My ID is Gangnam Beauty (2018)

I never expected myself to actually sit and watch this drama simply because I never could get behind the plot device of the MC having such low body-image and self-esteem that she resorts to plastic surgery in the hopes of improving her life. This morally goes against everything I believe in.
I too was *that* girl in school harshly ostracized and bullied for being the unattractive one. It was humiliating, degrading, and infuriating. And sure, numerous times I daydreamed about life-altering, body changing procedures in the hopes of being "perfect" in the hopes of becoming accepted, but as I aged and became a full grown adult (finished with college working in the professional career world) I matured and came to appreciate my differences and find myself beautiful. It was hard. It took a long time. Honestly, as we all do, I still have low days, but I was also fortunate enough to come to develop relationships and surround myself with the right people who love me with all my flaws and imperfections. These people help lift me up when I'm at my lowest.
There are still people, people related to me, who view me as undesirable because of my physical imperfections, constantly trying to recommend something I can do to improve myself and compare me to others they deem more attractive.... and after much deliberating, I chose to cut these toxic people out of my life because all they did was tear me down mentally. It wasn't healthy for me.
We all experience this in some form. Every single person does. It's the nature of humans all looking different and having opinions. And therefore, we all have our insecurities...

I say all of this because I really tried to give this drama a chance. I watched 8 whole hour long episodes! But the writers just couldn't seem to get it right.

My biggest gripe in this whole plot that I just can't excuse (even though I know it happens in real life) was the support the mother had in allowing her underage daughter to undergo such extreme plastic surgery. Now, I know that plastic surgery in South Korea is very common, but it is not common for plastic surgery to go to these extremes. If it was simply a double lid surgery, fine, I could get on board. But the fact that she was essentially given a whole new identity and no one, not even her father, could recognize her goes too far. It's denying who she is. Her genes. Her frickin identity. Her father had every right to feel so upset when he found out. I understand that the mother was trying to support her daughter and help her become happy, but obviously, by altering her face, she didn't help her accomplish happiness, as we see through the progression of the drama. What the poor child needed was help. Changing schools, seeking support in the schools (especially for bullying), seeking medical help for her suicidal tendencies, joining support groups, finding hobbies and extracurriculars that would foster happiness and passions through other facets in her life, experimenting with different make-up techniques to increase confidence, etc.
I don't think that the mother did her due diligence in supporting her daughter in finding happiness in a healthy way. By signing off on such extreme facial plastic surgery, it was like she was hoping to slap a bandaid on an infected wound and hoped it healed without a hitch.
**Please do not misunderstand, it is not plastic surgery itself that I necessarily have a problem with. I have a really hard time accepting the extremes of this particular instance of plastic surgery due to the circumstances of the girl's life.

Now, moving away from the female MC... I feel like I need to mention this because it got under my skin...
I was very happy to see some variety in female characters who were not the stereotypical thin and beautiful through the introduction of Kim Tae Hee who was classified as "chubby" and therefore deemed unattractive. I was really looking forward to her added view on the message of the drama. Which is why it really bothers me how the writers handled her story. She stood up for herself finally, starts to apparently date the kind senior and then the frickin bitch Soo Ah sweeps in with her egotistical and narcissistic tendencies to try to cause the new boyfriend to lose interest in Tae Hee. How unrealistic and insulting to men.
Men, unlike common stereotypes, do not simply ogle anything that breaths. They too have standards and characteristics that they gravitate towards (both physically and psychologically). So for the writers to imply that the senior boyfriend would have any interest in a woman like Soo Ah after making it so clear that he prefers woman like Tae Hee (ex, he even says he prefers rounder women at the festival!) is just an insult to male intellect. A little bit of attention isn't enough to sway the average man unless he's a pig, which the senior was not (he was portrayed as a very kindhearted, older brother-like figure).

Now, to discuss acting:
I do have to agree with the common opinion that the acting is very wooden in this drama, particularly with the MCs. I've not seen Im Soo Hyang in anything before, but I am not impressed with her acting - I hope it was her dry role in this drama and not a true demonstration of her skills.
Cha Eun Woo - I cannot be more depressed about how poor CEW appears as an actor in this drama. For those of you who haven't seen CEW before - he is a wonderful actor when playing more energetic roles. This was a horrible role for him. He didn't do a "bad" job, but he, as an actor, appears to struggle to demonstrate stoicism well. He simply hasn't mastered the facial expression nuances to portray different emotions while remaining stoic. This was a huge disappointment because in Hit the Top (The Best Hit) and Sweet Revenge (Revenge Note) (both of which came out before this drama) he did so much better with his roles - animated, sweet, engaged, tender, smiling, talking more. *sigh* Please don't let this 1 drama destroy CEW...

OST
I notice OSTs because they can really make or break scenes in a drama, especially emotionally ones. I cannot hate this soundtrack overall more. The instrumentals were alright, but the main OSTs were HORRIBLE. I nearly muted the TV every time they came on. In particular I hated Something by George and Kang Hyein the most - the tune and eeriness made me cringe and my skin crawl. D-Day by Junggigo was okay. The OST just didn't seem well placed/paired with the tone and atmosphere of this drama.

Aside from the moral issues mentioned above, the overall plot was lacking...
This drama moves reallllyyyyy slow. Nothing really progresses as the episodes go on. It actually leaves you feeling dissatisfied due to the lack of accomplishment....College life has so much more going on with so much more they could have displayed in their lives to mix things up a bit beyond mediocrity. If the writers were trying to produce a slice-of-life feel, they failed miserably. NOTHING happens of note. And there SHOULD be SOMETHING happening aside from the over dramatized banter between characters.

One thing I think the drama did well was illustrate the concept "the grass is not always greener on the other side." Everyone has a picture of what perfection is and society/people will try to impose those visions onto others. And when we finally embrace those standards and try to meet them you realize that the other side isn't greater. Having what others have does not make you happier. Happiness comes from within. This, the drama did demonstrate well. But, after 8 episodes, I'd seen enough of the drama to grasp that and drop it for it's above mentioned flaws.

Anyways, I know that this review will likely not see light under the 100 some odd other reviews of this drama, but since I have such an unpopular opinion compared to the overwhelming raging reviews, I just needed to put my 2 cents in the pile for those of you who need it. Hope this provides comfort for those people dissatisfied or unhappy with this drama.

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