Mask Girl (2023)

Why Mask Girl was great and why some couldn't understand the meaning behind it!

Some are free to dislike or even hate this Kdrama, but it is important to recognize that not every female lead in a Kdrama has to fit the mold of a "strong good girl." We need more complex, enigmatic, and twisted female characters. Personally, I look forward to the day when I can witness a compelling kdrama centered around a female serial killer. Because why not?

Among the many memorable scenes in this K-drama that I loved, two that stood out to me were when Mi Mo murdered Oh Nam and when she and Chun Ae joined forces, gripping the rope from opposite sides, killing Chun Ae's abusive boyfriend. These scenes beautifully conveyed the feeling of saying, (I'm done!) even if they weren't executed most kindly.

This kdrama delved into the lives of women from different eras and age groups who harbored dreams and aspirations but were compelled to conceal their true selves, wear a mask, and conform to societal expectations and the whims of men. Some succumbed to defeat and strayed down the wrong path, while others, like teenager Mi Mo, representing the new generation, came to understand the essence of their experiences. This realization was poignantly depicted in the scene where Mi Mo watches a videotape of her mother's performance when she was an innocent child at the end of the show. And even she said that since then, the nightmares that haunted her about her mother have stopped.

To some, it may appear as if there are too many stories interwoven within this story. However, upon closer look, each character embodies a distinct facet of the female experience:

- Kyung Ja represents the older generation of women who were unable to even realize their dreams, thereby dedicating their entire lives to their children and utilizing them as instruments to accomplish their own aspirations and desires that they couldn't do themselves. Hence the obsessiveness in her mind & her crazy way of holding on to God's beliefs as the women in her generation were told.
You can see some of this in Mo Mi's mother as well, as she hates how her daughter wasn't good enough for her expectations.

- Mo Mi embodies the generation of women who were told to be beautiful and finding a tall, handsome, and charismatic man was the ultimate dream and the sole path to love, even if said the man turned out to be the ultimate idiot.
And if she happened to feel good about herself or her body in some way, some creep will see her as a thing to claim!
Nonetheless, women like Mi Mo fail to comprehend that loving oneself is the key to happiness and earning the affection of others. Thus, in her pursuit of conforming to society's superficial beauty standards, believing that it would enable her to start fresh, be beautiful, and be loved, she inadvertently destroyed herself. Consequently, she was labeled a monster despite her "new attractive appearance".

- And finally, Mi Mo symbolizes the younger generation, a girl who is angry at people "the society views on her", dreading the possibility of ending up like her mom, "the previous generation of women," and has a hatred towards her grandma's way of thinking, "the older generation of women.
But in the end, she gradually grasps the reality that the world is not simply divided into black and white, decides to accept herself as she is, forgives her grandmother (Mo Mi's Mother), and contemplates how her mother's fate might have been different had the world been more understanding.


Overall, the show was crazy and dark indeed, but so are the lives of these 3 women.

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