Miss Korea Korean Drama Review (Final)

I already did a halftime review of Miss Korea, and pretty much everything I said there still holds now that I've seen the rest of the series. I'll just add a few more thoughts now that the series is done.
As I said before, Miss Korea threw me for a loop at first. I didn't really know how to categorize it in my mind, and I eventually realized that it had a documentary-like feel to it. That feeling held out until the end of the series. I never felt like it was moralizing or forcing us to interpret characters in a specific way. Aside from a couple of side villains (the Ba Da Cosmetics guy, the elevator girl supervisor, and the gangster overlord), the characters all felt fleshed out and real. This is a slice-of-life drama if there ever was one, and once I settled in for the ride, I quite enjoyed how thoughtful and quiet it was.

What surprised me most about Miss Korea was its strong feminist undercurrent. For every drama watcher who cringes at wrist grabs and shouts at the screen at wilting female leads, this is the drama for you. At its core, this show is about a woman who has lived her entire life surrounded by men telling her what she should and shouldn't do with her life and her body. From her well-meaning male family members to her boyfriend to her boss at the mall, her life is dominated by male figures pulling her in different directions.

None of your business if she farted or not!

While the Miss Korea pageant--filled with absurd standards of beauty and femininity--might be an odd place for Ji Young to take her stand, it actually works because it's the opposite of what everyone expects from her. Her family members drool over the pageant, and yet they insist that it would be improper for her to enter the pageant. Her elevator boss doesn't believe that she deserves to be Miss Korea. It's Ji Young's chance to choose what she wants to do for herself, and if that means becoming Miss Korea, it's her choice.

That's not to say that the male characters become sad doormats, either. I found the Ji Young-Hyung Joon relationship refreshingly balanced for a Kdrama. If you watch it, you'll notice the number of times Hyung Joon asks Ji Young, "Is this what you want?" After he starts to move away from his initial jerk phase, he starts to focus his actions around supporting her in her quest for independence. Similarly, she supports him in his hardships, even when he tries to refuse her help. 

Possibly my favorite moment of the whole thing was her response to his noble idiocy. He tried to leave her for her own good, and she was just like, "Okay, sure. Try to leave me, but I'm not breaking up with you, so too bad." I might have done a little fist pump of victory in that moment.

FINALLYYYYYYYYYYY!

I could go on and on and on about all of the minor characters in this show. I really liked all of them, from the fashion directors to the contestants to the Vivi team. I eventually warmed up to the Hwa Jung/Teacher Jung relationship, but Teacher Jung always made me feel just a little uncomfortable the whole time.

Does this mean that Miss Korea was a flawless specimen of Kdramas? Not at all. It was a quiet drama, but sometimes "quiet" can be code for "boring." Sure, it was refreshing to have a drama filled with real things that could happen to real people instead of ending every episode with an absurd cliffhanger, but after watching both Miss Korea and Pasta, I think these writers need to understand their limitations a little bit better. If you're going to write slice-of-life dramas, do it in a more concise manner! Frankly, I had a little bit of a crisis around episode 15 when I realized I still had five more hours to watch. Sixteen episodes would have allowed them to pick up the pace at the beginning and the end of the series without sacrificing much. 

That being said, I found the last episode quite satisfying. The final scene was the perfect way to wrap up what easily became my favorite series of the last drama round, in spite of a rocky and confusing start.

Miss Korea definitely won't be the right drama for everyone, but if you're looking for something sincere, realistic, and full of heart, look no further.

Where to watch Miss Korea

DramaFever

Viki

Other opinions on Miss Korea:

1 2

Who's That Actor? Lee Sung Min

Back in high school, I used to have this skill where I could link any two actors--and I mean ANY two actors--based on the movies they shared.  It was like that "six steps to Kevin Bacon" game, except it didn't usually involve Kevin Bacon, and some of the more obscure ones took a little longer than six steps.

As someone who couldn't sing, dance, play the piano, or do anything else obviously impressive in front of a crowd, I was secretly a little bit proud of my random mini-talent, and so I cultivated it by reading all kinds of reviews for movies I never saw and memorizing the names of random bit actors.

