Currently Watching: She Was Pretty

Currently Watching:

She Was Pretty

WARNING: the article contains minor spoilers, predictions and long rants. 

If you have not watched the first four episodes, you may want to stop reading now.

The design credit for the cover pics goes to Mizu1987, check out the Viki page too.

The reason why I started watching this drama is simple - I'm a sucker for such and similar plots - a girl who used to be pretty and popular loses her beauty and popularity due to some difficult circumstances while the boy, who used to be unattractive and insecure, grows up to be a successful and handsome man. 

However, the story is far more complex than this short description reveals and that is why I have mixed feelings about this drama at the moment. I have a tendency to try to read deeper into the story when I get interested in it, so pardon my rants in advance.

Meet Kim Hye Jin, a woman in her 30s who has lost all grace and beauty after her family's publishing company went bankrupt, so she has been trying to get a full time job ever since. Now, you will probably find it ridiculous that a woman with thick curly hair, skin flushing and a terrible sense of fashion would be considered sooo ugly, that she would be looked down upon by almost everyone, but yes, that is the case in this drama. In some other countries this would be considered only eccentric, but let's not forget the Asian model of beauty and the way they exaggerate things. Furthermore, this drama is supposed to be humorous, so they are trying to exaggerate things a bit (or I hope so).

So, Kim Hye Jin has it bad from the start. She cannot stay employed longer than 3 months and she just accepts her poor meaningless life. The reason why I think she cannot stay employed longer than three months IMO is because she simply does not take her jobs seriously or she daydreams or just acts as a drama queen and blows up every chance of having a steady job. Which is ironic due to the fact that she is desperate for the full time job and a career of her own.

Besides her lack of a commitment at a job, another reason for her insecurity, lack of self-esteem and confidence, is her appearance. A girl who used to be pretty and popular in school, is now a woman with frizzy hair, a bad case of flushing, and a horrendous sense of fashion. Now you would ask, "Well, why doesn't she visit a good salon, and change her style?" Because she does not want to, and because then she would not be considered ugly and the writers would not know what to write about. 

I am also afraid that there is a belief that persons who do not care about their appearance are supposed to be nicer and more kindhearted than others, but that is just a misconception. Taking care of your skin, hair and style is very important, and the fact that she is oblivious to that (but at the same time is depressed for not being attractive) is really sad. I'm hoping for both physical and character development.

The only bright star in her life at the moment is her roommate and "wifey" Min Ha Ri.

Min Ha Ri is her childhood friend, a current roommate and best friend. She is the exact opposite - beautiful, has a steady job, fashionable and confident. I loved their relationship in the first episode, they were so open and relaxed in each others company. A sisterhood is strong in this one!

It becomes obvious that Ha Ri is not on good terms with her rich family and that she feels grateful to Hye Jin for being her roommate. 

However, it is also obvious that Ha Ri does not mind Hye Jin's lack of confidence and that is either because she has already tried and failed to help her friend, or she simply enjoys unconsciously being the one in the spotlight. How come such a beautiful woman with perfect make-up and style hasn't come with an idea to let her friend into the magical world of cosmetics, make-up and clothes? Because she has already tried or because she does not want to? Having an unattractive friend makes your beauty pop out even more. Let's wait and see.

Everything changes when Ji Seong Jun, Hye Jin's fatty childhood friend and first love contacts her and asks her for a meet up because he is after a long time returning to Korea from the USA. It's just that... he is not anymore a fatty and insecure kid but a successful and handsome art director. We can see from ep 1 that he is still obsessed with Hye Jin and still idolizes her, because she is the only one who stood by his side when they were in school and the only one whom he could rely on. 

Ji Seong Jun is now a very strict employee and someone who does not tolerate weakness - probably because he has come a long way from being a coward and thus he despises anyone who reminds him of his former self. 

