maybe you're the one
Apr. 16th, 2011 10:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
timerippleLast weekend I said to myself, “Self, it is time to watch Dream High.” So I did. And I kind of love it MORE THAN ANYTHING. Who would have thought a drama about an idol factory high school--produced by a Hallyu star and starring, well, idols--would have solid writing, pitch-perfect pacing, nuanced character development, and...make so much sense?
I already knew pretty much what happened, but was not at all prepared for the sheer glory that is the characters of Dream High. There’s a charm to our bitchy, stone-faced heroine, Hye Mi, that makes me cheer for her. In fact, I think I love her precisely BECAUSE she’s so stone-faced and emotionally stunted. She wants to be an opera singer, but learns life lessons through singing and dancing SNSD in the street. XD
I love Baek Hee, the devoted follower-turned-rival, and how their relationship keeps changing. I love Sam Dong, the country bumpkin musical genius with the giant puppy-dog eyes and planet-sized crush on Hye Mi. (I was only sniffling in ep 12 because I had a cold, okay! A COLD!)
I do not love Jin Gook, because while he is a potentially great character full of motorcycle angst and daddy issues and noble idiocy, I get deathly bored every time his actor speaks. Or broods. Or half-smiles sadly. I do loveChipmunkJason, though, and his adorable will-they-or-won't-they OTP that kicks him out of his golden-boy complacency.
Which brings me to my very favorite character, Pil Sook. ;aldkjf;ldfjaslfkjdas;fklsd I LOVE HER SO MUCH, I CAN’T EVEN. This is a girl who goes to her audition dressed in a giant sushi costume, has perfect pitch, and carries her hot pink guitar and Jason-shaped doll everywhere. She’s sweet and innocent and incredibly devious. Her love of bread (nom nom) is a running affectionate joke. She loses a ton of weight for love (and marketability), decides she was happier before, and isn’t ashamed of it. (The fat politics of this drama are awful for a long time, and then they’re kind of amazing.)
Pil Sook and Jason are the MOST ADORABLE THING EVER. They even beat out Sam Dong for cuteness, which if you’ve seen the boy, is nigh impossible. (I’m seriously considering watching the first episode of Will It Snow for Christmas? just for his actor.) I love Pil Sook by herself, and I love her with her OTP, and I love her as Hye Mi’s unexpected BFF/love guru and Sam Dong’s pitch teacher.
And that’s just the kids. The adults are HILARIOUS. There’s the Dedicated Teacher in Harry Potter glasses who makes inspirational speeches about chasing their dreams. There’s the reluctant-but-secretly-obsessed-would-be-idol choreographer. There’s the cold-hearted rival teacher who might just have a fluffy marshmallow center buried deep under layers of ice-cold ambition and thumbtacks.
Then there’s the loan shark with the heart of gold (in more than one sense), who wants Hye Mi to become rich and famous so she can pay back her father’s debts. He gets a little more invested than he means to, and when things go well, he’s beside himself with joy. “That’s GREAT! I’ll make SO MUCH MONEY! ...I mean, hurray for dreams!” He and tiny Katie from Big Time Rush would be BFFs in no time.
It’s got a soundtrack catchy enough to rival You’re Beautiful’s, but having an entire school full of would-be idols means they have more than three songs. XD It's got hilarious pop culture meta, including a cameo by Kim Hyun Joong. And remember the little sister from Coffee Prince who wanted to be an idol? YUP.
Being a kdrama, Dream High has its share of parent issues, mysterious illnesses, ajummas, bus chases, love triangles, bitchy rivals...and IMPROMPTU INTERNATIONAL DANCE-OFFS. The episode where the students get into it with a bunch of Japanese street performers is the BEST THING EVER. Later, they promote international member-ai to the melodic strains of IMPROV ROCK VIOLIN. It’s glorious.
Finally, where else would you get to see the King of Goguryeo playing a benevolent, eccentric Korean!Johnny?
OH YES.
I already knew pretty much what happened, but was not at all prepared for the sheer glory that is the characters of Dream High. There’s a charm to our bitchy, stone-faced heroine, Hye Mi, that makes me cheer for her. In fact, I think I love her precisely BECAUSE she’s so stone-faced and emotionally stunted. She wants to be an opera singer, but learns life lessons through singing and dancing SNSD in the street. XD
I love Baek Hee, the devoted follower-turned-rival, and how their relationship keeps changing. I love Sam Dong, the country bumpkin musical genius with the giant puppy-dog eyes and planet-sized crush on Hye Mi. (I was only sniffling in ep 12 because I had a cold, okay! A COLD!)
I do not love Jin Gook, because while he is a potentially great character full of motorcycle angst and daddy issues and noble idiocy, I get deathly bored every time his actor speaks. Or broods. Or half-smiles sadly. I do love
Which brings me to my very favorite character, Pil Sook. ;aldkjf;ldfjaslfkjdas;fklsd I LOVE HER SO MUCH, I CAN’T EVEN. This is a girl who goes to her audition dressed in a giant sushi costume, has perfect pitch, and carries her hot pink guitar and Jason-shaped doll everywhere. She’s sweet and innocent and incredibly devious. Her love of bread (nom nom) is a running affectionate joke. She loses a ton of weight for love (and marketability), decides she was happier before, and isn’t ashamed of it. (The fat politics of this drama are awful for a long time, and then they’re kind of amazing.)
Pil Sook and Jason are the MOST ADORABLE THING EVER. They even beat out Sam Dong for cuteness, which if you’ve seen the boy, is nigh impossible. (I’m seriously considering watching the first episode of Will It Snow for Christmas? just for his actor.) I love Pil Sook by herself, and I love her with her OTP, and I love her as Hye Mi’s unexpected BFF/love guru and Sam Dong’s pitch teacher.
And that’s just the kids. The adults are HILARIOUS. There’s the Dedicated Teacher in Harry Potter glasses who makes inspirational speeches about chasing their dreams. There’s the reluctant-but-secretly-obsessed-would-be-idol choreographer. There’s the cold-hearted rival teacher who might just have a fluffy marshmallow center buried deep under layers of ice-cold ambition and thumbtacks.
Then there’s the loan shark with the heart of gold (in more than one sense), who wants Hye Mi to become rich and famous so she can pay back her father’s debts. He gets a little more invested than he means to, and when things go well, he’s beside himself with joy. “That’s GREAT! I’ll make SO MUCH MONEY! ...I mean, hurray for dreams!” He and tiny Katie from Big Time Rush would be BFFs in no time.
It’s got a soundtrack catchy enough to rival You’re Beautiful’s, but having an entire school full of would-be idols means they have more than three songs. XD It's got hilarious pop culture meta, including a cameo by Kim Hyun Joong. And remember the little sister from Coffee Prince who wanted to be an idol? YUP.
Being a kdrama, Dream High has its share of parent issues, mysterious illnesses, ajummas, bus chases, love triangles, bitchy rivals...and IMPROMPTU INTERNATIONAL DANCE-OFFS. The episode where the students get into it with a bunch of Japanese street performers is the BEST THING EVER. Later, they promote international member-ai to the melodic strains of IMPROV ROCK VIOLIN. It’s glorious.
Finally, where else would you get to see the King of Goguryeo playing a benevolent, eccentric Korean!Johnny?
OH YES.
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-17 03:49 pm (UTC)Okay...I don't have anything to further comment on your post, actually. I just agree with *everything you say*.
But I wanna chat about it!
<3 How *did* they manage to make a show this capable of falling into cliche and tropedom so fresh? The characterization of everyone was so excellent, that they were multi-dimensional, as were their feelings, even when they were being teens with that Heightened Experience of EVERYTHING.
I need to look up the name of the writers on this so that I can keep my eyes peeled for future projects.
As for Jin Gook--I was kinda disappointed about him, until (REALLY LATE) I realized he was not going to win [let's just say my heartache for Sam Dong was very real] and then I was like...oh. He's that guy. The one you think is so hot in high school, and then grow out of. EXCELLENT. And the fact I wasn't invested in him much made it all easier.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-18 04:44 pm (UTC)Oh Jin Gook. Yeah, knowing how it all ended--I just couldn't bring myself to care. But I was really glad that he had his own thing going on, his own ambitions and issues and
underwear warsopinions--his character arc was tied to Hye Mi, but didn't CONSIST solely of Hye Mi. (How cute was his last scene with the little sister? SO CUTE!)