For @agdr03 —

Yes, there was a time that viewers were grumbling about the bride EunTak (played by Kim Go-Eun) in Goblin. I usually keep out the forums frequented by fangirls but I delurked in this instance.

Here was my post. Warning: this is what other posters would consider a “wall of text.”

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Once in a while, when a script doesn’t seem to be given due justice, I pop up to suggest an alternative interpretation. I ship scripts.

There seems to be a growing controversy regarding the age difference between the bride Eun-Tak and the goblin Shin. At best, viewers feel a sense of discomfort; at worst, they are repulsed. “It gives me the creeps seeing her so young!” “OMG! She isn’t even a mature 20-something year old professional!” “He looks like a pervert!”

Although these viewers who clutch their pearls at the sight of a high schooler romancing a 939 year old hunk may have an understandable reaction, a second look at the script will hopefully enlighten opinions and allay anxieties.

1. First of all, ET’s character should be judged on her level of maturity, not her level of education. Believe me. I’ve seen 20-something, 30- something, 40-something and 50-something professional idiots, because immaturity isn’t a monopoly of the young and the restless.

Sure, ET is a 19 year old senior in high school. But compared to Sunny and Deok-Hwa who presumably both attained higher education, she is decidedly more mature.

In temperament, ET is more industrious than Sunny, who couldn’t care less about her moribund chicken store. She works like a responsible adult, while Sunny worries about her well-preserved appearance and her non-existent boyfriend.

In mindset, not only is ET more dependable than DH, who is out to make a fast buck at Shin’s expense, but she can be as cunning as DH, too. Recall that scene in the bookstore in Episode 3. DH lectures her on how to fend off con-men. But much to his chagrin, he himself almost falls for her trick to discount the book as a “used” item.

Additionally, the script shows ET’s social maturity in relation to people around her.

As examples: Her mother remarks upon her precocity and ET replies that she has a knack for “picking up all these things from all sorts of people”. The cabbage grandmother relies upon ET’s maturity to cope on her own with her sudden mother’s death and distressing family circumstances. At her aunt’s house, ET takes care of her lazy relatives and endures their cruelty like a saint. Then in school, she successfully manages her studies despite bullying and ostracism. It’s evident that ET has demonstrated maturity at each stage of her life, no matter the curveballs thrown at her.

Thus to me, her school uniform can in no way determine, measure, or represent her actual emotional and mental growth. As the saying goes, one can’t judge a book by its covers.

2. Secondly, ET isn’t at all as naïve or innocent as she appears to be. Her character is more complex and nuanced.

For instance, did anybody notice her sniffing? 🙂 Her sniffing annoyed me from the start, because I consider it crude to sniff in polite society — unless one smells something burning, of course. But this sniffing habit of hers is in the script, and it gives her away. As of Episode 4, there are at least six instances of her sniffs, and in each occasion, what she says out loud is different from what she thinks in private. *If I have time, I’ll go over these six sniffle-gates….

Her body language is curious, given that she has this keen ability to quickly grasp events and find connections but she tries to hide this talent. (Recall how she realizes her mother has passed away, and she thanks her power to see ghosts so she can have a final conversation with her mother) She has learned to dissimulate her thoughts in order to survive living with ghosts. And her sniffing is a sign that she’s onto something, but she isn’t telling anyone.

Her acute sense of perception is on display in Episode 4 when she hazards a guess that if Shin makes rainstorm when he’s sad, then he makes cherry blossoms when he’s happy. On the surface, her question seems innocuous enough. But remember back in Episode 2, she’s been informed by the friendly ghosts that Shin made a cherry tree bloom in winter when he saved her and her mother from death. Knowing that cherry blossoms are his special trademark, she deduces that he performs this feat of magic whenever he’s happy. The sight of the blossoms on the trees the following morning after his drunken revelry confirms her “happy theory”.

Another example of her ability to perceive things without giving herself away is the sword. Whereas Shin openly blabbers about the sword whenever he is discombobulated or inebriated, ET is more discreet when it comes to disclosure. In fact, in Episode 3, when Shin pressures her to reveal whether she sees something in him or not, she resists him and replies cryptically:

“My mother used to say that a person had to see where they’re lying down in order to stretch out their legs, and know where they’re going when they leave. You understand what I’m saying, right?”

(I love how she often asks him if HE gets HER whenever she’s hinting at something.)

Unfortunately, Shin doesn’t get what she’s driving at. What she means here is that she won’t give him the answer until she first considers the possible consequences of her revelation. She looks before she leaps. Only when she discovers that Shin is leaving because she can’t see the sword, does she disclose the truth to him. But even then, she has considered three viable options for her going forward. She is capable of solving her dilemma in a logical way.

There are more examples in the script where she understand more than she lets on, but for brevity’s sake, I’ll limit myself to those two. The point here is the character ET is NOT a gullible child as viewers think she is.

As a matter of fact, Shin may appear older and wiser, but he is quite juvenile in his decision-making process especially when it involves human relationships. For instance, his bromance with the Reaper is amusing to watch primarily because they’re both petty. Like, taunting each other with their Calvin Kleins boxers and granny mob caps? (To be honest, though, I wonder if there’s a bit of sexism involved here. Shin and the Reaper get a pass when they act with aegyo because they are “oppas” or something. But when ET does aegyo, she is slammed as childish and immature.)

