Okay. So there comes a time in
every girl’s life when she stops crushing on every TV series around and starts
seriously considering her long-time K-cinema love prospects. That was my outlook on this
series. I loved it. It was entertaining, and comical and addictive and
oh-so-real; so what made me flip out on
the underlying message this one was sending? And why had I never had any issue
with it until now?
“Do Min Joon: There is a reason for
everything.
There must be a reason for people around you to leave you, Miss Cheon Song Yi.
Cheon Song Yi: What? So are you saying that me being like this is my fault?
Do Min Joon: Before holding a grudge against the people around you for not taking on your side, think about why you haven't been able to make them stand on your side.
Perhaps, it's you that made you lonely.
Cheon Song Yi: I'm not lonely. Who said I'm lonely?
Do Min Joon: If not, why are you staying here? If you can't go to your friends or family, why are you at a strange man's house? What do you know about me? Why did you come to me?
There must be a reason for people around you to leave you, Miss Cheon Song Yi.
Cheon Song Yi: What? So are you saying that me being like this is my fault?
Do Min Joon: Before holding a grudge against the people around you for not taking on your side, think about why you haven't been able to make them stand on your side.
Perhaps, it's you that made you lonely.
Cheon Song Yi: I'm not lonely. Who said I'm lonely?
Do Min Joon: If not, why are you staying here? If you can't go to your friends or family, why are you at a strange man's house? What do you know about me? Why did you come to me?
You are lonely, because you have no one or no place
to go.”
The Rundown
Behind
the name: Literally —You
Who Came from the Stars
— Because that special guy literally has to fall from
the moon!
Country: South Korea, 2014
Genre:
Romantic Comedy, Sci-Fi
Distributed
by: SBS
Cast: Jun Ji-hyun (as
Cheon Song-yi), Kim Soo-hyun (as Do
Min-joon), Park Hae-jin (as Lee Hwi-kyung), Yoo In-na
(as Yoo Se-mi), Shin Sung-rok (as Lee Jae-kyung), Kim
Chang-wan as (Jang Young-mok), Na
Young-hee (as Yang Mi-yeon)
Compare to: The Little Mermaid in reverse… well, almost
something like that
Hate
it or Love it? Love it
Synopsis in a Sentence: Superstar
actress just happens to fall for the most perfect man alive—Turns out this
“perfect guy” is an alien from the Joseon Dynasty who “fell from the stars” 400
years ago—Should he stay or should he go?
On Writing: The Plot
The story is interesting. It’s fun and new and so out
there. Really!
(4/5)
On Acting: The Cast
The cast is, of course, talented. There’s Jun Ji-hyun,
who plays Cheon Song-yi, the
superstar actress andmain character of the series.
She’s fabulous and choses this role to relaunch her return to the small screen
after a 14 year hiatus. She is rumoured to play herself in real life through
this character. Jun relays her character’s boldness and fabulosity and quirkiness
so well, that we fall in love with both her and her character! A job well done!
 |
| Jun Ji-Hyun |
 |
| Kim Soo-Hyun |
Kim
Soo-hyun graces our screen as alien
hunk, Do Min-joon. He delivers cool detachness and perfectness (whatever that
means) through this character.
So many great actors, honourable mentions go to Kim Chang-wan, who plays Jang Young-mok, Doo Min-Joon’s kindly lawyer and friend. Also to Na Young-hee, as Yang Mi-yeon, Cheon Song-Yi’s mother a.k.a the stagemom, Korea style. Finally, Shin Sung-rok makes Lee Jae-kyung, the villain absolutely despicable.
A fab cast!
(4.5/5)
On Production: The Creativity
Oh there are
really pretty parts in production. The best thing about TV is that lots of
unreasonable things—like defying gravity—can happen, production breaks almost
everything logical. Forget all the rules of physics and chemistry and biology.
This is fiction, and production plays it up!
(4.5/5)
On Resolution: The
Conclusion
Alright. So. This is when I get on my soapbox and
RANT.
I — almost — loved this series. It was fun, it was interesting,
it was different. But. I have seen enough South Korean series—about five years
worth—to question why a series that ends this way is heralded as one of the
biggest and best series of 2014. Why?
Well, first of all, the basic message is that it sets
unrealistic standards for both guys and girls.
This guy is so perfect—so intelligent that he’s a
professor with the mind and knowledge of 400 years of scholarship in the body of
a handsome, 20-something year old man. He’s so wealthy; he could own a few
small countries. He’s so powerful; he literally has superpowers—he can fly, he can
teleport, he can stop time, he possesses so much unnatural speed
and strength, that he can stop a moving car. Wow! Whatta man! What a
seriously unrealistic man!
How exactly is any living breathing man supposed to
measure up to this? Are women around the world supposed to watch this character
and look to find a man like this alien? And we know this is fiction, but
fiction is, to a certain degree, a reflection of real life fantasies. And this just took
it too far.
But that’s not all. How about the woman? The woman is
successful, she’s talented, she’s… not so intelligent… but hey, she’s
beautiful, what on earth does she need brains for? She also can’t cook, doesn’t
have any practical life skills … buy hey, she’s beautiful, what does she need
practical life skills for? She’s lucky! She’s even rich, most women will need a
man to sustain her financially, but not Cheon Song-Yi! Her beauty and talent are all
she needs and that’s what makes her an exceptional woman. The best! Because you
know, she’s a woman, and you can only choose talent and beauty versus brains
and aptitude. And the perfect woman should just be beautiful
And her man? Well he’s an exception because he’s just
perfect! And she’s so lucky to be with him, this perfect man from the stars.
She better thank her stars that he loves her because she’s so imperfect, she
can never measure up to him. And he can do whatever he wants, you know, like
disappear for an unlimited amount of time and maybe, perhaps, one day return…
or never!
Because, you know, it’s her fault if he leaves.
What the hell!
I’m picking qualms with this particular series because
I see this theme again and again in K-series but as much as I love them,
there’s a greater issue here. And it’s not all right.
(0/5)
The Verdict: A fun watch, but
what it implies is more negative than you’d want to admit.
Overall Score = 13/20
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