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dangermousieSo, I am all caught up with My Fair Lady (a.k.a. Taking Care of the Lady) - it really is like popcorn, easy to eat and before you know you've stuffed yourself, but ultimately on the empty side.
There are a number of positives (bright colors, snappy pace so unusual in kdramas, tendency not to drag out misunderstandings, the chemistry between the leads) but a number of issues, the biggest of which is that I cannot truly give my heart to a drama whose heroine evokes indifference at best, with my main emotion towards her being of mild irritation occasionally flaring into wild dislike.
Korean dramas, for me, are distinguished by the fact that I love their heroines - they can range from strong, emotionally damaged warriors (Damo) to goofy, good-natured fools (Hong Gil Dong) to calm and womanly (Beautiful Days) to blunt and tomboyish (Coffee Prince) to ambitious and successful (Worlds Within) to brittle rich bitch (Snow Queen) but I almost always fall in love with them.
But this is not the case here - Kang Haena is a heroine that does not work for me, whether because of the acting or the writing/directing. (I am inclined to put the blame on the latter - I have adored Yoon Eun Hye in everything else I've seen her in, so it is unlikely to be her). And I can see why the ratings are good but not as spectacular as expected. This is a drama directed at a female audience and the heroine is not relatable - I cannot relate to Haena at all, and I imagine I am not the only one. (In its gender-swapped equivalent BOF, Jandi was a good stand-in for a large portion of its female teen audience, after all).
The problem with the heroine being unsatisfactory is particularly large for MFL because Haena is the protagonist. If the heroine of e.g. Kingdom of the Winds or Time between Dong and Wolf was unsatisfactory (I hasten to add I liked them both), it would not matter as much - both dramas center around other issues and one could watch Muhyul fight his destiny and build a kingdom or Sae Hyun infiltrate the mob and seek out his mother's killer very well while not loving the heroine who was, while important, not the pivot of the whole story. But here, it's Haena's story and it does not work for me.
I think a lot of it stems from the writing, again - none of the characters feel real. To me, it's a kdrama strength that however unreal the situations and, occasionally, the villains, I can imagine the protagonists as real, existing people. Frex, Something Happened in Bali might be an ultimate tragic melodrama but Jae Min and Sung Joo feel like real people. I can imagine walking by them on a street somewhere. The nicey-nice hero of Sweet 18 and the poisonous second queen of Princess Ja Myung Go both feel real.
But none of the characters, with the possible exception of Moon Chae Won's character, feel like real people in MFL. Haena is a construct, a caricature, a collection of traits. And it's not just her, it's everyone. I adore Yoon Sang Hyun's character Dong Chan, but he does not feel like a real person - there is not enough of him out there for him to feel a human and not a character with a collection of scenes. He nails all his scenes but there is not enough cohesion for him to work with. And the less said about Jung Il Woo's nice lawyer, the better - the character is so thin, I am afraid he will disappear if he turns sideways.
It is not the unrealistic set-up that is to blame - once again, take Yoon Eun Hye's own Goong - within a highly improbable, even ridiculous premise, her Chae Gyung was an all-to-real, relatable, human girl. I don't know what it is about MFL - maybe because it's highly stylized? A stylized story about rich madcaps and the sane butler with a built-in inability for the audience to care for the characters because they do not feel real is problematic outside of screwball genius comedy classic My Man Godfrey, but that is the thing - Godfrey is a razor-sharp and short movie. MFL has to drag this out for a minimum of 16 eps and is not nearly as sharp.
That is the problem - I find it hard to connect not just with Haena but with all of them. The only reason I felt anything at all for anyone before the scene at the end of ep 9 (about which more below) is because Yoon Sang Hyun has such ridiculously expressive eyes - I felt for him pining for Haena even if my rational self found such feelings not based on any believable foundation established by the drama ("she is hot" does not an epic love make). But that's the thing - it just makes me think of how effective YSH could have been if the drama was not working against him. Kdramas are usually good for making me believe that the main couple are destined only for each other, why they love each other, etc (take Beautiful Days - the reason the rich, brusque, not unkind Minchul goes for our poor and relatively plain heroine is because she is kind and maternal and rock-steady and warm, all the things he has never had and wants - he can go to her for understanding and comfort. She likes him because she can mother him but also because he is so competent and able to take care of her as well), but here I would much prefer Dong Chan with the secondary girl and I have yet to fathom why he likes Haena other than her hotness (I am mildly less confused why she likes him - he is helpful and reliable and becomes a friend even if her warming up to him this fast is not really believable as well). I could buy it - I could rationalize it away in many ways but that's the thing - that would be me spinning in empty air, it wouldn't be based on any solid given drama underpinnings.
That moment at the end of episode 9, the one in the hallway of Dong Chan's former host club was the first moment I felt truly emotionally connected to the characters - their mutual hurt and anger and love were pretty palpable. It really makes me wish this was better written - the actors can deliver in spades when asked! I do like it better going forward from that moment in general - maybe because the balance of power has shifted and they are more man/woman, or even employee/employer and not servant/master. It's sort of a re-evaluation and a different line in the sand. Because while I have no objection to one party in a couple being an employee in the other's company, I am very uncomfortable with the power dynamics where one party is literally the other's servant (unless it's in a historical drama where social roles were predetermined and inescapable). But from now on, The whole "carpet for you to walk on" aspect is gone, and I like that.
So yes, enjoyable but, sadly, it doesn't ring emotionally real, in characters or many interactions between them. And an emotionally dishonest drama is not a great thing to get used to.
On a semi-related note, I gave up Heading to the Ground. The best thing that can be said about it is that it's innocuous and when I have personal life, a stack of books to be read that is 3 meters tall, and a stack of dvds to watch almost that high, that is not enough.
