A-Drama: Gossip Girl 9.3/10

Gossip Girl

(America)

Of all the high school shows I have watched this one is still the best, in my humble opinion.

Summary: New York’s elite uber rich teens and a couple middle class siblings all attend a private high school in the city. The kids are constantly spending money and hooking up with each other. Their antics are caught by an anonymous poster called Gossip Girl who shares the info with the entire East Side who get the info online or through text alerts.

Based on the description above, this show could have been bad, all surface and snobbery. But the production is high quality, most of the characters lines are witty (so good that I texted my favs to my friend as I watched the show to share in the LOL’s) and they have couples it’s easy for people to ship. I only like one of those couples, but I’m sure peoples preferences vary.

There are also varied plots that include affairs, blackmail and drugs and multiple identities to keep it interesting.

The fashion on the show is pretty amazing, there are dozens of guest appearances by actors who are more well known now, and there’s Leighton Meester, who I think is fantastic #girlcrush. She plays Blair whose character is easily hateable since she’s a first class snob, rude, even to her friends, and ends up crushing on a black knight with even more unredeeming qualities than her. But somehow she’s my favorite because of the depth of her character and her savage wit.

Blair ends up being the second choice a lot since her best friend is the easy breezy blond socialite Serena, but she keeps giving the people who hurt her redemption and rises up from her defeats every single time.

I wont describe every character in detail since I’d bore you silly. Instead I’ve listed them (minus the parents and characters who only passed through) in my order of my preference so you can score it against your own, if you’ve seen the show or plan to watch it in the future.

Females

Blair Waldorf (see above)

Georgina Sparks (She was close to evil, but she was soo funny, especially during the second half of her show appearances. She made the show more interesting and comical to watch.)

Diana Payne (Played by model Elizabeth Hurley, she was multidimensional in a fun, crazy semi-villainous way)

Vanessa Abrams (She could be cool, but she could also be shady and a hypocrite, pretending to have more ethics than the rich b’s around her when she really didn’t.)

Sabrina van der Woodson (She was boy crazy 24/7 – read codependent, made questionable decisions all the time, and every time someone pointed out that her wrong doings hurt them, she got angry with them then struck out at them, hurting them more. That made it harder for me to like her character. That said, 90% of the time if her best friend needed her she was there in a heartbeat. She also had some amazing jewelry.)

Note: The real Blake Lively sounds like a better person, which I base on this quote by her about her character and GG: ”People loved it, but it always felt a little personally compromising—you want to be putting a better message out there,” Lively told Allure in 2015. “It’s a weird thing when people feel like they know you really well, and they don’t… I would not be proud to be the person who gave someone the cocaine that made them overdose and then shot someone and slept with someone else’s boyfriend.”

Jenny Humphrey (I really dislike this character. She was an obnoxious, dishonest, whoa is me kind of tween villain who blamed everyone else for the trouble she made herself.)

Note: It turns out the actress was just as bad if not worse.

Boys

The Prince (FYI: I would marry him if he were real. This prince was sweet and down to earth, and cultured and he loved art. One of my first real life teen crushes was Prince Andrea Casiraghi so maybe I just have a type. The poor Prince was in such a tortured competition for a lot of his episodes, which made me sad for him.)

I’m Chuck Bass (He was kind of awful. Narcissistic and smarmy and self-destructive BUT his wit and the fact that he owned up to all of his shortcomings made him much more likeable to me.)

Dan Humphrey (Ugh. Dan Humphrey was on his high horse ALL OF THE TIME even when he was personally crawling through the dirt. Anyone who reads my blog knows I am no fan of hypocrites and “Humphrey” was the epitome of one. He was sweet for a minute though, when he was out of Sabrina’s orbit, but that was short lived. That short span of time did keep him from being my least favorite male on the show, so there’s that.)

Nate Archibald (Pardon my language but there’s a reason why the term man hoe was invented. He also had raging double standards, doing the same things he refused to forgive in others, which is why he is at the bottom of my list. He was baby face cute though.)

If you haven’t watched this show and you like any kind of dramas – watch it! It doesn’t matter how old you are or what gender or how humble or snobby you are. I know many different kinds of people who have all liked this show. It is genuinely fun for everyone!

Now the gossip:

Turns out that most of the people on the show dated or hated each other. Here’s an article with the deets even Gossip Girl would appreciate. And here’s a hint about one of those couples:

Thai Drama: Forever Sunshine, 1st Impressions

I think I’ve seen almost every great Thai Lakorn drama out there. It wasn’t hard. There are only around a dozen lol. Most Lakorn plots are nuts, or the leads are unlikeable, or the production quality is low, so I wouldn’t call most of them great. I watch the semi-bad ones anyway, when I’m in a bad mood, because for some reason they make me feel better.

It’s probably because my life looks pretty good compared to a typical Lakorn family where the wife has to raise the child of her husbands mistress, and the child is mistreated and messed up and comes back later to wreak vengeance on the family before being consigned to a contract marriage with a relative who they end up falling for.

