Superstar From Age 0

Chapter 266

Schizophrenia. Youve heard of it, right? The symptoms of schizophrenia include delusions, hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations. They are trapped in fantasies that someone is trying to kill them or that they are being watched. The problem is that most schizophrenic patients do not recognize their own illness.

-Who would have thought that was the beginning of the mirror.

-I was mind-blown while reading it.

Lets talk about the novel first. The novel Mirror consists of four parts: three stories and the last story that connects them. The protagonist is Jung Chaewon. I thought Kim Jinwoo, the character played by Lee Seo-jun, was the protagonist, but he wasnt.

-Thats why I was surprised.

The three stories are told from Jung Chaewons perspective, and the last story is told from the authors perspective.

-Jung Chaewon!

-How could you betray me like this;;

I didnt expect this kind of twist either. I trusted Jung Chaewon too much because he was the protagonist.

-Me too. Why didnt I think something was wrong with him?

-Maybe because the background of the second story was a mental hospital.

The three stories from Jung Chaewons perspective are ordinary. They are very ordinary stories of a psychiatrist, Jung Chaewon, meeting three patients. The first patient has an eating disorder, the second patient, played by Lee Seo-jun, has dissociative identity disorder, and the third patient has antisocial personality disorder, a sociopath.

-I thought psychiatrists must have a hard time while reading the book.

-Me too. But it wasnt true.

-Who would have guessed that the real patient was Jung Chaewon!

-It hurt so much when he stabbed me in the back!

The moviegoer nodded his head sympathetically with the viewers feelings.

Yes. The last episode. The three stories from the authors perspective were completely different.

-It turned out that the patient was the doctor and the doctor was the patient.

Yes. Thats right. The three stories were actually Jung Chaewons stories of going to the first mental hospital, the second mental hospital, and the third mental hospital. In the end, he was hospitalized because of his violence, and Jung Chaewons identity was revealed.

-Delusions are scary.

-So are hallucinations and auditory hallucinations.

-If you read the novel again from the beginning, you can see how solid Jung Chaewons world is.

-Because thats his daily life.

The first patient with an eating disorder, that is, the doctor who treated Jung Chaewon for the first time, collapsed after drinking the tea that Jung Chaewon gave him.

-I was really shocked.

-And in Jung Chaewons world, he became a vomiting patient with an eating disorder.

Lets talk about the second doctor, that is, Dr. Kim Jinwoo played by Lee Seo-jun later. The third doctor, the patient with antisocial personality disorder.

-Jung Chaewon made him a patient with personality disorder because he didnt listen to him.

-Well, the first doctor got into trouble after drinking what Jung Chaewon gave him, and the second doctor got hot water poured on his face. I would be cold too.

-Extreme job!

The moviegoer smiled bitterly at the viewers who analyzed on their own.

Yes. He finally got hospitalized in the third hospital thanks to the cold judgment of the doctor. The novel ends with a scene of Jung Chaewon walking to the ward and the third doctor looking at him. It was a book with a chilling twist.

-True.

-It was really creepy to read!

-Now for the play!! The play foreshadowing!!

Yes. Lets talk about the play Mirror. As I explained before, it is a play adapted and directed by Lee Seo-jun himself. It is based on the second story of Mirror. I will review both Mirrors second story and the play together.

-Who was the nurse at first?

-I dont know. I couldnt hear her voice.

-Was this something Seo-jun added?

Yes. Maybe he added it because if he only put in the second story, Mirrors twist would end without any connection. He wanted to give dissonance to the audience.

-True. If you only see the second story, its just an ordinary story of a patient with dissociative identity disorder.

-The twist made both novel and play more interesting.

-What do you think, moviegoer?

I think I know after watching both novel and play repeatedly. This might be either Jung Chaewons first mental hospital or his family telling him about his visit.

-Oh. They are explaining about Jung Chaewon.

-So they adjusted to Jung Chaewon who thinks he is a psychiatrist!

