I avoid romcoms involving robots/artificial intelligence and humans because I consider most of their philosophical and ethical underpinnings as warped…ahem…with “I’m Not a Robot” and “Are You Human?” leading the pack of serious offenders. But this weekend, we test-drove a Tesla and I began to see how easy it is to fall in love with it, and grow dependent on its many convenient features which were customized to my needs. Nothing seduces my Freudian id like a personal chariot, accelerating from 0 to 60mph (90 km/h) in 2 seconds.
Here are four reasons I’m test-watching My Holo Love.
1. The Mysterious First Meeting
The Hologram, named “Holo” for short, determined that the best way to prevent the bad guys from getting their hands on the prototype holo-glasses was to ditch it onto an unsuspecting passerby. As Holo had a facial recognition feature, it scanned the crowd for the most trustworthy individual. In the middle of his scan, it spotted SoYeon, the female lead.
To me, it must have recognized SoYeon because it didn’t scan her like the other strangers. Instead, it stood still and allowed SoYeon to walk through it.
I noticed that, in these two first episodes, only two other people had interfaced with Holo. Most of the time, Holo would situate itself where people couldn’t accidentally pass through it.
One person was YooJin, the CEO of the hologram company. As part of their demonstration for their investors, Holo walked through Yoojin to show that it wasn’t a physical person but just a 3-D image.
The other person who actually walked through Holo was its creator, NanDo. But instead of walking, NanDo dashed through him to get to SoYeon before she was electrocuted.
Did you notice the connection when both Nando and SoYeon pass through Holo?
My take here is that Holo is the portal or gateway for these two people, Nando and Soyeon, to meet each other. He isn’t actually the love interest of Soyeon, but the conduit for her to find her true love.
And to me, that’s correct way of viewing robots and AI. Contrary to the hype in media and the buzz in the AI world, they can never replace humans in any relationship. They can only facilitate the connection but they can’t supplant people in the intimate
2. Prosopagnosia
Yes, we know all about this disease since it was discussed here when I covered “100 Days My Prince.” The annoying, moon-face second lead had the same facial blindness.
This time however I’m not irritated by the use of this rare neurological condition. In fact, I’m amused by the writer’s decision to make the heroine working in optical retail. Soyeon worked in marketing division of an eyewear company. Isn’t that funny? She had facial blindness but her job entailed selling designer glasses which must look good on their customers’ faces. Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to get where the story is going this. Since the hologram requires eyeglasses to make it work in the real world, her position in the company is going to be critical to Nando’s hologram project.
Moreover, if she didn’t have prosopagnosia, then she would have a) realized that Holo and Nando looked alike, and b) recognized who Nando was from her past. Nando definitely remembered her from somewhere.
He said so. “Of course, that’s it. I’ve seen her before. I know I have but I can’t remember where. Is that why I can’t get her out of my head? I’m good at that, I mean, I always remember faces. Where have I seen her?”
To me, this brought home the seriousness of her disability. If it bothered him that he temporarily couldn’t recognize one specific face, then how much more aggravating it must be for Soyeon who totally couldn’t recognize any face at all.
Her prosopagnosia is an integral element to the story. It wasn’t just a convenient plot device, squeezed in to make us empathize with the heroine. For one, I suspect that her facial blindness is somehow connected to her past encounter which Nando couldn’t remember.
For another, her disability also made her confuse her feelings with Holo and Nando. She knew very well that the hologram was ONLY providing her with the ILLUSION of companionship. But she couldn’t have foreseen that those moments when she was most touched (lol, physically as well as emotionally) would be the times she spent with Nando.
Example 1
Example 2
If she had thought for a second here, she should have realized that somebody tackled her then and it couldn’t have been Holo.
3. “Geunyang” or 그냥
Holo noticed that Soyeon had a habit of saying “geunyang” when she was stumped for answers. Geunyang means “just because” or “just so.” It signifies mixed feelings, an ambivalence, and a prevarication. For example, “Why did you text me?” “Just because.” Or “Why did you buy me flowers?” “Just because.”
Here are the times she said it, and her meaning changes.
a. When she refused to avail of the hologram’s service although it was offered free
Holo: So use me as much as you’d like:
SY: No. No way. No. No, thanks.
Holo: “No thanks”? Why is that?
SY: Just because. If I agree to do this, then I’ll be charged stiff fees later.
b. After Holo completed her work task ahead of schedule
Holo: What is it? Did I fail to meet your expectations?
SY: Oh no. That’s not it. It’s just that…you’re so amazing.
c. When she accidentally saw the theater tickets and wondered who her office crush was bringing to the theater
Holo: Is that ticket you saw earlier bothering you?
SY: Oh! Nonsense! So. you saw it, too?
