True Beauty

CAUTION: REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

"True Beauty" is one of the most popular webtoons that currently exist, and for good reason: it's like reading a KDrama. So I was not surprised at all to hear that there is a drama adaptation of this webtoon, because I had already pictured it being acted out on a TV screen. But just because it's full of drama and easy to consume doesn't mean it is good, and this is just such a great example of that. Let's dissect it here!

Why is it so popular? It has beautiful men and women. Isn't that the whole reason why we like to watch TV dramas, because we love the eye candy? "True Beauty" has it in spades. Jugyeong is your everyday, below-average looking girl, who is shunned by all the pretty people around her, until she picks up a makeup kit and transforms herself into super Jugyeong. Kind of like Sailor Moon, she's a magical girl, who instantly becomes popular because she will save the world, one girl at a time, through the power of makeup! Okay, I'm exaggerating a little. The premise is believable, and initially, she's a sympathetic character, because all girls have struggled with their physical appearance at some point in their life. What is not okay is how she attracts two extraordinarily handsome men who are both clearly too good for her, stringing them along in her act to keep up the pretense that she is beautiful, and therefore desirable.

Honestly, I have my doubts on how much makeup can be used to completely change someone's appearance to look like something they're not, outside of theatrical and special effects makeup, and those are pretty obvious. Then again, I don't know jackshit about makeup, so take it what you will. So I'll suspend my disbelief if it's not a glaring plot hole, but unfortunately, it's just very problematic in this story. While I'll try to look the other way and pretend that her makeup is magical and will never rub off, and that it's invisibly caked on so well that other people can't tell what her normal face looks like beneath everything, it's impossible, because the story will let these things happen whenever it's convenient. The makeup rubs off when she wants to be intimate with her boyfriend, which helps her avoid having him see her true face, and it's always caked on when people want to trash her, but apparently no one else around her notices it. I guess it means that nasty people simply have better eyesight, and everyone else is rather blind. I also find it hard to believe that her closest friends don't know what she looks like, because she's slipped up enough times to let her two paramours accidentally find out. She must hate her friends and never hang out with them outside of school. Oh, wait, right. Other than them being used as props to make her feel good about herself and to spread gossip with, they have no purpose in this webtoon otherwise. Yeah, I guess that's why she's never around them long enough to trip up, hmm...

This brings me to the most glaring issue I have with this story. Jugyeong is not a character, and she will never exhibit any sort of significant growth, because her obvious lack of character strengths is done on purpose. She's a cleverly devised bundle of insecurities that real girls have, easily letting you sympathize with her, then you can put yourself in her shoes, so that you too can enjoy the love and attention of two drop-dead gorgeous fictional men. She's insecure about her face, she's covered with acne, she's myopic, she's worried about her weight, she's naive, she's a failure at everything, she's the unloved middle child, she's the ugly duckling in the family, and the list goes on and on. There will be at least one part of Jugyeong's "character" that resonates with you, and you'll want to see if she overcomes her hurdles to find love and success, as you want it for yourself as well. It's like looking at a mirror that reflects a typical teenage girl, and it's masterfully constructed as such. This also means that Jugyeong can't have any positive attributes, besides her unnatural beauty, to help flesh her out, since the whole concept of her is to make her a helpless girl that is unable to conquer her fears on her own. If she had any strengths at all, she wouldn't need to rely so heavily on makeup to make her feel confident and boost her self-esteem, and there'd be no story to tell. This makes it even more unbelievable that she'd be the target of affection from so many men, when you recognize that there's nothing likeable underneath the veneer of her pretty face. It's all style and no substance.

Jugyeong is an unremarkable high school student who consistently falls asleep in class, fails her tests, and has zero passion for anything, besides putting on makeup, the singular talent she possesses. She's socially awkward and dislikes hanging out with people, despite her newfound popularity, and would much rather go read horror comics at the bookstore, or spend her time scrolling through Instagram while lying in bed. Even though she has two siblings, she rarely interacts with them, besides lamenting how she looks so different from them, and wondering if she was adopted or switched at birth. It's a missed opportunity here, as she could have had a deeper relationship with them, to show what a caring sibling she is, which could have been a key trait of hers that persists even with her makeup off, since she never wears her makeup at home. Instead, she's always hollering at her siblings for not understanding her or bugging them to help her with something or other, and she's never happy when she's at home. It doesn't help that her unloving mother often nags her, criticizing her for her unhealthy obsession with makeup instead of doing something more productive, like focusing on getting into a good university.

