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If you check Netflix’s top 10 for various countries, you will probably find The Glory, more often than not, in the top 10 ensembles. The series features Song Hye-kyo, Lee Do-hyun, Lim Ji-yeon, Jung Ji-so and Shin Ye-eun in prominent roles.
Penned by acclaimed screenwriter Kim Eun-sook, this thriller explores various themes like school bullying, Korea’s class divide, capitalism, domestic violence, and revenge, amongst others.
At the centre of the story is a young girl named Moon Dong-eun, played by Jung Ji-so (younger), a bright and hopeful girl who nurtures dreams of being an architect and is the target of the school’s infamous bully gang, headed by Park Yeon-jin, played by Shin Ye-eun (younger).
Moon Dong-eun, portrayed by Song Hye-kyo (older), vows to take revenge against her tormentors and spends the next two decades of her life planning a fool-proof plan against Park Yeon-jin, portrayed by Lim Ji-yeon (older), including taking up a job as her daughter’s class teacher and seducing her husband for revenge.
The Glory depicts Korean schools’ horrible bullying culture, ragging, and how most of the time, the accused walks away scot-free. However, is it safe for underage kids to watch without adult supervision and is it rated appropriately according to television-viewing guidelines? More on this below.
The Glory’s parent guide and appropriate age rating revealed
The first season of The Glory was released on December 30, with the first eight episodes out of 16 episodes released on the global-streaming platform Netflix.
The series is penned by Kim Eun-sook, one of Korea’s most popular screenwriters, usually known for her commercially viable projects, and helmed by director Gil Ho-ahn, known for dramas like Stranger (2017), Memories of the Alhambra (2018) and Happiness (2021).
Although the team behind The Glory is a solid and competent one, the subject matter of the series demanded a great deal of sensitivity and care as it depicts some brutal cases of school violence, ragging and abuse.
According to global television guidelines, The Glory is rated TV-MA, which means TV for Mature Audiences, as the show deals with school violence, abuse, swear words, s*x and substance abuse.
Hence, The Glory is not appropriate for youths below the age of 19. Teenagers who intend to watch the Song Hye-kyo starrer must watch it under adult supervision.
Ironically, The Glory depicts school violence faced by teenagers in their school years and is inspired by true events. According to Kim Eun-sook, the scene where Park Yeon-jin burns Moon Dong-eun’s arms with a hot hair iron was inspired by a real-life incident, wherein the perpetrator beat up the victim brutally, burned her arm with a hot hair iron, scratched her chest and forcefully took her money.
The bully was punished by the school authorities once the incident came to light. Writer Kim Eun-sook backed Netflix’s decision for a 19+ rating citing that the protagonist Moon Dong-eun’s mode of revenge is a private one, not through the judicial system.
Kim Eun-sook urged parents to watch the series and educate their teenage children about school violence and its repercussions.
The Glory will air its second part in March
The Glory season two will air sometime in Match 2023. The first season of the revenge-thriller series comprising 8 episodes aired on December 30 and ranked third in Netflix’s non-English category and eighth in the overall rankings for TV shows, boasting 25,410,000 hours of cumulative viewing time merely three days after its release.
The eighth episode ended with Park Yeon-jin finding out about Moon Dong-eun’s apartment, which is right opposite her sprawling bungalow and discovering that she had been planning this elaborate plan of revenge for 18 years and even planned to trap her husband in her plan.
The ladies get into a scuffle in Moon Dong-eun’s house, implying that their enmity is far from over.
According to Kim Eun-sook, the second season will snowball into something bigger, better, and more exciting, with fans hoping that justice is truly served and Moon Dong-eun emerges victorious in her plan to exact revenge.