Shin also mistakes emotional angst for actual physical maladies, and receives counseling from his 25 year old (!) nephew DH. He misses both verbal and nonverbal cues from ET that she wants his company, not so much the food. (She orders the large juice when she’s already full because she doesn’t want him to leave yet. Duh, ahjussi!) Even ET knows how to push his buttons when she tests his jealousy. She grabs the maple leaf from him to give to a Canadian oppa; she describes the Reaper handsome but declines to do the same with him; she casually lets it slip that DH “oppa” is helping her; and she pesters him about a boyfriend. The whole time, Shin is clueless to her push-pull antics.

So, who again is the inexperienced character here? He may be 939 years old, but when it comes to dating, he can very well be another callow youth.

3. Finally, and most importantly, the dynamics of the relationship between ET and Shin should be viewed in terms of complementarity. Or yin-yang. Or black and white. Or opposite attracts. Or two halves in search of wholeness. The point of the story is that ET and Shin balance each other. I think the “ick” factor enters the equation, when viewers misconstrue or misinterpret the affinity between them as carnal or predatory.

I’ll cite two instances from the script – enhanced by the cinematography – of this complementarity.

One scene is in Episode 3. Both ET and Shin are sitting at their tables, their heads resting on one hand, one arm outstretched. Do you see the contrasting elements? His table is long, wooden, scratched, and empty. His table tells pretty much what he can expect of the infinite centuries ahead of him: unending, dull, scarred, and barren.

In contrast, her table is small, with a laminate/plasticky table top, and laden with school books and paraphernalia. Her table symbolizes her human future: brief, superficial, cluttered. It’s a life bogged down with mundane problems.

The other interesting feature of this scene is that both their arms are outstretched as if they are reaching for the other person across time and space. They’re two entirely different people. But, unconsciously, their actions mirror each other. See that? Yin-yang.

If the viewers are to look at the artistry of this scene with unbiased eyes, they’ll understand that there’s absolutely nothing lewd nor lascivious intended for the couple here. The shot is meant to be metaphorical, not smutty. 🙂

The banter about the Red Carpet is another occasion in the script which shows complementarity. Unfortunately the symbolism is missed by viewers, probably because the scene is so whimsical and light-hearted. In Episode 2, when ET is stepping on the autumn leaves in a park in Quebec City, she asks Shin if he made the red carpet for her because HE is HONORED to hang out with her. The red carpet is a privilege reserved only for VIPs. When he ignores her joke, she consoles herself, saying she’s relieved that he didn’t comment with a putdown. She thinks the whole park is romantic because of the ambiance that fairies walk among the humans. (Hence, the Fairies Crossing sign.) She later continues her cheekiness by joking that HE must be HAPPY to have met and captured a fairy like her – she’s Tinkerbell! — in the park.

By Episode 4, however, the viewers can see that ET has lost that original spunk and spirit because she is beginning to doubt that she is wanted by Shin. In fact, she is frustrated by her lack of power and her inferior status relative to Shin. That’s why she becomes ecstatic when he suddenly changes the yellow pedestrian lines into orange — just for her. To her, he is remembering her silly old joke about creating the red carpet of leaves for her because he is HONORED by her company. To him, on the other hand, he is FINALLY discovering and accepting that she has unparalleled power over him.

Now, many viewers have expressed an issue with this scene in Episode 4. To me, their main problem is that they have imposed their preconceived image of an innocent CHILD on ET’s character as she hops on the crosswalk. They have forgotten the whole context of the Red Carpet. That is, if Shin is the Goblin, then ET claims to be Tinkerbell.

Yes, she considers herself the Goblin’s bride because that’s her destiny. But in her mind, she’s also searching for her identity and one of the identities she tries on for herself is that of a Disney fairy. She openly jokes about being Tinkerbell in Episode 1.

Thus, when she dances at that intersection on Chemin du Roy — like she pranced the other time at the park and on the streets of Quebec City — she dances NOT as a carefree GIRL but as an ebullient Tinkerbell. Do you see it?

The more appropriate imagery here is this: Tinkerbell darts and flutters everywhere while the Goblin plods grudgingly behind her. ET and Shin represent a fairy and a goblin, two different creatures who nonetheless complement each other.

[An aside: her ribbon bowtie resembles the shape of Tink’s wings anyway. But I’m glad ET didn’t wear anything as hideous as that green uniform…err…pixie costume.]

Again, if the viewers were to follow the script and watch the show with an open mind, it’s discernible that the interaction between the two protagonists of this kdrama is very much DIFFERENT from that of Lolita and Humbert in Nabokov’s novel. There’s no pedophilia here. This is garden-variety fairy tale.

Gotta flit. Hope this helps.

source: https://forums.soompi.com/en/topic/396037-drama-2016-2017-guardian-the-lonely-and-great-goblin-%EB%8F%84%EA%B9%A8%EB%B9%84/?do=findComment&comment=20252479