Celebrity (2023)

Thoughts left the room, all that is left is me simping for the oppa.

Not gonna lie, this show made me feel pathetic - reminded of my young teen self getting obsessed over the rich entitled oppas. It’s been ages since an oppa oppaing so hard evoked so many emotions in me. He served us nothing, but served so much. The never changing face, monotone line delivery, 2-dimensional writing spiced up with all the possible cliches - all that to deliver the truest oppa ever. How shallow of me to open the review with that statement.

Surprisingly enough, no matter how ridiculous, unrealistic and over the top the drama might have been (which, by the way, were all the reasons I loved it so much), it actually had some thought-provoking scenes and moments. Social commentary dressed as fancy makjang? That might be an overstatement, but I’d be lying if I said it did not present even one aspect worth reflecting on. Basing your worth on your popularity, addiction to attention, seeing people around you as tools to be used and discarded when they stop being useful, how far can one go to achieve success, differences in how people perceive reality depending on their socioeconomic status and more. Bits and pieces of potential, all overshadowed by the entertainment.

And I’m not even mad about it. This is such a stress-reliever brainless entertainment I’m actually grateful it exists. Once you start watching, it’s hard to stop. There are awful and selfish characters to bitch about, a female lead that’s worth rooting for, a few characters you end up loving (even if the reasons are painfully shallow), twists and turns that come out of nowhere and make you question the reality that already makes no sense. And then there is the glamor and fashion that’s just so pretty you can’t turn your eyes away from it.

How’s the acting? On average mediocre. Some performances were good (looking at you Lee Chung Ah), some were fine (I love you Park Gyu Young, but not all of your scenes were to my liking), some were either barely existing or yet again typecasted (Kang Min Hyuk serving nothing but hot looks and Lee Dong Jeon playing the same character he did for the past few projects). Did it bother me? No. I have no idea why. I have no idea why all the things that usually make my blood boil just did not bother me here at all.

Overall, I finished the online exam in 15 minutes just so I can continue watching this drama as soon as possible - that will tell you how addicting it is. The pacing was fast, there was no time for chill and breaks, the characters were either unrealistically great or comically awful. Han Joon Kyung was the most oppa of all oppas. Whoever the casting director was - they need a raise.

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I see the potential but it just never got there

This was an exhausting watch. I suppose you'd expect that given the heightened world of social media but wow did things drag. Idk why i kept watching tbh.

I mainly watched for the social commentary but that felt very flat. Rather than adding something new to the social media/consumerism conversation the same points were repeated and got stale. It’s a shame bc these things should be talked about but the script just didn’t deliver. I was confused about exactly what Ah Ri was trying to accomplish. She wasn’t like the other influencers yet she turned into a hypocrite by imitating the actions of people she claimed she wasn’t like.

The actors were all ok. Nobody was outstanding, just ok. This is the second Park Gyu Young drama I’ve seen where she’s the FL, and I didn't like either of them a whole lot. She suits a side character much better, and personally I think she lacks the charisma it takes to be a FL. Kang Min Hyuk was so mf fine here but I’m afraid that's all he was. Why people are saying the leads had such good chemistry, I don't know. Chae Hee was a CHILD. Shi Hyun was supposed to be the opposite of the two extremes I suppose, but she wasn’t giving me anything to work with. She wasn’t annoying so that’s good. The other influencers were forgettable.

This drama obviously had a lot of effort put into the production. You could feel the weight of the materialism through the screen. It still ended up missing the mark in terms of what it was trying to accomplish. Rather than12 eps this could've easily been 10. Hopefully in the future another drama with this subject matter and bettwr execution will come along.

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Glamorous lives of influencers

The drama is basically about how Ari rises to a top influencer position and the people she meets and makes enemies with along the way. And, of course, how she exposes them.
I liked the drama overall. I mainly loved Ari's chemistry with Junkyung and kinda wanted to watch them more than the other cliche beaches of influencers. I also felt like it was too long for a Netflix show, as they're usually max 8 eps, while this one was 12 eps. The reason I gave it a bit low on the rewatch value is exactly because of this. I don't see people who likes a fast watch would rewatch all of the 12 eps again. They felt a bit long with the lack of proper action or more romance. Tho I must say this is just my preference. So folks who doesn't like much romance, will love the underlying slow romance going on. The acting and the production quality are good, so it was still a nice watch.
I still have to mention that I wanted more romance. I was also disappointed with the villain. I expected they'd do a cool murder mystery, but it was more of a life lesson theme instead... I legit expected the sweetest character Shihyeon, to turn out to be a psycho villain as a plot twist, but nope, she was actually simply just nice T_T
Nevertheless, I loved how Park Gyu Young and Kang Min Hyuk had a lovely chemistry and a cute couple to watch. I really wished they'd gave more of them... still portrayed a nice slow burn romance. Tho plot-wise they lacked more background info on why they were the way they were. Like at times I was confused about whether Junkyung was actually a nice guy or a bored playboy, or whether Ari had a traumatic love experience in the past that made her so cold towards Junkyung even after kissing or she was just very introverted? I just wished they filled more in to the main characters personalities & past, rather than introducing buch of superficial mean girls.

