Emotional Difference Occurring in Adolescence and Adulthood in The

Korean Drama Twinkling Watermelon

¹Anisa Zahra Novianti, ²Rafa Diska Tabina, Tatu Zakiyatun Nufus

Psychology Faculty of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract
The subtle emotional shifts between youth and adulthood are examined in the Korean drama "Twinkling
Watermelon". The plot encapsulates the turbulent emotions of adolescence, a time of passion, innocence, and
the pursuit of individuality. Concurrently, the representation of maturity reveals a more complex emotional
terrain, as people struggle with love, obligations, and the fallout from previous decisions. "Twinkling
Watermelon" offers viewers a moving perspective on the transition from adolescent to maturity in a culturally
diverse setting by delving into these emotional aspects.

Keywords: emotion, emotional expression, adolescence, Korean drama

Introduction

This drama tells the story of a son who is suddenly caught up in his father’s past. He
comes to know that in the past his father could speak because, in the present, his father is deaf
and mute. The boy met his father and mother when they were young. He did not expect that
the lives of his father and mother were so miserable, especially the life of his mother who was
abused by her tutor. Then he tried to change the destiny of his parents but the destiny that his
father was deaf could not be changed. His father was hit by a car because he wanted to save
his son. Everything changed from a poor family to a rich one, he managed to change the
destiny of his family and the people around him.

This topic is very interesting to discuss because the emotional states of youth and old
age are very different. The scenes in the drama also hold many unexpected events. Then we
can also learn from the drama, that not only are we tormented when we are young, but our
parents suffer more when they are young. Then the emotional scenes contained in the drama
make the audience carried away.

Emotions are states caused by a person or situation and shown through physical
expression. Emotions experienced by adolescents are reactions to people and situation,
whether desired or not, and lead to the problems they face. Teenagers are still mentally
unstable and immature, so when faced with a problem, they act according to their own
thinking and reasoning (Febbiyani & Adelya, 2017).

Literature Review

A person will experience emotional development and peak emotionality in the

adolescent stage. Therefore, adolescents should get more attention from their parents during
this period (Zola, Ilyas, & Yusri, 2017; Churni, & Ifdil, 2017), get a supportive environment,
and direction from teachers to help them control their emotions.

Etymologically, emotion comes from the Latin "movere" which means "to move, to
move." And then at the beginning of the word is added with "e-" so that it means 'moving
away'. This concept of emotion shows that the tendency to act is an absolute matter of
emotion (Darwis Hude, 2006: 16).

Emotion is a state shown by a person or a certain situation through physical

expression. Emotions experienced by adolescents are reactions to a person or situation that is
desirable or not, and leads to the problems faced. They act according to their thoughts and
reasoning as teenagers because their souls are still unstable and immature. According to Bimo
Walgito (2005:135) "Humans assess situations critically before reacting emotionally, no
longer reacting without thinking beforehand like children or immature people."

a. Variety of emotions

In terms of appearance, human emotions are divided into two categories: basic
emotions and mixed emotions. Based on the sequence of events, there are major emotions
and minor emotions. Primary emotions consist of six types: joy, attraction, anger, sadness,
disgust, and fear. Secondary emotions consist of various types of primary emotions and are
influenced by the culture they live in, such as shame, pride, anxiety, and other emotions.
Meanwhile, based on the consequences, emotions are divided into positive emotions and
negative emotions.

1. Positive Emotions

Positive emotions are emotions that are always desired to occur in everyone because
they bring positive feelings to everyone who experiences them. Positive emotions include
eagerness, humor, joy, pleasure, curiosity, happiness, delight, love, and excitement.
 2. Negative Emotions
Negative emotions are emotions that are not wanted to happen to a person because
they bring negative feelings to everyone who experiences them. However, it turns out that
more negative emotions plague people's lives, and mostly conflict and stress are the main
causes. Negative emotions include impatience, uncertainty, anger, suspicion, anxiety, guilt,
jealousy, annoyance, fear, depression, sadness, and hate.
b. Function of Emotions

Functions In humans, emotions not only help us survive or simply sustain life as in
animals, but also serve as energizers or energy generators that create joy in human life. In
addition, emotions are also messengers. (Martin, 2003: 50). Emotions have very important
functions for human life. Emotions experienced by humans allow them to develop reactions
based on the information they receive.

