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Greatly complicating matters is a subplot about the firefighter’s soldier brother, whose death at the hands of another trooper is covered up, turning the brother into a malevolent spirit. But all is forgiven in a riot of tearful Hallmark sentimentality that Mr. Kim has the good sense to gently pillory. It all proves exasperating, and yet, yes, a sequel is teased at the end.

Ref: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/movies/along-with-the-gods-review.html

The above is quoted from an article of the New York Times. I googled up the word and found that the defition is "to attack and ridicule publicly". How I see it is that the writer is saying "the film is abused by too many tearful hallmark sentimentality which Mr. Kim is well known for".

Am I getting this right or missing something? Thank you!

MAT
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A pillory (n.) was a device of wood or metal into which an offender's hands, head, and sometimes feet, were fixed, where they could be pelted with insults — or rotting vegetables. As you can see, there was nothing gentle about it.

Pillory

It's also helpful to know that Hallmark is a manufacturer of greeting cards. The reviewer suggests that Kim, director/screenwriter of the film, realized that the overly sentimental ending, described as "tearful" and evoking the cheap sentiment of Hallmark cards, could alienate the audience, so he "gently" pilloried it, i. e., undercut it with irony or some other device to indicate that he wasn't taking all the melodrama and tears very seriously. The "abuse" you're sensing is thus the director himself attempting to rescue his film from a serious lapse of taste.

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KarlG
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  • What got thrown depended on the public's view of the crime and how big the crowd was could depend on the size of the bribes you could pay. Have a look at this webpage edited by the BBC programme QI. You'll find that Daniel Defoe had flowers thrown at him but some people died by stoning. Other punishments covered the whole range in between. – BoldBen Dec 27 '17 at 08:39
  • @BoldBen: re: Defoe. Then I suppose "gentle pilloring" was a possibility even back then! – KarlG Dec 27 '17 at 08:48
  • @KarlG Comparatively yes, just depended on how much the local citizens liked you and whether they supported the law you'd been convicted under! – BoldBen Dec 27 '17 at 12:05
  • Another question. Why would the writer used the expression "have the good sense to gently pillory"? Does it mean the same as "a riot of tearful Hallmark sentimentality that Mr. Kim gently pilloried with his good sense"? Does the expression the writer used make the sentence more elegant and clear? If so, can you provide any sentence using the expression? Thank you! – MAT Dec 28 '17 at 01:05
  • @MAT: no, I think "pilloried" was a very poor word choice, especially with the adverb "gently." The pillory was a barbaric means of punishment. If good writing enlivens the metaphoric quality inherent in language rather than deaden it, then using "pillory" merely to suggest the director's method of establishing critical distance is poor writing. – KarlG Dec 28 '17 at 01:20
  • It's metaphorical, and in a humorous context it's a phrase I've encountered before. Google search for "gently pilloried" even reveals its use in an article in the London Times and editorial pieces in several other British newspapers. In short, it is quintessentially English and not a “poor” word choice but a deliberate and quite funny one. – Will Crawford Dec 29 '17 at 11:33
  • Then perhaps it should have appeared in a British newspaper where the oxymoron might be more easily appreciated than in an American one. – KarlG Dec 29 '17 at 14:17