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What would you do to get and stay famous?

Honestly, I think this was the first drama that I was not able to actually guess the twists. It does such a great job of keeping you on your toes and hanging onto every word Ah-Ri says.

This is about the world of celebrities and influencers and the things they do and hide behind what we see through the screen. They do such a great job at really capturing what it's like to use social media and how things come and go quick. I really loved the effects with all the social media and comments. It was really pleasing and not done in a cheesy, just a screenshot way.

The story is amazing and really has you guessing until the very last episode. I wish that we could have gotten a few more details with little things like Ah-Ri's backstory and less of Jun-Kyung and Shi-Hyun's. It honestly didn't really fit into the plot that well, nor did I really care for it. The twists and turns in this are small, but I couldn't guess them at all. I think they did a really good job of having the account owner super secret until the moment it's actually revealed. Even when it was, my jaw dropped because I would've never been able to guess. I was a bit sad with how everything ended so quickly and wish we could've gotten more of the happier resolution after.

The romance in this drama is small, but the few scenes you do get are really good. I was rooting for Ah-Ri and Jun-Kyung so hard. You can never go wrong with enemies (on one side?) to lovers.

I really love the social commentary this drama gave on how everyone views celebrities/influencers and how we are the ones who old them above ourselves. I also loved the commentary on how one person can really bring you to your lowest with just their words. It really gets you thinking about everything you see on social media as well.. is it really all real? Are the people real and genuine? Why do we care and cheer on random people we will never know?

Just a great and easy watch if you're looking for a mystery/thriller to give you some entertainment for a short time. The episodes are only 45 minutes each, so it's a great binge show.

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Everyone on this show needed to go outside and touch grass, my GOD

If you're looking for a revenge drama about rich people behaving badly, you'd be better off watching The Glory, which is an altogether more satisfying execution of this story. That said, I do love watching horrible people get their just desserts, so I ate this up regardless.

The acting was quite good and Park Gyu Young was especially captivating as A-Ri, which says a lot about her skill as an actress because the script didn't really give her much to work with. It felt like we, the audience, were kept at arms-length from her for the entire show and even after watching all 12 episodes, I don't feel like I really know her as a character at all. The same goes for Si-Hyeon and I wish Lee Chung Ah had gotten a meatier role and a chance to do more than just look wan and melancholy. I do like that they maintained their friendship as I was convinced for the first few episodes that it was gonna be an All About Eve situation. The less said about the romance (if you can even call it that), the better, because what the hell was that? Congrats to this show for having one of the weirdest "romances" I've ever seen, I guess.

As someone who doesn't really care about Instagram or influencers, I found most of the conflict quite petty and hard to take seriously, and even though A-Ri's reputation (and by extension, her livelihood) was on the line, the stakes never really felt that high. I also think there was a huge missed opportunity for the show to say something about privilege, as A-Ri's massive success was not just due to her hard work, but her fashion knowledge from her wealthy upbringing and her industry connections thanks to her father's old company.

Ultimately, this was a fascinating peek into a world that is so outwardly glamorous and a good reminder to get off the internet once in a while, but instead of skewering modern internet/influencer culture, the show fell into its own trap and gave us the filtered, Instagram-ready version instead.

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A boring and dissatisfying reveal

Celebrity follows the rise and fall in popularity of a celeb with humble beginnings. What really piques my interest is the mystery behind our female lead's statement that she is actually dead.

With a stellar cast and a promising trailer... I was anticipating a lot from this drama. Also, it's directed by Kim Chul Gyu who also directed Flower of Evil, which is one of my faves of all time). I would say the pacing is great: the writers are doing a really good job at dropping breadcrumbs for multiple different storylines. The camerawork is also very creative and I want to praise it as it enhances all the emotions going on.

But my overall impression is not positive. After I watched half of Celebrity, the story didn't build enough tension for me. The depictions of wealth and glamour were quite enjoyable, but they're visual fluff that just doesn't really appeal to me. I was getting whiplash with one episode that would be so painfully boring, and then the next episode I saw the glimmer of potential conflict, but it never like reached the point of solid storytelling. Also, I don't personally feel as connected with the lead character. She lacks the charm for me to feel sympathy or buy her motivation. I feel like there's a lot about her that I don't know. So I didn't get invested in her relationships with other characters as well.

The last two episodes of this show were quite a drag for me to get through. Even though the episodes are short (20-30 mins), I watch them like in 10-minute chunks. I found the ending so dissatisfying. I wasn't shocked by any of the reveals. I wasn't happy. I wasn't sad. I was pretty emotionless because I could see that the show was ending and I just didn't care.

