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True Beauty korean drama review
Completed
True Beauty
0 people found this review helpful
by Selipanda
Mar 6, 2021
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

Enjoyable drama with a disappointing message

This drama is a feel good drama and always wants you to continue watching. I have to mention that this drama has everything that you would want in a drama. The misunderstandings, the rich, handsome male lead, the second male lead, the friendship and the family.

Personally, I have to say that even though I have already watched multiple dramas I still cannot get enough of the rise in tension when the episode is about to end. You do know the outcome sometimes but it just constantly keeps you on your toes.

All three leads in this drama did a good job of portraying their character. Lim Ju Kyeong played by Moon Ga Young shocked me at first because I only knew her from her other drama "Tempted". The range this woman has is amazing! Cha Eun Woo who played Lee Su Ho was a perfect fit for the cold jerk since he has that mysterious, arrogant vibe about him. Lastly, Han Seo Jun played by Hwang In Yeop did an excellent job. I was fascinated by his acting skills. I noticed that he really tried to act naturally and based on what a real person would do, especially with his facial expressions.
The other actors did a wonderful job as well but I have to say that those three stole the show, hihi.

However, the story in itself worries me. The basis of the entire story is that the female lead is "ugly". The only thing that they did to make her "ugly" is make her have red skin, some pimples and she has to wear glasses. This is what made me angry. Why exactly is a little bit of discoloration of the skin considered ugly? We are human beings and not puppets. Additionally, everybody has pimples. Especially, when you are a teenager. Why is that still considered "ugly"? Lastly, when exactly have glasses become a sign of "ugliness"? They are such a cool accessory and can make your face look different in a good way. Why exactly is a visual impairment considered such an "ugly" thing in society? Furthermore, when she is younger it is clearly visible that they made her eyebrows darker and thicker in an unrealistic way. Dark, thick eyebrows can be really cool and beautiful as well. In general, I just did not like this aspect of her being portrayed as ugly even though other people might struggle with the exact same issues but are beautiful.

(Spoilers from now on)

Later on in the series they seem to just accept everything quite easily only because she was bullied for it. However, we never got to the fact that she has been called ugly by everybody around her, even her own family, which should also be considered bullying. I am not saying you should go out and tell everybody they are beautiful if you do not think they are but just let people be if you do perceive them as ugly. Everybody has their own opinion and you know that if you force your own opinion on somebody else, they will be hurt if it is a negative thing. In general, I would have wanted this issue to be covered more in depth and it would have also been great to know why exactly the bullies had a problem with her other than her being ugly. A backstory for the bullies would have added addiitonal understanding of the problems that people have to face in society.

Further, the relationship between Lim Ju Kyeong and Lee Su Ho was not healthy. They even showed that they were not able to tell each other everything in that one scene where Lee Su Ho has so many things on his mind but only ends up saying that he loves her instead of talking about his issues. This is probably also the reason why I wanted to see her with Han Seo Jun since those two actually talked together about their feelings and what was on their minds. Regarding this, I would have wanted a portrayal of a healthier relationship between the two main leads. I believe it would have also made people pine less for Han Seo Jun but still enough that the story would not have been tainted.

Lastly, the fact that so many things involved physical fights without any major consequences made me worry. There were so many times that they got into a fight without any major consequences. This does not really set a good example for the younger audience. However, I do know that this is common in these kinds of dramas and somehow a part of what people want to see. I just think that the main message again that they told us is that you have to physically fight your bullies in order for them to leave you alone since that is the last scene we see of the bullies with Lim Ju Kyeong. It would have been nice to have a realistic way of dealing with the bullies instead of a fist fight to make the main character even stronger.

All in all, I enjoyed watching it because it had some funny scenes and the love triangle really put me on the edge of my seat this time around. For further dramas, I wish that they could add in a better message to the viewers. I enjoyed it because I knew that the things they did in this drama were very common for dramas but it should definitely be watched knowing that this is not how the world and society should be.
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