Poongduck Villa Really Is Special
One of my all-time favourites that I just can't help but keep returning to.
This is a truly excellent rom-com which walks some classic beats but also brings a lot of new ideas to the table.
It's got nice visuals, fantastic acting, a great supporting cast (looking at you Holland, truly noone steals the show like that man does), some great physical comedy, and authentic queer characters with real depth.
This show first won me over with the aforementioned physical comedy, however small a part it may play in the story. It's rare to see a rom-com incorporate a tangible, physical aspect into its humour without it being overly cartoon-y slapstick.
I mean when was the last time you saw one romantic lead deliver a round-house kick to the other romantic lead's face?
Then the show intrigued me with how realistic its characters feel. They all just seem like real, actual people, the main characters especially. Sure, they are both strange in their own ways and completely and utterly fail to be normal about anything at all, but thanks to the clever writing all their silliness feels like the respective idiosyncrasies of two oddly charming and deeply likeable people.
So much so that the two leads felt immediately and startlingly familiar to me. I kept thinking to myself "I know these gays, I have met them before, I know actual people like this"
All of the above are great points in the show's favour, but what really cemented its status as one of the all time greats to me is the deeply realistic and thoughtfully handled portrayal of queerness and queer experience that it depicts.
It explores the disbelief, curiosity, and relief of discovering your sexuality, the continuous heartbreak of pining for someone you can't have and the line between secret love and unhealthy devotion, the all-encompassing, giddy joy of experiencing a true romantic connection for the first time in your 30ish years of life, the way shame and repression affect queer people's lives and relationships, and the happiness and security that come from finding people who are just like you, who care for you, and who accept you.
And that dedication to depicting authentic queer experiences is what elevates the story as a whole and makes every familiar trope seem fresh and new. Take the show's climactic conflict for instance - this is an integral part of the standard rom-com formula which can easily become contrived and off-putting if a show includes it just for the sake of sticking to the format.
But here that conflict doesn't just serve to add drama for drama's sake. It stems directly from both characters' internal issues and insecurities and feels like a perfect culmination of something the show has been building up to from the beginning.
The entire thing is as painfully, achingly inevitable as it is necessary for the characters to progress, both as people and in their relationship. Rarely have I seen story with a romantic core woven together so perfectly and a relationship arc pulled off so masterfully.
I highly recommend this show to all rom-com fans, queer viewers looking for a believable queer romance with excellent representation which notably does not end in tragedy, and anyone in search of a solid romantic romp with great writing and acting and a fantastic wardrobe, that has some real bite and intelligence to it and is, most importantly, just plain fun to watch.
This is a truly excellent rom-com which walks some classic beats but also brings a lot of new ideas to the table.
It's got nice visuals, fantastic acting, a great supporting cast (looking at you Holland, truly noone steals the show like that man does), some great physical comedy, and authentic queer characters with real depth.
This show first won me over with the aforementioned physical comedy, however small a part it may play in the story. It's rare to see a rom-com incorporate a tangible, physical aspect into its humour without it being overly cartoon-y slapstick.
I mean when was the last time you saw one romantic lead deliver a round-house kick to the other romantic lead's face?
Then the show intrigued me with how realistic its characters feel. They all just seem like real, actual people, the main characters especially. Sure, they are both strange in their own ways and completely and utterly fail to be normal about anything at all, but thanks to the clever writing all their silliness feels like the respective idiosyncrasies of two oddly charming and deeply likeable people.
So much so that the two leads felt immediately and startlingly familiar to me. I kept thinking to myself "I know these gays, I have met them before, I know actual people like this"
All of the above are great points in the show's favour, but what really cemented its status as one of the all time greats to me is the deeply realistic and thoughtfully handled portrayal of queerness and queer experience that it depicts.
It explores the disbelief, curiosity, and relief of discovering your sexuality, the continuous heartbreak of pining for someone you can't have and the line between secret love and unhealthy devotion, the all-encompassing, giddy joy of experiencing a true romantic connection for the first time in your 30ish years of life, the way shame and repression affect queer people's lives and relationships, and the happiness and security that come from finding people who are just like you, who care for you, and who accept you.
And that dedication to depicting authentic queer experiences is what elevates the story as a whole and makes every familiar trope seem fresh and new. Take the show's climactic conflict for instance - this is an integral part of the standard rom-com formula which can easily become contrived and off-putting if a show includes it just for the sake of sticking to the format.
But here that conflict doesn't just serve to add drama for drama's sake. It stems directly from both characters' internal issues and insecurities and feels like a perfect culmination of something the show has been building up to from the beginning.
The entire thing is as painfully, achingly inevitable as it is necessary for the characters to progress, both as people and in their relationship. Rarely have I seen story with a romantic core woven together so perfectly and a relationship arc pulled off so masterfully.
I highly recommend this show to all rom-com fans, queer viewers looking for a believable queer romance with excellent representation which notably does not end in tragedy, and anyone in search of a solid romantic romp with great writing and acting and a fantastic wardrobe, that has some real bite and intelligence to it and is, most importantly, just plain fun to watch.
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