The only time Jugyeong is smiling is when she's chatting with friends with her full makeup on, and we know that's not what she likes doing because she's an introvert, and therefore not her real persona. Not only is her exterior fake, her interior is also. She's acting out a sweet girl role to people who don't know her well, and everything she does outside of her house is a facade. In reality, she's full of anger, bitterness, and insecurities, most of which she directs outward at home. Sure, everyone acts more casual and caustic with close family members, because they'll understand that's how we truly are, but that's also because we love them so much that we can let down our hair around them, whereas Jugyeong is not comfortable anywhere she goes. She hates her family, and she'd rather not talk to them if she doesn't have to, so they're largely out of the picture, despite how often she's home. Her personality with the makeup off is one that is a recluse and an outcast who can't love her own family, and hasn't received any of their love in return. It might be sad to think of her that way, but she doesn't do anything to ameliorate her unsatisfactory situation, instead choosing to wallow in her self-pity when things don't work out, which is just extremely unproductive and continues to be the source of all her other problems.

In a story titled "True Beauty," I would expect to see a so-called ugly character find their hidden beauty after a fulfilling journey of self-discovery, coming to the realization that they are fine just the way they are. As cliched as it sounds, everyone is beautiful in their own way. You don't have to be physically attractive to be a "beautiful person," you can also have a beautiful heart, which means being kind or selfless. Also, beauty is subjective. A long time ago, being pale and chubby was considered to be beautiful. How times have changed, now people all want to be thin like sticks and tanned, because that's what we see in fashion magazines and on TV. Girls must emulate the beautiful models they see everywhere to feel truly happy and land themselves some hot boys, and that's what Jugyeong buys into, because she's led to believe that her ugliness can only bring her misery. She desperately clings to makeup as her lifeline in order to feel a sense of normalcy. Without it, she'd just be the poor ugly girl who gets made fun of or bullied or laughed at. This sort of message is toxic to real-life people who are self-conscious about their appearance, and it's horrible when you think about it in the context of modern Korean society. I know Korea's major export is beauty, what with all the skincare and makeup products that it's famous for. That, and K-Pop idols, which is another fanatic overindulgence in the objectification and marketability of beautiful people. In a culture where people are overly obsessed with their looks, this webtoon's message of using makeup to feel happy is dangerous, because instead of subverting this type of mainstream thinking, it continues to propagate it. It insists that you must look attractive in order to function in everyday society, and without it, you are nothing, because that is exactly what Jugyeong personifies. Without the makeup, she is an insecure girl is hated by her own family, because they can't even bear to look at her face without barfing. Is that how family should act towards one another? The ugly duckling must become a swan to gain acceptance? Is it any wonder that Jugyeong can't bring herself to tell anyone the truth, if it's really just her false appearance alone that makes them love her? And so, the charade continues.

"True Beauty" is a lot like the old popular KDrama "Boys Over Flowers". It even has the same everyday school setting where the main characters meet, fight, and then eventually get along as a trio. We have Jugyeong, the hapless typical KDrama girl protagonist, who's a bit ditzy but somewhat loveable. We have Suho, the guy who doesn't talk much, but loves the heroine more than she will ever know. And we have Seojun, the troublemaker that's always itching for a fight. Ah, the love triangle has appeared! But in the end, Jugyeong can only choose one. It's not much of a surprise that she winds up with the bad boy Seojun as her first boyfriend, because in fiction, girls just love them bad boys. Remember, nice guys finish last! At first, the two guys hate each other, not because they're fighting over the same girl, instead, they're not on speaking terms because of a past tragedy involving their mutual friend. And like in your typical KDrama fashion, after the girl is saved from a car accident by being pushed out of the way by the heroic boy, the male characters talk it out and eventually forgive each other, when it turns out there was just a wee little bit of misunderstanding about the uncontrollable circumstances that led them to wrongly blaming each other. So yay, they let bygones be bygones, and now focus their attentions on the girl of their dreams, Jugyeong.

