Ashin of the North: The Netflix Original Shifting Perceptions of Indigenous Peoples
The Netflix original series Kingdom ( 2019-Present), jetted off with massive international success as another Koren Hallyuwood zombie horror show for the horror history books!
But with the 92-minute episode special, Kingdom: Ashin of the North(2021), Netflix places a different face when it comes to Indigenous representation on an international scale. The central character, Ashin(Jun- Ji-Hyun), is a keen, impassioned member of the Jurchen tribe, an Indigenous group that resided in the Northeastern valleys and forests of China and later with descendants known as Jaegaseung, occupying Northeastern Korea, like Ashin and her Jurchen people.
Kingdom follows the dynamic struggle of an unrecognized prince of the people, Lee Chang versus his stepmother and political revival, Queen of Consort Cho(Kim Hye-jun), as the prince seeks answers to his father’s mysterious illness and subsequent disappearance from the public eye, while the acting Queen, pregnant with the ‘next’ heir to the throne. As the Joseon Kingdom continues to delve into a consistent divide, with the lower class and ostracized become poorer and more isolated from the socio-political climate of the nation.
It’s at the peak of political turmoil and famine, that the zombie outbreak reaches several cities and villages throughout the kingdom. It is here where audiences grasp the cruel reality of how women and poor and Indigenous factions are left to suffer at the hands of the government.
Such themes around poverty and classism, government upheavals, and heinous conditions of citizens present as continual subjects in Korean cinema, particularly horror and its subgenres.
At the tail end of Kingdom’s second season, Ashin’s introduced as a brooding enigmatic antagonist to the Kingdom of Joseon’s Crowned Prince, Lee Chang(Ju- Ji-hoon), and his remaining royal entourage that survived the vicious zombie plague that ravaged a portion of Joseon seven years prior. As Chang, aided by companions, Seo-bi(Bae Doona) a remarkably intelligent middle-class female physician, and Yeong-shin(Kim Sung-kya) a Southern tiger hunter with impeccable combat and weaponry skills, embark on a quest to discover and more fully understand the genesis of the zombie plague and the cryptic resurrection plant associated with it.
It’s this introduction that seg ways to the special episode. Kingdom: Ashin of the North explores Ashin’s origins and involvement in catalyzing the plague and orchestrating the fall of the Kingdom of Joseon.
With methodical intentions born in the moments of violence and tragedy with the eradication of Ashin’s Jurchen village and family members at the hands of a rival tribe, the Pajeowi. Born into poverty, with her entire family and community slaughtered as mere pawns in a feudal political crossfire, Ashin grows to become a calculated, crafty, and keen archer and anarchist! What some might consider, the perfect making for villainous origins, Ashin’s narrative embodies more than just a tale of revenge exacted. Ashin’s story is told with high attention to the principles of respect and its various interpretations of each Indigenous, royal, and upper-class tribe/class.
The film draws on accurate historical representations of the hunter-gather peoples that respected their lands and each other, yet juxtaposed these notions with the brash actions of a shady military and others involved.
Showcasing the hardships, small triumphs, and Ashin’s ultimate revenge plot put a compelling feature on the versatility of Indigenous stories. Indigenous cultures are finding more places in mainstream entertainment industries.
Netflix continues to deliver stories that dispel typical stereotypes of who categorizes as Indigenous and the diversity of distinct cultures on an international scale.
