Umbrellas of Dramaland

Have you ever found yourself getting attached to objects in dramas? You know those recurring objects that after a while become recognizable making you feel all excited, and kind of feel like a familiar actor that normally plays a side character? The most loved and obvious cast member without a page on MDL (or breath for that matter) is of course Truck of doom or as we like to call it Truckey, a cast member so well recognize that only the sight of a truck in a drama will raise your pulse and gets you all excited, making you wonder is Truckey just passing by or will someone get run over, will a car get rammed off a cliff, or maybe just maybe completely crush the car without a single person getting hurt? 

Another beloved character that is not as common, but left an impression on us was the pyramid in Sky Castle, making us smile whenever we see something resembling a pyramid in other dramas even if they just sit nicely as decoration on a desk. Inanimate objects would be considered props in a drama but like Truckey, there is a point where an object conveys important meaning and symbolism and moves beyond just a simple prop and into the realm of important cast members.

There are of course more inanimate objects that have significance for the plot. But few have been on the cover of as many dramas as the umbrella family or served as many purposes for the plot as our beloved umbrellas. To be honest, we started this a bit as a joke but soon realized that umbrellas in Dramaland are very serious cast members and are NOT to be dismissed as a joke, so just to be clear we are being VERY serious about this matter and hope you will show some respect towards these very talented and versatile cast members, whom we shall refer to as Ummies.  

In this article, we will introduce you to some of Dramaland’s most influential umbrellas, letting you read about cover umbrellas, symbolism, colors, and the amazing range of roles Ummies have taken on in Dramaland and top it all off with a little game we like to call Find your umbrella bingo.  So join us as we get up front and personal with this great family of “actresses ”. Hoping you will never be able to see an umbrella on or off-screen without a smile on your face. 

The idea to write this piece came from this conversation on feeds, but we have come to realize that there is a lot to these amazing actresses, the more we looked into it the more we realized that no drama is complete without at least one or two scenes with an Ummie. We did, however, try to ask them about the discussions they have at home but they chose to be silent.  

Cover Umbrellas

Though umbrellas never get credit as part of the cast, Ummies have been traveling the world and used for covers from all of the countries represented on MDL, old, new, contemporary, historical no matter the country or the genre you are sure to find a cover with an Ummie on it.  And oh what great cover girls they are! Just look at the range of Ummies performances! 

They even named a bunch of dramas after them, showing just how important they are for the plot. We listed some of them here.

Symbolism  Originally and most popularly made in China, The umbrella has been around for several thousand years, and has gained great value as a religious symbol as well as being a symbol for wealth (facts about umbrellas) Dreaming about an umbrella has a whole set of interpretations all from trouble ahead, finding solutions, surprises, friendship to financial success:  “Dreams of an umbrella are a good omen, showing emotional security, protection against bad situations and a way to prepare for life events. They are also emotional shields between us and the outside world. ”  (Read about them all  here) However opening an umbrella indoors is a common superstitions that means bad luck. (Source)  In Hong Kong the umbrella is a symbol for the Umbrella movement symbolizing the use of umbrella as a defense against the police pepper spray (not very poetic), we know very little about this, and this is not the place to discuss the movement,  so do not ask us about it but we did find the name worth mentioning here (Source).  Our own interpretation is that Ummie stands for protection, eternal love, prosperity, warmth, and is most certainly not a bearer of bad luck if anything this family ends bad luck so do not listen to the haters who try to tell you otherwise,  Ummies rock!

Casting the right Ummie for the part

We have noticed that there seems to be a lot to take into consideration when choosing the right Ummie for the part, a wrong choice of Ummie could have serious consequences for the plot. 

Colors matter 

Below we have gathered some of the Ummies’ most popular roles according to color, and assigned some symbolism of our own to them. This was based on the extremely accurate and highly scientific method, we like to call: collective memories from dramas we have seen! 

