REVIEW: My ID Is Gangnam Beauty
Rating:3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-watch value:2 out of 5 stars
Synopsis
*partially taken from Dramafever*
Aspiring perfumer Kang Mi Rae (Im Soo Hyang from IRIS 2) has been bullied her entire life for being “ugly.” Outspoken but also insecure, she gets plastic surgery and shows up to college as a new person. But the bullying doesn’t stop. She is instead teased for her new face and is disparagingly called “Gangnam Beauty.”
Fellow student Do Kyung Suk (Cha Eun Woo of Astro, The Best Hit) is wealthy, handsome, and intelligent. He appears to have everything and seems rather cold, but is actually caring. He falls for Kang Mi Rae and wants to show her that true beauty is on the inside.
Yeon Woo Young (Kwak Dong Yeon from Moonlight Drawn By Clouds) is a chemistry graduate student and teaching assistant. As he gets to know Kang Mi Rae, he also starts to care for her, seeing the person behind the looks.
Hyun Soo Ah (Jo Woo Ri from Go Go Waikiki) is the most popular and gorgeous girl in the college chemistry department. She seems like the nicest person alive, but looks can be deceiving.
As Do Kyung Suk helps Kang Mi Rae slowly gain confidence, she learns what true beauty really is. It’s the ultimate ugly duckling story, in full Gangnam style! My ID is Gangnam Beauty is based on the popular webtoon by Gi Maeng Gi.
Rambling
*beware of spoilers*
I liked this show for its deeper meaning and cute main couple, but the premise was problematic from the start. Mi-rae gets drastic plastic surgery to become beautiful, as she was mercilessly bullied in grade school and almost committed suicide once.
Here's the rub: I'm not sure if this show is arguing that plastic surgery is the cure-all for ugly people (because admittedly, everything seems to work out perfectly for our tortured, timid leading lady) OR if the show is arguing that outward beauty isn't everything, that it can't bring you fulfillment or happiness (based on Soo-ah's story arc). Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But is it? Either way, it leaves you with a slightly bitter taste in your mouth because of the mixed messages.
Here are some things I appreciated:
The perfect "natural beauty," their university's "goddess" was a closet bitch who cockblocked Mi-rae every chance she got. The way she manipulated all the guys was equally revolting and interesting to watch. The way she sweetly talked to everyone was sickening.
Soo-ah didn't actually like Kyung-suk romantically. She just wanted to possess him because being with him would boost her status. Him being with anyone else would lessen her somehow. It was a twisted way of thinking, and I didn't quite understand her obsession with trying to get with him when he so clearly thought she was shit, but it all clicked once Mi-rae and Kyung-suk came out as a couple.
Soo-ah was bulimic! I have literally never seen a K-drama that dealt with bulimia, but considering how rail-thin everyone is in Dramaland, it's a wonder why a character struggling with it hasn't been cooked up.
Our male lead saw right through Soo-ah's bull shit and he hated her outwardly. It might seem vicious, but I really liked this. Usually, if the second female lead is evil, the male lead is ignorant of it or finds out too late. Kyung-suk was freaking calling her out in public and it was glorious.
Mi-rae was still timid despite the night-and-day change in her looks. I thought this was rather believable. After having people react to you one way all your life and having to apologize for being yourself, the sudden change after the plastic surgery wouldn't mean that you suddenly have a different personality or have all the confidence. Having Mi-rae be humble, gentle, nervous, and just all-around nice fit her character quite well.
The Mission Impossible theme song in episode 14, when Mi-rae is stealthily trying to meet up with Kyung-suk for a date in the restaurant, was hilarious.
Hyun-Jung tells Woo-young at some point "I don't think I'd confess unless there was a 99% chance of success" - why go through all the trouble? And that spoke to me because "you miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
There is no redemption for Kyung-suk's father. He takes a swing at getting back together with the fabulous Hye-sung (Kyung-suk's mother) and she has none of it. She literally gets up and leaves. After lying to your kids about why their mother "abandoned" them and shaming your daughter for being a mediocre student and trying to express herself on her YouTube channel, that's what you get.
On that note, Tae-hee didn't give Tae-young a chance either after he came crawling back to her, asking for forgiveness and saying that he missed her. She didn't need him if he was so insecure about being with a big girl and jumped ship when Soo-ah showed just a tiny bit of interest. He wasn't serious about her; she was just something to pass the time until the next best thing came along. Self-respect trumps everything. Boy, byeeee
Here are some things that didn't sit well with me:
Soo-ah was abandoned by her parents and lives alone. How does she support herself? She seemed to only have one part-time job...? We never find out who the grandmother was that visited her either. Was that her real grandma?
Cha Eun-woo is beautiful, no doubt about that, but he had such limited range in facial expressions. Namely, he didn't smile. He did a lot of communicating with his eyes, but honestly, after seeing a lot of behind-the-scenes footage of our cast and how outgoing and happy Eun-woo is, I was disappointed not to see even a glimmer of that in Kyung-suk. Maybe that was the character, but I think Mi-rae deserved a gorgeous dude that didn't look like he was holding in a fart all the time.
The ridiculous school bullying and sexual harassment from their senior Kim Chan-woo was "handled" by Kyung-suk, who basically bullied him back and embarrassed him in such a way that he couldn't be taken seriously as a senior to the freshmen. I wish that there were more consequences for this character. He was obviously a sexual predator, with the way he cornered Mi-rae in the room at the beginning of the show. The vigilant Kyung-suk saves her there, too, but what about all the other unsuspecting girls?
On a smaller note, my sister walked by as I was watching an episode, and she commented "What's wrong with her face?" referring to Mi-rae, and I said, "OMG, she literally is supposed to have had plastic surgery!" Im Soo-hyang was perfectly cast as Mi-rae, but I think she's definitely gone under the knife.
The major conflict in the show was Mi-rae building enough confidence (e.g., realizing that she deserved to be loved) to be with Kyung-suk, so it wasn't like our main couple were together by episode 8 or 10. They took their time with it, inserting lots of funny or cute moments in between. The last two episodes were particularly sweet, and there were lots of "Awwww" moments between Kyung-suk and Mi-rae, as they are becoming more comfortable with each other (i.e., kissing, back-hugging). Lost it with Kyung-suk's line "This is a perfect spot to propose to you someday." <3
Lastly, the OST was proper fire! My favorite was this gem: