Usually I have three picks for The Arts! but this time, it’s just the one (with exception to PACO) because it was that well done. I don’t commonly watch Korean dramas (K-Drama) despite the fact I mainly watch Korean tv (yay for mobile streaming apps) but this one, titled “It’s Okay, That’s Love” is incredibly well done. The two male leads both have a mental illness, they’re depicted realistically and continually throughout the whole series. Here is the first episode (w/ English subtitles):

Click Me!

Click Me to See First Episode!

There are 16 episodes in all and possibly the first drama to actually touch me emotionally. The creators of the show were presented with an award because of how well they created genuine mental illness representation throughout the whole series and, frankly, they deserve it completely. The characters with mental illness (one of them with Tourette’s, one with Schizophrenia) aren’t depicted as broken or in severe need to be locked away somewhere. They have realistic lives and they’re normal enough people. Granted, there are some pretty sappy parts but it’s a K-Drama, it’s part of the package deal, but the whole show is golden.

I am forever discerning of when people touch on the subject of mental illness because I have several of my own, a fact I’ve touched on a number of times and a subject I even had a series titled “All in Your Head” about. It is rarely depicted in a realistic sense and as if people who have issues are still people. I don’t think before this, I have ever seen mental illness fully well depicted in media. I think the one time was Tony Stark in Iron Man 3, where he shows signs of PTSD such as hyper talking, pacing, having a tough time pulling it together. I have PTSD, I do the exact same thing. I think there is also Korean film “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Okay” which shows a series of illnesses and from various perspectives. Extremely well done. It’s nice when people do more than just their basic homework and go above and beyond. Most folks who include depictions of mental illness in media pretty much just skim over whatever DSM version they have and go “Ehhh, that sounds good. Throw that in there. Sounds real crazy.” Not cool.

So check out the series!

Also, PACO (Pagan Activism Conference Online) is this weekend. Today, November 22 will be the “Activism Among Pagans of Color” panel, which I will be a part of. Come and join in and feel free to ask questions. The panel I believe is still $10 by itself but the whole conference is $40. The panel will be 12-1:30 PM PST (so that is 3-4:00PM EST for me, find your time here).

Hold, on, I forgot one more! It is nearly Thanksgiving, isn’t it?

Bea Gaddy
Thanksgiving is around the corner here in America and that means I feature the ever saintly Bea Gaddy. She started out poor but had struck gold when she hit the lottery up to three times. She would use her winnings to help feed 39 of her neighbors, which started her emergency relief work in Baltimore. She opened the Patterson Park Emergency Food center, which feeds 50-150 people and since 1981, has fed over 100,000 families. The most outstanding event is the Thanksgiving Dinners that she would hold, relying on donations and volunteers when it was done in her home, which then moved to Dunbar Middle School. She also ran a furniture bank, had abandoned row homes renovated and refurbished for the poor*, ran a summer youth program and was a very vocal supporter of voter education. Also, shortly before her death, Gaddy became an ordained minister so that she could marry and bury the poor at no cost to them. Her home, which ran all these operations, worked under the name of “Bea Gaddy Center for Women and Children”.

If you want to read more about Bea Gaddy’s story, click here. If you would like to visit or donate to the Bea Gaddy Center, click here. Here is also her listing in the Maryland’s Women Hall of Fame.

Next week is Ask Black Witch. Send in your questions! Remember, good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated.

*Not the rich, the mayor and city government could take a couple tips from this woman’s legacy.