True Beauty (2020)
여신강림
Starring: Cha Eun Woo, Hwang In Yeop, Moon Ga Young, Park Yoo Na, Jang Hye Jin
Seen: March 2021
A cliché, completely "done before" romantic high school drama, but it was still enjoyable. This kind of drama is definitely not the kind I usually watch, but I was intrigued by the impression of the drama's front cover that Ju Kyung basically became another person with makeup. I appreciate the moral of this story, because it's clear as day: You're beautiful just the way you are. People's opinions be damned.
Story summary:
The drama is based on a Webtoon with the same name, following high school student Lim Ju Kyung and her stuggles with her apperance. She's bullied in school and constantly discriminated by her mother and younger brother at home for her acne prone skin and thick glasses, being called ugly on a daily basis. To cover up her complexion, she learns how to use makeup and uses this as an way to start anew at her new school after her family moves. At her new school she finds herself quickly becoming popular and in the middle of a large friend group. Despite her newfound popularity, Ju Kyung still considers herself ugly and it is her greatest fear that her peers will see her real face. To her absolute horror her fear comes true when her top of the class, rich and handsome classmate Lee Soo Ho recognizes her beyond her makeup from previous, accidental encouters. The drama also includes Lee Soo Ho's former friend Han Seo Jun and their shared memories of a lost friend, their idol friend who commited suicide a year prior to the drama's start. Ju Kyung and the estranged friends Soo Ho and Seo Ju soon end up in a love triangle. They're both in love with her, but she only loves one of them...
First impression:
Hwang In Yeop reminds me of a mix of Min Yoon Gi (BTS Suga) and Lee Jong Gi XD
My very first impression of this drama was basically as I saw in the little pre-text: what a cliché theme. Doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the drama, because that I did, but it's a fact. The most common storyline for a high school love drama is a rough around the edges badboy with a soft heart, a popular, pretty, rich boy and a girl stuck in the middle. Throw in her having some self-confidence issues and both boys wanting to show her how beautiful she is in their eyes and you've baked a girl next door page turner! I was slightly disturbed by the extremely excessive amount of stereotypical scenes, though. In episode 6, for example, during the karaoke bar fight there's a scared girl in a corner and the guys are coming to her rescue with the fists. I was so on Yoo Na's side there - she punched back! I vote "end weak and powerless stereotypes of women"!! Another one, not as violent (pun intended), is in episode 7 when the principal at the school so openly differentiates Lee Soo Ho just because of who his father is. That is soooo not correct student treatment. Equality out the window! I will never understand politics in its rich people privileges speech...
In the complete opposite end of the stereotypical ladder, however, this drama speaks up for the crafty and creative men! In episode 12 we get to see an adorable and absolutely brilliant café scene where Lee Soo Ho and Han Seo Jun, the badboy himself, sits and knits! It's perfectly a *chef's kiss* scene. Men can like knitting too!! Heck yes!! I've gotten used to over-dramatic and cliché stereotypes in Korean dramas, and even if they might catch my attention sometimes, they obviously don't bother me enough to stop watching . I do appreciate anti-stereotypes being mixed in now and then though. In this kind of drama, where the whole storyline is built on cliché stereotypes of men, women and triangle love dramas involving them both, the anti-stereotypical scenes stick out even more though. This scene was without a doubt a 10/10 favorite!
Another point I got hung up on, not less cliché but which actually might belong more under the cultural input title but regardless, is the fact that it's so so common in dramas that they grab each other's wrists and drag them away or force them to run with them of some reason. Like, why are you literally tugging them away by the arm?? Why is it too intimate to grab their hand?? It's a lot easier to hold someone's hand if you need to drag them along while running somewhere than their sleeve, that's for sure. I'm just a little confused by this...
(I mean just look how unsteady those grips look!! Tsk tsk. Are you TeamSeoJun or TeamSooHo? I'm TeamSeoJun all the way~)
Anyways! For the most part about this drama though, I think that besides the obvious message of "learn to be comfortable in your own skin, you're beautiful just as you are" there's a lot of points about unhealthy relationships. For those of you who have read other reviews of mine will know that I love and make it a central point in most of my reviews to properly analyze the characters.
Somewhere around episode 8-10, I started feeling like everything in the drama was points about unhealthy relationships, not communicating with partners, friends or ex-friends, indulging in confliction instead of doing everything you can to avoid/solve them and picking the wrong people to focus your love and attention on. I saw so many red flags in Lee Soo Ho's behavior; he's controlling, he has stalker tendencies, misplaced jealous, he doesn't trust her and wants her to do what he wants (tries to decide for her and/or convince her).... Yes, sure, Seo Jun is jealous too but he's not trying to control her! Of course, he could be more honest about his feelings, but at least he's a genuine friend to her even after she tells him she's in love with Soo Ho. Soo Ho just makes her cry and I hate it! Can't believe her mother doesn't though... she's downright emotionally abusing her daughter...
