▲This photo, provided by ENA, shows Moon Ji-won. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, July 27 (Yonhap) -- “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” (“Attorney Woo”), popular enough to call it a syndrome, was produced with the continuous efforts of the production team to portray the characteristics of autistic people in a bright and charming.

Writer of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” Moo Ji-won said “I wanted people to like and support Woo Young-woo because she is lovely, brave and cool, not because they pity her.”

Moon, first time writing a drama, has brought autistic person in a movie, “Innocent Witness,” (2019) before.

Moon Writer said, “Unique way of thinking, wackiness, strong sense of justice, deep knowledge in a particularly interested area, and good memory are characteristics that are strengthened by autism, although that is not for all” adding, “I thought these characteristics were charming.”

Woo Young-woo has talented brain and austic spectrun. Although she graduated law school with an excellent memory for law, she is an autistic person who cannot get out of the revolving door and randomly bring up the story of whales during a conversation.

Some say families with autistic person feel deprived as Woo Young-woo has no big trouble living a normal life and even has a special ability, while symptoms of autism differ,

Moon said “Like protagonists from other dramas, Woo Young-woo is a created character with an intention,” adding, “In the drama, character’s positive side is emphasized whreas in the past, negative side of autism has been highlighted. I focused on how great their merits are based on the words of advisory professor.”

She added, “But it is not a character that came out of imprecise knowledge or has no correlation with autism spectrum,” adding, “I believe somewhere there exists a person like Woo Young-woo.”

Moon writer also said, “I would have been uncomfortable if I was a person with autism spectrum or had autistic person around me,” adding, “No matter how much the drama is filled with good intentions and goodwill, I think person directly involved will feel complicated.”

Director Yoo In-shik PD said he realizes that there are people with autism and families who feel upset watching “Attorney Woo.”

Director Yoo said, “Woo Young-woo cannot represent all disabilities and autism spectrum in the world.” adding, “Although where Woo Young-woo works is a normal workplace, I thought big and small pains Woo Young-woo go through living with non-autistic people were worth telling at least once."

He continued, “There was a limit to put all the difficulties people with autism go through, as Woo Young-woo was portrayed as if she represented people with disabilities or if she was valued only if she has special abilities.”

Writer Moon said she wanted viewers to communicate directly with the character by making the autistic person the main character, not the leading character.

She said, “When asked to create a story in which a person with autism appears, many creators set a person without autism as the narrator and draw a person with autism based on that person's point of view,” adding, “I wanted to make Woo Young-woo the main character and make her communicate directly with viewers.”

She continued, “I think it is a miracle that so many people can empathize with Woo Young-woo,” adding, “As the drama deals with diversity, it also dealt with stories that are difficult to appear in existing dramas, such as homosexual couples.”

She also said the reason for using the word “Extraordinay” in the title of the drama was, she thought it was an appropriate word to describe Woo Young-woo.

She explained, “There is a feeling that “Extraordinary” is unfamiliar but because they are extraordinary, they can think creatively, and I thought ‘Extraoridnay’ has the power to change our society.“

Writer Moon and PD Yoo said they did not expect to be this successful as it was aired on ENA, a cable channel unfamiliar to the public, and the material was based on autism spectrum.

Producer Yoo said, "I wasn’t sure it will secure public’s attention as we aired it on an unknown channel, and the material was unfamilar.

16 episode “Woo Young-Woo” has aired 8 episodes so far, and it recorded double-digit viewership rating of 13%.

PD Yoo said, "If the first half tells the story of whether Woo Young-woo can really become a lawyer, the second half tells the story of whether Woo Young-woo can become a good lawyer."

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Jiwon Woo.)

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