If push comes to shove she'll fight, but mostly she tries to fly under the radar. Mi Rae is a complex and balanced character. Her frustration drove her to seek solace under the knife and, though she now had an acceptable face in society's eyes, her insides were still bruised and broken. She grew up as an introvert, keeping away from people, looking at other people's lives from afar and wishing she was allowed to have fun. Kang Mi Rae (female lead played by Im Soo Hyang): She's a character who's suffered all her childhood because her looks didn't meet her peer's standards. Some balanced between jerks and good guys could've helped the show feel less toxic. Except for a few gems, all the male characters were written like jerks and that can be off-putting. If I have one critique apart from the wardrobe, it would be the disbalance in the portrayal of the male characters. Be forewarned, many of the male characters in this show (and some of the female ones) will definitely rile you up on more than one occasion. Instead, this show can be described as a sliced of life focused on self-reflection which, if you're open to it, will get you emotionally invested in the characters. That's not to say the show is weighted down by an overload of melodrama, because it's not. I'd say it's a stretch to tag it with comedy, since the comedic moments, despite how successfully they are implemented, are few and far between. It's worth noting, however, that the pacing of this show is slow compared to other rom-com dramas. We not only follow Mi Rae as she gains confidence, but also other interesting characters who'd been suffering because (or for) their looks. The issue that arises afterward, one which she hadn't anticipated, was that people would still judge, reject and critique her. She didn't undergo surgery to become beautiful, she just wanted people to accept her as a 'person,' which is incredibly heartbreaking. It takes just the first episode to understand how she became a victim of society's expectations.

In that respect, Mi-Rae (our female lead) isn't the shallow person the summary might imply. This drama also emphasizes that the expectation to look a certain way affect everyone in different ways - with no one -regardless of whether they are considered naturally beautiful or not- being spared. Meeting those beauty standards has become a source of stress for women worldwide, but in South Korea -as this drama suggests- not being part of the 'ideal beauty' results in a harsher treatment from society. This drama (as well as its source material) depicts a love story wrapped around a social critique of the often cruel role 'beauty standards' play in women's daily life. Rewatch Value 8.0 PLOT: Slow paced, ambitious & thought-provoking.

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