My hope was that Forever Sunshine would not be mediocre, or worse, but would be a great Lakorn. It had a good shot since the lead Mark Prin has been Kleun Cheewit, one of the great Thai dramas. And Husband in Law, which I enjoyed. He is also cute AF.

The plot is fairly standard for a Lakorn. A family becomes indebted to someone and the debt they are expected to pay is irrational. It causes all kinds of problems and the male and female lead go through trials, tribulations, and slap kisses and I assume end up in love in the end.

I don’t actually know how it ends because I dropped it. For now. Or ever. I might revisit it when I’m in a really bad mood. Or miss Mark Prin’s bangin’ bod. Or both.

I dropped it because the female lead was supposed to be 16 and was trying to seduce a 20(?) year old. I assume nothing happened in the drama until they were both older, but ick. More importantly, the lead females actions, which were whiny and bratty, started to stress me out.

I realized I was feeling anxious while I watched this drama, which is not ok, since I watch dramas to de-stress. That’s when I turned the show off and watched Korea’s Love Revolution instead, which is funny, sweet and fun, and made me feel much happier, calmer and content.

The 4 Ways K-Dramas Have Taken Over Our Real Life

Who knew that an addiction to K-Drama’s would not just mean a steady viewing schedule but would mean other changes would happen at home too.

1)My kid went to school with sageuk hair lol We are currently watching Don Yi (circa 2010) and she loved the little girls hair so much that she is now sporting an identical hairstyle (though not as perfectly done), which actually looks really pretty on her.

2) I’m Rachel and I’m a kimchi-a-holic. I’ve always loved Korean food (#Bibimbap4forlife) and liked kimchi, but watching everyone eat it in k-dramas made me crave it. And the more I ate it the more I wanted it. Now it’s a fridge staple that I don’t think I could live without. Luckily for me, we have a large Korean population where I live so finding it isn’t too hard and I can pick and choose whose I like the most. My favorite meal with it is rice drizzled in sweet soy sauce and a fried egg.

3) K-Dramas are solely responsible for my unhealthy eating habits. This is because my fried chicken and beer intake have increased exponentially. Watching everyone in K-Drama’s eating fried chicken and drinking what looks like ice cold beer always makes my mouth water. Next thing I know I’ve decided that’s what we’re having for dinner.

4) Sometimes I walk around with random Korean words and phrases in my head, and more often then not, I have no idea what they translate to in English lol

My Absolute Favorite Male Actors from Asian Dramas

These are the guys who I consider the very best at their jobs, which are to interest me, make me laugh and/or cry, keep me entertained and sometimes make me swoon. They are the actors I anxiously await new work from because they are amazing.

They are listed in no particular order, since I like them all pretty equally. What they all have in common is an ability to act. probably beyond what they have been allowed to do. They are all expressive, most can do comedy as easily as they do drama, and they all fully immerse themselves in the characters that they are playing.

Park Seo Joon (Korea)

There are not enough adjectives to describe why I like Park’s work. He is basically the total package. He plays humble just as well as he plays arrogant. He was not just especially hot (which is not a requisite for this list btw, though I would like to commend him for his perfect abs and make out abilities, which seem to be on point). He was also oh-so-humble and sweet in Witches Romance (which I only recommend for his performance), and in Fight for My Way (one of my favorite dramas of all time), while he was completely conceited in What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim. He was also hilarious and made me laugh during every episode. His comedic timing is also showcased in Midnight Runners, along with his ability to do action. Basically, he can act in anything.

My only problem with Joon is that he does not act in nearly enough stuff. And I refuse to watch any interviews with him or the show he’s in in Spain. This is because he could turn out to be an amazing person, and not just an amazing actor. Than I might start viewing him as a prospect, not just an artist, which would be deeply problematic.

2. Aaron Yan (Taiwan) (China)

Although typecast first into youth shows, since he started acting so young, and then romantic dramas, I believe with all my heart that Yan could act out any genre presented to him. If I were a producer I’d bring him to the U.S. and give him something Oscar worthy, but I’m not one, so a girl can only dream. That said, I love him in a romantic drama because he’s truly believable in whatever character he plays, and his love for the female lead looks completely sincere (because 🌟 acting). I think his seeming sincerity is what sets him apart, along with his expressions (that I’ve referenced on this blog before), which are incredible. As a viewer I can see what he is trying to convey at all times even when he has no dialogue.

My favorite Yan show is Just You (one of my fav dramas ever) because it is cutesy and interesting and entertaining (plus I really love his co-star Puff Kuo and think they make a great team). In Just You he manages to be a character (Qi Yi) that is multi-dimensional. Qi Yi is anal retentive, hard working, bitter, lonely, mature, youthful, responsible and kind, all at once. That is not an easy feat, especially in a drama that is fairly lighthearted. Yan is also (in my opinion) the very best male actor kisser in all of Asia (major feat, right?) and the fact that he may not be the least bit attracted to any of the ladies he has kissed, despite getting all 10’s from me for it, makes him an absolute rockstar actor in my book. And during the only time I have ever watched a behind the scenes of a show video (since they are not normally my thing), I saw that he is a consummate professional who goes from being himself into character the second the cameras are rolling. Lastly, he gets no acting points for this, but he is also the actor I would most like to have a conversation with because he seems like a fun, funny, and intelligent person, and I’m impressed by his personal strength.

