I have watched a lot of korean drama this semester. But my favorite one must be True Beauty (여신강림 The Advent of a Goddess) which is a South Korean television series starring Moon Ga-young, Cha Eun-woo, Hwang In-youp, and Park Yoo-na. Based on the Line Webtoon of the same name by Yaongyi, it centers on a high school girl who, after being bullied and discriminated because of being perceived as ugly, masters the art of makeup to transform herself into a gorgeous "goddess".
18-year-old high school student Lim Ju-kyung, who has an inferiority complex regarding her appearance, has been constantly discriminated by her family and bullied by her peers due to being perceived as ugly. She starts learning how to use makeup by binge-watching makeup tutorial videos on the Internet. When she masters the art just before transferring to her new school, her makeover proves to be transformative as she quickly rises to fame and her peers call her a "goddess". Despite her newfound popularity, Ju-kyung still considers herself ugly and it is her greatest fear that her peers will see her real face. This unfortunately comes true when her dashingly handsome, popular and mysterious classmate Lee Su-ho, whom she had previously run into with her bare face a couple of times, recognizes her beyond her makeup. Su-ho is very popular among female students at school, but he hates being the constant center of attention and is often seen as aloof and cold. He has his own fears, and he harbors a dark secret—a tragic incident in the past—that has been haunting him for a long time. He and his former best friend Han Seo-jun have distanced themselves from each other because of this incident, and the blame Seo-jun placed on Su-ho has caused him a lot of guilt. Ju-kyung and the estranged friends Su-ho and Seo-jun soon forge an unlikely relationship as they unravel secrets, share their pains, grow together and seek comfort from each other.
I learned a lot from this drama. First of all, I start to realize some society from this korean drama. Despite the digital cartoon’s setting of South Korea, its lessons for eschewing superficiality apply across the globe. Even though many people identify “personality” as their top ideal when looking for social connections, appearance plays a huge role in first impressions. It is not uncommon to hear that someone gets bullied based on their looks, especially now that social media has taken over the internet. Platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat foster a space where bullying can be done anywhere, at any time. Across all ages, people are constantly judged based on their physical appearance — how expressive they are, how physically attractive they are and how trustworthy they look. These initial assessments likely determine whether someone will approach and connect with them. The PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center reported, “The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students include physical appearance, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation.” Numerous studies assert, “Attractive people are more likely to be hired than less attractive individuals and attractiveness can also influence judgments about the seriousness of committed crimes. Outside the laboratory, attractive people also appear to lead favorable lives; attractive individuals pay lower bail and are more likely to be hired for jobs than less attractive individuals.” Someone with strong ability but an unappealing appearance can be ignored for those with lesser skills but “beautiful” looks.
Ultimately, no matter where you are or who you are, people will judge you based on what they see first, and in many cases, this is your physical appearance. We, ourselves, are not excluded from making these judgments about other people. Unless we are unable to see and are forced to use our other senses to evaluate others, we cannot ignore the initial instinct to judge others based on their physical features. I personally think this korean drama bring out a lot of society problems and make me think a lot.
Replies
I definitely have to give this drama a try! It sounds really interesting from its lesson on superficiality and how it applies to different populations. I totally agree that appearance plays a huge role in first impressions, unfortunately, and I really think "pretty privilege" is real. It's honestly terrible that people can get bullied by just their appearance or judged by how they look. This is why social media is so toxic and why plastic surgery is rising. But then it makes no sense because people then bash on others that did receive surgery for not accepting themselves or being confident as commonly seen with American celebrities like the Kardashians. I definitely will give this drama a watch, and I really enjoyed your post! Thanks for writing such a nice and informative view on the show! Definitely got me curious.