Suho is the quiet, cool, intelligent boy that is Jugyeong's first love, just like JiHoo of "Boys Over Flowers". He is mysterious, talented, and his past life is full of tragedy. His entire character screams angst, as he's a reserved person who has trouble communicating with others, someone who's consumed with grief, constantly blaming himself for not stopping his friend from committing suicide in time. He can't move on, but he finds some joy in his gloomy life when he comes across Jugyeong, who shares his odd interests in everything horror. For Jugyeong, he's the first outsider who sees her true face, not from her slipping up (although she does later on), but because she actually first encountered him in her plain get-up, and he didn't make fun of her or comment on her ugliness. In fact, she's confused why he's so cold to her when she's pretty Jugyeong, completely ignoring her, but kind and friendly to her ugly version. He eventually puts two and two together, when he finds that the broken backpack strap on her bag matches the part that he picked up from the floor. She's mentally preparing herself for the hateful fallout with her schoolmates when Suho decides to expose her as a fake, but he surprises her, saying he doesn't care what she looks like, and if it's so important to her for him to keep her secret, he doesn't mind. Of course, he blackmails her a bit, but he's just enjoying her funny and over-energetic reactions. They quickly become close friends and she is able to let down her hair around him, sometimes hanging out with him as pretty Jugyeong and sometimes as ugly Jugyeong, but either way, it doesn't change his perception of her. He's a great listener, always encouraging her to follow her dreams, despite the complete lack of support from her own family. She likewise cheers him on in his studies, although he doesn't really need it. I think this is great and all for a first-time budding romance, but we must have drama! So enter Seojun!

Seojun is the passionate, fiery hot, loud-mouthed delinquent, the Junpyo of "Boys Over Flowers," who immediately gets off on the wrong foot with both characters. He has a distinctive bad boy look, complete with multiple ear piercings and a wild hair style. He's violent, quick to use his fists, and always skips class. However, because life likes to play tricks on the main cast, they keep running into each other, no matter when they go, leading to some comical panic moments. It turns out he's the older brother of Jugyeong's co-worker Gowoon, the first "ugly" person who received Jugyeong's makeover, turning her into a pretty girl for a musical that garnered lots of positive attention and praise on social media. As they start to hang out more and more often, Jugyeong feels conflicted, because she realizes she's in love with Suho, but is afraid that he won't return her feelings, because she might just be overthinking things and it's all one-sided on her end. Seojun realizes that he's falling for Jugyeong, but she sees him more as a friend that she can go to for fun and shopping trips with. Suho realizes that he's in love with Jugyeong, but he's too awkward in his timing and fails to find the right moment to confess. It's all a big, hot mess, just like you'd expect in a teenage romance drama! Fortunately (or unfortunately, rather), something bad happens with Suho's father and he's forced to leave Korea indefinitely, and that sets the stage for a timeskip, as Suho is taken out of the picture so that the true romance can finally begin.

This is where the story really goes downhill. People love love triangles for a reason, because the interweaving of different feelings and personalities of the three characters make it interesting, and you're given the illusion of choice. If you were the main character, who would you choose? Especially when you have two people who are complete polar opposites of one another -- one icy cold, and the other flaming hot. Realistically speaking, it's doubtful that two such completely different people will end up falling for the same person, because it's unlikely they'll share the same interests, but this is fiction, and in fiction, we must have unrealistic pairings that should have never happened play out in front of us. However, the ménage à trois must inevitably come to an end, since polyamory is impossible. You can never love two people equally; you will always favor one over another, no matter how you trick yourself or convince yourself otherwise. Humans are not able to divide their feelings into neat little compartments, so the portions of their heart that they give out to others will never be the same in size or in intensity. It's pretty easy to see that Suho was going to get the short end of the stick and be forced to take a step back, leaving Seojun to swoop in, even from when the love triangle dynamic was starting to take form. He's too passive, and this lets all the the other characters step all over him. People prefer passionate lovers like Seojun because they're so good with their words, saying how much they love you, and they'll give up everything if it means that they can be with you. Unfortunately, those are just empty promises. And I wish that popular media, including "True Beauty," wouldn't stoop so low to make this decisive choice out as some sort of a desirable fantasy for impressionable young girls, who are clearly their target audience.

If I was Jugyeong, I would choose Suho. Sure, he's boring and vanilla, but that makes him a great partner for the rest of her life. I think people really need to understand that love is just a whirlwind, but marriage is forever. There have been higher and higher rates of divorce in recent days, because people are consumed with finding the perfect love. There's no such thing. Once you get tired of someone, you'll want to look for a new love. It all depends on whether you want to act on it or not. So it's not just romantic love you need to consider when you really want to get settled down, it's how much you're willing to support this person, even if the love isn't as strong as it was when you first met, and how much you'll continue to compromise and make concessions for each other, through thick and thin. Suho has consistently shown that. He's always ready to listen to Jugyeong, he has great attention to detail, which he uses to support her from the sidelines, he helps her study to get to a good school, and most importantly, he's completely comfortable with what real Jugyeong looks like, because that's how they first met. Their relationship is raw and authentic, and there's rarely any lies between them. This is healthy. Although he may have trouble expressing himself, his actions speak louder than words. But this is also the same reason he's relegated to being friend-type material instead of boyfriend material, since he can't bring himself to confess his feelings for her until it's too late. And when he returns, he's relegated to a side character that serves only to prod his two friends to get back together. Just like JiHoo in "Boys Over Flowers". While Suho was Jugyeong's first love, he'll never be her lover.

Seojun is the man of most girls' dreams, I suppose. Although Jugyeong didn't fall in love with him initially, she uses him to get over her pining over Suho when he's left for Japan. Although he's clearly a sweet boy, and I don't really hate his character, I hate his concept. His mullet is ugly, and I honestly believe that the author gave him one to distinguish him from all the other characters, including Suho, who looks similar, but has brown hair. He's also the only one who wears jewelry and makeup, to make him stand out more. You can tell that Seojun is supposed to be the star character due to all the effort that the author put in to make him unique. His clothes change very often, almost as much as Jugyeong's clothes do. I have the feeling that he's designed based on a typical K-Pop idol, because he looks like one from head to toe, and that eventually becomes his job in the story. His story arc makes no sense. He's made out to be this incredibly talented singer who was training to be in a K-Pop band, but then quit, because of his friend's suicide. He works as a model at his other friend's clothing boutique, but it's not enough to pay the bills, so he has to get a bunch of other jobs to support his family. That's fine. What isn't is why is he going back to become an idol, when that's what he absolutely hates with a burning passion, because he blames that cruel industry for making his friend ultimately choose death over fame? Oh right, for the drama of course. Headdesk.

The story makes Seojun choose between love or money, and he, like a sensible person, chose money, but only because Jugyeong forced him to. Hahaha. This makes it problematic in so many ways. If he really needed money, he could have found a better job that didn't involve the idol industry. Seriously, if he's really that talented at singing, coupled with his good looks, he'll make it big as a professional solo singer. He doesn't need to be in a boy band. Him rejoining the industry, into the same company that did nothing to defend his friend who passed away, is just stupid. At least go to a different company, if you really honor your friend. He can also join a modeling company that is bigger and pays better. The story insists on making Seojun choose something he shouldn't even really consider to be a reasonable choice, the only way out, and not in a convincing manner. It just makes him look like a wishy-washy person, who said he'll never do something because it destroyed his friend's life, and then go right in to do it anyway, just because he's strapped for cash. Who says that the same thing that happened to his friend won't happen to him? He'll get hate comments and crazy anti-fans too. It's to be expected in this industry. So I don't know why he's willing to jump into a volcano full of doom when he literally has other ways to make money.

