Letter #15: True Beauty

Good afternoon, Erin.
 
So…there are coincidences, and then there are coincidences so defiantly coincidental as to make me think I am, in fact, playing out a scene in someone else’s fiction. For example, that time my friend and I were (coincidentally) crushing on the same girl and went to the movies to distract ourselves from the smothering pangs of unrequited love—only for the girl to come bounding down the aisle of our exact movie theater to take a seat a couple of rows ahead of us. At a date and time that had been rescheduled because of world events that pushed the original release of the movie back a couple of weeks. And which ended with us meticulously timing our exit so as to avoid her spotting us, only to end up leaving from our side of the theater at the same time the girl was leaving her side, and, as such, meeting face to face in the hallway. Wherein she introduced us to her new boyfriend. Because of course.
 
Well, on a smaller scale, after briefly talking to you about True Beauty, on Wednesday, YouTube recommended me a Japanese music video, the plot for which was essentially about the VERY SPECIFIC thought I had about True Beauty that I most wanted to mention to you but deliberately didn’t because I didn’t want to ruin the surprise for the letter. As though it seemed to say: “Yes, Daryl—we know.”
 
Which…was a far more distressing way for my protagonist powers to reemerge than I would have hoped, but, hey, when has getting what I wanted ever meant being happy with the results?
 
Anyway, I’ll let you know when we get to it, so you can be properly underwhelmed by the whole thing.
 
And so—on to the theater!
 
1. First off, I want to call out the Extraordinary You cameos that I totally caught, because I am the world’s greatest detective:
A) Squid Guy as the cafeteria dude that Ju-kyung had a crush on
B) My man Do-hwa as the smarmy pitcher.
C) Bad Girl #1 as the leader of the “bring her to the roof” bullies
D) Y3 Member #1 as dude who hits on Older Sister, much to  Homeroom Teacher’s chagrin
E) Dan-oh and Kyung, as themselves, at the movies, throwing the entire premise of both shows into absolute chaos—or reinforcing the idea that the almighty “writer” is so incapable of creating new characters that he or she is reusing the same characters AT THE SAME TIME in multiple, concurrent comics. (Though, still, it was fun to see these two pop up.)
F) Nam-ju as…maybe himself, I dunno, this whole thing is as confusing as it is fun.
 
2. Second, ohmygodohmygodohmygod—it’s CHAE-RAN! How’s my hair? Is my collar straight? Is there anything on my face? Erin be honest do I need a Tic Tac???
 
2A. ...er, that is—hey, look, it’s Chae-ran. [casual wave]
 
2B. So, as you warned me back in ye olde Our Beloved Summer days, my dearest Chae-ran was a big ol’ meanie-pants, in this show, and goodness knows she needed a good bit more vengeance visited upon her than she ever got close to getting in this show. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that, in the Ep 1 shot where all the girls run to the back of the room to touch up their makeup during lunch, I sat up in my chair and said, “Oo, who’s that?” when they passed by her, and I actively hoped she’d be in a lot more of the show, whoever she was. Which she was. And…I mean, yikes, what a terrible person. A terrible, awful, horrible, absolute cutie.
 
2C. And, yes, I’d totally have voted for her for queen of instantgran, or whatever they were calling it. I mean, Chae-ran? More like bae-ran, am I right? (Or…wait, is “Bae-ran” an actual Korean name? [asks the google machine] Drat. I thought I nailed that joke. Um…okay, I’ll work on it.)
 
3. My favorite thing in the show was the romance between Older Sister and Homeroom Teacher. It was simultaneously adorable and hilarious, and every scene with the two of them was gold.
 
4. To that point, though, I want to emphasize how much I enjoyed the role-reversal element of their relationship. And not for any of the obvious reasons: I’m neither laughing at the “silliness” of nor cheering on the “norm-breaking” of subverting archetypal roles. Rather, I appreciate how it is neither of these things and both at the same time. Yes, it's played for laughs, but it's not so overdone that it ever becomes parody. The guy isn't girly, and the girl isn't butch. Every masculine trope she pulls seems entirely natural to her more aggressive, straightforward personality. And, because he's a quiet, intellectual guy who isn't sure he wants to get into a relationship, it makes perfect sense that he’d be play more the “unsure female romance lead” cliche. Watching them play off each other is funny, and—yes—funny because they’re playing against tropes, but it’s also very believable, because their actions are entirely consistent with their (already believable) characters. And, honestly, it's rare to see something like this played for grounded comedy.
 
