“You Have to Be Pretty From the Start”.

The title of the episode can often can relay that theme of the episode, and this is one of those moments. For one long hour, we the viewers are given different perspectives on beauty and what it means to be beautiful.  There’s the obvious implication when the boys gush about Soo-Ah’s prettiness. Being pretty means having boys fawning over 24/7.

But upon closer study, it becomes clear that most examples of beauty are merely projections of FAKE beauty. They fail to be pretty FROM THE START, as the title stipulates.

I’ll go through some of them.

First, Kyung Seok. This was what Mirae thought of him:

“He’s that Do Kyung Seok after all. Some are born to have daily lives that look like photoshoots. The face of Jaryong Middle Schoos. Do Kyung Seok. He’s just walking…(but he looked like he was walking down a fashion runway). He’s just doing an earthquake drill…(but he appeared as if he was sitting for a pictorial). He just has a broken arm…(but he made his sling look like the must-have accessory of the season). But this is his world (looking like a supermodel). Among the many photoshoots, the legendary one is Rain Kyung Seok. He transferred after that, but every student at our school knew about him.”

This passes for beauty in Mirae’s eyes: an IMAGE of coolness and chic walking in their midst. Lol.

It’s telling that all the students knew ABOUT him but none knew him for real. If they had been privy to his family situation back then, I doubt that they would have thought Kyung Seok beautiful. They would have considered him a depressing story or a tragic figure.

No, Kyung Seok isn’t pretty from the start….

Same with WooJin, KS’s friend. He presents another example of fake beauty. He’s considered one of the beautiful people because of his wealth. His GF dropped him like a hot potato when he was disowned by his father. Without money, he looked pretty ugly to her.

Next is Hyun Jung’s parents. They’re fake beauty, too. On the outside, they look like beautiful people because of their conventional ways and their kind and encouraging words. The mom made quite a show of envying Mirae’s plastic surgery but once Mirae was out of the room, she began to censure her audacity to do it without her father’s approval. Their fakeness couldn’t be more real.

Then, KS’s father, the politician. His beauty is his sincerity. He’s admired for being an outstanding and benevolent politician.

But the daughter has a good grasp of his fake beauty when she ridicules their father’s leniency to the motorcyclist who bumped their car as nothing but a PR move. She mutters, “Please share this story with everyone. Remember my face. I’m Congressman Do Sang Won.”

His renown beauty and his public image are fake.  He’s grubbing for votes.

Strangely enough, the Creepy Senior also exudes fake beauty. His “beauty” lies in his perceived clout. He presents himself to the freshmen as a worthy “oppa” because he can assist them in their studies. He’s so full of himself.

But he’s only a legend in his own mind. Nobody really respects him. And after his run-in with Kyung Seok, his clout and reputation are below basement-level.

But I must point this out: this kdrama likes to call out cultural biases that impel women to undergo plastic surgery. But at the same time, it’s also guilty of perpetuating societal standards of beauty on its viewers. For instance, the height difference between the Creepy Senior and Kyung Seok. Lol.

The Creepy Senior looks disgusting because he’s bespectacled, short and squat, brown-skinned and ugly. Kyung Seok on the other hand is played by an actor who’s tall, white, and handsome. Even if I didn’t know the plot of this kdrama, I could predict that in a fight between the two, of course, Kyung Seok was going to win.

He’s the stereotypical Prince Charming. Ha!

But the most Fake Beauty in this episode is the friend Soo-Ah. Her character follows the the cliched second female lead in kdramas; pretty and popular on the outsidel; a conniving anti on the inside.

We see her in action at the drinking party. (Why are they always drinking??) There’s no doubt in my mind that she deliberately shifted the attention to Mirae to humiliate her.

Classmate 1: (talking to Soo-Ah) It must be tiring to be pretty.
Classmate 2: Yeah. Soo-Ah’s face looks like someone made it.
Soo-Ah: Pardon? I didn’t get anything fixed though. (People were becoming uncomfortable.) Mirae’s prettier.
Mirae: Pardon?
Soo-Ah: Both her face and body. (People exchanged looks. And some laughed nervously.)
Classmates: That’s true. Mirae’s pretty.
Soo-Ah: Mirae didn’t get anything fixed either. (People looked away.)
Kyung Seok: (stepping in to stop Soo-Ah) Hey. Are you having fun? …

Although Soo-Ah claimed to be oblivious everybody else at that table suspected that Mirae had plastic surgery done. They were just being too kind and tactful, and they  avoided bringing it up.

Soo-Ah isn’t a ditzy, clueless girl. Don’t tell me that she didn’t observe and conclude that Mirae had a facelift?

This scene exposed her true sly nature. Unfortunately, Mirae is too stupid too live around people like her. (facepalm)

Funnily enough the only beauty here that isn’t fake is displayed by her father. Of course, if we were to judge beauty solely physical appearance, her father would be the ugliest character in the kdrama. But the beauty he possesses is his pure love for his daughter. He’s not fake. Despite his plebeian looks, he’s got a beautiful and loving soul.

He’s seen his daughter in all her “ugliness.”

In Episode 1, when he compared her to the actress Kim Go Eun (not considered beautiful by knetz), he showed that he was aware that his daughter didn’t meet the societal standards of beauty. In Episode 2, when he requested for her picture to display in his taxi, he also understood why his daughter avoided cameras. Nevertheless, he requested a photograph of her, saying, “I’ll look at it every time I need some strength. It’s my wish.”

And I thought that was a simple and sweet message in this episode.

We’ve seen so many fake variations of beauty but in this father’s scene, we finally discover the secret of finding beauty from the start – as the title declares.

The key to being pretty FROM THE START is to begin with love. The father loves Mirae hence she’s beautiful to him even without the plastic surgery. Likewise, because the father loves Mirae unconditionally, he too is a beautiful man.