My ID Is Gangnam Beauty: Overload of Cute Guys

 I put off watching My ID Is Gangnam Beauty for a long time. Why? The premise makes me cringe a bit, if I'm honest. The feminist in me finds the impossible beauty standards in South Korea disturbing. Beyond that even, the people they think are prettiest there are never appealing to me at all, which makes it feel disturbing for no reason.

My ID Is Gangnam Beauty: The Cute Boys

But I've started watching anyway because I was looking for something that would hook me from the first episode. I heard this one was like that.

While I liked the dynamic and vibe from the first episode, I was still turned off by the subject matter. The judging of looks, etc. I figured that that attitude wouldn't fly elsewhere in the world, and as an international success, it MUST stray from those values, right?

It did. But on the flip side of that coin, they stacked this drama with attractive guys all over the place. I mean... really? The women seem like... whatever. So is this a purposeful role reversal? The evidence:

These aren't even the stars. I mean... what? The last guy is literally just a random guy. I thought it was probably a cameo from someone famous given the look, but I didn't find anything about him. So they're literally just filling this with eye candy of the male variety for some reason.

My ID Is Gangnam Beauty: The Weird Casting

Now, this overload of cute guys leads me to the next super weird thing. The male lead has another star playing the middle school version of himself. No big deal. Dramas do that. 

However, the middle school him looks WAY older than the college aged him. That is creepy. The college actor, Cha Eun-Woo, is cute but not sexy or fierce or "hot" at all. Shin Jun-Seop on the other hand is a fierce kid who looks groomed to be sexy not cute.

Awkward, right? I thought perhaps Shin Jun-Seop was actually really young and just LOOKED like he was crazy older than he was. But it appears that both actors are the same age in reality. So wtf?

It is one thing to bring in a young actor to play a youthful version of a character. I can see getting a different actor even if the older one could pull it off IF the other lead (the opposite sexed lead) couldn't pull it off... i.e. if she looked too fiercely grownup to pull of being a kid, then getting another actor to play him as well so as to not be weird.

However, her face isn't seen in the flashbacks. So they made the choice to replace him... with a dude who looks way older... and is actually the same age but supposed to be like 8 years younger? Ooookay. That makes no sense.

I'm not super mad at it though, to be honest. Why? Shin Jun-Seop is so fierce that I'm already a fan. I might just check out MYTEEN, his kpop group, since he clearly has stage presence. Just saying.

Korean Language

I might as well mention too... I finally had my first real conversation in Korean and English the other day. It was with 김근영, of course. His English was very good, so we talked in more English than Korean. BUT I naturally threw in some Korean phrases... clarified in Korean vocabulary... practiced some things that I find difficult (Sino vs Native Korean numbers--ugh!)... and just integrated Korean into the convo. 

He helped with my pronunciation. I understood him fine. He seemed to understand me fine too. We were both nervous, but we ended up talking for an hour and a half! It felt very comfortable and natural, to be honest. I was excited. I'm also proud that we studied very hard all these months and finally talked!

파이팅!

Run-On & Kdramas: The Found or Chosen Family

Tonight while finishing a kdrama, I noticed that there is a theme that I'm very much drawn to. It is better than the romance. It's better than bromance. It's better than everything else. And I think I know why.

Run-On: Watching the Last Episode

I've seen many "rich kid normalized by hanging out with regular people" kdramas, but Run-On has been a little different. With a politician father (who is a huge dick, just saying) and actress mother, it was acknowledged early on that the ML was basically just left alone all the time.

He was used to doing what his parents wanted. His mother referred to him as "mild-tempered" because he never caused a fuss no matter how demanding they were. It seemed that he had no really close friends because he wouldn't let them in.

Run-On: Not Quite a Spoiler

I love it when a drama sneaks in the "chosen family". Many people and subcultures (including LGBTQ) create their own families. Perhaps because I have no friends, I find it interesting to bond with people to this degree. I moved away from everyone I'd ever known at age 18. After that, I had many friends who I partied with, but I never considered them close friends. One day, I decided to grow up, and I cut ties with all of them.

