aceofspades
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Could have been a great show, but nonsensical character logic prevents it from being taken seriously
This review contains slight spoilers. I'll try not to reveal too much but don't say you weren't warned.SPOILERS! WARNING!
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There is a lot to like about this show. The main cast is good. The directing and video edits are good. Its a romantic drama that isn't too cheesy. There is also a decent amount of comedy in the first half of the show as well (which they should have played up more). As someone who prefer Korean action and suspense thrillers but will watch a romantic drama if its not over the top, the romantic scenes in this series didn't want to make me puke.
However, I couldn't help but be frustrated at how silly and unrealistic the main character(s) acted given the circumstances they were placed in.
The plot is simple enough. Without revealing too much, the main character Cha Joo Hyuk is miserable with his current wife ( Seo Woo Jin) and has the opportunity to significantly alter his circumstances. After taking this opportunity, his new life is exactly what he dreamed of. He is happily married to his beautiful crush from college, rich and living life lavishly without a care in the world.
How long does his joy last? At best, it lasts for about 30 minutes of an episode. The rest of the series is about him longing to chase his original wife who made his life a living hell while making his current reality terrible in the process (which is ironic, and I will explain why later).
For the astute viewer, this is completely unbelievable. Realistically, almost no human being would throw away a drastically upgraded life to return to something that they acknowledged made them so miserable to the point of wanting to die, unless they are a big idiot. Well, Joo Hyuk is one big idiot so I guess this makes sense given his character? The only reason they write his character to act so unconvincingly is to force the basic moral of the story, which is: appreciate what you have, and realize that everyone needs to take some accountability for life's circumstances. Wow, bravo (rolls eyes).
Joo Hyuk, through various flashbacks, acknowledges that he played a big part in turning his original wife Woo Jin into a monster. He goes through multiple episodes trying to look after her to make up for his guilt in his original life, all while making the EXACT SAME MISTAKE with his current wife, Lee Hee Won, who the show is obviously trying to position as a villain.
However, it doesn't work because a lot of what Hee Won is doing is in response to Joo Hyuk being a completely dumb, selfish, inconsiderate husband, which is how he was to Woo Jin in the original life. Of course, Hee Won isn't perfect. She is a stuck up, rich, only child who throws money at problems and looks down on people because of their class. These are terrible qualities to have, but given her upbringing, she is acting exactly in line with her character. Otherwise, she is very loving to Joo Hyuk, providing him with everything he could want, such as a nice house, car, freedom to play video games, delicious home-cooked meals, hot marital "love", etc. If I had to pick between the post-wall abusive housewife from hell or a rich, beautiful princess with some entitlement issues, I know who I am choosing.
Despite all the complaints, its still a good show and one of the better dramas I've seen. Its worth watching if you just want to satisfy your Korean drama itch and need something new to watch.
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Entertaining enough but some gripes stop me from taking it too seriously
My ID Is Gangnam Beauty is definitely a watchable romcom drama. I'm not the biggest fan of romcoms but picked this up because of the premise, which is very appropriate for modern Korean culture. I just couldn't help but notice a couple glaring issues and inconsistencies that stopped me from really loving it. Overall, it falls suspect to a lot of Korean romcom tropes and inconsistent characterization.1) In the very first episode, the chad is automatically drawn to the main female character for no reason. The whole premise is that he is NOT superficial nor really interested in most girls. So there is no reason for him to even look at her. Somehow, she is special JUST BECAUSE
2) Guys are made to look like assholes and creeps. Younger ones are desperate, older ones are ruthlessly superficial
3) Chad (main love interest) has a dull personality. Hes just good looking. His three modus operanti are to stand still, walk like a runway model, and act protective.
4) Probably unintentional, but the girls are just as badly portrayed as the men in this show. Most of the girls are drawn to Chad only for his looks and treat the other guys like they are invisible or clowns
5) They are clearly trying to paint one of the characters as the villain, but it feels forced. In one episode, the villain invites the “orc” bully from middle school to help instigate a scene with the MC. No real explanation into her motivations aside from the obvious (she likes chad also)
6) The whole things where chad’s mom was the one that stopped the MC from committing suicide is the stupidest thing ever. There are almost 10 million people living in Seoul, and she just happened to be in the same place at the same time?
7) Chad acts like looks aren’t everything and lectures the MC on not judging people on looks. Yet, he’s unaware that he is privileged because of his good looks (and family's status and money). Its like a tall handsome guy telling a shorter, ugly guy "dude just be confident! Just be yourself. Looks don't matter"
8) Chad has very shaky moral standards, despite his character being one who never lies, etc. Chad gets on guys for any little reason (protective chad), yet tells his little sister “getting bad grades isn’t a bad thing.” No, that's wrong. Being an underachiever is a terrible thing!
9) Very woke teachings. “Its okay for men to cry!” They are making chad's dad look like a bad parent for trying to toughen his son up. In reality, this is exactly how men are expected to behave in society. Men who cry all the time are not taken seriously.
10) EVERYONE in the school is gossiping about either SUA, MC or Chad. Its like their lives revolve around these three people. None of these people are celebrities or accomplished anything amazing
11) Older sunbae (Chan Woo) gets younger students together and tries to haze them in broad daylight, and is not expelled. This would never happen in reality.
12) Chad’s mom lost her sense of smell (and her career) because her olfactory nerve got damaged during a domestic altercation. Domestic abuse is wrong, and I get why the show is trying to portray it as such, but one slap isn’t going to stop someone from smelling stuff.
13) The “comic” duo: not sure why the shorter one is still hanging out with the taller one, who’s creepy, mean and bossy.
14) Characters who are legitimately pretty, like the shorter best friend, or the tomboy, are never pointed out to be pretty.
15) The show is teaching us that it wrong to fat shame women to meet men's standards, yet in the chubby girl's side story, she is trying to pair up with one of the taller good looking sunbaes. This sunbae of course is not allowed to judge her based on her looks.
16) MC's actor is pretty limited. Most of the time her expression is to look like a surprised goldfish
17) Chan woo is SADLY the best character of this show, having a genuine redemption arc while also comically trolling the **** out of side characters (tokbokki feeding scene with chubby girl and her sunbae)
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