Further thoughts on Personal Taste
Apr. 29th, 2010 10:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieHave a little broody Jin Ho, to start with:
You know, by the end of ep 7 it hit me - I didn't hate Chang Ryul (Gae-In's ex) any more. Don't get me wrong - I don't like him and don't want him with Gae-In but he is just so useless, it seems a waste of time to hate him. He may have more social standing or money than Jin Ho but Jin Ho is 100% grown-up and his own person while Chang Ryul is just his father's puppet with no ideas of his own or any sense of will. Plus, he was stupid enough to let go of Gae-In, who was innocent enough not to see through to the pathetic man beneath the worldly mask. Let me put it this way - once his father croaks, he is going to inevitably lose the architecture business due to lack of any ability or perserverance and spend all his remaining money on a series of bitter divorces. I don't feel like hating him because life is going to take care of that.
But In-Hee, Gae-In's former friend? Oh, her I hate. For one thing, it's because her betrayal is so much deeper - Chang Ryul and Gae-In were dating for what - months? While In-Hee and Gae-In were friends for ten years. I repeat - ten years. Gae-In took her in when In-Hee's parents died. The scope of betrayal is so much greater. And an even bigger factor is that for Chang Ryul sleeping with and planning to marry his gf's best friend wasn't about hurting Gae-In. It was about wanting In-Hee and fancying himself in love with her. He was a selfish, weak-willed jerk, but he wasn't vicious. For In-Hee, it was not about falling for Chang Ryul - except for maybe a tiny tiny percentage. It was about taking things away from Gae-In, proving to herself she is better, more desirable. It is all the more unconscionable because there is every indication that In-Hee was very popular, basically swimming in men. But for Gae-In, Chang Ryul was all she had - as far as we know he was her first love. And In-Hee took him away just because she could and because it made her feel good to be superior.
But what really makes it the worst is that she is trying to do it again, this time with Jin Ho. She is doing everything but throwing her bra at him yelling 'take me now.' And she has no reason to doubt Jin Ho is gay. None, not the least because in such a conservative society as Korea, no sane person would come out of the closet unless he/she really were gay. I suspect she actually sees his gayness as an additional 'challenge' which says miles about the kind of person she is. Side note - girlfriend, the whole "you can't possibly be gay because I see you as a man!" she keeps repeating to Jin Ho, is not how the whole gayness thing works! For one, your sexuality is your own, not dependent on how other people see you (according to that logic, Jin Ho should start loving men the second the gay Director sees him as a perfect match). Also, the "you are too sexy to be gay" idea is, frankly, bizarre - according to In-Hee it seems only ugly guys are allowed to be gay.
She is not in love or in lust with him, either. Nope, the only reason she is going after him is because he's Gae-In's best friend (she hasn't even began to suspect that Gae-In is falling for him). It's as if she wants to prove to Gae-In that gay or straight, any man would leave Gae-In for her. It reminds me of Sae in Peach Girl who took things away from Momo not because she wanted them but because that was her way of self-validation - she was otherwise hollow inside. In-Hee is so very Sae.
Not related to the above but I have started wondering - how will Gae-In react once she learns the truth about Jin Ho? She is a very forgiving person, but basically she's trusted him and relied on him and opened up to him, and did things with him she'd never do with a straight guy unless they were together for ages, and went through heartache thinking he is unobtainable, but all this time he was lying about something so basic and using it as a means to get into her house for professional reasons - using her friendship and trust. Of course, it's not really like that - her belief is a result of a misunderstanding (even though he did go along with it), he tried to tell her the truth as early as ep 7 and he genuinely came to be her friend and care for her and protect her and fall in love with her. But I can see how she won't see it that way and how it will be one betrayal too many, especially since she's been growing a spine (ironically, under his tutelage). I have no idea if she'd just automatically take him back or make him go through hell or in-between.
And a final, also not related thought. I love that Jin Ho spends all this time teaching Gae-In how to be an attractive, ladylike, mysterious female - eat like a bird in public, dress nice, manipulate guys' espectations, etc. His (and her) belief is that guys won't fall for the real, unwarnished Gae-In - the one who shows up for dates in sweats, showels food into her mouth, wears her heart on her sleeve, won't sleep with them without marriage. But that is exactly what he's done - he's seen Gae-In's real self - messy, unpretentious, food-loving etc. He's seen more of her real self than Chang Ryul ever did - and he's totally fallen head-over-heels. I love that the drama's message is that the flaws were not Gae-In's. The flaws were of the guys who did not take the time to appreciate her, who'd go for the vicious, selfish, perfectly fake In-Hee than for Gae-In's real joy and warmth.
ETA: I just realized something! I looked who the writer for PT was and the fact that the writing got really good and the drama really gelled the moment it got serious and even angsty suddenly made perfect sense! You know what this writer is famous for? Stairway to Heaven and Stained Glass! The former is arguably the most famous kdrama angstfest ever and the latter is an intense, deliciously angsty and romantic ride. Zany romcom is so not this writer's bag. Romance and angst? So very much are. No wonder it got good the second it switched focus.