4A. I mean…good heavens, that wedding.
 
5. Also: Older Sister is #BestGirl. Obviously. She’s hilarious.
 
6. Oh, wait—I liked this show. I forgot to say that.
 
7. The Princess from Hotel Del Luna (look, half the cast is named Soo—they're all getting nicknames) is just about the only girl to have been properly screwed over by the trick to make her skirt “shorter”--that is, by the way all the girls have their skirts pulled up high so that more leg is exposed. (Again, back when I was in Catholic school, the girls would roll the waist of their skirts, rather than pull the wait up higher.) Princess is the only one who doesn't have a vest or sweater to cover up that this is the method they're all using, and she looks silly with the waist of her skirt hiked up to her ribcage. Which bothered me, every time I saw her.
 
8. Speaking of Princess, her horrible father is the grumpy dad from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha! And, when I went to confirm this, I saw that he was also in My Name and My Mister. So he is right up there, I'm pretty sure, as...I think #1 on my list of k-drama actors I've seen in more than one thing. 'Cus Zumba Snake's only been in three shows. And I kinda don't like that.
 
9. Speaking of dads and My Mister, Ju-kyung's good-for-nothing dad is the main guy's good-for-nothing brother in My Mister. Though, in that, he has gray hair, and I don't think a single person regards him as particularly good looking.
 
10. One of the things I really appreciate about this show is how it tends not to drag anything out for too long. Regardless of whether a story beat is fresh or an overused contrived misunderstanding cliche, dramatic turns tend not to last more than an episode or two, which usually means there's not a lot of filling time as the episodes go on. Which is great.
 
11. As I noted in Extraordinary You, this writer has a strange talent for writing highly entertaining “bad” kids, because—as much as I loved the comedy stylings of Y3 and the Bad Girls—“Bad” Boy and his gaggle of mock-hoodlum friends are kind of hilarious. Just a gang of charmingly unthreatening ruffians.
 
12. Speaking of “Bad” Boy...golly, did he get the shortest possible end of the love triangle stick, huh. I mean, he doesn't show up until Ep 2, I think, and by Ep 4 my notes very clearly say: “they're gonna have to work overtime to make ‘Bad’ Boy a love rival, if that's the plan.” I almost don't know why they bothered with the love triangle conceit (and I am especially unclear on why they bothered with the whole “go on three dates with me” stuff at the end...but I'll get into that, later), given how front-loaded and clear-cut the “Nice” Guy x Ju-kyung romance was. Not only was the story telling us that this was the only way things could go, but Ju-kyung was also pretty unwaveringly in love with “Nice” Guy. No one else ever crossed her mind. Ever. Which sucks for “Bad” Boy, who was obviously the better character (and probably better actor)—or, at least, the character who had more going on in terms of his relationship with the romance storyline. I know “Nice” Guy had a lot of external things happening on his end, but he was always laser-focused on his feelings for Ju-kyung. Which is less interesting, in a lot of ways.
 
13. ...that said, I was absolutely on #TeamNiceGuy, when it came to the romance. Not because I particularly liked him or even liked him better than “Bad” Boy, but because I liked the structure of his part of the romance: they establish very early on that he likes her (and has since they were kids), undercutting all her efforts to change her appearance by both not being fooled by it AND not caring in either direction. (After all, it is not accident of writing that he kisses her for the first time when she is not in makeup.)
 
13A. Of note, though, is that I thought his one reaction face worked a lot better here than it did when he was Prince Dowon in Rookie Historian—which, as I mentioned to you, threw me for an absolute loop, come Ep 8, when he’s in the Joseon-era getup and I’d thought I’d downloaded the wrong show because what the heck was Prince Dowon doing on my screen. But, that aside, I really did think “Nice” Guy’s sort of simmering annoyance at the complexities of human interaction better suited the actor’s, um, acting style than the omni-naivety of Dowon. Which is probably why I liked him so much better, here.
 