The red umbrella- Warning trouble ahead or the color of love  (or both) The red Ummie, Rummie, is also frequently cast to play different roles not only as support in the hands of the leads, but she has also been cast to enhance the other Ummies appearance, wherever she may be cast we can not help but notice that there may be some pretty passionate love awaiting its owner but she also serves as a warning sign. In Something in the rain, Rummie got the role of her life being cast to be bought by Jung Hae In‘s character who got to share this umbrella with his long time crush, little did his character know that the choice of color may have given way to a nice start but it was a warning, you are not in for a smooth ride and trouble awaits you at any moment. The same thing applies to the red umbrella used in Tale of the Nine-Tailed, if you thought the warning only went for contemporary reds, then think again because both the historical and contemporary Rummies used in this drama signaled trouble ahead alongside the passionate love.

Ummies can also just be pretty… or there for the setting 

The amount of colors and patterns in the extended family of Ummies is of course endless and Dramaland has spared no effort in finding the right Ummie from matching patterns that match the Main character’s clothes to those who are completely see-through. We have just realized the symbolism for those colors just yet and will move on to focusing on some other aspects of the Ummies roles, but before we do that we just had to show you these two beautifully  matched  Ummies; 

Size matters too 

While colors do matter both for the aesthetics and the symbolism. Dramaland has cast 
^{Image from Familiar Wife}
Ummies in all different sizes too. And let’s face it finding the right size can be tricky, an umbrella that is too big will not let you come close, an umbrella that is too small will not fulfill its purpose and may end up sending you to the hospital. 

Apparently, no umbrella or parasol is big enough to keep a child from enjoying the rain as seen in You’re So Precious to Me 

One umbrella or two…

Much like finding the right size, some choose to hide the fact that they have an umbrella as the number of umbrellas serves as a significant catalyst for emotions, some more ridiculously written than others… 

Few dramas made it as obvious as Falling Into Your Smile where the male lead is stranded at a big MALL without an umbrella. The female lead is then sent there with two umbrellas for four people, forcing people to come close to each other and creating the start of potential couples. 

In Go Into Your Heart  the male lead actively chooses to only take one umbrella even though TWO umbrellas are leaning against the wall, with the excuse:

“That one is broken”

In Something in the Rain, which you may agree should be named something with an umbrella Joon Hee (Jung Hae In) is shown to actively choose to buy one umbrella when he could obviously have gotten two (Red, as mentioned above), to have an excuse to get really close to Jin Ah (Son Ye Jin), helping him get a bit closer to his love and was most definitely a crucial step in their courtship. 

There is one scene that we remember better than the name of the actual drama, To be honest, we have been wracking our brains to try to find this scene, so listen up readers!  It is a contemporary C-drama. It has a  couple in it. The couple is caught in the rain. They now have an important choice to make, shall we buy one big umbrella, one small umbrella to get really close or two small umbrellas?  In this scene the consequences of each choice seem very clear for the viewer, thus showing just how important the size and amount of umbrellas can be while dating in Dramaland. 

Some of the Ummies diverse roles  

As a company, while I wait for you

Waiting at a bus stop or outside a person’s place could be suspicious and lonely but just add an Ummie and it is perfectly legit and even romantic to wait for hours in the rain. Here otherwise self-absorbed Louis (Seo In Guk in Shopping King Louie)  noticed the rain and went outside and waited for Go Bok Shil (Nam Ji Hyun) at the bus stop to make sure she did not get caught in the rain. 

 Side note about PU (Pink purple Ummie) is probably one of the Ummies with the least amount of roles, but once she is hired she does one h*** of a job, protecting from the rain, and showing us the passage between selfish and compassionate Louis showing great range in the same drama: of course, we tried asking her about her role and upcoming project but still not a word.

As for comfort

Ummies have had many roles where they acted as a symbol for comfort as well as solace to the leads in their lowest moments or used as a symbol to show one’s sincerity. 

In Dance of the Sky Empire, when Li Xuan (Xu Kai) was at his lowest moment drowning in sorrow (rain), tears falling from his eyes,  the wordless comfort of the umbrella took over making this scene completely unforgettable. 

The same goes for The Legend of Jin Yan

(However, how they could just toss her onto the ground is beyond our comprehension! )

We also want to mention this tearjerking scene from 1 Litre no Namida, the Ummie is barely visible, making this scene and Ummies roll that much powerful, showing how powerful quiet (almost invisible) comfort can be. 

