My ID is Gangham Beauty

My ID is Gangham Beauty

7.5/10

My ID is Gingham Beauty

Genre:                                                   Episodes: 16                                      Year: 2018

Romance

Comedy

Synopsis:

Kang Mi Rae has always been teased and bullied because of her ugly appearance. Before entering university, Mi Rae has plastic surgery to become pretty in order to be able to live without being ridiculed. At university she meets Do Kyung Seok, who used to attend her old school and knows what she used to look like.

Cast:

Lim Soo Hyang (Kang Mi Rae)

Cha Eun Woo (Do Kyung Seok)

Jo Woo Ri (Hyung Soo Ah)

Kwak Dong Yeon (Yeon Woo Young)

Park Joo Mi (Na Hye Sung)

Min Do Hee (Oh Hyun Jung)

Park Yoo Na (Yoo Eun)

Kim Do Yeon (Jang Won Ho)

General Thoughts:

I always like when I go into a drama not not really expecting much and end up happily surprised. I thought this drama was going to be pretty light and fluffy, with some fairly standard inner-beauty commentary, but it turned out to have much more substance than that.

A cute, fun rom-com that also has a bit of meat to it? Score.

Every time I expected this drama to take the typical K-Drama route, it tended to go in a way that I didn’t think it would. The plot overall was pretty predictable, but the characters were what made this drama so interesting. To start with, we were given a great heroine. This drama could have totally fallen on its face if it didn’t have a decent heroine to back it up- as this whole story is basically the story of Mi Rae’s experiences.

She was so easy to love

Despite the premise of this story being centred around physical appearances, it was a smart move to not have Mi Rae focus solely on being pretty- she just wanted to be average. We started the story with Mi Rae being bullied and ostracised because of her appearance, and we really felt her heartbreak and her struggles- particularly when she thought that by losing weight she’d finally be accepted, only to learn that if it wasn’t her weight it was her face that people would make fun of. It was upsetting and confronting to watch, particularly as I’m sure we can all relate to Mi Rae’s character in some way. We were all at one point either Mi Rae, the ones who teased her, or the ones that turned a blind eye. Because this situation is one we all know goes on in our appearance-focused world, it made it that much more heartbreaking for our heroine. Early on we were rooting for Mi Rae and wanting her to find that normal life where she fit in that she so desperately wanted. Then we follow Mi Rae on her journey into her new life with her new face, and see just how much (or little) things change due her now attractive appearance.

Go for it, girl

What made Mi Rae even more relatable is that she wasn’t chasing perfection. Had Mi Rae got plastic surgery for the sole purpose of being pretty, she risked being a character that people wouldn’t be drawn to- as that desire would be perceived as shallow. Mi Rae believed her looks were what prevented her from having an ordinary life where people would treat her equally,

'Looks don't matter' says Mr. Handsome

and so she did what she thought she needed to do in order to be ‘normal’. And it’s just hard to dislike someone for wanting to fit in. Similarly, Kyung Seok is a character that could have been perceived badly, but actually ended up being charming and endearing. There’s something inherently annoying about attractive people saying looks aren’t important (like, would you still feel that way if you weren’t a 10/10?), but Kyung Seok’s disinterest in those around him did help in making it a bit more believable that this good looking dude didn’t really care about appearances. Why would he care about appearances when he doesn’t care about people in general? Kyung Seok’s character hit the sweet spot of being cool, yet approachable. He was more or less a passive observer of life, and only really disliked those who went out of their way to hurt others- such as Soo Ah and Chan Woo. I appreciated that our two leads weren’t strangers at the start of the story, as I would have found it hard to believe that Kyung Seok wouldn’t have cared what Mi Rae looked like had he never encountered her pre-surgery.

They're so cute and awkward

Their love story was sweet and simple, and I actually ended up enjoying how uncomplicated it was. The interest in their relationship came from watching them slowly discover their own, and then each others’ feelings, and I always find that much more enjoyable than when a third party tries to butt in. I ended up enjoying Soo Ah as an antagonist more because Kyung Seok saw right through her facade. It made Kyung Seok feel smart and switched on (unlike other K-Drama heroes) that he didn’t naively assume that everyone was nice.

