Baby and I

[WARNING: SPOILER CONTENTS] (Don’t say I didn’t warn you!)

A happy and prosperous new year for everyone! Thank God I finally emerged from a turbulent emotional state. It's been two months since I last talked to my keyboard. This past week, I decided to hunt for Asian movies to watch for the holidays.

The finest movie I've seen so far, and perhaps one of the best I've ever seen, is the 2008 Korean light comedy film 'Baby and I' starring ultimate heartthrob Jang Geun Suk, Moon Mason, and Kim Byeol.

The movie revolves around Han Joon Soo (Jang), a rebellious 18-year old high school whose too-cool-for-school attitude and striking good looks makes him a star campus crush with throngs of girl admirers who follows his every step. At the same time he's also a known troublemaker who is often involved in gang brawls and gets reprimanded by his school.

One day, he found himself home-alone. His parents left a video message for him saying that they ran away from home so that their recalcitrant son can change his life and learn his lessons the hard way. Joon Soo’s credit card has been suspended.

Sensing his newfound freedom, away from his parents’ prying eyes, he decides to throw-out a party at home. But while he was shopping at a local supermarket, he was shocked to find a baby boy in his pushcart! The rebellious teenager suddenly becomes a father to an unknown baby boy. He must change himself so that he can do his best to raise baby Woo Ram (Moon) and be the finest dad that the boy ever has. Fortunately, Joon Soo isn’t alone in raising Woo Ram. School topnotch and his not-so-secret admirer Kim Byeol (Kim) will help him in proper child care and also serves as his conscience. But somewhere along the way, something happened between Joon Soo and Woo Ram.

I can’t help but watch this movie all over again. Kind of weird, but I can definitely, emotionally, relate to this movie. How can I feel so much about it when I don’t even have the slightest, vaguest recollection of having fathered a child (or so do I think)? Watching it for the first time brought a sense of awakening. It woke up the father in me.

Seeing this wayward teenager stumble into a sudden, life-changing course to become a father to a baby whom he even doesn’t know where it came from, is simply dramatic. He tries his best to become a good father and give everything that his son needs even though he himself is broke. After attempting to give the baby away, he was awakened by the moral thought that you couldn’t put a little bundle of joy into hell. He’s still young. There’s nothing he can’t do to make sure the baby is fed.

This movie reflects a growing social issue on which teenage parents are on the rise. From what I’ve seen in the movie, I think teenage parents are just a new trend in this highly conservative country which is South Korea. There in the Land of the Morning Calm, parents of teens with children are regarded as lacking in discipline and thus, ineffective as parents. And the young teen parents themselves are often stigmatized just because they had a child at a young age. In much of Asia however, teen parents are already stealing the limelight for social cause. But it is highly noticeable that about nearly a hundred percent of the time devoted to the issue is devoted to single moms. Single dads, however, are only given a fraction of a percent. Just imagine how little time is given for single dads. It isn’t only the teen mothers that are undergoing hardships but teen dads also, and often they carry the heaviest burdens on their backs.

Joon Soo, although stubborn at taking care of Woo Ram at first, eventually gives in and pours his heart for the baby. Even though Joon Soo tried to abandon Woo Ram at the garbage heap and the orphanage and tried to leave him in the subway, at the end his love as a father to his son prevailed and never will he let go of Woo Ram again. Never will he let them be parted again.

He didn’t mind independence at all, not after Woo Ram was delivered to his doorstep. His parents would only return home after he has changed his attitudes. But the parents never had any idea that their son needs them badly. Joon Soo cries out desperately to his parents who don’t have an inkling of how hard their son has been going through, just because he wants to be a good father to his parents’ grandson.

He tried to find jobs but nobody would hire him because he has to carry Woo Ram all the time. Woo Ram is now hungry and Joon Soo tries to share his milk with his son. Upon seeing a drunken man collapse, he seized an opportunity to pick the man’s wallet. The man chased him and Joon Soo hailed a taxi. But instead of taking a taxi, he mistakenly hops onboard a police car. He was carted away to the police station. Luckily, his homeroom adviser colloquially known of her alias “Tyson” is always there to save her beleaguered student. Joon Soo learned his mistake and he won’t resort into pick pocketing again, but he has just no choice on how to feed his son. Tyson eventually gave him money to buy formula milk. Sincerely repenting his wrongdoings, he asks forgiveness from Woo Ram for putting him into so much trouble; that daddy shouldn’t be like this. At the store, instead of buying a carton of cigarettes he bought instead another can of formula milk, showing how he really has become of a father.

Eventually, his parents caught him red-handed with the baby and it took them all by surprise. It was heartbreaking too hear what Joon Soo told his parents that he can never turn his back on the baby and how he tried his best to raise Woo Ram properly. His parents, ever understanding, embraced their now enlightened son and welcomed their first grandson.

Woo Ram got a spike of fever and was rushed to hospital. Joon Soo felt angry to his mum when she insisted on baby sitting Woo Ram when she has a cold. His father slapped him and on that evening they had a father-and-son talk. It is natural for Joon Soo to feel that way. Parents, young or old, are all the same. If the child is in pain, the parent feels it too. Sometimes, the parent feels it more. You’ll wish that you were the one in pain instead of your child. We shall not foster anger towards our parents. Our parents may always manage to smile and make us happy, but they’ve been through a lot. Unconsciously, we gave them so much grief because they’ve been through many ups and downs.

Nothing is more painful to a parent than being parted away from the child. The latter part of the movie is truly heart-wrenching and emotional. “Daddy is right here, Woo Ram! You’re going nowhere!” as Joon Soo tried to reach for Woo Ram who was being sent for adoption overseas. A father’s heart is torn into pieces. In the middle part of the movie, he was worried that Woo Ram wouldn’t have any parents if he abandoned him. Later, he’ll be struggling for the custody of his son.

A light, heart-warming film, its mild nature is what it makes the movie emphatic to its viewers and personally, I sympathize for Joon Soo. Never been a father myself yet, Joon Soo made me realize how it feels to be a father. Though he may not be the typical dad we all know of, his love for Woo Ram is enough to prove how strong his fatherly love is. He may be a toughie and troublemaker but he grows vulnerable and mild when his son is being talked about.

This film has now been included in my very short list of films that made a lasting impression on me. One of the few films that, though may be shallow for some, left an indelible imprint in my heart. This is another unforgettable film that must be seen by all. (Written by JM Reyes, Manila)