Ela Era Bonita

This is what I wrote after just first two episodes:

I am only on episode two of this series and am already frustrated with the extreme overacting of the female lead. She is presented as "ugly" even though she is quite decent looking. I don't know what the hell Korean beauty standards are. And then her ugliness entails being extremely loud and clumsy and doing completely stupid things that you would never expect from a 30 year old. And on top of that Park Seojoon's character is shown as so arrogant and demeaning. He just insults her to her face. In any workplace that would be grounds for dismissal. I am not sure how much of this drama I'll be able to tolerate before I quit.

Now, after finishing the series, here is my genuine review: Really liked the whole series except for one glaring flaw. There was no reason for the leading lady to undergo the transformation that she does in the second half. Everything was going her way- her job was good, the male lead was falling for her.. the series did a bad job of explaining the transformation. And then, when she becomes a writer she goes back to her previous self. It's weird. Anyway, there were several things I liked about this series. The biggest one was that the male lead falls for the girl BEFORE the transformation and isn't just miraculously struck by her beauty after the transformation. I think that is what made it realistic and likeable. Also, the side characters are not annoying like in other dramas which is so refreshing. I didn't have to skip the parts with side characters. Also, I really liked the second female lead.

Jeong-eum Hwang is a gifted comedian as well as actor. Her physical comedy is of the same type as Jerry Lewis, but it works better for me. Where Jerry Lewis' neurotic character makes me cringe with discomfort for his pain rather than laugh, Hwang's neurotic character while panic-stricken and shaking with fear nevertheless comes across as being strong in spite of that. Her physical comedy and her mugging is inspired... funnier to me than Lucille Ball, in the same class as Madeline Kahn or Claudette Colbert.

Beyond that, though, she is able to mix up completely straight acting, heart-warming and genuine, with outrageous clowning and make it work. She is supposed to be ugly, but it's a comedy, and the fact that she really looks like a model made up like a clown, or Little Orphan Annie, is part of the fun. She is actually gorgeous with very fake painted freckles and a frizzy hairdo to provide a pretense of ugliness.

Korean cinema is producing actors like Hwang and Ji-hyun Jun who rival Hollywood's classic best in charisma and talent.

All the actors did a great job. Si Won Choi carried off his own intensely over-the-top comic role.

Someone said the story was illogical. Classic comedy from ancient Roman times to Shakespeare and right up to the great screwball comedies of the 30's and 40's is all based on an engine of preposterous coincidence, mistaken identity, and entangled love triangles. It's wildly improbably but the conventions of the genre allow it to highlight aspects of human behavior that are dead accurate, compressing lifetimes of intensity into a few hours. The exaggeration and compression is what turns observations of human behavior into entertainment.

In fact compared to the comedic plots of Plautus, Shakespeare or Frank Capra, I found "She Was Pretty" to be much more believable as well as more complex and intricate. Several people thought the plot was unlikely, that characters would not make those choices. I found them very plausible. People in intense emotional relationships, and even in distant work relationships, don't make rational choices. They don't make good choices. At least from what I have seen, people do dumb and self-sabotaging things more often than not. The reasons the characters give for their actions might in some cases seem a stretch, unless you consider the strong emotions of fear and shame that drive them.

The soundtrack was also criticized. I enjoyed it. Lyrics are sung loudly right over dialog, where the lyrics are classic songs expressing the emotions the characters are going through even as they are barely able to acknowledge it themselves. I thought that was unusual and creative and that it helped to communicate the great timeless feelings people have about romance.

One of the themes of the film is panic, panic attacks, both from trauma and from love-obsession. The examination of psychological stress and the support of friendship gives the series a weight beyond just making us laugh, although it did that for me very well.

One of things Korean TV is not is subversive. Don't expect insightful social criticism or political commentary. The story basically exalts conventional Korean social values, as well as the worship of fashion and conspicuous consumption, in spite of some egalitarian themes. These writers would not have had to worry about being put on the Hollywood blacklist (1947-1960). Nor is it Monty Python or Douglas Adams, comedy that is often built on brilliant philosophical questioning. The Korean Wave is strictly pop culture as far as I have seen... I gather a sort of Confucian social conservatism and conformity is a Korean national value.

Have only watched about 2/3 of it so far although as such comedies go the outcome is 200% predictable after a few episodes; I don't expect to be surprised. I don't want to be. The fun is how you get there.

It was better that many reviews indicate, IMHO.

This show is a lot of fun. There is plenty of humor from the main cast. It is pretty low on the trauma meter, which I like. I really enjoyed the show.

To address the somewhat over-the-top comedy of the FL, played by Hwang Jong-Eum. As I always note, this was the way the show was written and produced, and the actress interprets what she is given, I imagine. She did a masterful job which I guess is not at all easy. I really enjoyed her character and she made us laugh a lot. It may not be your cup of tea and that is fair enough.

Park Seo-Joon as the ML was great, as always, and incredibly good looking, too!

I'd like to call out Si Won Choi for pulling off being a total nutball, without being annoying or tiring. He was great and actually perhaps my favorite character in the series.

Ko Jun-Hee as Min Ha-Ri was absolutely great also. Her acting was very natural and compelling, and of course she is just incredibly beautiful. I wonder why she is not in more series as a lead? The friendship between Ha-Ri and Hey-Jin was a highlight of the series.

If you looking for a nice mix of humor and romance, this is it.

Why just an 8 if I enjoyed it so much?

I think the leads were really good together, but they were just a tad lower in chemistry than some other Kdrama couples, even given their respective (screen) personalities. The chemistry in the later part of the series grew as the personality of the ML was more relaxed and natural. His "stiffer" personality in the early part of the series seemed less natural.

The additional cast beyond the four main characters were a bit underdeveloped.

I have thoughts on how the secondary leads turned out, which I was a bit disappointed in, but I don't want to include any spoilers by getting specific.

Mild Spoiler, I guess?? There was a nice, happy ending that lasted for more than an episode, which I appreciate.

Let me start out with the positives, because there are some. I liked the chemistry between the actors, and it's very easy to tell that they got along on set. I also enjoyed the comedy of this, I found myself laughing a lot during it.

The problem is mainly with one aspect of the show, and unfortunately it's a big one. The writing for this is awful. The choices that the characters are not only nonsensical, they're choices that no human would ever make. The main story doesn't flow, and there's a huge plot shift part way throughout the show. There's also this mystery which I already knew the answer to the first time it's brought up. Another thing which got over very irritating was the music, whenever the characters were silent they would play this music which would describe how they feel. Seriously, we know what's going on, we don't need this music.

I'll talk about the four main characters. The main lead's is one of those clumsy characters you either love or hate, I personally found her irritating, this type of character was done much better in other shows such as Ugly Betty. The male lead...okay I guess, though the actor wasn't as good as his costars. The second female lead had the best subplot, and she has several interesting dilemmas. But the spotlight was stolen by Choi Siwon's character, Shin-Hyuk, mainly because the man was hilarious and the character knew how ridiculous everything going on was. Seriously, Shin-Hyuk needs his own spin off, that's how funny he was!

Overall, this drama does have some good moments, but if you're going to watch it throw logic out of the window.

I only gave a 9/10 because I became emotionally invested in Siwon's character, and do not accept he way the show ended, otherwise it's a good show.