Ankita's guide to convert your friends into K-Drama Watchers
I had a habit of watching finished dramas in Korea so that I didn't have to wait to watch the next episode (clearly because I am really impatient). I also had another habit of watching only one drama at a time.
Lately, I've seen a change in myself. I started watching one drama that was currently airing and to kill some time and boost my patience, I started another drama which was airing. This cycle continued till I was watching 5 currently airing drama. Somewhere in between, I found this drama Rich Family's Son.
The reason why I picked this drama was, one, I had never watched any drama with over 40 episodes and, two, this drama seemed to be very simple to me (almost too simple to keep it entertaining).
Also, the biggest reason was I just needed to watch something to fill the gap with. I already had many interesting things to watch, so I had no expectations for this drama in terms of entertainment.
But, as I am watching it, why not give you reasons to watch/not watch this drama.
Plot
Rich Family's Son, the title accurately describes the plot. Well, no suspense there, huh? Jokes aside, this drama is based on a rich family whose head dies, leaving behind a huge debt, which the spoiled heir tries to pay off and embarks on a journey to rebuild his family's empire which obviously changes his outlook on life and other matters.
Does this sound like an overused plot only to me or do you feel the same? Please let me know in the comments.
Characters
In terms of characters, this drama is pretty single dimensional, especially both the male and female lead in this drama. Their characters have no depth whatsoever. But kudos to the supporting cast. The supporting characters are somewhat better than the main cast. However, comparing it to other dramas, the acting is bland and there is no character development.
I'll elaborate a little on the lead characters. The male lead played by Kim Ji Hoon is a rich spoiled brat. Ji Hoon's acting as a brat is believable. But, apart from the ML being rich, he has no distinct characteristics. For the female lead (played by Kim Joo Hyun) both the character and acting, it's just plain bad. The acting is so bad that the FL appears almost to be emotionless. Watching the male lead and female lead together is just pure misery. The chemistry between them just does not exist.
Rich Guy Poor Girl Syndrome
Okay, I'll finally admit it, watching dramas with rich male leads falling for poor female leads is my guilty pleasure. (I am in an acute stage of Cinderella complex). With both the Male lead and Second Male lead, being filthy rich this is a treat to my eyes and soul.
But the thing that torments me the most is that it is very clear that the female lead's family is well off. Just to fit this drama into the 'Rich guy, poor girl romances' the story writers have deliberately shown the female lead to be the poor hardworking girl, whereas the other members of her family are living relatively lavish.
The concept of an ambitious woman
This drama tried to sell what is not very common in the Dramaland, where most of the times the FL's life changes only because of the male lead. The concept of an ambitious woman in terms of her career. Even though it didn't quite hit the mark, but full marks for effort! So the FL lead wants to open a cafe and wants to be very rich. Now why it didn't work for me, you ask?
Clearly, apart from the bad acting and no character development, even the story didn't make me believe that the FL was desperately ambitious. Just because the FL keeps on saying it again and again, that she wants to be rich is not going to do anything for me when the rest of her actions aren't doing anything in this regard. What I see coming is, it's not her hard work that's going to make her rich, but only a drama miracle.
I am not saying this drama is just bad. I like this drama for its simplicity. But I wrote mostly about the negative things because for me the negatives were more overpowering than the positives.