I love that he saw straight through her bull

On the flip side, Mi Rae did kind of believe that everyone was nice, but even that was understandable as she’d spent so much of her life thinking that people would like her and treat her well if she was pretty, that she just assumed that would be the case. Even though I usually want a bit more substance in a university romance than what you get from a high school romance, I found that the innocence and awkwardness of Mi Rae and Kyung Seok’s relationship pretty sweet.

She gave 110%

Due to the fact that both of them were isolated from their peers growing up, it made sense that neither really knew how to go about being in a relationship- which made their baby steps cute rather than unbelievable. The chemistry between Cha Eun Woo and Lim Soo Hyang wasn’t exactly fireworks, but it was cute and bubbly in a way that made it fun to watch. I was impressed as a whole by Lim Soo Hyang’s acting. For starters, I think that this kind of role is one that an actress has to be very confident to take on. The makeup was incredible, and was done in such a way that it made Lim Soo Hyang look like she really might have had a whole lot of surgery (whereas when you see her with regular makeup she just looks far less plastic). With the topic of the drama being plastic surgery, it was obvious that no matter how she looked, people were going to talk about whether the leading actress had got any work done or not. Which must be pretty intimidating. Yet Lim Soo Hyang just dedicated herself completely to acting out her character the best she possibly could. She was sweet and funny, and I adored the hint of backbone that she gave Mi Rae. Even in Mi Rae’s moments of insecurity and low self esteem, Lim Soo Hyang made her character’s desire to adapt and change prevent her from becoming pathetic or irritating.

Her insecurity was understandable rather than annoying

On the other hand we have Cha Eun Woo. I can see why he was cast- he’s super handsome and does look kinda like the character from the webtoon. But no one is kidding themselves into thinking that he’s a good actor. Thankfully his character was one who didn’t really show his emotions to begin with, so it made it less noticeable, but it was still clear that he’s got a ways to go before he can properly handle a leading role- Lim Soo Hyang did all the heavy lifting here.

Very pretty, but pretty wooden

Cha Eun Woo is improving, don’t get me wrong (he’s come a looooong way from ‘To Be Continued’), but he’s just not quite there yet. Even so, he was more cute awkward than painfully bad. Kwak Dong Yeon was absolutely delightful as the sweet Sunbae, and he smashed his role. He turned his charm up to the max and delivered an endearing character. He’s an actor that improves with every drama he films, and he’s the type of actor where seeing him in a project makes me excited to see what he’ll do next (please give the boy a leading role now). Jo Woo Ri is interesting because I feel like for a drama that seemed pretty focused on getting actors’ physical appearances to match the webtoon characters, Jo Woo Ri didn’t really look like Soo Ah in the webtoon. That being said, she did act out the character’s duality well. She was able to flip believably between Soo Ah’s sweet public face, and manipulative real face, and made her character feel unique and set her apart from regular, obviously b*tchy second female leads. I think all the support actors did an amazing job rounding out the cast, and gave 100% percent to their characters, no matter the size of their role. One thing I always find with dramas, is that you can really tell when the cast members are having a fun time- it makes watching them all that more enjoyable.

This drama was so fun

‘Gangnam Beauty’ was one of those dramas where you can just tell that people were having a great time filming it. The actors felt calm and relaxed, and able to bring their best performances, and the energy was really buzzing in scenes that involved the extended cast. 

What Was Great:

Social Commentary:

The winning point of this drama is definitely the way it approached the construct of physical beauty. It’s not the first drama to give it’s heroine a makeover at the beginning so we can see how her life changes, but admittedly I do tend to shy away from these sorts of shows (‘Birth of a Beauty’, ‘200 Pound Beauty’).