The IMDB app on my phone has made my offhand ability to answer the question of "What else was that guy in?" somewhat obsolete, but I still have some affection for those side actors who appear in everything without anyone (ad by "anyone," I mostly just mean me) knowing anything about them.  I used to read the "Lawrence/Julie&Julia" blog from time to time, and he would occasionally spotlight random actors from Julie and Julia.  I've decided that I want to do the same thing here, but with kdrama actors who pop up frequently in side roles.  Because why should you have to Google things if I can Google them for you?

For the first kdrama edition of "Who's That Actor?", I'm going to spotlight Lee Sung Min:

Source

Where you might have seen him: Miss Korea (as the angry/mopey gangster constantly accompanied by sad woodwind music), My Princess (as the bossy president), Pasta ("You. Are. FIRED!"), and about fifty billion other roles, most of which involve high levels of shouting--go here for the full list.

Biggest role: He was one of the leads in Golden Time, which I haven't seen, but based on the title, it sounds like a show that probably revolves around grandfathers sitting in rocking chairs on a porch reminiscing about the old days while Tobey Maguire does a voiceover segue into a flashback.  

Source

Based on Viki, it's actually about emergency medicine and also stars Lee Sun Gyun, which sounds like a much better premise than my initial hypothesis.  Lee Sung Min won several awards for his role as a trauma surgeon, including the 2012 MBC Drama award for Actor of the Year.  So what I'm trying to say is that he's kind of a big deal.  

My favorite role: I always forget that he was the older brother in King 2 Hearts.  It was much softer than most of his other roles.  *Wipes away tears.

Fun fact: I kind of assumed that this guy must have been some young hot kdrama actor back in his 20s who just gradually shifted into older roles.  Nope.  As it turns out, the guy started acting in 2004 at the age of 36, which, as far as I can tell, might as well be seventeen million years old in Korean celebrity terms.  You have to wonder what got him into acting at that point.  Was some director desperate for a really bossy character, and he suddenly thought, "You know who would be perfect?  Uncle Sung Min!  Too bad he's already a used car salesman instead of an actor..."?  I guess we will never know for sure.  

So there you have it.  The next time he pops up on the screen, you can tell all of your friends, "Hey!  That's Lee Sung Min!"  and they will all be really impressed.

Any other random actors you want to see spotlighted?

Halfway Review: Miss Korea Korean Drama Episodes 1-8

(Update: Our review of the full series)

I don't usually do reviews halfway, but I just discovered that virtually no one on the internet is recapping Miss Korea.  Seriously, no one.  (Or at least no one who is easy to find in a Google search result.  Because I'm lazy.)  Dramabeans did one recap for the first two episodes, and then they didn't have time for more.

I know that Miss Korea isn't the hottest drama out there right now (and yes, I'm keeping an eye on My Love from Another Star and may actually start it if the rave reviews hold out past the midway point), but it still strikes me as sad that there aren't very many options to discuss this drama for the people who have been sticking it out.  And so, mostly because I want to hear other opinions on this drama, here are some thoughts up to the halfway point.  For those of you who held off on this drama, no spoilers here!  I'm far too lazy for recapping.  These are just some general thoughts.


First of all, the only way I really know how to categorize Miss Korea is confusing.  Is it a comedy, or is it a tragedy?  Is it boring, or is it thoughtful?  Is the focus on female standards of beauty empowering, or is it objectifying?  Sometimes, I genuinely don't know, and that confusion has fueled my interest in the show.

The Verdict So Far

To be completely honest, at some point, I just decided to give Miss Korea the benefit of the doubt, and I started to enjoy it much more.  If I had decided not to give it the benefit of the doubt, I might be hating it right now.  

Okay, so maybe I was a little swayed in their favor by their excellent taste in company names...

To me, it almost feels like watching a documentary instead of a kdrama.  Most kdramas, even somewhat ambiguous ones, are pretty prescriptive in their storytelling.  Music, lighting, and facial expressions all give us a sense of who the villains are, who the heroes are, and how we should respond emotionally to each new plot development.  Miss Korea does very little of that for us.  It mostly just presents scenarios and people and allows us to make our own judgments. 