3. Puttichai “Push” Kestsin (Thailand)

First off, this man could have chemistry with a rock, as observed after he was in a show where he spent over a dozen episodes falling in love with a bird (Leh Nangfah). Watching that, I really wanted to be that bird. I’m guessing most viewers did. Kasetsin clearly took his role seriously because he talked to that bird and cuddled that bird like it was a person and made a story that is fantastical and kind of crazy totally believable.

As an actor, he is not only capable of delivering perfect dialog, like Yan he has great facial expressions and like Joon he is great at comedy (Wannueng Jaa Phen Superstar had me laughing out loud). He can play anyone from a student to a CEO and can play a romantic lead like no other.

He gets no extra points for this since it’s not about his acting, but from a aesthetic dental perspective Kestsin has the most perfect smile (even better than Park Bo Gum’s). I also appreciate his willingness to be exploited into taking off his clothes in all of his lakorn’s so his fans will be happy.

4. Seo Kang Joon (Korea)

I was first introduced to Seo in Cheese in the Trap (the show version). I didn’t love the show, but he gave me my very worst case of second lead syndrome ever. His character, although a technical bad boy was just so everything, and the girl still fell for the sociopath (which sadly happens in real life way too often). And although I liked the character, I think that if another actor played him I wouldn’t have been as receptive, because Seo played him just right. He was able to play sincere, angry, sweet, responsible and irresponsible at one time. And later in Are You Human Too, he plays two completely different characters with different attributes, and does an amazing job. I really think this ability, to create such multi-faceted characters is what sets Seo and my other favorite actors apart.

Seo is also a professional, which I gauge from the fact that he seems so mature when he acts. I’m sure this comes from his years of acting experience, but I genuinely cannot believe he is 25. This is a compliment to him because it’s not easy to seem mature at that age. I’m sure I didn’t seem half as grown up as he does at that age.

5. Ahn Hyo Seop / Paul Ahn (Korea)

Ahn’s acting stole my heart in Thirty But Seventeen (see my review here). He was adorable. And like Seo, he managed to take a character and elevate it,making a character that was not meant (by the writers and director) to be my favorite into my very fav of the drama.

I also love Queen of the Ring, which is cutesy with a positive message and Ahn stole my heart (as a viewer) in that too. He is just charming, even when he is meant to be conceited, musical (Top Management) or back from the dead (Abyss) which is why I will basically watch him in everything he does from now to eternity.

K-Drama: My ID is Gangnam Beauty (7.3/10)

I know I am the last one to watch this drama. I don’t know why I was resistant to doing it, but now I know I wasn’t wrong.

I tried soooooo hard to like it. And there are parts of it I really like. The acting is good all around. I like the supporting characters. The production itself is high quality, the leading male is as attractive as the show keeps saying he is (he is very symmetrical), and the theme is unique and worthwhile to consider and discuss.

The first episode pulled me in and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. But at some point I feel like I was forcing myself to watch something I wasn’t that invested in.

It’s because I can’t stop thinking that the lead male is a giant jerk. I mean great that he likes this one girl and treats her well, but how special is that really when he is rude to almost everyone else. And the lead girl goes on about being treated badly as an ugly duckling, but pays no mind to the fact that he treats others girls feelings with insensitivity. Plus he is such a debbie downer.

I couldn’t stop thinking while watching it that if he wasn’t attractive he would be almost as unlikable as the glasses guy (aka the bad guy). If he were an unattractive guy it seems highly unlikely that the lead female would have put up with his coldness and unhealthy possessiveness. He showed up where he wasn’t invited t see her, always demanded to know what she was doing at places and why she hadn’t called him back. I mean, let’s get real, if he was ugly, she would have tired of his behavior with a quickness.

And the lead girl. Ahhh! Talk about a victim complex. I understand that she just wants to be normal, but full facial plastic surgery – that is obvious – is not exactly normal. How did she not realize that she may be subject to some looks, questions and ridicule?

I spent all 12 episodes that I watched wishing they would just dance more, which might’ve been the funnest part of this drama, the lead guy would take some happy pills, and the girl would just own her new face, walk with confidence and date whoever she wanted (even if he’s a jerk). Although she’d have to give up moralizing to keep from being a hypocrite, something that I luckily don’t have to do 😉

Maybe the last 4 episodes are the best and I am missing out big time. And maybe I’ll watch them one day, but I just can’t shake the feeling that I would spend most of it wanting to call the whaambulance on them, and end up less than excited about their predictable and eventual coupling. If that happens it’s hard to imagine that I could end the drama with the same level of joy I normally get from a happily ever after.

Sorry to be so negative about this. but I think that’s the mood the drama put me in 😦 Hopefully you all had a more positive viewing experience.