Here’s why the unfiltered reality of motherhood in When Life Gives You Tangerines struck a chord!

If you watched When Life Gives You Tangerines back in March, chances are you’re still crying! Here’s how the show managed to impact its audience simply by deep diving into motherhood

In When Life Gives You Tangerines, motherhood is portrayed as a profound and multifaceted force, deeply intertwined with sacrifice, resilience, and generational continuity. The series intricately weaves the experiences of three generations of women - Ae-sun, her mother Gwang-rye, and her daughter Geum-myeong, against the backdrop of Jeju Island's cultural and historical landscape. The series in particular made us all deal with feelings we did not even want to think about. It brought us face to face with the sacrifices our parents, especially our mothers have made for us. It makes us guilty about the fact that we expect our moms to know everything even though this is their first life as well. And it makes us feel terrified at the thought of us having to live in this world with them someday!

The show was released 2 months back but is still being spoken about for its accurate portrayal of struggles and wins in this complicated concept called motherhood! While people from the Gen Z era might relate more to Geum-Myeong, in the same way our parents might resonate with Gyang-Rye and Ae-sun way more! The three characters constantly dwindle between being a nurturer and following what they’re taught and breaking stereotypes so the further generations can live better than they did!

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Here’s how each of these women bring out a different side of motherhood that isn’t often spoken about!

Gwang-rye - The burden of tradition

Gwang-rye, Ae-sun's mother, embodies the weight of tradition and maternal sacrifice. Her life is a series of hardships, which includes caring for a sick husband and enduring financial struggles. Despite these challenges, she dreams of a better future for her daughter, even if it means sending her away to live with relatives for a chance at education. She isn’t one to believe in gentle love. She was rather tough on Ae-Sun during her childhood. She wanted her daughter to be strong and wanted to teach her at a very young age that life isn’t a bed of roses, and it in fact gives you the sourest tangerines. 

Ae-Sun wanted her mother to be her friend, but her mother had no time for that. She was busy working hard in all the filth under the sea so her daughter could sleep comfortably for one more night. Gwang-rye was fierce, she kept a watch on her kids like a hawke and had the will power to protect them even if the grim reaper himself came down to wreak havoc. She might not make the best decisions but that’s also because she’s never had the time to stop and think. Life tired her out to the max. Gwang-rye's untimely death at a young age leaves a lasting impact on Ae-sun, but she leaves her with a lifetime of values to build on.

Ae-sun - Breaking the cycle

Ae-sun defies societal expectations. Growing up in poverty and facing gender discrimination, she aspired to become a poet, a dream that challenged the traditional roles assigned to women in the 1960s. Her mother's death forces her to mature quickly, taking on responsibilities that unfortunately hinder her academic ambitions. Despite these obstacles, Ae-sun's resilience shines through, and she strives to provide her daughter, Geum-myeong, with opportunities she never had. Even though Ae-Sun’s arc begins with her trying to give a shot at a new life and live in the big city of Seoul, she quickly succumbs to giving up her dreams up to become the ideal mother for her kids - the kind of mother she never had, and the kind of mother who’d be there for her children for a long time.

From a young age, she taught Geum-Myeong to flip the table and voice her opinions because that wasn’t something girls were taught in that era. But when her daughter was about to marry into a family that was ready to silence her daughter’s ambitions forever, she realised that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. No matter how independent she’d made her daughter, there were still things like eating leftovers, keeping quiet for the sake of the family, and succumbing to in-laws that her daughter subconsciously picked up from her. That was the turning point for her as a mother. In an era where girls were taught to please their in-laws, she taught her daughter to break free of a marriage that would only suffocate her later on. She gives Geum-Myeong wings that she never got. 

Geum-myeong - A new generation

Geum-myeong, Ae-sun's daughter, represents the hope for change and progress. She benefits from her mother's sacrifices and is determined to pursue her dreams. However, the generational trauma and expectations placed upon her also weigh heavily. Her journey with motherhood started even before she became a mother. She was the eldest of three siblings. The perfect one. The expectations on her were immense.

When she lost her youngest brother, she had to step in and become a parent for her other sibling when her parents were dealing with grief. And when she did become a mother, she understood how she often took her own mother for granted and how she isn’t cut out for a lot of things that her mother did for her. She constantly dwindled between taking care of her mom, being her friend or just lying to her when she was in trouble because of the guilt she carried for asking her parents to pay for her education in a big city. But she was the one who broke all the generational trauma. She fought hard, made a name for herself so that her daughter never has to live in the kind of poverty her entire family has lived in so far. 

The series poignantly captures the complexities of the mother-daughter relationships, highlighting both the love and the unspoken burdens that are passed down and that is something that will always remain one of the most beautiful things about this show!

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