Now, I have no friends really. I have an "infectious energy/excitement" that people are drawn to, but when it comes down to it, I push people away. I think it's mostly because my husband is super private and anxious around people, while my son is autistic and has no use for people. I just... have no one else around me, and when they try, I pull back in a major way.

But I truly love watching this in kdramas. The lonely character who finds a family through friends and acquaintances who won't let them be alone. I find it endearing as hell. And really, if I ever find myself alone, I imagine I would find something similar. There are always people who fall in love easily... and I think there are people who fall in family easily too.

At any rate, while I haven't finished the drama (30 minutes left or something), I wanted to jot down my thoughts. I have felt this way many times while watching kdramas, and I have to say that it's one of my favorite themes. Maybe I secretly feel lonely, despite having no real interest in hanging out with even the people I know and like. Regardless, I like it very much.

Korean

I went over several previous lessons today to make sure I had them down and learned some more vocab. I'm up to an official 780 words or something, so just over 1000 in total I'd guess.

파이팅!

ATEEZ: The Instant Bias

 I went through some vocab today but was a bit too busy for much else as far as studying goes. I didn't post yesterday because the power was out. Yes, I have a vacation for once, and I woke up to no electricity... and it didn't return until 9:30pm. Fml.

ATEEZ

So, I have been aware of them as a dance group for years. Since before debut I think. Which also means they were one of the groups that I liked long before I cared about kpop music. I just love dancing, as mentioned before.

I have maybe 7 ATEEZ songs in my playlist now, so I know I like the music. I've always liked the dancing. So, I decided to learn who the members are. It was easier for them than most. They each have distinct looks, but I also know their dance styles by now.

Instant Bias

They say that your bias chooses you... you don't choose your bias. This was the first time for me that this seemed 100% true. As soon as I learned the member names, it was all over for me. San is my bias.

Strangely, he always has been. Before I knew the members, I occasionally would see a move or a little moment in an interview and think, "I really ought to learn the members". 

Surprise! Literally every single time I ever thought that over the years, the member who killed the dance move or did the endearing thing... it was San. I spent the entire evening watching all the interviews and videos I ever saw of them.

Every single time... San. That is crazy to me. But I seriously love him. As good as some of the others are at dancing too, my eyes have always gone to him. 

For instance, in the above clip (which I have seen many many times), my eyes only left San a couple times, even when he was in the back. The stage presence is unreal.

End of blog post. For real. I just wanted to share.

파이팅!

Run-On & That Kid from The Unit

 Today, aside from dancing to a bunch of kpop at work and while waiting for half an hour at a restaurant, I did nothing. It was umm... a little less than studying. I finished Descendants of the Sun as well. It was a solid drama. Not a favorite of mine, but a nice one.

Run-On

So my writing partner and bestie Charlie apparently got himself sucked into a chat full of kpop stans. I feel for him, I do. I know how you all are. Just saying. Seems mostly Blinks and ARMY... together. I feel for him again.

But anyway, he is getting into kdramas and asked if I'd seen Run-On, which he's currently watching. I've only watched two dramas on Netflix... though I have watched a bunch that are on both Netflix and Viki (watched on Viki). I will get to them. I thought I'd give it a watch though.

First Impressions - The Humor

Honestly, I think this is going to be pretty funny. It's certainly a change of pace from the last few dramas I watched, which had fun moments but were more serious and/or opressive in tone. I love that too, but fluff is good. I'm only in episode one and already laughed so hard.

Basically, the night before, she made a fool of her professor, asking if he was a time traveler from the Joseon era because of his old school sexist views. His toupee flew off during the argument as well. The next day, she found out that he stole a gig from her out of spite. So she returned his cleaned toupee.

He said he would give her back the job if she could time travel back to before this happened, pointing to his head (meaning before he lost his toupee and embarrassed the fuck out of himself, clearly).