14. Actually, this might be a good time to ask: why is she sometimes called Ju-bal? Is it a joke or nickname? The internet isn't helping me with this one, but my seonbae probably knows. She knows all the things, when it comes to this. And possibly geology. Or not. I mean, I dunno. We don't really get into that sort of stuff. But I'm sure that if anyone knows the answer to this, it's you.
 
15. Here's a fun detail: the day after Pitcher Do-hwa hits on Ju-kyung, “Nice” Guy comes into school wearing a baseball jacket. Hilarious.
 
16. I'm introducing a new segment to these letters called “Hooray for cliches!” in which I point out cliches employed by the show I found particularly satisfying, as a lover of cliches. To wit:
 
16A. Hooray for cliches! #1: characters get wet and therefore immediately fall ill. (As a bonus, there's that moment where Ju-kyung wonders if “Nice” Guy is out sick because he was momentarily out in the rain.)
 
17. I like how the show handles the sibling dynamics, in that they scrabble at each other constantly, but they'll change on a dime to team up against someone who newly enters the scene or rally to protect one another from outside harm.
 
18. There's a similar level of realism in the “Nice” Guy/”Bad” Boy dynamic, early on. The easiest example of this is when they tacitly agree that their squabble can be dropped so they can team up to rescue Ju-kyung from the bullies at karaoke.
 
19. Okay, okay—how’s this: “Chae-ran? More like ‘bae ran away with my heart!’” Better? It’s totes better, isn’t it. In fact, I’m going to assume you’re laughing right now. And someone’s saying, “What’s so funny?” and you can’t explain because you’re laughing so hard.
 
20. I'm a huge fan of how they decided to do the moment when “Bad” Boy understood he had a crush on Ju-kyung: that “roar!” moment when she's teasing him about the pattern on his boxers is just perfect. Because it's so adorkably her, isn't it. It's a moment where her true personality shines through (not that she altered personality when she was all made up, but she certainly wasn't willy-nilly letting out her casual, at-home personality), and that's what hooks him beyond the point of return. Which is especially great because it's also EXACTLY how these things happen, just a sudden shot out of nowhere, regardless of how you may or may not have felt about that person prior to that moment, and you're smitten. Really well done, I thought.
 
20A. I'm sure you've had this happen to you, that sudden heart-flutter realization about someone. (Like, I once looked up from taking books out of my school bag, in college, saw the girl sitting closest to me at our table, and immediately my eyes widened and all the breath left my lungs. A girl I had seen more than a few times already, to no great attraction, and then—WHAMMO—crush. And, fittingly, as I was taking the books out of my bag, I was thinking pleasantly to myself about how great it was to finally be without the burden of an unrequited crush.) But have you ever fallen in love with a person you pass on a train? For that couple of seconds, I mean, whether you’re both on trains or one is and the other is not, you make eye contact just as the train passes by. I find that people either know exactly what I mean or think it's the silliest thing they've ever heard. And so I wonder which you might be. Hmm…
 
21. Gosh, “Nice” Guy giving Ju-kyung the barrette was pretty good, huh.
 
21A. ...I mean, it immediately descends into Ju-kyung being a total moron and thinking he confesses to Princess the literal next day, but...still, it's a good scene. (Of course, in fairness to the show, she shows a similar lack of thoughtfulness, later on, after she knows that Princess likes “Nice” Guy, assuming he’s hitting on Princess because he doesn’t pointedly state to her every time he interacts with Princess. So, I guess this is a character trait of hers, which I guess means this is the writers being consistent.)
 
22. Hooray for cliches! #2: the love triangle gets stuck in the elevator. I legitimately cheered.
 
23. When “Nice” Guy and “Bad” Boy go to the baseball game looking for Ju-kyung, did you notice we got a little of the ol’ Red Oni/Blue Oni trope? That is, the stoic-seeming “Nice” Guy was dressed in blue, and the more overtly emotional(-seeming) “Bad” Boy was in red. And what’s interesting about this is that they use the full breadth of the trope in this one section: the Red Oni/Blue Oni are bitter rivals, but they can also offer each other a necessary balance to feel complete as a pair. And what do the boys do in this segment? They start out fighting each other, and then come together as brothers to “fight” a common enemy. And then they go back to fighting, after the game, but the point stands.
 
24. Y’know what else I was a fan of? Science Teacher’s crush on Homeroom Teacher.
 
25. I also thought Disciplinary Teacher was a hoot.
 
26. Something I think you’d enjoy: as I’m typing up this part of the letter, I am at my stuffing envelopes. So, like, thanks for handing off that karma to me. I even got a papercut. Look. [holds up finger]
 
27. I mentioned this to you, the other day, but this show very much reminded me of the anime/manga series My Little Monster, with its contentious male friends turning into rivals for the affection of a broadly less equally-attractive girl—and with the “bad boy” of the pair being both surprised by the development of his crush and, despite being both a more interesting character, and given no chance AT ALL to actually become a rival in the eyes of the girl (or the story overall). But I did not mention that the main male lead in the story (who, by the way, I frikkin’ hated) was called Haru.
 
27A. Only vaguely related to this: in the anime/manga series Nisekoi, Haru is the name of the main guy’s crush’s little sister, who went from being a character I desperately wanted removed from the series (because she was introduced, like, halfway through the story, when the series was very much treading water for seven or eight volumes) to potentially my pick for who should have won the guy’s heart.
 
27B. …um, spoiler alert for Nisekoi. I guess.
 
28. Hooray for cliches! #3: school trip episode! I mean, it’s no beach episode or hot springs episode, but any overnight stay is gonna lead to something worthwhile!
 
29. It’s convenient that the symbol for Swarovski is a swan, so “Nice” Guy can give Ju-kyung a thematically appropriate necklace as a gift AND the show can make some nice sponsorship money. (‘Cus she’s like the ugly duckling, which turns out to be a beautiful swan!)
 
30. Speaking of giving her the necklace, that was a pretty weaksauce kiss they shared. I know it’s their first and all, but…given the much better (though not particularly spicy) smooching that comes later in the series, they could have done more with it. Overall, though, I’d give the kissing grade as…passing, but still required to attend remedial classes to ensure continued success.
 
30A. And can we…I just…that fully-clothed sexytime “implication” scene near the end of the show, when she accidentally fell asleep in his apartment was…look, there’s a middle ground for this stuff, guys. I promise. (I think Thirty-Nine does it kinda okay, when the doctors hook up. Just, like, for example.)
 
31. Y’know, in defense of Ju-kyung (and even Dr. Main Girl from Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha), I’ve always found it fun to keep a relationship secret for at least a little while. It’s totally innocent, and knowing something no one else knows can be exciting. Plus, it’s like the two of you are in your own little world, while that’s going on, with no one asking questions or making assumptions or passing judgment because they don’t yet know they can. Of course, 90% of the time, your friends already know, because very few people are good enough at not seeming like something is up, but good friends will often pretend not to notice for your sake, which is basically just as good.
 
32. Actually, before I completely bounce from the school trip stuff, I want to take a moment to acknowledge one of the worst offenders for the plot really not wanting the love triangle to actually become a thing: poor “Bad” Boy getting up on stage to woo Ju-kyung with a ballad that really just makes her long for “Nice” Guy. I mean…ouch.
 
33. General question: how many frikkin’ coats does “Nice” Guy own?!
 
34. I…cannot believe the villain turn Princess took.
 
34A. …I mean, I can, of course, since the show does a generally very good job of setting up all of its eventual turns (even if some of them are a bit ham-fisted). Or, rather, I totally see why her character suddenly found herself crushing on “Nice” Guy after 10 years of apparently not-crushing on him. And I see how the cycle of bullying she was swept into by her abusive father influenced the eventual terrible things she did. But what I can’t believe about it is how, similar to “Bad” Boy not having a shot in hell with his crush, Princess was somehow unaware that she didn’t have a sliver of hope that, whatever attentions she received from “Nice” Guy, he was still delivering twice as much—and with more intensity—in Ju-kyung’s direction. I mean, she even sees it the whole time she’s crushing on him. So, while I can see all the pieces in place for what happens to take unfold, I don’t think I was ever on board with the execution of the steps that led there. If I’m explaining that properly. Which I’m probably not. Just know that, while I think the villain turn was narratively understandable, I felt the structural reality of Princess going terror-bully on Ju-kyung felt shakier than the sum of its parts would otherwise imply.
 
