Miss Hammurabi

Presentation

For more…

Analysis

Synopsis

​Park Cha O Reum is a newly-appointed judge, who is full of idealistic thoughts and love for justice. She is put in a panel with two other judges, a veteran one Han Se Sang and a young judge, Im Ba Reun, who is cold and has lost faith in humanity. The trio will judge difficult cases and grow up at the same time.

My Opinion (No Spoilers)

​An excellent drama, led by a charismatic trio. When I started the drama, it was the first time a story was not focusing on lawyers and prosecutors but rather on judges. After that, from what I remember only Nothing To Lose and Your Honor dealt with the tough job of being a judge. Even though it is not a very common topic, Miss Hammurabi made me discover this universe, until then unknown to me. 

​I simply loved it! The three main characters are so different in many ways, but their distinctions is what enable them to make tough decisions and to find the most just punishment for the cases they deal with. The director Kwak Jung Hwan immersed me in that particular ambiance (we owe him Chief of Staff, he realized after and The K2) and confronted me with our judges’ dilemmas. 

​The realism of the drama moved me at each episode and it was really nice to get a glimpse at what is means to be a judge, even though it made me cry a lot. 

Analysis (Spoilers Alert)

Characters: Park Cha O Reum (Go Ara) is a rookie, who is full of good will and has the best intentions in the world. She decided to become a judge because she wants to make the world a better place and fight against discrimnation and injustice. In that matter, she is very impulsive and passionate, which can sometimes push her into committing mistakes or making enemies. Yet, she is brave and is not afraid to stand for what she believes in. She is an idealist, a dreamer, convinced that a judge’s role is to punish the bad ones and to reward good people. At the very beginning of the drama, I admit that she has that kind of dichotomous vision with a black side and a white side. Because she is an idealist, she believes that it is easy to actually distinguish those who should be heavily punished and others. However, the world is not made so, it is full of grey, a notion that she comes to realize, as she gets more involved in her job. I loved seeing her growing up and acting more rationally, like a judge would do by the end of the drama. We witness her development in her career and emotional as well throughout the drama. As viewers, we are confronted with her dilemmas and we understand the process and the education one has to go through to become a wise judge. 

​Opposite to her, Im Ba Reun (Kim Myung Soo/L) is a cold and distant judge. He has been doing that job much longer than O Reum and seems really disillusioned. I believe that all the cases he has dealt with in the past made him a bit insensitive, in a way that he has lost faith in human nature and doesn’t believe some people can change or be saved. He has lost his will and passion for that job and has created an emotional gap between his cases and himself. Regarding that character, we also happen to follow his development as a judge. His permanent contact with the idealist and passionate O Reum turns him into a more humane and empathetic judge, who starts regaining faith in humanity. I loved to see that his progression was totally different from Cha O Reum (because they have different background). The synergy that is created between them illustrates the good influence that both characters can have on each other. 

​Han Se Sang (Sung Dong Il) is the last judge of that panel. He is older and for that is the president of the panel. He seems to not care about his cases or the people related, which sometimes creates conflict with O Reum. In reality though, each case deeply affects him and he hides his affection and his soft side behind a mask of coldness and strict behavior. 

​By the end of the drama, we understand that Han Se Sang is an educator, who is here to help younger judges commit their mistakes and learn from them. He is a wise guide, whose mission is to make sure other judges can be able to acquire all the competencies necessary for the job. 

​I loved seeing the dynamic of the trio; because they all have very different personalities, they are able to clearly debate on the punishment. They stimulate each other, either personally or professionally. What makes them also a good trio is the fact that they all kind of embody marginals: O Reum doesn’t have many friends because of an incident, in which she stood up against her superior; Ba Reun voluntarily excludes and isolates himself from others and Se Sang is indeed a veteran but he is unbending, which can cause some conflicts too (a common point he shares with O Reum). 

​The other characters such as the clerk Lee Do Yeon (Lee Elijah), the judge Jung Bo Wang (Ryu Deok Hwan) or the conglomerate Min Yong Joon (Lee Tae Sang) are, in my opinion, extremely well portrayed; giving another angle of either society or the system, in which the drama evolves. 

​Ambiance: The ambiance of the drama is rather heavy and grave. The cases are very serious and difficult and the system is also strict and complicated. Because of this gravity, I felt even more as if I was part of the drama. Fortunately, romance also plays its parts and introduces some light-heartedness. The romance between Bo Wang and Do Yeon and O Reum and Ba Reun, though completely different, are really pleasant. 

​What are the themes questioned?

​The first thing that came to my mind, while watching Miss Hammurabi, was that the drama was simply targeting prejudice and discrimination. All the cases and storylines (even the romance) wanted to highlight a specific prejudice or discrimination against a certain group and tried, and succeeded I would say, to make viewers understand that what we see is not always the reality of things. 

​Miss Hammurabi tackled some strong issues like sexual harassment, being a pregnant woman and having a job, domestic abuse – when killing someone for defending oneself has to be judged – and many other strong issues. The scenario was written in such a way that I myself ended up wondering what I would do, had I been the judge of the case or the victim. All cases were real dilemmas and I left a part of my heart in each of them. 

​On a more personal level, our characters also embodied biases (Bo Wang had biases regarding Do Yeon because of the pictures on her desk; Ba Reun had biases on people of his cases). The goal of the drama was in fact to get rid of these biases and prejudice blinded us and clouding our judgement, proving that being able to hear all sides of a story is indispensable when you are a judge. In reality, being a judge can be resumed that way: being able to put yourself in everyone else’s shoes and try to understand their point of view to be able to make the most rightful decision. Very difficult when your background, your education and society influence every single day your opinions and behaviors. 

​The second major point I think is the great depiction of the judicial system. The drama proved that judges are working constantly and will always have work (which can take a toll on them sometimes), emphasizing their determination to help. However, Miss Hammurabi also depicted a strong and rigid institution, that abides by strict and unmoving laws, difficult to bend and to change. If you are not prepared to be part of the system, it will reject you and crush you. That’s what happened for O Reum but also Se Sang. Like I said, they are marginals and idealists, who believe that even the system has to be flexible because the world is not either black or white. 

​In a nutshell, I highly recommend that drama for the reality of life and society that it conveys. It will also give you hope; hope that things can change, no matter how rigid or corrupted the people or the system(s) is/are. 

​P.S.: Did you know that the name of the drama Miss Hammurabi comes from the Hammurabi Code, a Babylonian justice code (Hammurabi is the name of the King who ordered its redaction)? 

​P.S. 2: It seems that Park Cha O Reum means spur, Im Ba Reun is a must/an imperative and Se Sang means the world; good names for uptight and righteous people exercising the law, right? What do you think? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVveMTffkJE