Series Review - 'My ID is Gangnam Beauty': A Love Story About Loving 'You'

Source: Rolling Stone India

About This Drama

Director	Choi Sung-bum
Genre	Romance Comedy, Drama
First episode date	27 July 2018
Last episode date	15 September 2018
Language	Korean
Rated	Suitable for Audience 15 +

Short Synopsis of My ID is Gangnam Beauty

This K-drama is the narrative of a young, timid Korean student who experiences bullying and prejudice because of her beauty is the basis for the movie My ID is Gangnam Beauty. Because she did not adhere to the standards of beauty set by Korean society, she was severely bullied by her classmates. Before enrolling in a new university, the patient undergoes plastic surgery to transform her life and become perceived as a typical student.

South Korean Beauty Standards

We all know that South Korea has enormous popularity for a variety of factors, including their high-quality skincare and cosmetics, Korean dramas, fashion, and last but not least, K-Pop acts like BTS, EXO, Blackpink, etc. Unquestionably, Korean products are the most popular worldwide, particularly because of their "glass skin" texture. Everyone was amazed by the glass skin technique, which was developed in Korea and quickly became popular across all social media platforms. As a result, individuals got fixated on their skincare regimen.

The anticipated Korean Beauty Standards go well beyond the glass skin trend; they also call for a slender physique, glass skin, light white skin, gaps between the thighs, double eyelids, a defined jawline, lip fillers, heart-shaped lips, acne-free skin, and much more.

They also often maintain their skin's radiance by using a lot of whitening and brightening face products. They must continue doing this, despite how difficult it is, to prevent bullying and to conform to the trends of Korean beauty standards. Although skincare was not even popular in 1900, people in Korea began using cosmetics. While not everyone did, it was quite normal to be natural at the time, unlike today. Despite this, Koreans are naturally beautiful.

Source: ThoughtsRamble

About the Drama - My ID is Gangnam Beauty

Young college student Kang Mi-Rae (Im Soo-Hyang) is terrified and self-aware. She underwent surgery that involved modifying most of her facial characteristics, and she seemed completely different after the procedure. Her mother was highly supportive of her decision, but her father had a hard time supporting it. Mi-rae was raised in a loving household, but she leaves home for college since she was ridiculed for her appearance before undergoing surgery.

Do Kyung-Seok (Cha Eun-woo), an absolute realist who was a cold-hearted figure and always kept his distance from everyone, is one of the persons she meets at the university who helps Mi-rae deal with her problems. Mi-rae and Kyung-Seok had previously crossed paths at a bus stop several years prior, but even though Mi-Rae did not recognize him, he knew it was her right away, which allowed him to approach her and act differently than he usually does around other people. In contrast, Soo-ah enjoyed upsetting other people, especially Mi-rae.

Characters And Story Development

This show helped us to understand that each character was fighting a personal war that they were attempting to overcome by maintaining a positive exterior image while their lives were severely destroyed on the inside. The characters in this drama never wavered in their commitment to conveying the exact subject of the program; they had plenty of motivation to explain why their characters were created in the manner they were, and they did a fantastic job in their roles. We'll discuss three characters performed by Joo Woo Ri in this article: Kang-Mi Rae, Do- Kyung Seok, and Hyun-Soo Ah.

Since Kang- Mi Rae was very conscious of her body image, it goes without saying that her plastic surgery was a success and she now had everything she desired. She was constantly receiving compliments, males were vying for her attention, plenty of girls wanted to be her friends and attempted to win her over, she was invited to special events and parties, and so on. Despite having everything, she was still not doing well inside. This was because she needed to focus on her internal development more. For example, she needed to have the courage to realize that it's good to have insecurities and love yourself, which she was not doing at all.

She had a very unhealthy attitude because of the way she approached life. The first thing you see in people will tell you a lot about yourself, and the first thing she perceives is defects. She continually assesses each person's appearance or attractive qualities, and on a few occasions, she even gives them praise.

Source: Soompi

In my opinion, Kang Mi-rae's portrayal of a troubled, insecure woman helped viewers identify more with her character since her facial expressions always descended deep into her thoughts and made her appear uncomfortable.

Do Kyung Seok, the male protagonist, portrays a cold-hearted youngster who keeps his distance from everyone even though he is incredibly famous and many people want to be friends with him. He hails from a very wealthy family, but his family difficulties give him a lot of problems. While Kyung Seok is not talkative or outgoing, he defends Mi-rae and encourages her to have courage. 

The audience found it extremely moving to observe Kang Mi-rae and Do Kyung Seok's connection. Do Kyung Seok is unquestionably Mi-rae's ideal partner since he is patient and straightforward, two qualities that are necessary for a greater fit? He was portrayed as a brazen, direct, and frigid individual who was only warming up to Mi-rae.

The character in this drama that people despised the most was Hyun Soo-Ah as Jo Woo Ri. Soo-Ah portrayed an insecure little girl whose parents chose to divorce and go their ways, leaving her all by herself with her grandparents. She had a lot of suffering as a youngster, and one day when she arrived at school fully made up and groomed, her peers complimented her and began to be affectionate, which caused her to become more concerned with her outward appearance as she grew older. She disliked Mi-rae because so many people admired her and she always required affirmation from other people. 

It was unclear if she actually liked Kyung Seok or if she was only pretending to like him to be his buddy and get popularity. She did, however, wish to get involved in their romance. She was battling a serious eating disorder, bulimia, problems with her complicated physique, anxieties, and loneliness. This character had a lot of roles to play, including the good girl, evil girl, smart girl, and pretty girl while also being a girl dealing with a variety of problems. Every time Soo-Ah appeared on TV, viewers anticipated a major drama since she enjoyed ruining other people's relationships.

My View

The different realities that Korean students and young people must deal with in today's society were excellently explored in this Korean drama. Because they are Korean, people automatically assume that Koreans are attractive. However, they should be aware that Koreans also struggle with their insecurities and problems, making it impossible for them to appear photo-shopped in real life. There is nothing better than accepting ourselves and owning up to it since it is all that makes us who we are. 

We all have acne, bodily issues we are facing, family troubles, financial struggles, etc., and it is entirely normal. All of it makes us who we are. You may conceive several viewpoints from each character's point of view thanks to this drama. But I should warn you that there are no surprises or twists; the story is more along the lines of a typical K-Drama story plot. The OST was something I kept going back to for you should check out since it was unquestionably fascinating to witness the female lead develop as a person and see her character get better at accepting and loving reality.

My rating is 8.7/10

Written by - Ifa Zamzami