Secondly, Seojun ending up going with his career over love is just sad. It's realistic, but it wasn't something he did on his own. Jugyeong made the choice for him, and he had to take it like a man. I could understand where Jugyeong is coming from, because like I said earlier, she's full of insecurities, and nothing much else. When he doesn't return her text or call her, she ends up moping in her room the entire day. She's not an understanding girlfriend, and she needs to have constant confirmation that she's loved, or she will break. Seeing Seojun swamped by his fans on a constant basis and being forced to keep their relationship a secret would literally kill her, either from her getting depressed to the point of suicide, or having some sort of illness from stress, or getting targeted by Seojun's crazy fans. What's not okay is how Seojun promised her so many things, like that it would be okay for him to quit his budding singing career, and that he'd rather be with her than be an idol, and then subsequently not act on these words. Obviously, he has great ambitions, and he won't abandon his dreams of fame and fortune, just for a girl. I absolutely detest people who don't mean what they say. Sure, you can say you will do all these great things in the heat of the moment, but when push comes to shove, you won't do it. That's exactly what Seojun does, every single time. He's an awful lover, and I really hope that you come to realize that. His words are empty, and he has never really tried to understand Jugyeong. He's always feeling inadequate about his lack of money, he's suspicious of guys who hang around her too long, and he hasn't really proven himself that he will put Jugyeong over his own interests. He may talk the talk, but he can't walk the walk. Still, girls are swayed by his smooth-talking and passionate declarations of love, so they'll love him all the same, even if they are blinded by the fact that he's really just a selfish guy who happens to be good-looking. Just remember, if he can say these words to you, he can say them to anyone else. It's lucky that Seojun only has eyes for Jugyeong, but in real life, this sort of man is completely untrustworthy in my book.

As for Jugyeong, man, this girl. There are so many times I would scream "Y U SO DUMB" because she is the most naive, disaster-prone girl with zero sense of self-preservation I've come across. It's like she's actively seeking new ways to get almost killed or raped or some other horrible outcome. Even when all her senses are tingling, screaming DANGER, she'd just jump right into the situation, ignoring her very reliable gut instincts, for fear of pissing someone else off. This really goes to show that even though she may look mature with all her makeup on, she's still just a scared little girl who hasn't grown up at all. She's like a horror movie character who does all the wrong things, so that the audience would get pulled into the horror with her, except this is a shoujo. Although it seems that the author of this webtoon has recently been taking a page out of her fellow webtoon author's "#Killstagram," and it is veering toward horror genre these days. I suppose it's a good thing for Jugyeong to personally experience what her favorite genre is like in her everyday life? Anyhow, I'm sure that after all this is over, and the dust has cleared, she and Seojun will be all lovey-dovey again because he is destined to be with her. Cough cough.

I guess now is the time to address Seojun's reaction to Jugyeong's real face. Honestly, I don't know what to say. In my opinion, plain Jugyeong isn't that ugly. The author tries to make the ugly Jugyeong really ugly compared to when she has makeup on, but to me, she's just average-looking. Sure, she has weird eyebrows and a bunch of pimples, but none of that constitutes so much self-hatred for her own appearance. I'm more surprised that she hasn't grown more eyebrows back, because she originally had bushy ones. Her face has no real disfigurement or malformations which would concretely put her in the ugly category. She doesn't even have crooked teeth or whatever that girl's picture had that she texted to Seojun to test the waters to see how he'd react. Oftentimes, when the plain Jugyeong is drawn, she's in chibi form, and that's pretty cute. It's just not a big deal. I'm not that surprised that Seojun didn't care after he found out. What was he supposed to do otherwise? He'd be a big jerk if he didn't accept her as she was, despite her lying to him for so long. As the hero of the story, he can't simply abandon her because she's not pretty 24/7. Good for him. But bad for story. It's forced his hand, so he must react how he should. But if this was truly about "True Beauty," he should react with anger, or disappointment, or maybe even disgust. It would give a chance for both Jugyeong and Seojun to grow, as they try to deal with the reality that Jugyeong is pretending to be someone she's not. They can break up, but then eventually come to like each other again when they learn more about why they love each other. Instead of answering the question "Why do you like me so much?" with "Because you're pretty," they can finally go deeper. But nah, let's just go with the nonsensical idol plot, yeahhhhh~