He thought she was cute and fun pre-op

Because usually in these situations there’s someone on the receiving end of being called ugly. And as this show pointed out, beauty means different things to different people, and what some people find attractive/unattractive, others might not. I’ll never get over how angry I was at ‘Queen of the Ring’ for calling the insanely adorable Kim Seul Gi ugly. For starters, ‘Gangnam Beauty’ never showed Mi Rae’s face before she had surgery.

This worked so much better than I thought it would

It was an interesting choice, as it made filming a little trickier, but in the end I believe it was highly successful. We understood Mi Rae’s pain and self-loathing, but there was never any anger or resentment for some poor girl getting cast as ‘ugly’ Mi Rae. It also happily avoided the issue of young girls (who are the target audience for a drama like this) looking at the actress playing pre-surgery Mi Rae and finding similarities in their appearances and thus forming the idea that they are physically unappealing. It’s a big tick from me, as this is usually a sticking point I can’t get over in these transformation dramas. I expected this drama to be pretty light-hearted and for its final conclusion to be that it’s inner beauty that counts- which is a nice idea, but one that is ultimately incorrect. What I adored about ‘Gangnam Beauty’ is that it took the idea of beauty seriously and didn’t wash over the issue with the typical ‘it’s what’s on the inside that counts’. Instead, this drama took the stance that inner beauty is what should matter, but it’s not, so how do we deal with that? A much more realistic, thought provoking position. Because the fact is that if inner beauty is what mattered then Mi Rae would never have been bullied for her appearance in the first place.

Looks should matter less than personality, but the sad truth is that's just not the case

Rather than simply stating that the world should be one way, this drama explored how and why our world is the way it is. And it’s alarmingly shallow. People like appealing things, and want to possess appealing things. So if you’re not appealing, it stands to reason that people won’t like you. The interesting aspect that this drama explored is definitely the natural vs. man-made stance.

I enjoyed how there was various opinions on the matter

Soo Ah was well liked because she was pretty, and considered a ‘natural’ beauty. Mi Rae was also well liked because she was pretty, however there was an underlying feeling that Mi Rae was a bit of a cheater because she had used plastic surgery to become pretty. As a ‘Gangnam’ (plastic) beauty, Mi Rae wasn’t on the same ‘level’ as Soo Ah. The way the show expressed its commentary was through the views of each of its characters. Each character had a different view on what was pretty and how important being pretty was, and each character had a different view on plastic surgery- some thought it was fine to use surgery to become pretty while others viewed it as fake. It was the female characters that felt the most pressured to be pretty, with Mi Rae being an obvious example. However, the show also expressed the pressure through other characters such as Soo Ah and Tae Hee, who felt like the world expected them to be a certain level of attractive in order to be treated well. Interestingly enough, it was also the female characters who tended to be the most judgemental of each others' looks, which I also think rings a bit true to real life.

I appreciated that the drama didn't try to pin all women image issues on men

The boys tended to just focus on the pretty- they saw someone pretty and so they liked the pretty person. Feelings of jealousy, inadequacy and superiority were often brought in by the female characters- though with that being said Won Ho also had these types of feelings towards Kyung Sung, showing that it’s not necessarily a gender-based cycle with only one gender perpetuating unhealthy ideologies. I think that each viewer is going to come out of this drama with a different conclusion on what this drama focused on, as not only are there commentaries made by the drama, but these commentaries are impacted by our own views of beauty that we hold before we even go into this drama.

I could ramble for hours about the different topics and character reactions

By having so many characters expressing so many different views, the drama was able to look at the issue of beauty from several angles, and managed to get away without offending anyone (as far as I can tell). 

What Wasn’t:

Mentally Ill, Not Mean:

Oh K-Dramas- unless the antagonists are nothing short of pure evil they will always try to save them. The redemption arc for Soo Ah in this drama I found particularly irritating. I could see that we were going down this path, and I wasn’t all to happy with it. 

