Greed ruined Sponsor
The female Sponsor cliché is extrapolated to the masculine side; a man with many problems is seduced by a businesswoman to be his escort. We are faced with a plot that has been carried out on other occasions and that has never reached the expectations of the public, as in the case of Call Boy (2018).The plot opens up a very complex horizon that can be summed up in two questions: how to carry out the synopsis and for what purpose. If the drama seeks to reflect a social issue, the easiest thing to do would have been to opt for drama or parody; on the other hand, if it seeks to entertain (as is the case for this drama), it must create a web of plots that have to keep the audience entertained, because such original plot without some additives will not keep the public fully invested. Hence the director offers us side-plots that are, honestly, very rushed and do not really have much sense. The way they are performed, written, and balanced makes it easy for the audience to lose track of what was the drama originally about.
I do not really have any problem when it comes to the cast - besides the scandal, of course. The acting was not over the top, but I think the cast was able to convey the required emotions to the public, which is actually the bare-minium. One thing that I really hated was the fact that the drama did not have many characters, yet it had a lot of side-plots. Only when two episodes remain until the finale, new characters suddenly pop off. I do love Han Chae Young, though.
All in all, a drama with such ideas within the original synopsis could have been very interesting. It has never been really explored when it comes to male escorts; yet this time too, the drama focuses too much on side-plots rather than the original problem to the point that, at the end of the day, what you are watching is just any other poorly written and badly directed drama about revenge. I would say do not waste your precious time on this drama, it does not explore the male-escort and female-sponsor relationship that it promises originally nor provides interesting and well-written side plots to keep you watching.
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The bitter taste of success, or how to sell yourself.
The drama was haotic at many points, the acting was debatable to say the least, but overall I liked it. The drama was interesting and I was curious about all the characters and their fates.Music did not play a big role in the drama. At least that was my impression. Many scenes took place with the same melodic note. There were very few songs, more instrumental pieces.
For Korean realities, I think that the drama touched on a controversial topic: ubiquitous sponsorship, i.e. prostitution among famous people.
I would like to watch a similar drama about the double lives of stars with a better scenario. Such stars who sell their body in exchange for fame. Without the embellished reality and naivety that are often in dramas. But it's probably only Netflix that would go for such an honest project. There was a lot of truth here, I suppose, but nonetheless, I think more could have been shown on this topic.
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Walking Down a Dark Hallway
"Why can't people have what they want? The things were all there to content everybody; yet everybody has the wrong thing."- Ford Madox Ford
Anyone who has seen this drama, will recognize it is like walking down a dark hallway. You can't be certain exactly where you are at any given moment, and whenever there is any light, it gets obscured again by another piece of the puzzle. I have no doubt that the scriptwriter's work was sabotaged by the production crew, backstage politics, censorship, and other such soul destroying production elements. At its heart, this drama was meant to be about how women can't have everything they want, no matter what kind of person they are. It's a grim idea, which I don't personally subscribe to, but it is the overarching theme here.
This series couldn't decide if it wanted to be a comedic satire, or a grim and serious drama. It followed "parasite" in its unfounded disdain of the wealthy. The comic relief came in the form of an eccentric rapist character, a social climber, and an informer "agent/ pimp". All extremely dark characters, made lighter by their comedic aspects, much like in "Parasite".
Our FL is introduced to us as an antagonist. She is a successful business woman who has never been in love. Her business is her baby. A baby she is forced to give up because she doesn't own the company, and she doesn't own the company because she is a woman. We are meant to equally dislike her because of her propensity for manipulation, and feel empathy for her on account of her traumatic life experiences and lack of love.
The SFL has everything that the FL wants, or feels she is missing in life. The SFL wants what the FL has. The ML, will side with whatever woman he feels sorry for, as he is only attracted to women in distress, and as soon as a woman doesn't seem like a victim, he loses all interest in them. The ML has power, but is missing love, the SML has love, but wants power. The SML is made out to be a victim of the showbiz pimp character, even though he plainly agreed to and sought the help of the showbiz pimp in the first place.
Therein lies the real problem with this drama. It doesn't know what it wants to say.
It wants to be another "Parasite", about the rich being just as toxic as the poor, but in Parasite, the rich didn't do anything innately evil or wrong, whereas the poor were absolutely morally bankrupt, and blamed the rich for being so!
The most boring characters are the static "good" victims. The rape victim/ crazy girlfriend, the little boy whose parents become too busy to be with him all day (fuck off, little boy), and the sister of the SML who needs to stop getting involved with her brother's life, and doesn't have a life if her own. The meek victim characters were so obnoxious, and the FL was the only one with enough backbone to tell them to fuck off, as she should. She even tells her younger brother, another victim character to fuck off by the end of the series.
Through flashbacks, it is slowly revealed that all the main characters are victims of something. Some are victims of their own choices (like the SML and SFL), and some are victims of circumstances (like the FL and ML). Within the last two episodes, the story comes right off the rails entirely, so that it becomes absolutely ridiculous, in its "ambiguous" finale. Was the FL equal parts a victim and a perpetrator? Well, that seems to be the suggestion. She is revealed to be a Lady Macbeth character in relation to her brother. What a great character, wasted in a confused and rushed storyline. I hope to see more of this actress, and the actress that played the comic side character (David's ex-wife).
I hope this isn't too strange of a comment, but, I couldn't take my eyes off the FL's mouth. I started to suspect she was wearing dentures, because she talks through her teeth. She doesn't open her mouth when she speaks, which, I'm just not used to seeing that, so it was very strange to me. It suited her character, with that closed armour, afraid of letting human emotion in or out. Anyway, I just couldn't help but make a comment about it. She's a beautiful woman, who was absolutely great in this!
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Could've been worse....
The first 15-20 minutes of the first episode were genuinely bad that it immediately eliminated any diluted expectations one might have had. Dodgy edits, poor direction with abysmal shot compositions, dead sound design, trash dialogue exchanges, and an inept delusional writer who thinks they can write more than two coherent sentences. When taking everything into consideration, no wonder this was broadcasted on MBN. I fault no one but the cast who, which holds a handful of recognizable faces, to partake in this insult of a drama.Was this review helpful to you?
