#shinmyong cheon

[lookismstuff]

Lookism Theory: On The Deaths of "The Sister" and "The King"

SPOILER ALERT FOR EPS 482-485 AND THE WAILING (2016)

Ep 485 pretty much solidifies PTJ's statements on March 2022 and September 2023 (in vlogs that have since been made private) that the Cheonliang Arc is based on the Korean horror film The Wailing (2016), also known as The Strangers. So I'm going to talk about the deaths of Seongji and The Sister from the film's standpoint.

Based on the film's plot these are the archetypes of both characters.

Seongji The King of Cheonliang is "The Demon in the Cave" and,

The Sister is "The Woman in White" and "The Hanged Woman".

A. The Death of Seongji (The Demon in the Cave)

In The Wailing, the entity in the cave is actually a Japanese demon with a human identity. He used to live in a run-down house in the mountain, before being chased away by angry and scared villagers that he nearly died in a deserted cliff. A character appeared midway through the film (Il Gwang the shaman) because he was invited, and was actually in cahoots with the demon. Towards the end, the demon retreated into a cave and resumed his original appearance as a demon.

So, based on the film's plot...

Seongji was probably ambushed by either the villagers, the Yamazaki henchmen, the Kojima brothers, or perhaps even Charles Choi's or the King of Seoul's men in his cave or in the mountain, assuming that the latter was already an acquaintance of the shaman's (Shinmyong).

The duel that resulted in Seongji's death was probably unfair, because he was chased away from his house, ran away through the woods in the mountain, and was cornered, wounded, and exhausted.

If the King of Seoul was involved, somebody must've invited him to Cheonliang on purpose. This invitation probably came from someone in Shinmyong's circle or from the shaman himself.

If Vin really murdered Seongji, then it was probably an accidental death or a mercy kill. In case the latter actually happened, it probably happened when Seongji was dying alone in a deserted place.

B. The Death of the Sister (The Woman in White and the Hanged Woman)

In the film, a naked woman appeared on a stormy night in front of the town's police station. Then she hanged herself the next day after murdering her family, and nobody saw it. Apparently, when she stood naked she was wandering in the state of possessed after getting in touch with Il Gwang the shaman and the Japanese demon. She was the first victim in the town, and after her a series of other violent murders happened.

Elsewhere, a mysterious unnamed woman in white tried to warn the other characters but was unsuccesful in protecting the town from evil, because they thought that she was an evil spirit. In the end she could only watch as Il Gwang and the demon left together.

Going by this film's plot...

When The Sister appeared during a rainy night at Vin's doorstep, she was actually half-drugged or was in a daze from other causes, and she ran away from trouble.

The reason why The Sister's clothes were disheveled because she either ran away in a daze or was assaulted.

Whatever happened to The Sister must've involved either Shinmyong the Shaman, Taejin, the Kojima brothers, or anyone else closely affiliated with them.

She probably tried to tell what happened to her or another secret but was stopped before she could do anything.

It was her death that sparked the change in Cheonliang, and it probably happened before Seongji died.

The girl was probably found dead early in the morning and nobody actually saw how she died the night before.

[lookismstuff]

Highlights of Ep 485

SPOILER ALERT

"Everyone is drunk in a dream. Trapped in an illusion, created by fear. The tightly held hands. The life and death faith..." - "Illusion", THE VANE

Although he was proven too strong for the Yamazaki lackeys, Seongji was overpowered by the Kojima brothers (Shigeaki and Hiroaki) before he could do anything to save a stunned Vin.

The shaman (whose name Shinmyong Cheon could mean "Godlike Person") taunted Seongji that basically his worthless life was saved because of his mercy and not because he was anything good, really. He ordered his men to kill both Vin and Seongji and drown them in the reservoir.

But Seongji said that the "Red Paper" that the shaman had been searching for was in his hands, and that he would relinquish it in exchange for Vin.

It turns out that back in the day, Charles Choi blackmailed the shaman to relinquish a part of his estate in Cheonliang.

Charles had a document to proof that, some time after Gen 0 ended, the shaman, in cahoots with the Yamazaki faction, cheated the village landowners out of their properties.

The red paper would prove fatal to Charles Choi, and the shaman was gleeful to have it in his possession.

Taejin went mad in his martial arts exercise as he beat the lackeys mercilessly. He was furious that his properties rebelled.

That night, when rain was falling outside, Vin thought about how embarrassing it was for him to cry and beg for help like that to Seongji. He tried to back out of the deal, saying that he didn't need Seongji's help anyway, that the King was doing it on his own, but essentially it was because he realized the worth of the Red Paper and that he was too accustomed of seeing himself as worthless. Seongji seemed to know this so he just cooked them both supper instead.

Then Vin saw a ghostly shadow outside of his window, freaking him out. But Vin forced himself to confront his fear and when initially there seemed to be nobody, a young girl with loosened clothing looked back at him.

Before Vin could react, the girl had fainted.

Note:

The scene with the girl in the end is based on a sequence in The Wailing (2016), solidifying PTJ's confirmation on March 2022 and September 2023 (in vlogs that have since been made private) that this arc is loosely based on said film.