#hallyustar

Won Seok x Ho Dol (Love with Flaws)

10/10

Viki

Romantico

La direttrice di un albergo di lusso di Seul si trova a Cuba per affari. Qui incontrerà un ragazzo coreano, interpretato da un Park Bo-gum bello come il sole, decisamente molto più giovane di lei. I due passano dei momenti indimenticabili insieme a Cuba. Ma il destino li separerà per farli reincontrare in un modo inaspettato. Il protagonista, infatti, finisce per essere assunto proprio nell’albergo gestito dalla protagonista. Qui le cose si complicano perchè la protagonista è la figlia di un politico e l’ex-moglie di un importante uomo d’affari coreano. Insomma, per lei non esiste la privacy perchè è costantemente perseguitata dalla stampa e, naturalmente, una storia d’amore con un suo giovane dipendente di certo non è qualcosa che la stampa debba sapere.

Il loro amore sarà ostacolato da ogni fronte, ma si rivelerà molto più forte delle aspettative.

L’animo tenero e sognante del protagonista riuscirà a sciogliere il cuore della direttrice, che sarà costretta a fare scelte molto difficili per permettere all’uomo che ama di essere felice.

Questo drama è la perfetta descrizione di un amore dolce e tenero, ma anche molto profondo e sfidante.

Its Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) Cast: Kim Soo Hyun, Seo Ye Ji, and Oh Jung-Se 

Streaming Platform : Netflix

 Trigger Warnings (in the show)  : Fear, Violence, Abuse, Suicide, and Workplace Harassment* (I’ve decided to include trigger warnings in this review in order to emphasize their importance and hopefully encourage their use especially in entertainment since we only tend to rate movies and tv shows based on their maturity level, but fail to provide a disclaimer for trigger warnings)

Background:

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay stars Kim Soo Hyun (KSH) , Seo Ye Ji (SYJ), and Oh Jung Se, as well as a plethora of supporting characters, who honestly all did an amazing job with their roles. Kim Soo Hyun is one of the biggest stars in Korean entertainment. He’s had a successful career in both movies and tv shows. Some of his other well known shows are Moon Embracing the Sun, Love From Another Star, and Dream High. I’ve watched some of KSH’s dramas before and one notable aspect is that he’s one of the few mainstream Hallyu actors that I’ve seen who play characters that show who frequently challenge the norms of masculinity that are often exhibited by stereotypical male lead roles in other K-dramas ( e.g. Producers). I think SYJ’s previous roles (Lawless Lawyer, Save Me) also really challenge the gender roles imposed on women and the characters she plays are bold, confident, and intelligent women not afraid to challenge systems of oppression. Synopsis:

It’s Okay to Not Be Okay really is another drama that shows these two actors pushing themselves to once again play challenging and unconventional characters. Its Okay to Not Be Okay is advertised as a healing drama and its a touching tale that revolves around the lived of  Moon Gang-Tae, Moon Sang-Tae, and Ko Sun Yeong. Sang-Tae ( Oh Jeung Sae) is a thirty five year old man with autism, and Gang-Tae (KSH) is his younger brother and primary caregiver. Gang Tae also works as a nursing assistant for psychiatric hospitals. Because of a traumatic event that occurred in the past, Sang Tae suffers from PTSD and has an intense fear of butterflies. Due to this, the brothers are forced to move every spring to a new city, which has often come at the cost of happiness for both brothers as they struggle to settle down and live peaceful lives. Ko Mun Yeong ( SYJ) is a successful children’s book author with anti-social personality disorder, who has also had a traumatic childhood and also suffers from PTSD like symptoms on a daily basis. How these three characters meet and how they open the door for healing and choose to move on from their past experiences is what forms the crux of the story Pros: Depiction of Mental Health : I really want to applaud this show for bringing issues like co-dependency and normalizing the importance of self care for those who are often the primary caregivers for their loved ones. I also loved how the writers of the show also challenged many of the ableist narratives that our society puts forth about disabled individuals through the character of Sang -Tae. Seeing Sang Tae not only be a crucial main character for the show, but also showing his own journey of self empowerment and healing is refreshing to watch. Also, kudos to the show for destigmatizing many of the mental illnesses that Hollywood has unfortunately misrepresented like manic disorder, anti-social personality disorder, substance abuse, and multiple personality disorder.

Storybook Themes & Cinematography : Every episode on the show is named after a fairy tale and the ending and sometimes the beginning uses really creative animation and narration that beautifully convey the theme of every episode. Also, the show really employs this really beautiful contrast of dark and light throughout each episode and also has some really outstanding “gothic” architecture that I found to be really pleasant to watch. 

Character Development: Many K-dramas tend to be plot focused rather than character focused, which means that many of the characters are flat in that you don’t really see them grow and change into different versions of themselves. I really like how this drama really focused more on character and you could really see the growth in some of these characters and get to know them as though they were real people beyond simply being a medium through which a plot line  is carried out and fulfilled. 

CHEMISTRY!!! : The chemistry between Ko Mun Yeong and Gang-Tae in this show ( more towards the middle-end) literally gave me goosebumps. These two have more chemistry than the actual field of chemistry. The attraction between these two is stronger than an ionic bond y’all ( sorry for the chem references). I’ve never seen two people act more  in love with each other than these two. Its so convincing that thousands of fans worldwide ship these two together and I swear if these two ever end up getting married in real life, I would not be surprised. Their relationship is so wholesome and amazing and ahh!!! Cons: Depiction of Harassment: Mun Yeong’s interactions with Gang Tae come off as extremely problematic in the beginning of the show because a lot of her behavior could be classified as harassment. This is was especially pronounced in one scene in Episode 3 that was kind of a hot mess and that particular episode actually ended up with over 50 complaints sent to the Korean broadcasting regulatory committee.

Mun Yeong initially does come off as problematic, but many individuals have argued that her character was exhibiting usual characteristics of someone with ASPD, as ASPD affected individuals do struggle with understanding concepts like consent. While I don’t think this completely  justifies her behavior and I don’t think the show is trying to justify it either, I think that particular scene could have been shot in a better way and that the show could have benefitted from a disclaimer in the beginning of the episode clarifying that the creators don’t condone this behavior.   This scene definitely did throw me off first, but I really think seeing Mun Yeong work through her toxicity and trying to be a better person is worth sticking to the show. Depiction of Therapy: For a show that talks about mental illness, I would have loved to see more scenes showing  the characters (especially Mun Yeong) talking to the psychiatrist ( one of the main supporting characters) on the show. I understand that the creators wanted to focus on the romance fluff, but I think it was important for them to show that healing involves not only having a strong support network of family and friends, but also licensed mental health professionals.