Mothers and Daughters in When Life Gives You Tangerines
Dear girls, what would you do if you could turn back time and give your mother the life she deserved? Would you try to escape her fate or just be her clone? In this beautiful television series, Gwang-rye, Ae-sun and Geum-myeong, women from three different generations try their best to answer these questions through their bittersweet relationships.
When Life Gives You Tangerines is not merely a show, it is a testament to every woman’s life; the dreams they let go of, the guilt they feel for daring to dream, the harsh patriarchal norms they stick to for the sake of their kids and yet, how they remain a flower that grows through creeks in sunlight.
The show begins in the 1960s, when Gwang-rye wrestles to carve a richer life for her daughter, Ae-sun. Ironically, Ae-sun eventually becomes the mirror image of her mother. With Gwan-sik by her side, they carve out a wonderful life for themselves. When Geum-myeong is born, life throws more tangerines at them and weaves a similar pattern; she too finds herself caught in the web of her mother’s destiny. Spanning across fifty years, the show also seamlessly manages to portray life’s fragility and vulnerability in its full glory.
It’s a realization wrapped in Sasha Sloan’s haunting words:
The older I get the more that I see
My parents aren’t heroes, they’re just like me
So you see, dear readers, this is not just a show — this is a painful reminder, like a dagger piercing my heart, that my mother was a young girl too. And perhaps in a different universe, her heart will always be in spring.
