nanna_
This review may contain spoilers
Lacking in certain places but makes up for 10 times over
So, I'm not going to pretend that this show was just an extremely well done masterpiece with A+ acting and story. The leads are a bit stiff and show could easily fall into the sea of school romances with cute aloof boys and wide-eyed girls. However, My ID is Gangnam Beauty makes up for the overall averageness of the show in three major ways.
1. The message: It was actually so refreshing and mindblowing the way show handled beauty standards, especially ones unique to South Korea. Plastic surgery is everywhere, obviously, but South Korea is on another level. Our protagonist is one such person who decided to undergo the knife, but show never condemns protag for her actions. She is an adult who chose this for herself and, other than certain characters bullying her for it, there's no actual message that what she did was wrong or shameful. What the show does condemn are beauty standards and the pressure for women to attain something that is ultimately unfulfilling, whether you're conventionally attractive or not. That's the true beauty of the show, how it conveys that patriarchal standards of beauty are oppressive to all women, and digs into our psyches enough to evaluate our own worth and value.
2. 2nd Female Lead (Antagonist?): I actually dislike the tendency for kdramas to try to put a sloppy resolution by showing the antagonist's trauma and having that speak for their actions. I think it's oftentimes lazy and doesn't work with the story. Plus, just because bad actions are explainable doesn't make them excusable. But I felt like show actually did a successful character arc with Soo Ah. We're first presented with her as this total b*tch who is just a bad person, but slowly we see the cracks in her own facade. We see the different ways that patriarchal beauty standards affects her life. It's revealed Soo Ah is from a very poor family, and so the bitterness she feels toward Mi Rae (in her viewpoint) buying a pretty face, when for Soo Ah it's been a "blessing" and what's gotten her what she wanted in life, is more understandable (not excusable). I think women against women is one of the strongest weapons of the patriarchy and we see it happen in this show. But, even though Mi Rae and Soo Ah will never be close friends, there is a very satisfying resolution to their conflict, with both realizing just how much of a victim they both are to oppressive beauty standards. Soo Ah is a very well written, complex "antagonist" who brings so much depth to the show. Show could have gone down the route of just letting Soo Ah be a catty mean character; instead they showed how even conventionally pretty people are trapped and unhappy when a person's worth is connected to their beauty, even if it seemingly benefits them.
3. Wish fulfillment sans jerks: The reason I could never get into shows like Boys Over Flowers or Playful Kiss was just how much the male leads actually suck as people. Like, objectively. Doesn't mean I don't like the aloof boy trope, but it typically came with the as*hole boy trope. My ID is Gangnam Beauty gives me all my wish fulfillment with cute, smart, aloof male leads but one's that actually aren't complete jerks. The bare minimum is respecting your partner, and show met this standard on both ends of the relationship. Really appreciated how OTP treated one another. Even if the acting was a bit stiff, emotions still got through and was more or less believable. Most importantly, it was all very cute lol.
The above major factors are what made this show top 5 favorite kdramas for me. Outside of the OTP (which, I still very much like and squeal over despite its one note-ness), I think there was a lot of depth in the show with its characters and themes. Not that show didn't have its faults (why is Mi Rae's beauty suddenly validated because she gets a hot boyfriend? The incredibly poor taste diet product ad placement during Soo Ah's eating disorder), but overall I just appreciated immensely how show handled the complexity of self worth through appearance. And I could go way more into it and analyze the nuances of the show and its messages (whether it's promoting plastic surgery, toxic behavior displayed by certain characters, etc), but as a seasoned kdrama viewer, it was an enjoyable college romance that packed a bigger punch than expected. The deeper exploration of the relationship between beauty and worth, and how this creates a violent environment toward women, was just really refreshing to see handled in a romcom-type drama. With shows like True Beauty that touched on similar themes, I just feel like My ID is Gangnam Beauty handled the topic with more depth and complexity (still think True Beauty is cute, just didn't love it). Overall I enjoyed this show a lot and have already rewatched it 5 times over.
1. The message: It was actually so refreshing and mindblowing the way show handled beauty standards, especially ones unique to South Korea. Plastic surgery is everywhere, obviously, but South Korea is on another level. Our protagonist is one such person who decided to undergo the knife, but show never condemns protag for her actions. She is an adult who chose this for herself and, other than certain characters bullying her for it, there's no actual message that what she did was wrong or shameful. What the show does condemn are beauty standards and the pressure for women to attain something that is ultimately unfulfilling, whether you're conventionally attractive or not. That's the true beauty of the show, how it conveys that patriarchal standards of beauty are oppressive to all women, and digs into our psyches enough to evaluate our own worth and value.
2. 2nd Female Lead (Antagonist?): I actually dislike the tendency for kdramas to try to put a sloppy resolution by showing the antagonist's trauma and having that speak for their actions. I think it's oftentimes lazy and doesn't work with the story. Plus, just because bad actions are explainable doesn't make them excusable. But I felt like show actually did a successful character arc with Soo Ah. We're first presented with her as this total b*tch who is just a bad person, but slowly we see the cracks in her own facade. We see the different ways that patriarchal beauty standards affects her life. It's revealed Soo Ah is from a very poor family, and so the bitterness she feels toward Mi Rae (in her viewpoint) buying a pretty face, when for Soo Ah it's been a "blessing" and what's gotten her what she wanted in life, is more understandable (not excusable). I think women against women is one of the strongest weapons of the patriarchy and we see it happen in this show. But, even though Mi Rae and Soo Ah will never be close friends, there is a very satisfying resolution to their conflict, with both realizing just how much of a victim they both are to oppressive beauty standards. Soo Ah is a very well written, complex "antagonist" who brings so much depth to the show. Show could have gone down the route of just letting Soo Ah be a catty mean character; instead they showed how even conventionally pretty people are trapped and unhappy when a person's worth is connected to their beauty, even if it seemingly benefits them.
3. Wish fulfillment sans jerks: The reason I could never get into shows like Boys Over Flowers or Playful Kiss was just how much the male leads actually suck as people. Like, objectively. Doesn't mean I don't like the aloof boy trope, but it typically came with the as*hole boy trope. My ID is Gangnam Beauty gives me all my wish fulfillment with cute, smart, aloof male leads but one's that actually aren't complete jerks. The bare minimum is respecting your partner, and show met this standard on both ends of the relationship. Really appreciated how OTP treated one another. Even if the acting was a bit stiff, emotions still got through and was more or less believable. Most importantly, it was all very cute lol.
The above major factors are what made this show top 5 favorite kdramas for me. Outside of the OTP (which, I still very much like and squeal over despite its one note-ness), I think there was a lot of depth in the show with its characters and themes. Not that show didn't have its faults (why is Mi Rae's beauty suddenly validated because she gets a hot boyfriend? The incredibly poor taste diet product ad placement during Soo Ah's eating disorder), but overall I just appreciated immensely how show handled the complexity of self worth through appearance. And I could go way more into it and analyze the nuances of the show and its messages (whether it's promoting plastic surgery, toxic behavior displayed by certain characters, etc), but as a seasoned kdrama viewer, it was an enjoyable college romance that packed a bigger punch than expected. The deeper exploration of the relationship between beauty and worth, and how this creates a violent environment toward women, was just really refreshing to see handled in a romcom-type drama. With shows like True Beauty that touched on similar themes, I just feel like My ID is Gangnam Beauty handled the topic with more depth and complexity (still think True Beauty is cute, just didn't love it). Overall I enjoyed this show a lot and have already rewatched it 5 times over.
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