-July 2023, Yovita
Find me on Instagram: @kdramajudge

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Could have been good if it had any message

when I had watched the first two episodes I was hopeful that, given the sheer absurdity of so called 'influencers' this drama would have a message like 'poeple, look, we show you how utterly moronic the whole 'social' media and 'influencer' industry is.
Something like 'look, it's all fake, these people are all fake (it did show that to some extend in the beginning) and that whole system is nothing else but a very modern, modified form of prostitution. Stop consuming this nonsense, stop spendig your precious lifetime in front of screens following and unfollowing artifical product -'people' who would tell you to buy anything as long as they get free loads and tons of money for it, yes, they would even advertise fresh poop to you.'
But no, sadly it was just a simple revenge story taking all this nonsense very serious instead of understanding this is not only not real life, it's actually not life at all, it's morally and spiritually dead, artificial things coming from deeply corrupted, greedy, spiritually dead people who don't give an ef about you except for you making them rich and feeding their ego with a totally absurd admiration of complete strangers.

Missed chance, could have been great had it shown the absurdity of our times regarding this topic.

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#influenced

Plot: Seo Ari, a struggling woman who sells cosmetics door to door. After her father's company goes bankrupt, she & her mother are left penniless.
The 12 episodes follow the rise of Seo A-ri and the dark sides to being a E - influencer.

I was interested in this drama after watching the trailer a few weeks ago.
This is the second drama of 2023 to keep me on my toes the whole 12 episodes. Once I started I couldn't stop watching. Each episode leaves you wondering what's next, who is bbbfamous, how is she recording this live stream if she's gone?

You can tell Netflix and Studio Dragon put a lot of money into this show and it was worth it. This drama really showed a different side of being a E-Celeb in Korea that I have never seen before.
I really loved the cinematography and storytelling of this show because the twist at the end I never saw coming.
If you are here for romance, it is definitely a slow burner, but has its moments here and there.

This is a drama for someone who like mystery, thrill, fashion, and what happens once you reach the top of being an online influencer.

Overall, I really liked this drama and would definitely watch it again!

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A game of Dead or Alive

I may be stupid but this drama actually had me guessing about who was who, who killed who, from start to finish I was pretty much lost. And I guess I like being lost while watching a drama.

The characters where not very lovable most of the time and their voices where a bit to high pitched and as several characters where supposed to be spoiled brats they did seem to raise their voices just a little bit to many times... Making me truly annoyed and hate every single villain in this drama.

That said our supervillan was a true master of privilege and obsurd one liners oh a guy is dyeing of an overdose, oh really they should not take drugs if they can't keep it to the right amount... or something like that his gazes, his logic everything about him just smelled rotten.

Our oppa, with super oppa powers gave us some more odd lines that reeks of privilege but also a slow mo oppa CEO power, though he had way to little screen time I will admit that what we got was highly concentrated oppa...

The female lead is mostly bad ass, smart and so on without beeing to perfect, as she is indeed a very, very cold female lead.

A decent watch that kept me guessing (also pointing fingres).

P.s. the glas in this drama seems to be dangerously thin...

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lets be honest, this was boring

i love the cast, the main one cuz the other grls were sooo annoying at the point i didn't even wanna see them anymore, kim dali is soo pretty, her outfits were so pretty too, i was staring at her most of the time cuz the plot was boring for me like 80% of it. i also liked a-ri and joon-kyung's relationship even tho they didn't have a proper built like one minute she hated him and the next she liked him, also no character development from him at all but never mind ig...
the plot, why was it interesting at times but then sooo boring that i just wanted to fast forward until the end... it got a little more interesting at like the last two episodes when joon-kyung was almost killed, thank God he lived tho cuz that would be so unnecessary.
at the first episodes when the writers were trying to makes us think that a-ri became a bad person and did bad things too was so so bad, remember when shi-hyun said to the police " i wanted to help her (or something like that) until she did what she did" like a-ri didn't do anything wrong at all and never deserved all the hate and suffering she got...
also, the last episode where the "bff" is getting a-ri's revenge was so confusing, she was one of her biggest haters but after she cried some tears with some nonsense reason for doing that it was all okay??? again, the plot had many holes, some of the characters were written poorly and no character development at all.
i would not recommend, in my opinion it was a waste of time, it was more boring than it was entertaining.

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Amazing drama !!!
Every one has done awesome job in acting !!!
The storyline is crazy it shows all the true details in our everyday life .
Would definitely recommend everyone to watch it !!!!!!
Probably the best drama this month till now !!
Wanted a little bit more romance of seo ari 🫶😂.
Amazing drama !!!
Every one has done awesome job in acting !!!
The storyline is crazy it shows all the true details in our everyday life .
Would definitely recommend everyone to watch it !!!!!!
Probably the best drama this month till now !!
Wanted a little bit more romance of seo ari 🫶😂.

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Feels contrived

I don't know, it started out interesting but became boring by the end. I don't think this needed more than 10 episodes. The characters in the Gabin Society were essentially the same person multiplied. All very one dimensional and I found I couldn't even love to hate them. Even A-ri wasn't very interesting or likeable to me overall. What this drama has against it is that there are a LOT of other really good and intriguing dramas airing right now so this one feels flost in the shuffle. Overall it's not the worst I've seen but it doesn't make my top list for this year.

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