As energy generators, positive emotions such as love and affection energize us at work
and even in life. On the other hand, negative emotions such as sadness and hatred can make
our days more depressing and make us less passionate about life. As messengers, emotions let
us know how the people around us are doing, especially those we love and care about, so that
we can make sense of the situation and take appropriate action towards it. Imagine, if we
didn't have emotions, we wouldn't know if our friend was sad because they had just grieved.
We might smile happily while he is grieving and this might make our friend feel that we have
no empathy for him. In general, humans have at least seven emotional functions. Each of
these functions plays an important role in human survival, as it helps in adaptation to the
environment. For more details, they are explained as follows:

1. Generate automatic responses to prepare for a crisis

Imagine you suddenly come across a snake. You might be startled and reflexively jump.
As a result of that surprise, you may survive the snake bite. Imagine also when you meet a
tiger in the forest, because you are afraid, you immediately run to escape. This means that
crisis situations can be overcome by automatic reactions. Also, imagine that your boss
reprimands you for not doing your job properly. You then feel scared. If you don't get it done,
you will be fired. Because of that fear, you try to finish the job.

2. Tailoring responses to specific conditions

You will feel sad if a loved one leaves you. Well, the existence of sadness makes you
adapt to the right way to deal with loss. Then for example, when you are sailing in the middle
of the sea, suddenly a big wave comes and shakes your ship. Due to anxious emotions, you
become more alert by wearing a life jacket and holding on tightly to the boat.

3. A means of motivation to achieve certain goals.

A person has emotions that drive them to perform certain actions. For example, in a love
situation. You go to great lengths to attract the attention of your loved one because of that
emotion. You brave the pouring rain to show that you are always faithful to your promise. If
you are afraid of heights, you may be willing to accompany him to climb a mountain.

4. Communicating intentions to others

When you are angry, what would you say? You might say that you don't want to be
belittled or hit the person who made you angry. Also, you might say that you want to take
revenge on them. Basically, there is a message behind your emotions.

5. Improves social bonds

What if your social relationships with others didn't involve emotions? The relationship
would be bland and would not build a sense of closeness. Positive emotions such as
happiness, acceptance, compassion, joy, and peace will strengthen social relationships. You
are closer to your friends because of the ever-increasing positive emotions.

6. Affects memory and judgment of events

Mahen met a beautiful woman named Zara. They get to know each other. After getting
acquainted, the emotions experienced by Mahen and Zara during the date will determine
whether the date will be memorable or forgettable. Perhaps Mahen and Zara will go to the
next date if they have strong emotions of liking and may forget each other if they feel
nothing.

7. Improves recall of certain memories

People will more easily recall memories that are filled with strong emotions. For
example, when your parents passed away, you remember it strongly because you were very
sad. Likewise, when you remember times of fear in the past.

Adulthood is the time when a person begins to adjust to new patterns of life and new
social expectations, new patterns of life and new social expectations. At this time, a person is
required to start his life in playing multiple roles such as the role of husband or wife and the
role in the world of work (career) (Maulidya et al., 2016).

The emotions of adults are more stable than the emotions of adolescents. The practice of
adulthood is the early and difficult period of an individual in adjusting to a new life and new
social expectation. At this period, an individual is required to release dependence on parents
and strive to be independent as an adult human being

Methodology

This research uses qualitative methods with secondary data to complement data needs
from various literature studies relevant to research problems sourced from various books and
journals. Data collection uses Google Scholar media and uses 5 journals to be used as
reference sources in writing this literature, which are in accordance with the topics discussed
by researchers. The analysis technique was carried out by collecting several journals related
to the research problems and objectives. Using the technique of collecting data sources,
processing data, and making conclusions from the journals used. The writing of this scientific
work implements descriptive analysis, namely processing data by analyzing a condition in
solving problems by describing, explaining, and describing something.

Result and Finding

In this study it was found that the emotional level that’s occur in adolescence and
adulthood are different. During adolescence, emotions are released more and uncontrollable
while in adulthood emotions are more well controllable. In addition to the emotions that are
raised in the drama, we as the audience also feel this. There are some scenes that make
audience feel related to their lives and then get frantic in these feelings.

Conclusion

This drama tells the story of a son who is suddenly caught up in his father’s past. The
scenes in the drama also hold many unexpected events. Then the emotional scenes contained
in the drama make the audience carried away. Emotions are states caused by a person or
situation and shown through physical expression. Emotions experienced by adolescents are
reactions to people and situation, whether desired or not, and lead to the problems they face.
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