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PETER Pan, a magical Disney movie filled with fairies, mermaids and all the joys of being a young child. Phantom of the Opera, a musical filled with drama, passion and mystery.
As wondrous and renowned as these two masterpieces are, they share similarities in that they run deep with disturbing connotations.
A boy, who refuses to grow up, kidnaps a girl to be his stand-in mother, only to attempt to manipulate them into staying in Neverland; and for the latter, a psychologically disturbed man who has been outcast from society for his deformity abducts an orphan girl by claiming to be her guardian angel of music.
Now, imagine the worst elements of these two stories cocktailed into one fantasy musical drama, and pop goes The Sound of Magic.
Although this six-episode Korean series has received a relatively high rating of 8/10 on IMDb and 8.5/10 on MyDramaList, I would strongly disagree with these ratings.
As an acclaimed musical drama, The Sound of Magic does not fit into the traditional tropes of a musical. Sure, it has singing and dancing periodically blossoming throughout the narrative, but unlike popular musicals like Phantom of the Opera or even The Greatest Showman, these songs do not add depth to the narrative –the creators behind this show might as well have pre-recorded the tracks and used them as background music.
This is not to devalue the work of the music director and the choreographer, as they did an amazing job with those aspects of the show. Choreographed by Hong Se-jeong, of the musicals Phantom and Laughing Man, and composed and written by music director Park Seong-il with lyricist Kim Eana, The Sound of Magic as a soundtrack moved mountains – it was just unfortunate that the narrative itself left a sour note.
An adaptation of the webcomic Annarasumanara by Ha Il-Kwon, this musical drama, directed by Kim Sung-Yoon, had great potential when it came to its narrative, as it touches on serious issues that relate to the multitude of influences adults have on children.
Carried by an amazing cast that features Ji Chang-Wook as a magician with a secret, Choi Sung-Eun as our main protagonist, and Hwang In-Yeop as her love interest, it was a shame to see the fantasy magic turn black.
About a year ago, I brought up the idea that K-drama seems to capitalise on the disturbing and perversely romanticised idea of reincarnated love. Unfortunately, this sort of narrative has yet to go extinct.
In The Sound of Magic, Yoon Ah-yi played by Choi Sung-eun, is a high school sophomore who is thrown into a sea of ordeals when her parents abandon her and her younger sibling. Trying to support them both, among other tasks, Ah-Yi learns that the adult world is not as free and easy as she always assumed.
Building a sense of distrust towards adults, especially when she is almost raped by her boss, her walls begin to collapse when she meets the magician, Ri-Eul played by theatre performer Ji Chang-Wook.
This is where the disturbing paedophilic vibes emerged. The infatuation that magician Ri-Eul feels towards Ah-Yi raises a lot of red flags among her classmates and police officers when they enter the narrative.
The Secret of Magic consists of allusions of Peter Pan, not just through its narrative of a man who remains a boy at heart with his belief in magic, but we also see similar scenes to what can be found in the Disney story.
However, unlike in Peter Pan, this young boy actually embodies a grown adult male. Yes, we do learn of his unfortunate past, which involves the highly stressful expectations put on him by the adults in his life, but it does not discount the fact that he is an adult man with a minor alone in an abandoned theme park.
Along with that, we get the dark side of the Phantom of the Opera when the Phantom attracts our female protagonist by representing himself as her guardian angel; manipulating her and abducting her into his secret lair below the opera house where a relationship beyond platonic festers.
Although circumstances between Magician Ri-Eul and Ah-Yi remains family friendly and nothing explicit actually happens between them, the vibe of Ri-Eul living in an abandoned theme park with his lonesome parrot, and Ah-Yi being super defensive of him till the very end does echo Phantom of the Opera’s unremarked upon depiction Stockholm Syndrome.
Not wanting to spoil too much of the mystery for you, there are deaths involved as well.
The whole series ends on a sweet note where all is well. The good are rewarded while the bad are punished, but after everything that has transpired, I don't think this sweetness is enough to cover the sour aftertaste. – The Vibes, May 13, 2022