There are a number of positives (bright colors, snappy pace so unusual in kdramas, tendency not to drag out misunderstandings, the chemistry between the leads) but a number of issues, the biggest of which is that I cannot truly give my heart to a drama whose heroine evokes indifference at best, with my main emotion towards her being of mild irritation occasionally flaring into wild dislike.
Korean dramas, for me, are distinguished by the fact that I love their heroines - they can range from strong, emotionally damaged warriors (Damo) to goofy, good-natured fools (Hong Gil Dong) to calm and womanly (Beautiful Days) to blunt and tomboyish (Coffee Prince) to ambitious and successful (Worlds Within) to brittle rich bitch (Snow Queen) but I almost always fall in love with them.
But this is not the case here - Kang Haena is a heroine that does not work for me, whether because of the acting or the writing/directing. (I am inclined to put the blame on the latter - I have adored Yoon Eun Hye in everything else I've seen her in, so it is unlikely to be her). And I can see why the ratings are good but not as spectacular as expected. This is a drama directed at a female audience and the heroine is not relatable - I cannot relate to Haena at all, and I imagine I am not the only one. (In its gender-swapped equivalent BOF, Jandi was a good stand-in for a large portion of its female teen audience, after all).
The problem with the heroine being unsatisfactory is particularly large for MFL because Haena is the protagonist. If the heroine of e.g. Kingdom of the Winds or Time between Dong and Wolf was unsatisfactory (I hasten to add I liked them both), it would not matter as much - both dramas center around other issues and one could watch Muhyul fight his destiny and build a kingdom or Sae Hyun infiltrate the mob and seek out his mother's killer very well while not loving the heroine who was, while important, not the pivot of the whole story. But here, it's Haena's story and it does not work for me.
I think a lot of it stems from the writing, again - none of the characters feel real. To me, it's a kdrama strength that however unreal the situations and, occasionally, the villains, I can imagine the protagonists as real, existing people. Frex, Something Happened in Bali might be an ultimate tragic melodrama but Jae Min and Sung Joo feel like real people. I can imagine walking by them on a street somewhere. The nicey-nice hero of Sweet 18 and the poisonous second queen of Princess Ja Myung Go both feel real.
But none of the characters, with the possible exception of Moon Chae Won's character, feel like real people in MFL. Haena is a construct, a caricature, a collection of traits. And it's not just her, it's everyone. I adore Yoon Sang Hyun's character Dong Chan, but he does not feel like a real person - there is not enough of him out there for him to feel a human and not a character with a collection of scenes. He nails all his scenes but there is not enough cohesion for him to work with. And the less said about Jung Il Woo's nice lawyer, the better - the character is so thin, I am afraid he will disappear if he turns sideways.
It is not the unrealistic set-up that is to blame - once again, take Yoon Eun Hye's own Goong - within a highly improbable, even ridiculous premise, her Chae Gyung was an all-to-real, relatable, human girl. I don't know what it is about MFL - maybe because it's highly stylized? A stylized story about rich madcaps and the sane butler with a built-in inability for the audience to care for the characters because they do not feel real is problematic outside of screwball genius comedy classic My Man Godfrey, but that is the thing - Godfrey is a razor-sharp and short movie. MFL has to drag this out for a minimum of 16 eps and is not nearly as sharp.
That is the problem - I find it hard to connect not just with Haena but with all of them. The only reason I felt anything at all for anyone before the scene at the end of ep 9 (about which more below) is because Yoon Sang Hyun has such ridiculously expressive eyes - I felt for him pining for Haena even if my rational self found such feelings not based on any believable foundation established by the drama ("she is hot" does not an epic love make). But that's the thing - it just makes me think of how effective YSH could have been if the drama was not working against him. Kdramas are usually good for making me believe that the main couple are destined only for each other, why they love each other, etc (take Beautiful Days - the reason the rich, brusque, not unkind Minchul goes for our poor and relatively plain heroine is because she is kind and maternal and rock-steady and warm, all the things he has never had and wants - he can go to her for understanding and comfort. She likes him because she can mother him but also because he is so competent and able to take care of her as well), but here I would much prefer Dong Chan with the secondary girl and I have yet to fathom why he likes Haena other than her hotness (I am mildly less confused why she likes him - he is helpful and reliable and becomes a friend even if her warming up to him this fast is not really believable as well). I could buy it - I could rationalize it away in many ways but that's the thing - that would be me spinning in empty air, it wouldn't be based on any solid given drama underpinnings.
That moment at the end of episode 9, the one in the hallway of Dong Chan's former host club was the first moment I felt truly emotionally connected to the characters - their mutual hurt and anger and love were pretty palpable. It really makes me wish this was better written - the actors can deliver in spades when asked! I do like it better going forward from that moment in general - maybe because the balance of power has shifted and they are more man/woman, or even employee/employer and not servant/master. It's sort of a re-evaluation and a different line in the sand. Because while I have no objection to one party in a couple being an employee in the other's company, I am very uncomfortable with the power dynamics where one party is literally the other's servant (unless it's in a historical drama where social roles were predetermined and inescapable). But from now on, The whole "carpet for you to walk on" aspect is gone, and I like that.
So yes, enjoyable but, sadly, it doesn't ring emotionally real, in characters or many interactions between them. And an emotionally dishonest drama is not a great thing to get used to.
On a semi-related note, I gave up Heading to the Ground. The best thing that can be said about it is that it's innocuous and when I have personal life, a stack of books to be read that is 3 meters tall, and a stack of dvds to watch almost that high, that is not enough.