Her response: "To before you lost your hair?"

I fucking died! So funny. He was instantly pissed af too.

First Impressions - The Stoic

I do love an unimpressed male lead. He doesn't seem robotic or cold so much. My impression so far as that he lives in a constant state of I-don't-give-a-fuck.

I'm not mad at it. The gun scene was particularly amusing. He seemed bored while doing it too. I like the way Siwan is playing the character.

First Impressions - Lee Jungha

So... the first person in this drama to catch my attention might seen weird to everyone, but it was this kid here:

I recognized him instantly but had no idea what from. He didn't show up as a cast member or have a wiki page. So I was like... maybe a cameo. I figured I would place him later.

A couple scenes later, and I was immediately bothered again when he popped back on the screen. Like... who the hell is this kid? Why do I know him?

So I went through the unfamous wiki-less track characters listed on wikipedia. And I found him but was super confused still... he seems to be no one. Not a kpop idol or actor or... wtf?

I went to one of those odd k-fan sites that has barely any info but is useful in a pinch. I'm sure you all know the ones I'm talking about. It confirmed that he hasn't done anything really. But I did find the answer: The Unit. 

For those who don't know, that was a failed survival show. It had a good premise--providing an opportunity for idols who debuted but didn't make it big. They could debut again. Cool.

It turned out that some of them hadn't debuted before though and took spots from people who had, so it kinda sucked. I think that's why it was a one-off rather than a recurring show. That's neither here no there though.

The above clip is where I knew the kid from. Lee Jungha auditioned with no dancing experience or singing experience. He was just energetic and cute... and made it through on charm alone. I wasn't super mad at that to be honest.

It was amusing to watch. Nice to see that he made it into an acting role. He's definitely got the charisma to be in front of the camera. He for sure isn't good enough to be an idol, but definitely a natural when not singing and dancing.

파이팅!

Classic Dramas & Getting Much Better at Korean (Still Trash Though)

 It has been quite a while since I posted anything. I was busy with work. I never stopped studying through! I'm doing well. Apparently, I speak Korean pretty well if I'm drunk af. Tested that out last night in between dancing my ass off and singing EXO songs loud enough to wake the neighbors.

Getting to the Classics

I've watched lots of dramas since my last post, obviously. But I'm making an effort to watch some of the really huge titles. Just recently, I watched Secret Garden (2010). 

It's a bit cheesy, but the male lead is pretty fun to watch. I like that the FL wasn't a weakling, which is still rare in dramas. I love Yun Sang-Hyun in absolutely everything though, so that was my favorite part for sure!

I watched Suspicious Partner, which is a newer classic that people seem to love. I agree. It was really good. I love a damaged male lead. Turns out, I just really like Ji Chang-Wook. Great bromance in that one too. Love a good bromance. I also watched him in Melting Me Softly right after because I enjoyed his performance.

Currently Watching

There were other new classics and whatnot that I watched. Right now, I'm watching another modern classic that people are obsessed with. Descendants of the Sun. I can see why people love it. Constant eye candy or not.

Man, the English acting is trash though. The bad guy? Please. Song Joong-Ki is better at acting in English than that dude. It's crazy. I have noticed that it's often the case with the native English speaking actors. They're awful in dramas. The scenery more than makes up for it though.

And another amazing bromance too. I seriously love those two together more than either of their love interest relationships. I could watch them drink together, run from a hoard of pissed off soldiers together, etc for hours.

In short, so far so good. I dig it. I'm on I think episode 13 or 14, and I'm still pretty much hooked. It's solid.

Studying

I re-downloaded a grammar app that was useless to me when I first started. It was too advanced for me, even though it's super basic. So I guess that is some level of improvement.

I've been practicing with that, cranking through vocab at a much more decent pace (up to 750 or so words now from the app--so probably over 1000 considering all sources). I'm getting faster at speaking in Korean as well. Working on it!

파이팅!