Motherhood: if it had been easy, it would never have started with something called labor.

(Barbara Johnson)

The first day of school at a high school for girls: the curriculum presented includes significant topics such as euthanasia, suicide, responsibility, and ethics.

The first impression is that of a school that addresses emotions, ideas, and the emotional and conceptual development of its students.

Hee-yeon, a serious and dedicated high school teacher, seems to have a peaceful life. However, she soon faces heavy personal challenges: from discovering her presumed infertility to receiving bad news about the construction of her house. To make matters worse, one of her students, Yu-mi, becomes pregnant. Under pressure from a colleague, Hee-yeon reluctantly advises her to leave school, thinking it is for the best. However, the teacher herself unexpectedly becomes pregnant, turning the entire situation upside down. Hee-yeon begins to open up to Yu-mi and experiences something she had never gone through before.

At school, discussing abortion is out of the question, as it is deemed inappropriate; instead, the pregnant girl must leave school because she might be a bad influence on the other students.

In a culture that is unprepared, a family that is absent, fractured, and judgmental, and a school inadequate to handle such situations, the well-meaning initial educational program focused on pedagogy and ethics crumbles in the face of a 15-year-old girl's pregnancy, with no one managing it with even a minimum of morality, support, understanding, or assistance.

The film does not shy away from emphasizing the cultural and social disparity between the responsibilities of motherhood and fatherhood: the boy, the baby’s father, continues his studies and is admitted to university, while Yu-mi's education is abruptly cut off.

Motherhood is an event that can completely overturn the destiny of a young girl, expelled without any chance of future exceptions dictated by the school staff, the parents of other students, and the school principal. Meanwhile, most of her classmates would like to see her return to school.

The film portrays, with documentary-like clarity, how South Korean culture addresses the issue of teenage motherhood in familial, educational, social, and political contexts.

It provides a careful analysis of Yu-mi's lack of advocacy for her rights, whether regarding paternity or institutional support. It paints a portrait highlighting the submissiveness of the female attitude toward asserting one’s rights, as though nothing could be demanded: neither the attainment of an academic degree nor financial or social assistance.

The responsibility of the pregnancy falls entirely on the woman—in this case, the underage student—highlighting the societal pressures and challenges of female identity in a structurally and traditionally conservative context.

The current conflicts and the guilt of being both a mother and a fully-fledged individual are socially defined distresses, not individual problems.

(Sandra Scarr)

25-Nov-2024 by Beatrice