What else do I want to talk about? Oh right, the acne. Having acne doesn't make you look ugly. Yet this webtoon insists on making so-called ugly characters who magically become pretty through makeup have acne. All other people who are classified as beautiful have zero acne. Please stop with this portrayal, because acne is something literally everyone has had at least once in their life, so don't propagate the idea that acne equals ugly. It's very harmful, especially to those who have severe cystic acne and are very conscious about it. If you are one of those people, speak to a dermatologist to see if you can find a treatment that's right for you. Don't be like Jugyeong and cover them with makeup, because that's not a long-term solution, and may make things worse. Piling on so many chemicals on your skin doesn't help it. There's powerful medication for acne such as isotretinoin (heavily regulated in some countries), as well as combination treatments involving various types of medicine like oral contraceptives, spironolactone (a blood pressure medication), and antibiotic topicals that can help. Do not pick your skin, because it may lead to infection and scarring. Eat a low-glycemic diet to avoid triggering flare-ups. And it's a myth that acne goes away after your teenage years, there are plenty of people in their sixties and seventies who still have acne. However, don't ever let acne get you down. Even if you have acne, you are still beautiful, and don't let this webtoon convince you otherwise.

I'm a bit miffed at how this webtoon likes to shove a stereotypical image of what should be considered beautiful down our throats. Anyone outside of that is either not beautiful, because their true potential hasn't been unlocked through the magical powers of makeup, or because they're villains. I kid you not, every single villain in this webtoon thus far has at least one mole on their face. If you see a character with a mole, they are a 100% a villain, for sure. It's like putting up a red flag saying "I AM BAD GUY" when you see such a character, and it takes all the suspense out of it. Meanwhile, our three main characters are flawless and don't have a single imperfection on their face, when Jugyeong has her makeup on, of course. I am sick and tired of webtoon artists being lazy and putting a single dot or two on their characters' faces to distinguish them from other characters. Some do this to make their main characters more attractive, I guess? Having random moles is not an attractive quality, I really don't understand this mole fetish I've been seeing in 80% of the webtoons I've read. It makes me wonder if readers will one day be like, "I want a dot on my face because so-and-so has one!" It's just weird. Fictional characters don't need moles for any reason whatsoever. If it's meant to show that slight imperfection in the otherwise perfect face, that's dumb, because that's too on-the-nose, and you can do it better through storytelling, rather than a superficial for that will never be explained anyway. If it's meant to be realistic, that's even worse, because fictional characters don't look realistic in the first place. This is not portrait drawing, why are you drawing every blemish on the character's face, are you going to draw skin pores next? So I've come to the conclusion that artists just like to draw dots on their characters because they're lazy, and that's that. It's definitely the case here, so you know that someone is going to be a malicious character before they even speak.

In terms of art, the art is good. When it wants to be. Otherwise, it's average. The author needs to do pin-up work, because they're very skilled at drawing figures from head-to-toe, all decked out in elaborate clothes and accessories. They have a future making a fake fashion magazine full of just the illustrations of pretty girls and handsome boys wearing random things, because they're very good at it. All the other panels are usually drawn in chibi-esque style with many details lacking. I can tell backgrounds are not the author's strong suit, because they're usually either plain or barely there, done with minimal amount of detail compared to how much attention was put in drawing faces and clothes and accessories. The panels are easy to read, and largely filled with empty spaces, which makes binging this webtoon incredibly easy. I read 40 chapters in one sitting. The author is also an efficient lazy person, because they'll reuse the same panels over and over again in flashbacks and even in a stalker's house that makes you go "WHERE IS CAMERA" because it's impossible for the stalker to have taken a picture that is in actuality a panel of the story, without her being noticed. Where I see the sides of the webtoon go black, I know it's flashback time, and I'll just skip it, because it's never changed up, and just a rehash of something that's already happened, but from different point of view.

The major takeaway of this webtoon is that beauty doesn't buy happiness. No matter if you're ugly or beautiful, life will still suck. It may be even worse if you continue to pretend to be someone that you're not. You should always accept what you were born with, and then work with it to forge your own life for yourself, paying less attention to what others think of you, and instead paying more attention to what truly makes you happy. Although Jugyeong may have changed her appearance to fit in, she's still as miserable (if not more) as she was when she was plain Jugyeong, because a whole host of problems cropped up, and she will live her life doubting herself, because she can never be pretty enough to feel comfortable with herself. Don't be like Jugyeong. Find your true beauty within, and not without.

Overall Breakdown:
Characters: 4/10
Story: 5/10
Art: 6/10
Lore/Worldbuilding: 4/10
Enjoyment: 4/10