← Back to Directory
Jealousy Is My Middle Name
Movie

Jealousy Is My Middle Name

2003 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

Quiet, intelligent, solemn and recently dumped by his girlfriend, graduate student Lee Weon-san takes a job at a literary magazine, ostensibly to supplement his income, but really to get close to the editor - the reason he’s now single. The editor, unaware of who Lee is, takes a shine to him and makes him his personal assistant.

Overall Series Review

Jealousy Is My Middle Name is a 2003 South Korean psychological drama focused entirely on intimate, individual-level conflict: a graduate student's rivalry and reluctant admiration for the charismatic editor who stole his girlfriend. The narrative is a subtle study of human emotion, exploring how jealousy turns into a strange mentor-student dynamic, with the young man attempting to learn how to navigate life from the older womanizer. The film is fundamentally concerned with universal themes of self-worth, rivalry, and complicated romantic relationships, placing merit on character psychology and development rather than group identity. The movie’s setting in contemporary South Korea and its focus on an interpersonal love triangle prevents the introduction of contemporary Western ideological themes. The only notable tension on the ideological scale is the portrayal of a central female character as fiercely independent and career-focused, which somewhat sidelines traditional relationship structures, but this is presented as a character choice within a messy human drama, not a political mandate.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The plot centers on the universally relatable human emotions of jealousy and professional/romantic rivalry. Character value and conflict stem entirely from individual psychology, professional standing, and romantic entanglement. There is no reliance on immutable characteristics or intersectional hierarchy to drive the narrative, nor is there any vilification of an ethnic or racial group.

Oikophobia1/10

The film is an intimate character study set within a contemporary South Korean context. The narrative does not contain any critique or deconstruction of Korean national heritage, culture, or societal institutions. The conflict is personal and emotional, completely detached from civilizational self-hatred.

Feminism3/10

The female lead, a photographer/veterinary surgeon, is described as fiercely independent and makes her own sexual and career choices, even defying the protagonist's pleas. Her decision to pursue a relationship with the charismatic but philandering and married editor suggests complex agency and career focus. The protagonist is depicted as submissive and passive, while the editor is a womanizer who juggles family and affairs, presenting a flawed masculinity, but this serves the drama rather than an explicit lecture on patriarchy.

LGBTQ+1/10

The core plot is a heterosexual love triangle involving two men and several women. The film's entire focus is on traditional male-female romantic and sexual dynamics, competition, and jealousy. Alternative sexualities or gender ideology are not introduced, centered, or used to deconstruct the nuclear family.

Anti-Theism2/10

The movie is a secular psychological drama focused purely on human relationships and personal development. There is no presence of traditional religion, specifically Christianity, in the narrative. The story operates entirely on subjective moral and emotional dynamics between characters, which implies a lack of transcendent morality, but it avoids direct hostility or vilification of any faith.