Yes. Thats right. I didnt notice at first, but there were many strange things in the book. First of all, a patient who enters the consultation room without a doctor.

-I didnt even think it was weird.

-I just thought he was already in there because it was a play.

-Who would have thought that was part of the direction.

It turned out that this patient Kim Jinwoo was the real doctor. Its not strange for a doctor to wait alone in the consultation room when a patient comes.

-The pure white sweater too. It must have been a doctors gown.

-I thought he was pure Jinwoo at first. He looked like an angel, so I thought he wore white.

-Thats also a correct interpretation in Jung Chaewons world.

-But the problem is that it was all hallucination.

Jung Chaewon, the patient, greets the nurse familiarly and enters the consultation room and puts on a doctors gown. Here, the sky-blue striped shirt. Doesnt it look like a patients gown?

The moviegoer showed Jung Chaewons picture and a patient gown image on the monitor screen. There was a slight difference, but they were similar.

-It looks like that when you know it, but it just looks like a pretty outfit when you dont.

-I cant wear sky-blue striped shirts anymore. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

And Jung Chaewon and Kim Jinwoo talk. The truth is probably Jung Chaewons nonsense that Dr. Kim Jinwoo observes. There is another noticeable prop here.

-[Do psychiatrists use stethoscopes in Korea?]

-When I saw this comment, I got goosebumps. When I looked again, he really had a stethoscope all along.

-It was really scary. It wasnt even a horror movie!

Yes. Lets unravel the stethoscope story, or rather, the stethoscope foreshadowing.

He smiled lightly and continued.

Why would a psychiatrist wear a stethoscope? Its not strange to have a stethoscope with a pure white doctors gown, but if the doctor is a psychiatrist, it becomes strange.

-I didnt feel anything strange at all.

-But after reading the book and the comments, I kept looking at it while watching the play.

This is also an element that Lee Seo-jun added. Its not in the novel, but its a foreshadowing that can only be used in a play that can be seen visually. The stethoscope. This is the most clear device that tells you that the world of the play is not real. When you realize the stethoscope, you start to doubt the doctor, the patient, and even the play itself.

-But why didnt anyone notice?

Because they were used to it. A pure white doctors gown with a stethoscope. From children to adults. Isnt that the first image that comes to mind when you think of a doctor? Maybe if the background of the play wasnt psychiatry, it would have been the most ordinary outfit.

-Now I only see stethoscopes.

-I cant believe I didnt notice even though it was hanging around his neck.

Then lets leave the stethoscope story here and move on to the next one. What you need to know here is that Kim Jinwoo is actually a doctor and Jung Chaewon is a patient.

[Kim Jinwoo=psychiatrist]

[Jung Chaewon=patient]

The descriptions of the two people appeared on the monitor.

Dr. Kim Jinwoo leaves and the nurse turns off the light. Jung Chaewon stays in the hospital. I think this means hospitalization. Maybe he was hospitalized for a day or two to check his condition.

-Wow!

-I didnt know that;;;

Lee Seo-jun did a great job directing the stage. I cant praise him enough. Since it was a school event, Mirror probably didnt have the environment to build such a set. He used a fixed set as much as possible and sprinkled various foreshadowings.

-Seo-jun!

-Our Seo-jun!!

Next, lets look at the color of Dr. Kim Jinwoos clothes. In Jung Chaewons world, it was the erosion of Kim Fake, but it actually meant something else. From white to gray, from gray to black. It could mean either Dr. Kim Jinwoos condition or Jung Chaewons condition.

-Wow. Its getting worse!

-The worst situation!

-Jung Chaewons symptoms must have been too severe for Dr. Kim Jinwoo to handle!

Yes. Thats why Dr. Kim Jinwoo, the nurse, and two more people appeared. In Jung Chaewons world, they were another psychiatrist and a detective, but their real identities were different in the novel. They were the people who came to transfer Jung Chaewon to the third hospital.

-Delusions are so scary!

