tvN drama 'Lovely Runner' is a fantasy romance where the protagonist, Im Sol (played by Kim Hyeyoon), receives encouragement and comfort from a famous artist, Ryu Sunjae (played by Byun Wooseok) at a moment when she has lost the will to live. However, her favorite artist whom she has admired for over a decade suddenly dies one day. In the moment of despair, Im Sol travels back in time to 2008, when Ryu Sunjae is still an ordinary high school student and she herself is a 19 y.o student. After realizing the time slip, Im Sol has only one goal: to protect her beloved Ryu Sunjae! However, there's an important aspect to address in this youth romance: Im Sol's disability.
Im Sol becomes paralyzed from the waist down after a car accident at the age of nineteen. This aspect of Im Sol's disability was not present in the original Webtoon, which means that it was purposely added into the drama as it serves a crucial role in the storyline. Before slipping back in time, the drama briefly shows the struggles Im Sol faces in daily life. On the other hand, Im Sol who has returned to the time before the accident, is unstoppable. The drama uses Im Sol's disability to show her 'powerlessness'. In the future of the story, Im Sol's accident will be just as important as Sunjae's tragedy. As viewers speculate, Im Sol might avoid the accident and achieve her dreams that she couldn't because of her disability.
https://www.khan.co.kr/culture/culture-general/article/202404250600005
Looking at the original post, you might think that Im Sol's disability was unnecessary for the storyline. I didn't bring this up with ill intentions! I brought it up because I have family members with disabilities and there are some aspects in the original post that I can relate to. I hope you don't criticize excessively.
theqoo
-I also wondered if such a storyline was necessary as I watched the drama. It also reminds me of IU's MV. I wish they would stop portraying going back in time as returning to a body without disabilities. In reality, people with disabilities try to live positively with their conditions.
-I find it interesting how some people view this drama this way, even when the drama is actually really good.
-There was a similar article before, I thought people would watch the drama first before talking about it. Im Sol wasn't even pessimistic about her disabilities in the first episode. Besides, she didn't go back in time to fix her disability.
-I also found it a bit disappointing. I think this topic is worth discussing.
-Honestly, if you had the ability to turn back time, wouldn't you try to make everything better?
-The content of the article is good. It seems they added the disability to the drama, which wasn't originally there, to make it more dramatic. But rather than portraying someone who overcomes discomfort while having a disability, it would have been better if they hadn't made the disability disappear.
-This is exactly the same reaction as when IU's "Love wins all" music video came outㅋㅋㅋ
-The perception that sets disabilities as something to overcome is the problem. Why can't someone just live with a disability?
-I'm annoyed and dislike this drama because of this.
-Ah... seriously, this is too much. I haven't watched this drama, and I don't think I will in the future.
-I don't understand why they keep using disabilities as dramatic material.
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'Lovely Runner' ... Reframing Disabilities as Faults