As protection…

In A Korean Odyssey, This Yellow Polkadot Ummie is used to protect Jin Seon Mi / Sam Jang (Oh Yeon Seo)  from evil ghosts, from childhood to adulthood the umbrella is always with her. 

In Love Scenery It is used as this very realistic shield sheltering the main couple from bullets (in a game) as well as used as a parachute, showing more purposes than the Swiss knife (a multi-tool that was commonly used in the 1990s). 

What you do behind the umbrella stays behind the umbrella…

Can you think of a more convenient way to get some privacy in public spaces than using an Ummie? Well, we can not, and have enjoyed seeing her offered to a man known for pooing in public in Secretly Greatly. We have seen it used for secret kisses in Please Feel at Ease Mr. Ling… 

See, they are completely invisible, only we know what they are doing… nobody would guess that they were kissing right?

As well as used as a great aid in The Day of Becoming You for the two leads trapped in the wrong body, in great need of experimenting (kiss) to get back in the right body or at least their original body seeing they had magically swapped bodies in the elevator… You may think an elevator is private, if it were not for that CCTV  cameras in that is, and of course, it is not suspicious at all that someone opened an umbrella in an elevator.  She is just THAT good of an actress that even the CCTV operators find her existence completely natural and not suspicious at all!  We are sure you have all been there (used an Ummie for hiding, not trapped in someone else’s body, that is)  but if you have not tried it -Ummies is a great life hack!  In You Are My Glory we get to see the following scene, lover reunited in the desert,  need of protection from the “jealous eye”…  how sweet! 

^{Image from You Are My Glory} 

An umbrella in a fight 

But Ummies have been cast in some excellent action roles as well, Just look at this beautiful choreographed fight/dance sequence… the umbrella fight scene in Listening Snow Tower where they have a swordfight while they each hold an Ummie that matches their outfit, check out this video to see the Ummies in action (about 4 minutes in).  

It is however hard to beat this Ummie, who is a full-blown weapon, cast in Stand by me. Just look at her, sorry not to take sides but she must be the coolest Ummie ever!

Ummies most memorable roles (other than the sword)… 

Maybe this man is surrounded by umbrellas…  For the Ummie lover it could be seeing her on the ground, but to set the mood and get all emotional, this scene from He is Psychometric is a strong contender, there he is just walking there surrounded by yellow (and red) umbrellas everywhere but no umbrella for him…

To sum it all up…

As you can see there is a lot for this family to fight about,  being the philanthropists we are, we thought we would ask our readers to help settle the disputes between the Ummies please, so vote for the cover you think is the prettiest here. 

If you rather take the chance to vote for the best Ummie scene, based on the performance we have made a list for that too!  You vote for that here. 

^{Collage made from dramas on this list}

Will there be a second season (article)?

Once we started brainstorming Ummies we realized that we had enough material for a whole Wuxia, if we will actually get to write one as well as get another umbrella article approved is a different story. Before we go we made this little game for you, mostly for fun but also to make sure our Ummies get the recognition they deserve. 

Ummie the game, a bit like bingo but more fun: 

Name a drama or movie you have seen where (fill in the square).  To complete the game you must have seen five in a row horizontally, diagonally, or vertically, you can use the same title more than once and you get bonus points if you find all five in the same title  

We have also made this list with more detailed descriptions, as well as possible answers. 

Last but not least… 

Thank you for reading our article about the wonderful Ummies of Dramaland, we hope you enjoyed reading this almost as much as we enjoyed writing it.  Please share your thoughts, vote, and tell us about your favorite Ummies!  Until we meet again, or we see you in the comments section. 

^{Image from It´s okay not to be Okay}

Bonus:  Edible Ummies. We like to think of them as fanart inside a drama, others may call them killer Ummies but we just could not resist adding them, Do you recognize them?
*You will find links to the Dramas these pictures are taken from inside the pictures.

_{Editing: BrightestStar (1st editor), SumiTheCat (2nd editor)}

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umbrella
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