You know, by the end of ep 7 it hit me - I didn't hate Chang Ryul (Gae-In's ex) any more. Don't get me wrong - I don't like him and don't want him with Gae-In but he is just so useless, it seems a waste of time to hate him. He may have more social standing or money than Jin Ho but Jin Ho is 100% grown-up and his own person while Chang Ryul is just his father's puppet with no ideas of his own or any sense of will. Plus, he was stupid enough to let go of Gae-In, who was innocent enough not to see through to the pathetic man beneath the worldly mask. Let me put it this way - once his father croaks, he is going to inevitably lose the architecture business due to lack of any ability or perserverance and spend all his remaining money on a series of bitter divorces. I don't feel like hating him because life is going to take care of that.
But In-Hee, Gae-In's former friend? Oh, her I hate. For one thing, it's because her betrayal is so much deeper - Chang Ryul and Gae-In were dating for what - months? While In-Hee and Gae-In were friends for ten years. I repeat - ten years. Gae-In took her in when In-Hee's parents died. The scope of betrayal is so much greater. And an even bigger factor is that for Chang Ryul sleeping with and planning to marry his gf's best friend wasn't about hurting Gae-In. It was about wanting In-Hee and fancying himself in love with her. He was a selfish, weak-willed jerk, but he wasn't vicious. For In-Hee, it was not about falling for Chang Ryul - except for maybe a tiny tiny percentage. It was about taking things away from Gae-In, proving to herself she is better, more desirable. It is all the more unconscionable because there is every indication that In-Hee was very popular, basically swimming in men. But for Gae-In, Chang Ryul was all she had - as far as we know he was her first love. And In-Hee took him away just because she could and because it made her feel good to be superior.
But what really makes it the worst is that she is trying to do it again, this time with Jin Ho. She is doing everything but throwing her bra at him yelling 'take me now.' And she has no reason to doubt Jin Ho is gay. None, not the least because in such a conservative society as Korea, no sane person would come out of the closet unless he/she really were gay. I suspect she actually sees his gayness as an additional 'challenge' which says miles about the kind of person she is. Side note - girlfriend, the whole "you can't possibly be gay because I see you as a man!" she keeps repeating to Jin Ho, is not how the whole gayness thing works! For one, your sexuality is your own, not dependent on how other people see you (according to that logic, Jin Ho should start loving men the second the gay Director sees him as a perfect match). Also, the "you are too sexy to be gay" idea is, frankly, bizarre - according to In-Hee it seems only ugly guys are allowed to be gay.
She is not in love or in lust with him, either. Nope, the only reason she is going after him is because he's Gae-In's best friend (she hasn't even began to suspect that Gae-In is falling for him). It's as if she wants to prove to Gae-In that gay or straight, any man would leave Gae-In for her. It reminds me of Sae in Peach Girl who took things away from Momo not because she wanted them but because that was her way of self-validation - she was otherwise hollow inside. In-Hee is so very Sae.
Not related to the above but I have started wondering - how will Gae-In react once she learns the truth about Jin Ho? She is a very forgiving person, but basically she's trusted him and relied on him and opened up to him, and did things with him she'd never do with a straight guy unless they were together for ages, and went through heartache thinking he is unobtainable, but all this time he was lying about something so basic and using it as a means to get into her house for professional reasons - using her friendship and trust. Of course, it's not really like that - her belief is a result of a misunderstanding (even though he did go along with it), he tried to tell her the truth as early as ep 7 and he genuinely came to be her friend and care for her and protect her and fall in love with her. But I can see how she won't see it that way and how it will be one betrayal too many, especially since she's been growing a spine (ironically, under his tutelage). I have no idea if she'd just automatically take him back or make him go through hell or in-between.
And a final, also not related thought. I love that Jin Ho spends all this time teaching Gae-In how to be an attractive, ladylike, mysterious female - eat like a bird in public, dress nice, manipulate guys' espectations, etc. His (and her) belief is that guys won't fall for the real, unwarnished Gae-In - the one who shows up for dates in sweats, showels food into her mouth, wears her heart on her sleeve, won't sleep with them without marriage. But that is exactly what he's done - he's seen Gae-In's real self - messy, unpretentious, food-loving etc. He's seen more of her real self than Chang Ryul ever did - and he's totally fallen head-over-heels. I love that the drama's message is that the flaws were not Gae-In's. The flaws were of the guys who did not take the time to appreciate her, who'd go for the vicious, selfish, perfectly fake In-Hee than for Gae-In's real joy and warmth.
ETA: I just realized something! I looked who the writer for PT was and the fact that the writing got really good and the drama really gelled the moment it got serious and even angsty suddenly made perfect sense! You know what this writer is famous for? Stairway to Heaven and Stained Glass! The former is arguably the most famous kdrama angstfest ever and the latter is an intense, deliciously angsty and romantic ride. Zany romcom is so not this writer's bag. Romance and angst? So very much are. No wonder it got good the second it switched focus.