34B. But I’ll talk about that a little bit more, later on. Or, rather, about Princess a little more. (Though not about how FLIPPIN’ INSANE her throwing the necklace into the trash fire was. I mean, gosh, she’s totally going to be reincarnated as an evil, jealous princess, you just wait.)
 
35. When Younger Brother goes to the comic shop to have an excuse to hit on Go-woon (her name I remember, for who knows why), he pulls an, um, mature book off the shelf by accident and is flustered when he sees what it is. What’s particularly funny (for me) is that the book, “A Night with a Rough Wolf,” is the exact genre of smut a very good friend of mine would read. And, when I told her about the scene, she said, “I can’t say for sure that I’ve read literally that, but I really feel like I have.”
 
36. Also: Go-woon is awesome, and I love her.
 
37. Actually, speaking of Go-woon, I know this is a TV show, so we’re generally dealing with photogenic people anyway, but I found it kind of funny that the “ugly” girls (Ju-kyung, Go-woon, and Old Friend) are all obviously good-looking, even with their “ugly” makeup. Like not all to the same degree (Go-woon is kind of gorgeous, while Old Friend is pretty cute), but enough that, out of context, it would seem silly. Which is not a criticism of the show, mind you, just something I noted.
 
37A. And, for the record, I mostly found non-makeup Ju-kyung the more attractive version.
 
38. Another thing I’m a big fan of, with this show: not just that but how the boys resolve their differences and become friends, again.
 
39. I also really liked that moment when Younger Brother, having just been genuinely rejected by Go-woon, seeks comfort from “Bad” Boy, because both boys put their thoughts about the other aside to share acknowledge that unrequited love sucks and should probably be hit with sticks.
 
40. Here’s a fun detail: when Ju-kyung and “Nice” Guy are on their trip and feeding the sheep, the little plastic bowls they have the sheep food in are pink (for him) and teal (for her), which are the colors of the gym uniforms (repectively) in Extraordinary You. Coincidence? I dunno, maybe. But I noticed it.
 
41. Actually, speaking of their trip…lemme just say that you could not pay me to walk across the glass sections of the bridge/overlook thing, let along get on a f***ing swing at the edge of it. I’d be like, “Not worth it. We’re breaking up.”
 
41A. That said, despite desperately not wanting to, I would get on a ferris wheel. Once. And then, if asked a second time, I’d be like, “Not worth it. We’re breaking up. Also, you owe me $3.50 for the churro I bought for myself that you thought it would be adorable to eat while I wasn’t looking after you explicitly told me you didn’t want a churro. You know I hate that, Jennifer.”
 
42. Hooray for cliches! #3: “Get under the covers!” No one in his right mind would mistake two people huddled under a blanket for one person, but dammit if I don't love when it happens. (Plus it reminds me of Rent-a-Girlfriend, which is one of my favorite guilty pleasure series of all time. In that I am guilty of not thinking I should feel guilty about loving it.)
 
43. Y'know, I thought it was rough watching Ju-kyung get mistreated by Squid Guy and Chae-ran in Ep 1, but watching the mom watch the video of it was worse. Furious as the bullies made me, watching the mom all but die of shame at her failing to protect (and, worse, failing to even know she should have been protecting) her daughter...seeing her so full of pain and fury and despair...oof. 
 
43A. While we're on that topic: I know a lot of us (and I'm definitely included in this) were dicks, back when we were kids, but...man, bullies in these shows are something else. Even if you take away the extra layer of horror that cellphone video and social media sharing adds to these kinds of thing, these kids are sadists. I really, really want to think this is exaggerated for drama...but I'm guessing I'd be pretty naive, were I to do so. 
 
44. Okay, I admit I didn't think I would end the series thinking better of Bubbly Friend than of Princess, but...well, obviously, I did. I particularly liked her reaction to the video of Ju-kyung being bullied: she's upset that Ju-kyung lied—not because she's annoyed she got snookered by the makeup but because she's hurt that Ju-kyung thought she'd be so shallow and cruel as to reject her because she wasn't naturally gorgeous. (Extra points for Bubbly Friend's boyfriend for scolding their classmates who were taking the mockery too-too far. It's a little thing, but it showed that, while he could not stop the flood, he was willing to try even just a little.)
 