-Shocking;;;

It was a frightening situation for Jung Chaewon. Dr. Kim Jinwoo told him about the transfer and introduced the two men. The two men moved to take Jung Chaewon away. Jung Chaewon panicked and struggled. Then Dr. Kim Jinwoo got hit by Jung Chaewons hand and Jung Chaewon made the two men his enemies as if he was a doctor again.

-Wow

-??? : Jinwoo! Are you okay?! Jinwoo! What are you doing!

-Holy.

And Dr. Kim Jinwoo tried to make Jung Chaewon understand despite his injury, but in Jung Chaewons world, Dr. Kim Jinwoo had already become a traitor. The betrayal manifested as Kim Fake, the second personality.

-Thats why he splashed water!

Yes. Jung Chaewon, who was seized by fear, poured tea water on Dr. Kim Jinwoos face. Dr. Kim Jinwoo screamed in pain.

-The scream gave me goosebumps.

-Seo-jun acted so well;;

Another strangeness appeared here. There was one place where the nurses dialogue stood out, right?

-Yes, teacher!

-He called him Dr. Jung Chaewon! but there was a subtle gap.

-The round speech bubble seemed to change into a square one.

-222 It was out of place.

That was probably the nurse calling Dr. Kim Jinwoo. It was a dissonance that could only be heard in a play, not read in a novel. The acting of Park Siyoung, who played the nurse, was very good.

-Thats why the nurses voice stood out!

-She wasnt calling Jung Chaewon, but the real doctor!

-Oh my god!

The moviegoer showed a picture of the play captured on the monitor screen. It was a scene of the nurse and two men heading towards Kim Jinwoo, who fell after getting tea water on his face.

If you look closely here, they are not protecting Jung Chaewon but Dr. Kim Jinwoo. The man who turned into a detective is still wary of Jung Chaewon. This is also an expression that can only be used in a play that is hard to express in a novel.

-Its really subtle. When I first saw the play, I thought they were protecting Jung Chaewon, but it looks like they are guarding him.

-22 To think that he made this with such consideration Amazing!

And in the end, the two men tried to take Dr. Kim Jinwoo to the emergency room as soon as possible, while the patient who lost his mind and the nurse who informed the third hospital of the patients aggressiveness appeared and ended the play.

-??? : Yes. Yes. He is so aggressive that he needs to be hospitalized.

-The nurse was talking about Jung Chaewons aggressiveness, not Kim Fakes.

-I thought he was talking about Kim Fake;;;

-He just poured tea water on his face I didnt even think it was Jung Chaewon.

There were foreshadowings in the play that led to the novel. If you watch the play and dont read the novel, you will miss these wonderful foreshadowings.

-I have to watch it again.

-I have to watch the play again after reading the review!

-Moviegoer! Was it also a foreshadowing that Dr. Kim Jinwoo never drank tea?

-222 Jung Chaewon kept offering tea but Kim Fake didnt drink it.

-I thought of Persephones myth when I saw that.

-Oh! The goddess who had to stay in the underworld for three months a year after eating the food of the underworld?

-Wow. Does it mean that he would be fixed in Jung Chaewons world if he drank it?

-Or did he really die?

-Thats in the book!

Yes. If you read the novel, you will know that the first mental hospital doctor collapsed after drinking the tea that Jung Chaewon gave him.

-Did he die?

He didnt die. Dr. Kim Jinwoo knew that and didnt drink it.

-It was so scary to see Jung Chaewon keep offering tea after reading that.

-Was Dr. Kim Jinwoo trembling because of that?

-! That seems right!

It was a fun and creepy play with twists until the end. It was even better with the novel. The actors performances were also good. It was an acting skill that I couldnt believe they were middle schoolers.

The moviegoer calmly finished his speech.

Yang Juhee, who played Jung Chaewon, Lee Seo-jun, who played Kim Jinwoo, Park Siyoung, who played the nurse, Kang Jaehan, who played Dr. Oh Junghwan, Jeon Sungmin, who played the detective. And the students of Mirror team who prepared the music, background, and props. Thank you so much for showing me a wonderful play.