South Korean Show 'Thirty Nine' Helped Me Cherish My Women Friends More

Have you ever gone through the phase of female friendships being dramatic? “I befriend men because women friend groups are shallow, dramatic and toxic,” is a phrase I have heard from so many people around me. Somehow, women end up internalising the misogyny which is further fanned by the pop culture where teen dramas have sparring young women trying to get attention.

Admittedly, I almost walked down the path but I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by women who are beautiful inside out just like Cha Mi-Jo, Jeong Chan-Young and Jang Joo-Hee. The South Korean Drama Thirty Nine is like having a warm blanket on the coldest days.

Kdrama Thirty Nine, which premiered on the OTT platform Netflix, revolves around three friends—who are about to turn 40-year-old—Mi-Jo (Son Ye-Jin), Chan-Young (Jeon Mi-Do) and Joo-Hee (Kim Ji-Hyun), their lives, friendship, romance and love.

The &vl=en">series begins on a funny, light note with the three women fooling around and living their best lives with each other. Mi-Jo, a dermatologist planning her sabbatical, Chan-Young is busy training actors while Joo-Hee works as a cosmetics manager at a department store—the three always get together for their periodical activities.

Things don’t remain happy for long when the three friends get to know that one of them has advanced cancer and very minimal chances of surviving even with treatment. Thenceforward, the show takes the audience on a roller coaster of emotions as the three friends try to make the most of their time together.

The series is all about making Chan-Young the 'happiest terminally ill patient' which they realise as the show progresses is not easy after all.  But Mi-Jo and Joo-Hee never once shy away from anything, even if it means vandalising a cake shop to retrieve the cake, their friend Chan-Young had pre-booked for her mother's birthday.

Although the series goes beyond discussing female friendships, I somehow could not shake that aspect off my mind. The three women, without any malice in their hearts, have supported each other for two decades and it made me tear up. It somehow helped me rationalise my own grief of losing someone dearest to me.

As their quest begins to fulfil all of Chan-young's wishes, the three women are forced to interact with uncomfortable and difficult emotions they have held within themselves for far too long. As a result, their bond only deepens further as they navigate through life.

In a society that observes romantic relationships to be the be-all and end-all, watching a show which majorly focused on a platonic bond of three women who are about to turn 40 was refreshing. It makes you realise that friendships with women are nuanced and complex and is not just about drama as the pop culture had made it out to be.

Written by Yoo Yong-Ah and directed by Kim Sang-Ho, Thirty Nine also gives space for old women on-screen and highlights stories of women who are now developing fine lines and how they set out to do things that they could have not done when they were younger. With most industries that are youth-obsessed, a show where 40-year-old women run the show is like a ray of hope that ageing is not as daunting as we think it is.

The show which is currently streaming on Netflix is a slow-paced tear-jerker but it is worth it!

The views expressed are the author's own. 

Suggested Reading: Female Friendships: Why Women Must Turn to Each Other for Solidarity & Power