However, under all that superior, handsome and successful exterior lies something troubling - a hint at his insecurity and fear of becoming his unattractive old self once again (the fridge full of water bottles only). Would that mean that he is even stricter with himself? Is there some medical condition behind his random bumping into walls/things and long sight? Has his battle with becoming better maybe impaired him in some way? Sometimes when you try to make yourself perfect, you end up being more imperfect than before.

It's just that... he does not know that Hye Jin's family went bankrupt and that she has become the person he used to be - unattractive, insecure and with a low self-esteem. 

(Seong Jun and Hye Jin when they were kids and friends before he moved to the USA)

So what happens?

Well, let's just say that Kim Hye Jin makes the hell out of her life for being insecure and that is when everything goes downhill. 

The only positive trait about her character is the fact that she really is hard-working (when she does not panic and lose her focus at least). She manages to find a job at the management department and gets transferred to the editing team which is the core of the publishing company and the Most magazine. 

However, when she goes to meet Seong Jun and realizes that he is not the loser that he used to be and the one that she has become, she panics, runs away and forces her roommate Ha Ri to take her place, pretend to be her and go out with him, believing that it is only for one night and that they would never see each other again. Of course, that is not what happens in a dramaland (everyone always meets again, even if it is impossible).

Believing that she is the real Hye Jin, Seon Jun treats Ha Ri with the utmost care and affection, which of course, results in her falling slowly in love with him. That is not surprising, having in mind that Ha Ri says on many occasions that she does not believe in true love because there was not even one man for whom she felt the real affection, so she starts melting when Seon Jun starts showering her with cute gestures.

However, even the bigger complication is that Seong Jun happens to be the new chief editor of the department where Hye Jin works as a freelancer which results in her hiding from him and shrieking all the time like a crazy person which is really annoying and which makes her look like an incompetent fool in front of him. Because of that, he starts really despising Hye Jin as her superior and bashing her, and believe me, I can see why. Hye Jin is really annoying - she does not take her job seriously, and the only thing she thinks about is that he does not find out that she is the real Hye Jin and not her roommate. Her incompetence drives him crazy, including her name that he thinks is too good for her. 

Sooo, since Seong Jun is falling for Ha Ri (I mean, they are spending so much time together), what will happen when he finds out who the real Hye Jin is? He will just switch to her? Seriously? That would be such a fail.

- The relationship between Hye Jin and Ha Ri (at the beginning at least) because it looks really genuine.

- The possibility of Hye Jin maturing and changing herself for better (in both physical and psychological sense). A character development is really needed in here, but let's not forget that the physical appearance is important too.

- The handsome Seong Jun and Kim Shin Hyeok (Hye Jin's funny coworker who is slowly falling for her). The eye candies may not save the drama, but they are still a plus.

- Some scenes are really funny (e.g. butt slapping), but those are in minority; you might not survive the transfer of embarrassment and annoyance.

- I love the crazy ahjumma who speaks random Italian.

- The way Hye Jin is looked upon by everyone imaginable (strangers, employees, coworkers, etc); but what is even WORSE is that she just accepts every rude remark and abuse with a nod and without any complaint. 

- Ha Ri who starts lying to Hye Jin because she does not want to worry her and starts seeing Seong Jun in secret, but we all know that the true reason is because she has fallen for Seong Jun and that she is afraid that would hurt Hye Jin and make her mad. Whatever the reason, you do not lie to your friends about such issues, ever!

- The writing/directing/whatever so far; there are too many absurd and pointless scenes which are only the fillers, they could have worked on character developments instead.

- The way Hye Jin is conservative - she yells at Ha Ri at the beginning for having caught her kissing some guy in his car (as if that is a capital crime), while she does even worse things in the public by shrieking, yelling and embarrassing herself all the time. And it's not even funny. I believe that her personality is waaay worse than her looks; because the worst crime you can do to yourself is treat yourself bad and without any respect. People tend to separate personality from physical looks, but both are very important - not only for one's confidence, but also for a healthy relationship.

• - What do you think about this drama?
• - Do you like it or dislike it so far and why? 
• - What do you think will happen in the upcoming episodes?