In this opportunity I am going to tell you my impressions about the Korean drama True Beauty based on the webtoon Secrets of beauty, this drama tells in depth some common sociological problems in young people in South Korea, of course these circumstances also occur in other cultures, however this story is based on the Korean culture where appearance is judged in such a way that if people leave the established canons of beauty there tends to be rejection by other people to his person, In this case, the protagonist of the story was not pretty and because of this she was bullied to such an extent that she was filmed when she was being bullied, these continued actions by her schoolmates led her to take the decision to take her own life, but when she was on the edge of the building to throw herself off, she decided to continue living.
Lim Joo Kyung's family did not know anything about all the situations that the young girl was going through, her mother, seeing that the young girl focused on make-up and her appearance, reproached her for that. When they found out later about all the harassment and humiliation that the young girl went through because of her appearance, they decided to move, giving the protagonist the opportunity to start over and change her appearance, To do this, she studies the art of make-up to hide the imperfections of her face, radically changing her physical appearance. As a result of all the bulling she was subjected to, she develops body dysmorphic disorder, which is when a person focuses excessively on their appearance, giving themselves value through the opinions of other people.
When she arrives at her new school she becomes the centre of attention as she camouflages herself through make-up. On the other hand, she meets Lee Suho a boy a bit asocial who also hid a past a bit difficult for him, Kang Soojin is the counter figure of this story, this character also has a background of family problems such as family violence which causes her to be a bit violent and she tries to cling to the only person who knows her problems is her best friend Lee Suho thus causing different situations where she betrays, She lies in order to get the attention of the person who supported her emotionally so that she could overcome all the difficult situations she was going through at home.
On the other hand, there is a character who lives a similar case to the protagonist who is bullied for her appearance, being beaten and humiliated by her classmates. Despite all the pressures and bulling, she accepts herself without pretending to be someone else, giving herself her own value regardless of what other people think about her appearance.
The male counter-figure Han Seo Joon on the other hand is a young man who, although he dresses in black and looks like a bully, is a young man with stable self-esteem and emotional health, mainly because his family is healthy and he receives the love and attention he needs.
My thoughts
I think it is a reflective story that shows how the family affects positively or negatively in the life of each young person, noting in the drama that the young people who belonged to dysfunctional families had emotional and even psychological problems showing how a parent influences positively or negatively on their children, that was shown in three of the main characters who had to deal with the incomprehension of their parents, while the children who had a good relationship with their parents had a healthy self-esteem and their emotions were balanced making them more self-confident and able to be stable people, I think this drama emphasises the importance of parents in the development of their children's emotional stability, however it gives a message of resilience to each of the young people where each one lives their own process to heal their wounds with their parents, Kang Soojin had to move away from his family to heal emotionally, as dysfunctionality and violence was very common in them.
I think this is a story with a social undertone where it shows how a society can affect people in a negative way leading them to be in some cases antisocial people who seek to inflict pain on people as a mirror of the pain they have had by manifesting it through bulling and other antisocial behaviour.
This story had a clear message that each person should accept themselves as they are but also emphasises that if there is something to improve in a balanced way it is okay.
Personally I think that a society should be inclusive, accepting each human being for their essence rather than their possessions or physical appearance, however this is a reflection of a society that instead of ending is still present in the different stages of life.
On the other hand I didn't like very much how the script was based on the lack of self-esteem of the main character, to the point that the poor girl was always saying: I'm ugly, I think that her negativity about herself shocked me, to the point of having a double personality between a young girl with make-up and another without make-up, I was also a bit shocked by the behaviour of her school mates that marked a lot the fact that a normal person didn't fit with it, making fun of her for being normal, there I always asked myself: are they really normal with that attitude?
If I had to give a score to this dorama I would give it a nine point five out of ten and I think it is because I don't like watching school Doramas but when I saw the background of the story I decided to give it a chance and the truth is that you have to watch it because it has reflections that make the viewer think.
Well friends this is all for today, if you have read this far, I thank you, see you in a next post.
And remember: to love oneself is to respect oneself and to have dignity, to love oneself first is the first step.
Imagenes extraidas del pantallazo del dorama True Beauty en Youtube.
translation made with Deelp.com