For example, given that the setting is a beauty pageant, the plot revolves pretty heavily around beauty standards for women and the pressures to look and act a certain way.  My initial reaction was to want the show to take a strong stance against this kind of pressure, but it didn't.  Then I was afraid that the show would play those standards for cheap laughs, but it didn't. (Okay, some of it is funny, but not all of it.)  Instead, the show seems to be saying, "Well, this is the society we've created.  How do you feel about it?"  

The writers have taken the same approach to the characters, as well.  None of them are flawless, but most of them feel real.  I have to say that I, for one, am loving the lead couple right now.  I skipped Gu Family Book, so I had no preconceived notions about Lee Yeon Hee, but I love her in this role so far.  She exudes a delicate balance of anger, vulnerability, sass, and frustration with the world.  I never, ever thought I would say this, but her character even made me see the decision over breast implants as a feminist move for a minute there.  She's sick and tired of having all of the men in her life tell her what she should or shouldn't do with her life and her body, and so she decides to take control.  Whatever decision she makes, it's clear that she does it for herself, and even though it wouldn't be my first (or second or third or fourth) choice, I have to give her character mad respect for taking a feminist stance through a beauty pageant and somehow making it believable.

I read some complaints about the chemistry between the leads after the first few episodes, but I have to say that I was sold on the chemistry from episode 1.  I love the balance between the sweet flashbacks and the more jaded interactions in the present day.  Then again, I'm terribly biased in favor of Lee Sun Gyun in pretty much anything.  He could be talking at a wall, and his voice would still sound like it was saying "I love you."

Truer words have never been spoken.

Actually, I take back what I said just now about liking him in anything.  Even though his character here is flawed, he's much easier to like than his character in Pasta.  Less shouting, that's for sure.

I like most of the side characters so far, but I kind of LOVE Lee Mi Sook as Ma Ae Ri.  She has hit the nail on the head with this obsessive former beauty queen.  Somehow, even when she's doing something completely absurd, I still buy it.  And the outfits!  Oh, man, the outfits...

So the one character I just can't get behind is Teacher Jung, our aging gangster friend.  His character probably gives me more cognitive dissonance than anyone else on the show.  He flails and shouts so much that it feels kind of comical, but then he always has his sad woodwind music playing (What is that?  An oboe? It sounds like Peter and the Wolf!), so then I think I'm supposed to feel sad for him, and the whole thing just makes me angry every time he's on the screen.

Overall, I would say that Miss Korea is unlike any other drama I have seen before.  I get what the naysayers mean about the slow-moving plot, but I like the depth of characterization enough that I'm willing to let it slide.  And this is coming from someone who thought that Pasta  was way too slow in parts.  In fact, even though both plots move slowly, these two shows are so different that I would never guess it was the same writing team between them both.  Disliking Pasta won't guarantee that you will dislike Miss Korea, and loving Pasta definitely won't guarantee loving Miss Korea.  

Is anyone else out there still watching this show?  How do you feel about it so far?

New Drama Time!

We're testing out the new batch of kdramas.  From the good to the bad to the unsure, here are some very brief initial responses:

1. The Prime Minister and I

Four episodes in, this is hands-down the most pleasant surprise of the bunch so far.  To be honest, ahjussi romances aren't really my thing.  I couldn't get past the age gap in Dating Agency: Cyrano, but it hasn't bothered me so far here.  It might have something to do with the fact that Yoona is relatively tall and Lee Bum Soo is relatively short, so they're always on eye level with each other.  Or maybe it's the fact that Yoona's character is a real adult with a real job, unlike 90% of kdrama females.  Or maybe it's the fact that so far, every time he tries to push her around, she finds a way to turn the tables.

I also think the writers have been very smart with their use of Lee Bum Soo so far.  He's a comedic actor, but sometimes his character was too much to handle in History of a Salaryman.  By using his funny skills in imaginary scenarios, we get to laugh while still taking him seriously as a person.  The one thing I can't take seriously is the reasoning behind the fake relationship.  Off the top of my head, I can think of about 47 better ways to resolve the problem than a contract marriage.  But what else do you expect from a kdrama forced marriage premise?

