‘FLOWER OF EVIL’
THE EPITHET
FOR
BAEK HEE SUNG
BAEK HEE SUNG
THE PSYCHOPATH
 
Arang and The Magistrate (2012). Gunman in Joseon (2014). The
Scholar Who Walks The Night (2015). Moon Lovers: Scarlet
Heart Ryeo (2016). Lawless Lawyer (2018). These
are the dramas in which Lee Joon Gi plays the eponymous character. None
can forget the titular magistrate, gunman, scholar, the 'Moon' and lawyer,
all of which are refreshingly different. In his upcoming drama, Lee
plays Baek Hee Sung, the psychopath. The question that is
gnawing at our minds is, ‘Isn’t Lee playing the title character of
‘Flower of Evil’?’
The title of the drama, quite a puzzle, has
been the subject of much speculation. To put the pieces of
puzzle together, the 'Flower of Evil' has to be properly
scrutinized.
The argument is ‘Flower of
Evil’ refers to Baek Hee Sung and no one else, as drama
titles often highlight the chief character of the drama. Moreover, we
can winnow out other characters as it is highly improbable that anyone else
is as evil as a psychopath. One might be wrong.
What is perplexing is: Can a man be
considered to be ‘a flower’?
Flowers, normally, symbolise women. Cha Ji
Won, the wife of Baek Hee Sung, to begin with, is oblivious of the psychopath in her home. An enemy within. The
homicide detectives, likewise, have no inkling of the identity of the elusive
psychopath. If one may hazard a guess, Baek Hee Sung could have
left behind ‘a flower’ as his signature after
every heinous murder – just to fulfil himself.
The behavioural hallmark should earn the mysterious
psychopath the epithet, Flower of Evil. One may dismiss
this as pure speculation but it sounds pretty convincing. Otherwise, how else
can you explain it?
The original title of the drama, ‘The
Flower of Evil’ (T.F.O.E.) was replaced by ‘Flower of Evil
(F.O.E.) much to the initial misgivings of some fans. The definite
article, ‘The’ had been dropped to pave way for the
shortened title, ‘Flower of Evil’.
Why remove ‘The’ from the title of the
drama?’ The writer and the producers must have given much thought to the
matter. There is no question in one’s mind that the new title, Flower
of Evil and its initials, F.O.E., pack quite a
punch. Without a doubt, Baek Hee Sung, the embattled psychopath is
everyone’s FOE in the drama.
In the original title, The FLOWER of EVIL, ‘The’ refers
to someone who is specific. The word, ‘Flower’ in ‘The Flower of Evil, is
a common noun. The definite article ‘The’ indicates that the flower is a
specific, the one and only flower or the one and only man who is evil.
In the new title, ‘FLOWER of EVIL’, the definite article
‘The’ has been dropped. Without ‘The’, ‘FLOWER’ becomes a
proper noun. ‘FLOWER’ becomes the name of a person who is evil.
To make
the explanation clearer, we can compare the previous name of the fairy tale, ‘The Beauty and the Beast’ to the
Disney title, ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
In the older title, the word ‘Beauty’
in ‘The Beauty’ is a common noun
and refers to that specific, one and only beauty. ‘Beauty’ in the new title is a proper noun, another name for
Belle.
‘Flower of Evil’ is a poetic
epithet, in the tradition of Homer. Epithets, which are names, abound in
literature and elsewhere.
Homer
The following Homeric epithets refer to
certain characters in Homer’s works.
Ghoul of the Cliffs
Singers of death
Curse of Men
Raider of Cities
Lord of the Clouds
King of Men
Pride of Greece
Slayer of Men
Another interesting epithet is a well-known
religious epithet. Prince of Peace. The name refers to Jesus.
Now, we arrive at the conclusion. Flower
of Evil is the epithet for Baek Hee Sung. One grins at one’s own cleverness.
Lee has always played the hero and
protagonist in his dramas. In this new drama, he is playing a villain for the first time.
A psychopath. Although Lee’s fans can’t imagine him being the antagonist,
they are waiting for him to show his antagonist chops. Some hopeful fans
think that he might play two characters: The Good Twin and The Evil Twin.
Wearing two different hats would mean that he would straddle the complex
roles of the protagonist and the antagonist.
Fans may not have the drama plot figured
out yet but they are convinced that Lee Joon Gi will freak the audience out
with his portrayal of the psychopath. It has been widely predicted
that Flower of Evil will premiere on 1 July 2020. The
16-episode Wednesday-Thursday drama is written by Yoo Jung
Hee, directed by Kim Cheol Gyu, and produced by Studio Dragon and MonsterUnion.
|
