[Slate] Cheongchureoram Is Not Impure: The 'Hyper Knife'

A Mentor and Disciple Mirroring Each Other with Poverty and Genius Talent
A Teacher Who Deliberately Worsens His Condition to Give Enlightenment
Teaching for Change, Not Simply Passing Down Knowledge or Beliefs

In the Disney+ series "Hyper Knife," Jung Se-ok (Park Eun-bin) performs illegal surgeries. Once a promising neurosurgeon, she lost her medical license. The punishment came after she strangled her mentor, Professor Choi Deok-hee (Seol Kyung-gu), with an IV line. After being deprived of the opportunity to train in Boston, USA, and the right to lead surgeries, she resorted to extreme measures.

Disney+ 'Hyper Knife' Still Cut

She disguises herself as a pharmacist to continue performing surgeries. She is so fascinated by the human brain that she eagerly responds whenever she receives a request. However, Professor Choi, her arch-enemy, is an exception. When he visits with a malignant tumor in his brainstem, she turns him away. "How can I operate? I don’t even have a license." "I’ll contact you when the schedule is set." "Are you crazy? Why would I!"

To Professor Choi, Jung Se-ok is an object of both love and hate. Although he read her vile intentions and treated her harshly, he designated her as his successor from their first meeting. Their backgrounds, from a poor family environment to genius talent, are mirror images of each other. Sharing knowledge and experience accumulated over many years, they even developed the same perspective on the world.

The answers to questions about how the world works, what needs to be changed, and how to change it cannot be found in books. They can only be fully understood through the mentor’s words. The same applies to the perspective on change. Although the mentor has the ability to see a new world based on accumulated knowledge, for various reasons, he cannot lead or initiate it. He passes on the realm of practice he could not complete to his disciple, nurturing insight into change and imparting necessary knowledge. He opens a new door to understanding and accepting the world.

Disney+ 'Hyper Knife' Still Cut

Professor Choi’s attitude is no different. When Jung Se-ok belatedly agrees to operate, he deliberately worsens his condition. This drastic measure is to give enlightenment to his disciple, who prides herself as the best. He confesses in a low voice to anesthesiologist Han Hyun-ho (Park Byung-eun), who trusts and follows Jung Se-ok.

"For surgeons like me and Se-ok, there is no next step. I’m not trying to push her off a cliff. I want her to fly higher. I couldn’t fly, but Se-ok should fly to the next level. She has to cry for patients, wail, only then can she surpass her limits. She has to kill someone she desperately wants to save, experience the moment when her heart is torn, distrust herself as a doctor, and can no longer hold a scalpel. I have to give her everything I can."

If all disciples had simply followed their mentor’s teachings, the world could not have developed as it has. By accepting education, they naturally questioned it and brought about change. They dreamed of a new world by looking in directions different from those pointed out by their mentor. Perhaps this is a natural process given humans’ tendency to question everything and place themselves at the center of the world. Humans are beings who develop by questioning rather than conforming, and by answering those questions.

Disney+ 'Hyper Knife' Still Cut

"Hyper Knife" views knowledge or beliefs not as something to be simply passed down but as a foundation for change. It portrays the intense life of a disciple who faithfully follows the mentor’s teachings and emphasizes the invisible forces and principles that move the world. Although the setting is somewhat exaggerated and brutal, it exquisitely captures the unique mentor-disciple relationship characterized by succession and creation. In particular, it highlights that innovation does not come from simple teaching. It argues that only a few who realize the hidden laws of creation within can achieve innovation and change the world. Beneath it all lies the sediment of the mentor’s teachings.