After a successful award ceremony, the 2024 Baeksang still faces various controversies. Among them, many people are criticizing the Daesang-winning drama “My Dearest”.
It is true that “My Dearest” was such a hit in 2024, however, netizens in the online community theqoo have pointed out that this drama copied the content of the classic film “Gone With The Wind”. The post accusing “My Dearest” of plagiarizing gained over 51,000 views right after the awards ceremony ended.
In particular, the setting of “My Dearest” main characters is said to have many similarities to that in “Gone With The Wind”. For example, the female lead Gil-chae (Ahn Eun-jin) is the daughter of a noble family who often flirts with other men and plays with their feelings. This character is very similar to Scarlett in “Gone With The Wind”. The detail that Gil-chae likes Yeon-joon but Yeon-joon likes another girl more than Gil-chae reminds many viewers of Ashley Wikes.
In the case of the male lead, Jang Hyun (Namkoong Min) opposes war because he doesn’t think they will win. This character has no interest in marriage but he later falls in love with Gil-chae at first sight. In “Gone With The Wind”, the male protagonist Rhett also has a similar characteristic. Moreover, several iconic scenes, such as war occurring in the middle of a party, a pregnant woman receiving help, and male characters going mad because of war, in “Gone With The Wind” were also copied by “My Dearest”.
In fact, “My Dearest” production team already explained this controversy before. Screenwriter Hwang Jin-young said to Sports Chosun that she approached “Gone With The Wind” and was inspired to write the love story in “My Dearest”. She said, “I felt very pressured when I started writing a drama about romance in war. I read ‘Gone With The Wind’ to find a way to make the story more pleasant and romantic. Watching ‘Gone With The Wind’, the viewers don’t pay attention to war and they only remember the love story of Scarlett and Rhett. I’ve never hid the fact that I got inspiration from ‘Gone With The Wind’”.
The writer also confirmed that many characters were inspired by the 1939 film and claimed “My Dearest” as a remake of it. However, netizens were not satisfied with the explanation because she only revealed this after controversy arose.
In addition, there is a high possibility that “My Dearest” may get sued for plagiarizing “Gone With The Wind”. Although the copyright of the novel already expired as it’s already more than 70 years since the author’s death, there are still the copyrights of the film. Both Baeksang and “My Dearest” team have not yet released any statement regarding this accusation.