I'm cautiously optimistic.  If the writers flush this potential, I'm going to be Hulk smash a lot of things.



2. My Love from Another Star

Sorry, guys, but I can't do it.  I have a terrible habit of judging books (and shows) by their covers.  Maybe I'll work on it as a New Year's resolution or something, but until New Year's, I'm going to judge away.  I don't know what it's like to be a 400-year-old alien, but according to this poster, it mostly involves crying.  In Vivi's world, the only person who gets a pass on Poster Crying is Song Joong Ki.  The '90s-tastic "I'm sad! But also ethereal!" mist isn't helping, either.

3. Miss Korea

The first two episodes were much more serious than I expected from the Miss Congeniality-style premise.  The writers raised a lot of social issues in episode 1, and how they handle these issues later has the potential to make or break the show for me.  I'm squarely on the fence for now, but I'm also quite intrigued.  I love the gritty old-school vibe going on.

Happy holidays to all, and very merry drama-ing!

Fashion Face-off Friday: Turtleneck Edition

It's been a while since we featured a solid Fashion Face-off around here.  In our last competition, The Master's Sun representing fall, won in a landslide.  I think people might have been swayed by their love of the series, though, so I'm not sure it was a fair fight.

Given that it's the Christmas season and all, I figured that we could celebrate some cold-weather wear and do a battle of the kdrama turtlenecks.

But why turtlenecks?   Why not fur coats or absurd hats or some other wintery clothing item?  To answer that question, I bring you a story:

Once upon a time, Vivi was four years old, and her mother lovingly sewed a dress for her.  This dress had a ruffled collar on it that stood up like a turtleneck.  When four-year-old Vivi saw this dress, she hated it.  HATED IT.  But, being the sensitive little whippersnapper she was, she didn't want to hurt her mother's feelings and pretended to like it.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't fooling anyone.

Her family members always wanted her to wear that dress because it was "so cute," but Vivi knew better.  Every time she put on that stupid pink dress with its stupid ruffly turtleneck, she was absolutely positive that she looked absurd, so she made up excuses to get out of wearing that dress.  Fortunately for her, she eventually outgrew it and was no longer forced to choose between the shame of wearing the dress and the guilt of hurting her mother's feelings.  The end.

Ever since I owned that dress, I've had this unreasonable hatred of all turtlenecks.  There's something about all that unbroken fabric rubbing up against your chin that I find both unnerving and unflattering, so it drives me absolutely crazy that they're so common in kdramas these days.  So, in honor of four-year-old Vivi and her wounded pride, let's look at some of the worst kdrama turtlenecks, shall we?

Contender 1: Park Hae Young, My Princess

YOU.  You were the offender.

Look, I totally get the impulse to cover up that turtleneck (with a velvet coat???), but the thing about turtlenecks is that there's always more fabric.  This cream number is kind of form-fitting, too, which makes me wonder if they were just trying to show off Abs McGillicuddy over here in a subtle way.  Sorry, Song Seung Heon, but even you can't pull it off.  

Contender 2: Kim Tan, Heirs

This one's pretty self-explanatory, right?  I mean, the sweater is eating his face.  I know, I know, I've made fun of Kim Tan a lot lately, but it's kind of like a scab I keep picking.  I just can't stop!

Contender 3: Kim Shin, Marry Him If You Dare

If there's one thing I hate more than turtlenecks, it's brown turtlenecks.  I don't want to be gross, but the tightness combined with the color really looks like a fresh turd (Turd-leneck--get it?).  

Contender 4: Ma Ae Ri, Miss Korea

Not a full-fledged turtleneck like the others, but it reminds me so much of my childhood nemesis dress that I had to include it.  Also, this:

Every time I see this character on Miss Korea, I won't be able to get Yzma out of my head.

Which turtleneck takes the cake?  If you love turtlenecks and hate me for hating them, which one is your least favorite of the bunch?

Which Kdrama Had the Worst Turtleneck?
	My Princess
	Heirs
	Marry Him If You Dare
	Miss Korea
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