Final note; Seo Jun is so underappreciated - by both Im Ju Kyung and fans of the drama!
Episode 12 had me aww-ing at Soo Ho and Seo Jun clearly growing closer again, and the best part in my opinion is that one of the reasons is undoubtfully In Ju Kyung! Sure, they're jealous of each other and they're kind of fighting over her, but it's bringing them back to each other too and I love to see that connection, while viewers are constantly reminded of the friend in their previous trio they both lost. Could you interpret Im Ju Kyung as being they new third in the trio, kind of?
I also loved that Seo Jun verbally and visibly stands up for Ju Kyung! It's so common that friends say "I got your back" to only you, but not so the people they've got their friend's back against hears. Did that sentence make sense? Probably not, but I hope you get what I mean. In my Seo Jun book, that's obviously another plus~
I can I not mention the car accident scene like omg so unnecessary and cringe omg. I did like that soo ho and seo jun got closer sharing a room at the hospital, but oooomg
Cultural input:
This was the first drama I actively noticed signs of a toxic relationship.
Lee Soo Ho is very "protective" over Ju Kyung, not wanting her to be around Han Seo Jun, but in reality it's an excuse for controlling her. I'll never forget the scene where she and Han Seo Jun are working behind the counter at the café, talking and smiling like the friends and colleagues they are and Lee Soo Ho walks in looking like a thunder cloud. Ju Kyung's smile actually drops from her face. It's not a pleasantly surprised kind of facial expression, it's a shocked "oh shit" expression. And how he continues to tell her he wants her to quit her job, only for his liking. It's not like she's getting badly treated by staff or management, it's not like she has crappy work hours or pay, it's not excessively mentioned the café is in a dangerous area of the city or that he job makes her unhappy or unhealthy. It's just that he doesn't like her working there with Han Seo Jun, so he wants her gone. I know many would say "oh it's just him being an overprotective boyfriend, he loves her, he doesn't want her around his frienemy" but it's actually red flags. I never liked his character, I was way to stuck up for my taste. When these signs started catching my attention, I really didn't like him. I got Twilight vibes, even if Edward's favorite control method is gaslighting which I didn't notice in particular from Lee Soo Ho. I wasn't that surprised actually when I saw a video edit on Youtube with a seems work of lots of different drama scenes where some kind of abuse of toxic behavior shows. I realized I'd seen a couple of the drama's included and that elements of toxic relationships is quite common in Korean dramas. It's often included in a lot of romantic dramas under a cover of being "romantic". That would also explain how it's so common in dramas to see an act of violence against children from their parents.
In this drama, Kang Min Ah gets slapped several times by her father in punishment for "disappointing him", for example when she doesn't make first place in the test score board. This is also something I've reacted to a lot in dramas and it's made me wonder how the laws against abuse of children are in Korea.
In Sweden it's illegal as of 1979 to in any way hit children. We were first in the world with this law and we are still very firm against it. From being allowed to rap students on the fingers or bum with a black board stick to barely being allowed to physically remove students from a fight. It gives me the impression that hitting your children is more common in Korea, and even though not an everyday occurrence in every household, it's well known in the society.
According to end-violance.org it is as of this year, 2021, illegal to give corporal (physical) punishments to children. This makes me very happy to hear, but also proves my suspicion that when this drama aired in December of 2020 child abuse was still considered legal in South Korea. That also explains, of obvious reason, why I've seen it in so many older dramas. Some might argue and say that they don't show abuse towards little children in TV and it's true that I have never noticed this either, but a reminder that the legal age of consent in South Korea is 19 years old (internationally). So even if a scene is showing a parent hitting a 16 year old high schooler, they're still considered a child in the eyes of the law. It's no better than if said victim was 4 or 9 years old or even an infant.
I have not yet perceived a penalty for child abuse in Korea, but the Swedish one is a fine or maximum of 6 months prison for minor offense, up to two years for "general" abuse against children and minimum of 1 year, maximum of 10 years prison penalty for aggravated assault, and this part of the law is in particular directed to an adult assaulting a younger child. As of January 2020, FN's Children's Rights is also law in Sweden.
(I made a gif, but Wix wouldn't let me upload it. The time to see the clip is episode 12, 04:02 minutes)
On the Instagram account I said that this drama might not get a review, but I fooled myself! Feel like this one turned out a little different than the others... what are your thoughts? Which review is your favorite so far, after a year of writing?
I have been MIA for a long time. That is a fact. That can happen sometime when life gets in the way.... I've been watching a lot of dramas (can't believe it was already a year ago I watched this....) and I know some of them would make incredible reviews, but we'll see what happens. For now, my focus is on finishing my studies and reconnecting with old friends. I hope you'll look forward to reading my reviews if/when they may pop up and surprise you in the future. Just know, I will never stop loving Korean dramas. The culture has become too big a part of me as my greatest interest.
Until next time~
(Who would win in a fight over a girl - Han Seo Jun or Choi Yeong Do? Answer: Neither, because they were both second lead TT^TT)
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