‘The Glory’: Writer Reveals the Meaning Behind the Green Heels Is Not That Deep
K-dramas often follow a systemic and obvious sequence of storyline tropes with some added drama and surprises. Netflix’s The Glory breaks free from most tropes while following a common thread. Like other revenge K-dramas, Dong-eun’s bullied past leads her life on a different path, and she seeks the ultimate revenge. But not everything needs to have meaning. The Glory writer Kim Eun-sook reveals the meaning behind Park Yeon-jin’s unique green heels is nothing serious.
[WARNING: This article contains mild spoilers for The Glory.]
Yeon-jin’s husband gifts her an elaborate pair of green heels in ‘The Glory’
A male love interest gifting his significant other a pair of heels is a big deal. Fans have seen it in Business Proposal, The Fabulous, and many more dramas. It is a unique affirmation of affection. In The Glory, Yeon-Jin marries a wealthy businessman and, by all means, is in a loving and happy marriage. The second episode shifts to the Summer of 2021.
Yeon-jin is getting ready for bed when her husband surprises her with a gift for her birthday. The gift is a pair of green heels with ornate jewels, which brings some meaning to The Glory. Fans have seen male character gifts the women they are interested in white heels, red heels, and even blue heels, but not green.
Even Yeon-jin asks her husband how he came up with choosing a bright color. He answered he thought she could pull it off. The shoes then play a role in revealing part of Yeon-jin’s secret about her daughter. The maid tries to get Yeon-jin’s daughter to remove her mother’s heels. But Yeon-jin does not mind but becomes flustered when her daughter asks if they are green. Her daughter takes back her question and says they are red.
Yeon-jin soothes her daughter by instilling a lesson that the color does not matter, only that they are expensive. Another scene in The Glory shows Yeon-jin aggressively cleaning the green heels with alcohol as if worried about something.
Writer Kim Eun-sook picked the green heels because they suited actor Lim Ji-yeon
In a behind-the-scenes video with the director, writer, and cast of The Glory, writer Kim breaks down the meaning behind the green heels. She admits that as they added details of Yeon-jin’s daughter being colorblind, they chose green heels because “red is too common.”
The cast became curious when Kim revealed many people had asked her about the meaning behind the heels. But fans may be stunned to learn there is no meaning. “Not everything a writer writes has a hidden meaning,” explained Kim.
“I chose green because it suited the personal color of the top of Yeon-jin’s feet. The shoes had a secret, didn’t it? Yeon-jin goes to the back and scrubs it clean, right? It isn’t easy for anyone to look good in those shoes,” explained the K-drama writer. In the end, the green heels in The Glory were picked simply because they suited the character’s complexion.
What secret do the green heels in ‘The Glory’ have?
Writer Kim explained the green heels have some type of secret. In the K-drama scene, Yeon-jin cleans the shoes as if getting rid of evidence. It may be that in The Glory, she is responsible for the disappearance of Myeong-o. He is tricked into Dong-eun’s plan when she reveals certain secrets to him. He learns the truth about Yeon-jin’s daughter and that she killed another bully victim of theirs, So-hee.
Hoping to use it as leverage, he calls them individually to meet up. But it is later revealed that none of them met with him as he disappeared. The Glory suggests that he first met with Yeon-jin telling her what he knew and leading to her murdering him. In The Glory Episode 6, fans see flashes of a bloodied Myeong-o on the floor.
Fans also see a deep scratch mark on Yeon-jin’s left foot while wearing the heels. She may have worn the green heels in The Glory when she murdered him. Fans will have to wait and see in The Glory Part 2 what evil she did.
The Glory is available on Netflix.
