[PREV - WHITE_KOREAN]    [TOP]

GANGNAM_BEAUTY

                                             September 17, 2018


"My ID is Gangnam Beauty"

A girl has a lot of cosmetic surgery done
with the goal of fitting in, and realizes
she's just become a different kind of monster--       Gangnam is a high-end
she's that girl who obviously had a lot of            district in Seoul.  In
work done, i.e. a "Gangnam Beauty".                   that song by Psy, the
                                                      phrase "Gangnam Style" is
She attracts more attention from guys, but            actually sarcastically
quite often attention she doesn't want from           derisive: Gangnam Style
guys no one would want to deal with.                  is slick, expensive, and
                                                      shallow.

I really like the fact that attitudes toward
cosmetic surgery are essentially the main
subject matter: it's clearly extremely common
for Korean actors, but it rarely gets a
mention on screen.  Sometimes it's a bit used
to show how tacky and shallow one of the           You're supposed to pretend
minor characters is, and that's about it.          that Yoo In-Na doesn't
                                                   look like a space alien.
I like this show because it's poking its
fingers in the wounds-- actually, I was
surprised it got decent ratings-- it's
directly addressing a number of issues that
are often politely ignored involving
an unhealthy obsession with appearances.

However, it has no answers that aren't pat answers.

For example: There's a strong suggestion that the male
lead liked her even back in the pre-surgery days-- so was
her cosmetic surgery pointless?  The female lead asks the
male lead if he would date her if she hadn't had the
pretty face installed-- he responds "You are just you",
which is a right answer but not the honest one, which
would almost certainly be "How am I supposed to know?".

Certainly no one *watching* this show is fantasizing
about a utopian world with no concern for physical
appearence.  Nearly every actor in the show is actually
pretty good-looking, to the point where it's hard to
remember who the "plain" girls are supposed to be.

Unusual points:

  o  The male lead actually seems like an okay guy--
                                                          The usual convention
  o  The relationship develops steadily,                  is Real Men are
     without any contrived reversals.                     jerks.  But they get
                                                          better once a Real
                                                          Woman *understands*
                                                          them.
On the other hand, there are a number
of cliched elements:

   o   the evil, manipulative girl who *pretends* to be your
       friend

   o   the fickle mob eager to talk trash about anyone
       given the slightest excuse...


But this is all taken seriously and played well enough
that it works. (And it's not like manipulative,
capriciously evil people don't exist...)


    The college setting isn't really convincing though,
    it's like a teenager dreaming of college without any
    realization that the scale is larger than high school.

    And everybody is studying to be get into the perfume industry,
    which does not strike me as being such a wonderful thing--
    but then at least it's an unusual pick.


                              WHITE_KOREAN


--------
[NEXT - TO_HERE_AND_THE_EASEL]