After the success of “The Queen Who Crowns”, Tving seemed eager to continue to explore the historical dramatic genre 18+, quickly following “The Chunhwa scandal”, another piece of the period limited by age. However, while “The Queen Who Crowns” was controversial because of his brutally intense but narratively relevant love scenes, “Chunhwa’s scandal” was criticized for his 18+ unnecessary and insignificant scenes.
Even before its release, “Chunhwa’s scandal” aroused both anticipation and concern, since it was inspired by the erotic paintings of the era of Joseon, a highly sensitive topic. Faithful to expectations, the first episode presented more explicit naked scenes involving characters in support. Now, almost a month from its premiere, the drama remains a hot topic of debate, since almost every episode contains at least one scene more than 18 years old, pushing the spectators to question their needs.
From Prince Hwaseong (Kim Taek) who secretly has a relationship with a Cortesan to Princess Hwa Ri (Go Ara) and Choi Hwan (Chang Ryul) who witnesses an intimate act, these scenes have been considered excessively bold but useless for the development of the main characters. Instead of adding depth, they feel embarrassing and forced. Some critics even suspect that the production team deliberately exploited the support bodies to generate buzz.
While “The Scandal of Chunhwa” draws inspiration from historical erotic art, his plot is actually carefree and fascinating, revolving around a princess who embarks on a journey to find true love. Given this premise, it is clear that the film did not need so many explicit scenes, as they do not serve to advance the history of female lead.
Due to these overwhelming more scenes of 18+, the spectators fought to focus on the main plot, especially on Go Ara’s performance. Returning to acting after years away from the screen, Go Ara showed a considerable improvement in its expressions and images have been praised, exuding elegance and grace that adapt to a princess. However, neither his efforts nor his beauty could save the drama. Unlike “The Queen Who Crowns”, “Chunhwa’s scandal” was unable to gain traction, broadcast in silence without generating many discussions on social media. He received little attention from the Korean media and TVing did not boast remarkable results regarding his audience or popularity.
