A Look at Women's Representation in 'Doctor Cha': A Case for Optimism or Another One Bites the Dust?

While Asian representation in Western media has been at the centre of attention for a while, it would be interesting to turn away and look at how Asians represent themselves in their own media. Issues of racism and stereotypical representation of various groups are not just problems persisting in Western entertainment but also run rampant in forms of Asian media. Korean entertainment, which has gained new heights of global popularity in the last few years, presents an arena to analyse different aspects of representation and how the media has transformed itself with regard to its increasing worldwide reach. In light of the AAPI heritage month, I wanted to look at, what I think, is a provocative case of women’s representation in Korean media in 2023. 

‘Doctor Cha’ is a 2023 Korean medical drama, currently airing on JTBC and streaming on platforms such as TVING and Netflix. Starring Uhm Jung-hwa as the central character Cha Jeong-suk, the show reveals the expectations and realities of middle-aged women in South Korea. It is perhaps necessary to mention that the show focuses on an urban, upper middle-class setting and while some characteristics can be noted across the board when it comes to women's representation in Korean media, the socio-economic background of the characters is an important point to consider. This review is mostly free of spoilers however it will discuss some larger plot points. I would highly recommend watching the show if you're interested. The show is entertaining and binge-worthy, with a wide array of characters. It is currently ongoing, with 14 episodes released to date, and is scheduled to end on June 4.

The show follows the daily life of Cha Jeong-suk, a woman in her forties who decides to pursue her medical career after being a dedicated housewife for over twenty years. This life-changing decision came as a result of surviving a life-threatening disease. She emerges as a changed woman who is ready to live life on her own terms. Examining the protagonist and the people around her shows the ideal and expected role of middle-aged women: to be family-oriented. Expecting women to give up on their aspirations and hobbies in order to devote their time and energy to their families is an almost universal experience for women once they get married and ‘settle down’. The ‘housewife’ is often unappreciated and disrespected by her husband, her in-laws and even her children. Cha Jeong-suk’s family fails to acknowledge all that she does for them and what she has sacrificed over the years to be there for them. The scenes reminded me of the 2012 Bollywood film ‘English Vinglish’ starring Sridevi, which follows Shashi Godbole, another housewife, who tries to master the English language after she is ridiculed by her family. Coming back to 'Doctor Cha', the lack of support from her husband and mother-in-law when she needed them the most saddens and frustrates Cha Jeong-suk immensely and her recovery makes her realise that she has to make the most of this second chance at life. Her decision to restart her career is not only met with intense protests from her family but also from the people from what comes to be her workplace. People question her abilities because of her age and the first of the show focuses almost entirely on how she attempts to overcome the age barrier that keeps obstructing her path. 

In supposed contrast to Cha Jeong-suk is her long-time best friend Baek Mi-hee. A woman focused completely on her career, she has built a name for herself and runs a successful dermatological clinic. The protagonist often states how envious she is of her friend's lifestyle; the latter in her eyes seems to have put together the perfect life for herself. In the show, Mi-hee acts as a guide-like figure for Jeong-suk, giving her clarity in moments of doubt and supporting her friend's journey of achieving her dreams. Yet, Mi-hee's character is also marked by this deep dissatisfaction over the fact that she has remained unmarried, even calling her life "lousy" in an instance. In a scene towards the latter half of the show, she expresses to Jeong-suk in a drunken stupor that divorcing her husband would destroy the family that she has nurtured for so many years and such an outcome would in no way make Jeong-suk happy. While I understand the point Mi-hee is attempting to make here, encouraging her friend to continue being with her cheating partner even when she has the means to leave the relationship just because family and married life is precious, did not sit right with me.

Choi Seung-hi, one of the other main characters in the show and in some ways the antagonist, is also a career woman, acting as a professor in the ‘Family Medicine’ department at the hospital. Despite her success, the fact that she is a single mother is a major cause of concern not only to her family but also to her own self. She is keen to restart her relationship with her 'first love', not only for herself but also to make up for all of the father's love that her daughter Eun-seo has missed out on. From an emotional perspective, it is understandable why Seung-hi is almost desperate to create the atmosphere of a family, craving the support that she and her daughter never had. However, her own actions seem to disregard the fact that she has raised her daughter single-handedly. She seems to lose sight of her own strengths and even the actual needs and feelings of her daughter in this fight to gain what was 'rightfully hers'.

One cannot fully discuss Cha Jeong-suk and Choi Seung-hi without talking about the man everyone hates, Seo In-ho. Seo In-ho, Jeong-suk’s husband, is a character built almost entirely around the fact that he is cheating on his wife with his first love from twenty years ago, whom he cheated on all those years back with his current wife. Sounds mind-boggling and extremely messed up? Well, it sure is. All the three characters commit acts that we can easily label as morally dubious. The women were part of the adulterous acts that negatively impacted the other, yet there is an attempt, at least on Jeong-suk’s end, to apologise for a mindless act that ended up deeply hurting another person. Much to my dismay, the show like many others pits the women against each other, going much further than the discomfort stemming from their complicated history. The show seems to actively forget that it takes two to tango and here Seo In-ho is a major missing piece from all their altercations. While the show and its characters obviously acknowledge that Seo In-ho is a bad person for cheating not once but twice on two different women, it deals with it in an almost light-hearted, comical manner. The background music that often accompanies Seo In-ho’s scenes, especially ones where his acts of adultery are mentioned, can happily allow the viewer to gloss over the fact that he is in fact disloyal to both the women who deeply care about him and all-in-all a spineless jerk who seems to want the best of both worlds. Two women fighting each other because of a man is a trope that I and many others are tired of and such a creative direction seems to be detrimental to the show overall, at least from my perspective. I am interested to see how the show will attempt to resolve this fairly twisted conflict. 

While the show seems to dedicate itself entirely on how this one woman is able to turn her life around and do the things that she really wants, it also seems to be unable to completely rid itself of the conventional gender roles that govern the broader South Korean society. The focus on marriage and family not only advances notions of women’s lives being incomplete without their active participation in these institutions but also disregards other valid and healthy ways of living one's life. However, I do think that the show is able to bring in a fairly fresh premise to the over-saturated medical drama genre and is able to highlight the character of the middle-aged woman in a new light. The show on its completion might push me to change some of my opinions so I will let you all be the judge of what 'Doctor Cha' is able to achieve in the case of women's representation.