Some people can just be insecure and mean without needing a sob-story

The quick backstory that got thrown in during the last few episodes just wasn’t enough to make me care about this horrible girl at all. So she had a rough childhood- is that supposed to excuse all the sneaky, hurtful things she’s done since? I really think I would have preferred if the drama had kept her as a nasty girl who couldn’t stand others getting attention, rather than making her out to be some wounded kitten. Having watched ‘Sassy Go Go’ not too long ago (though admittedly it is a few years old now) really made the character of Soo Ah (even has the same name as the ‘Sassy’ antagonist) feel dated and not very intuitive. Quick turnaround for a villainous character by suddenly painting them in a sympathetic light- done, done, and done. I’ve seen it a million times. Yes, I understand that often the case is that the writer is expressing how all people have events that have shaped them, and that detrimental behaviours don’t necessarily come from a place of evil but also from a place of hurt. But having had this spin put on so many characters it’s starting to become a bit predictable. And predictable is (usually) boring. 

Saving the mean girl is getting a bit old now

I can tend to forgive these redemptions in high school dramas, because no one really wants to say that your life is set at 15, and those characters obviously have a lot of time to change and grow. And we can’t ignore the teenage angst that makes everyone kind of crazy in high school. However ‘Gangnam Beauty’ was set in university, and the characters were all on the cusp of adulthood. Soo Ah has passed the age where you can be forgiven by simply being a hurt person yourself. She’s an adult now, and so I didn’t give her the same slack I give child characters. 

Grow up, girl

I also didn’t appreciate that the show gave her a mental illness. I feel like this was a plot point that might have been revealed slower and in smaller pieces in the webtoon, but just got dumped on us at the end of the drama. All drama long Soo Ah has been horrible and manipulative, yet completely sane. Then suddenly with hardly any buildup she’s gone completely bonkers and is ready to commit suicide. Sigh. The suicide card. It’s a quick fix that I think a lot of dramas lean towards in order to create an easy, stress-free redemption for their antagonist. 

Not all b*tches are mentally ill you know

Unfortunately, I think this kind of representation can actually be quite damaging for those with actual mental illness. There’s already a lot of stigma around depression and anxiety, so I don’t really think this idea that those with mental illness are a ticking time bomb is really one that needs to be encouraged. The issue as a whole goes much further than this drama alone, but I can’t ignore ‘Gangnam Beauty’ for perpetuating the myth. In trying to create an easy out for one of their characters, the writers (most likely unknowingly), are encouraging the idea that those with depression/anxiety will at some point self-destruct. By trying to use mental illness as an excuse for harmful behaviours, the drama is also supporting the idea that people with mental illness tend to not be very nice, and take out their pain and personal issues on others. Which is just not true. I also didn’t appreciate that the show tried to make it seem as though Mi Rae was the only one who could save Soo Ah from her world of self-loathing- as if she was duty-bound to help her. 

Let her solve her own problems

The problem with this is that it then ends up being Mi Rae’s ‘fault’ if Soo Ah does end up harming herself. Which is an idea I absolutely hate. Sure, if someone has tied Soo Ah to some train tracks and Mi Rae has ample opportunity but chooses not to untie her,

Just focus on the cute not the crazy

I can buy that Mi Rae has partial responsibility in Soo Ah’s injury. However, I argue that forcing Mi Rae into a corner where she has to help the girl who has been harming her just so Soo Ah doesn’t personally choose to hurt herself is a dirty trick. It’s a personal choice and Mi Rae does not share the responsibility for that outcome. I find placing blame on others for self-harming behaviours is a dangerous practice and is more often than not an external excuse for an internal problem. The whole situation reeks of revenge-self-harm (I’m going to hurt myself so you’ll feel guilty about not treating me better), which is a topic that I personally think should only be touched on very carefully and very sensitively (and remains one of the reasons I refuse to watch the American hit ’13 Reasons Why’). For a drama that was so contemplative and thoughtful on the issue of physical appearance and self-esteem, it was painfully ignorant and insensitive in the way it handled the mental stability of the antagonist. The whole issue could have been avoided if they’d just made Soo Ah a nasty person and didn’t try to save her character in the last stage of the show.

Recommend?

Yes- for younger viewers or those who like sweet, innocent romances this is a great watch. 

An unexpected hit