45. I absolutely DO NOT understand that two year time jump. Why...would...??? Like, the only benefit I can think of is that we skip to Older Sister's wedding and “Bad” Boy's debut. Which, okay, if you want to do an epilogue episode, I guess is fine. But all the drama that they try to create from having “Nice” Guy and Ju-kyung break up is absurd! Two years they were apart, and “Bad” Boy didn't get any closer to Ju-kyung in his absence, so it's not like there was ever any tension in who she was going to end up with. And as much as I understand “Nice” Guy's impulse to let Ju-kyung off the hook so that she isn't shackled to his having to be in the U.S., it rings hollow that his sudden declaration was the be-all/end-all of the matter. It was as if he called her to say the writer needed a time skip cliffhanger that could imply that "Bad" Boy and Ju-kyung got together and that he'd already accepted the payment for it to happen so she couldn't object to it. It's so stupid. Almost as stupid even bothering with the “give me three dates to try and win you over!” subplot for “Bad” Boy, who—even with “Nice” Guy gone for LITERAL YEARS—clearly had absolutely no shot at all of getting Ju-kyung to fall for him. I just don't understand why the show bothered with it at all. 
 
46. And you know what else is stupid? That Princess wasn't a lesbian.
 
46A. Okay, hear me out: early in the series, Bubbly Friend says that she wishes Princess was a dude because then they could date, and Princess looks more than a little quietly pleased to hear this. This IMMEDIATELY set off my yuri senses, and I then viewed the character through that very specific lens (i.e. that she was secretly into girls—likely crushing on Bubbly Friend and then switching over to Ju-kyung). And it made sense given everything else about her, too. I mean, she's got that, as all my girl-girl manga would put it, “princely” quality about her (read as: vaguely masculine). She's happy to physically assail anyone who crosses her more feminine friends. And, for all the “childhood friends!” talk, I assumed the only reason “Nice” Guy would talk to her was that, unlike literally every other girl in the school, he knew or sensed that he wasn't going to try to ask him out. (Which in fairness, lesbian or not, is a decent setup for her eventual, y'know, wanting to do exactly that, I guess.) The whole thing seemed pretty obvious to me. But I guess I was wrong. 
 
46B. Now, I checked with the internet, too, and I was a little disappointed to see that only the, um, let’s say predictable corner of show fans (cough tumblr cough cough) have anything to say on the subject. Because, y'know, they see this kind of stuff in pizza toppings, so I tend not to regard their analysis very highly. But, in this case, I think I agree that all the signs are there and, in fact, would make her character make a lot more sense—unless, as my research also showed, because her character was noticeably adjusted from how she was written in the original webtoon, those changes account for some signs not being signs but markers of adaptation adjustments.
 
46C. Still...my yuri senses don't lie! And, like, tell me that the whole incident where Princess runs into Ju-kyung without makeup on the school trip and the ensuing discussion about hiding who you really are was not the perfect moment for a reveal to the audience that she was hardcore crushing on Ju-kyung. It's there, dagnabbit—I AM THE WORLD'S GREATEST DETECTIVE!!!
 
47. Oh, and I forgot to mention: I was #TeamNiceGuy until I saw that “Bad” Boy ordered mint ice cream, so I switched sides. Prince Dowon? More like Prince don't-want, am I right? (Oh yeah—nailed it.)
 
Anyway. This was fun. And I can definitely see why you reflect so fondly on this series. (Or, perhaps, I can see why you might. I obviously don't know exactly why you do. Maybe it helped see you through a particularly irksome time in your life, and the fact that it's a pretty good show is just a bonus. Like, Suzuka is mostly quite bad, upon reflection, but that didn't stop me from watching it on repeat for months on end, when I was down. And I still love it, even all this time later.) And, as ever, I look forward to where you want to send me next.
 
Oh, to that end: spring break is coming up. Which (I hope) means a well-earned rest for you—but an absolute dearth of fun for me. So, we're going to have to figure out what the plan is for that week in advance, lest I spend my time wandering about of my own accord. And...well, you see what happens when I do that. I watch Space Sweepers. Obviously I can't be trusted with the Netflix unsupervised. (To say nothing of how much Twenty-Five, Twenty-One we'll have to discuss!)
 
In the meantime, stay warm—and watch out for marauders. 
 
--Daryl