My Lovely Sam-soon

I know it's a random post.. This is my review for the drama "My Lovely Sam-soon."
I really liked this drama, but it was pretty interesting that many Korean females still had ambivalent attitudes toward the "lookism," which means the pre-discrimination or prejudice on people based on their appearance. They want to fight against it, but still prioritize appearance.




During the summer of 2005 on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, it was hard to find women of age from 20 to 30 on the streets in Korea. They were watching “My Lovely Sam-soon” on TV, instead of hanging out with friends. With the popularity of having the audience rating higher than 50%, this drama created the “Sam-soon syndrome,” which criticized the lookism, the pre-discrimination or prejudice on people based on their appearance. However, the female viewers’ ambivalent attitudes toward this syndrome show a twisted point of view on the lookism scattered all over Korea.

A 29-year-old single, Kim Sam-soon, is an ordinary woman. Unlike other typical female main characters who are unrealistically beautiful, feminine, and passive, Sam-soon is a more realistic character. When she was hula-hooping in the backyard for her diet, crying in the restroom after having got dumped on Christmas Eve, many women wholeheartedly understood how Sam-soon would have felt then. Having the same or at least similar experiences, female viewers got to love Sam-soon, who became their representative.

However, this realistic character attracted more female viewers by adding an ideal love story. Sam-soon’s accidental, even embarrassing meeting with Jin-heon in the men’s restroom began this story. Jin-heon, an owner of a hotel as well as of a fancy restaurant, also having an attractive appearance, is an ideal guy in every woman’s daydream. Getting employed by Jin-heon, pretending to be his lover, and finally falling in love with him, Sam-soon, an ordinary woman becomes a Cinderella. Women viewers felt vicarious satisfaction watching Sam-soon’s love story with Jin-heon, a modern prince. The fact that it was Sam-soon who became a Cinderella, not other typical beautiful women characters stimulates and encourages ordinary female viewers, who are not confident in their appearance.

Besides Sam-soon, this drama created three other heroes, Jin-heon, Hee-jin, and Henry, showing the other side of the “Sam-soon Syndrome.” Although this drama was loved because of the brand-new approach by using a realistic main character, these three people gained sudden popularity with their extraordinarily beautiful appearance. Although encouraged by Sam-soon, and feeling the same way as her from the similar experiences, many female viewers still want to be like Hee-jin who is beautiful, skinny, and stylish. The streets were filled with countless numbers of her wannabes after this drama. Moreover, if Jin-heon were just an ordinary person without money or an attractive appearance, women viewers would be apathetic to this drama. They are happy to see their own experiences on TV, recreated by a familiar character Sam-soon. However, they are happier to see their own stories weaved with other beautiful characters, giving them a fantasy that could be happened to their own lives.

Kim Sun-ah, who acted Sam-soon, swept all the awards at the end of the year, being applauded for her enthusiastic performance as well as her personal effort to gain weight to be the “real” Sam-soon. Not only her appearance, but also her cynical tone against the lookism in the drama was a hot issue of the “Sam-soon syndrome.” Although female viewers were satisfied with Sam-soon’s cynicalness and criticism against the society which prioritizes people’s appearance, they still wanted to be like Hee-jin, dreaming a love story with a guy like Jin-heon or Henry. Despite the success of “My Lovely Sam-soon,” it seems like the lookism is still unavoidable in Korea. Today, every Sam-soon all over Korea is hula-hooping to be Hee-jin, wating for Jin-heon.