the script in favor of his character who is mentally deranged and toxic. Stop.

I am glad this is over because even distantly it has been torturous to see writing destroy some of the best on screen chemistry I’ve seen all year.

[theoptimisticdaydreamer]

It blows my mind how the writers thought that after everything Jong Bum did, he deserved absolute redemption?!!! They made the plot entirely self gratifying for Jong Bum , as if he is some sort of hero, and that is infuriating.

This man obsessed over Sa Bin. Was not polite enough to respect the rules of student teacher interactions and forced his presence upon her. He stalked (WHICH IS A FELONY) her, going so far to live above her uncles and install a tracking device on her phone. He invaded her privacy and her personal thoughts. He consistently touched her as if he had the right to. He premeditated the murder of the person she said she loved. HE KISSED HER WHILE SHE WAS UNCONSCIOUS WHICH IS SEXUAL ASSAULT. He consistently put her and the people she cared about in serious danger because he wanted to be the one to play the hero. He stood by as his brother was drowning. He stood by and did nothing as a serial killer attacked and almost killed a man. His past life killed people. His past life killed her past life’s fiancé. And that’s just scratching the surface.

He is unsettling, he is creepy, he is arrogant and narcissistic and 300% a psychopath. His presence makes me physically uncomfortable and nauseous.

His relationship with Sa Bin is probably one of the most TOXIC I have seen in my life.

HE DOES NOT DESERVE AN OUNCE OF PITY.

HE DOES NOT DESERVE REDEMPTION.

HE DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE MADE INTO SOME HERO AND TO GET THE GIRL.

HE DESERVES KARMA. HE DESERVES TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS.

Writers you have destroyed this story and I don’t give a fuck about Jong Bum and Ji Chul so the fact that you have turned the story so it favors him has earned you the hatred of probably the entire internet.

Congratulations on pushing forward the most nonsensical and damaging messages through your show. Congratulations on romanticizing stalking and obsession even though these are both serious topics that affect millions over the world and are in fact CRIMES that people go to JAIL for and doing it the way you have is incredibly insensitive to those who have suffered. Congratulations on promoting sexual assault as romantic. Congratulations on suggesting that the crimes and actions that narcissistic psychopaths committed can be forgiven, tolerated, and justified simply because their upbringing was terrible and because they are so “pitable” everything is okay. Congratulations on pushing forward the idea that women should heal the broken man. Congratulations on ignoring the serious need for professional help in aiding those with mental illnesses. Congratulations on suggesting that women should consider themselves Mother Teresa and task themselves with saving a person that they have no qualifications in saving. Congratulations on promoting the one of the most toxic relationship I have seen in my life and advertising it as the definition of love. Congratulations on making your female character a wishy washy idiot who ignores red flags when dealing with toxic people, romanticizes toxic people, has double standards to her forgiveness, doesn’t stand sincere and loyal with her feelings. treats the people around her terribly and is a ginormous hypocrite. Congratulations on attempting to vilify the relatively sane other male lead simply because the actor playing the psychopath stalker murderer is so popular that he is the hero even when that should not be the case whatsoever. Congratulations on wasting talent and natural chemistry in favor of this garbage fire of a script.

What do I need to do writer to make sure you never write again? Because everything you touch turns to poison.