Holo: Of course. A ticket for February 15th.
SY: It’s just that…it’s on Gangwoo’s birthday.
d. After she confessed to Holo that she had prosopagnosia
Holo: It must be hard for you to keep it to yourself. People might get the wrong impression. Why keep it a secret?
SY: Just because.
Holo then asked her what she meant.
Holo: “Just because”? You’re always saying, “Just because.” It’s almost as if you’re saying there’s no reason behind it.
SY: Mmm…When people say, “Just because”, it’s not like they’re saying that there’s no reason. They either don’t want to talk about it, or don’t understand their own feelings.
In this sense, the “geunyang” is a call to be patient. Either the person isn’t ready YET to talk about it or she doesn’t YET understand her feelings. Give it time, and she’ll give an answer.
Holo: So then, that means you don’t understand your feelings.
SY: Mmm.
Holo: Ah. I’m learning a number of important things from spending time with you.
SY: “Just because” you mean?
Holo. Yes. I like it. Just because.
This has a triple meaning.
One, he was admitting that he liked spending time with her JUST BECAUSE he was learning new things from her. Two, he was being witty. He liked spending time with “just because” — or for no good reason. And three, he liked spending time with her BUT — just like what she said — he wasn’t ready yet to talk about it and/or he wasn’t ready yet to put a name on this newfound feeling.
e. After she revealed to Holo why she kept her disability hidden.
Sure enough, given time, Soyeon opened up to him. She recounted how in high school, she told her best friend and her first love about her illness. As it turned out, all they wanted was to test her condition like she was some sort of experiment.
On a side note: her first love couldn’t be Nando, could it?
But since this is kdrama, I shouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be her boyfriend in high school. SHE could have misunderstood the joke played on her back then.
This was Nando when he was 18.
Because of her experience in high school, she stopped sharing her condition with others. She told Holo, “After that, I never told anybody, just because…I didn’t want to get hurt again. And I told myself, “Just because” like it’s no big deal.
Her “just because” then was her way of coping. She avoided becoming vulnerable by concealing her facial blindness. She swept her problem under the rug.
Thus, Holo learned a catch-all word, “guenyang,” from Soyeon.
Ironically enough, it shouldn’t exist in his lexicon. Of all things to say, he couldn’t respond with a “geunyang” since he was programmed to be logical, reasonable, and decisive. “Geunyang” was contradictory to his operating systems and his artificial intelligence.
Nando realized the error right away.
Holo: I’d like to stay with her a little bit longer. May I, sir?
ND: What? (sighing) Why would you want to do that?
Holo: Just because.
ND: Just because?! (perplexed) What do you mean by “Just because?” You’ve been…
Holo: Mmm.
ND: Look, you’re just an AI. Humans don’t have reasons for their actions, but you should. This is problematic.
Nando would later pose this conundrum to his Senior Programmer.
Nando: How would you interpret AI responding with “just because.”
SP: “Just cuz?” hmmm…That’s a pretty sticky situation. (“Sticky” meant that this situation was dubious and warranted a second look.) Say that it pressed the big red button which launched a missile, then we’d wanna ask it, “Why did you do that?” It just said, “Just cuz.” We can’t have that.
Nando: Right?!
Both realized that they found a logic error in the hologram which potentially had catastrophic repercussions.
To me, it’s interesting that no matter how “perfect” Holo was in comparison with normal human beings, Nando’s genius was infinitely superior than any of Holo’s pre-programmed features. True, Holo was a fountain of information, could predict the best possible solution, and acted like the “relationship coach” for Soyeon, but it was Nando (abrasive as he was) who intuitively knew the right thing to do.
4. Ghost vs AI
Frightened of her encounters with Holo, Soyeon attempted a spiritual rite to rid the glasses of ghosts. When she put them on, however, Holo appeared. When she took them off and flung them away, Holo persisted to establish contact. It called her on her android (lol), appeared on her TV, then as a last resort, called her on her landline. When she finally put on the glasses, Holo materialized in front of her.
Holo: Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Holo, the world’s first AI hologram, and with those glasses, only you can see me.
SY: (in disbelief) You’re telling me that…that you’re an AI?
Holo: So you believe in ghosts, but not in AI?
Ha! I thought that remark was funny, but I didn’t realize until the second episode that it was as close to truth as it could get. It was .
You see, Holo was an AI, but its creator Nando was a ghost…in three levels.
One, the obvious one is that he was supposed to be dead. He died when he was 18 years old. He jumped off the cliff.
In a voiceover, he said, “I died 12 years ago. I founded GIO Lab and created Holo, but Ko Nando is a ghost that doesn’t exist on paper.”
He worked after everybody had gone home so he wouldn’t be detected. He walked to his office like a ghost wandering in haunted mansion.
Two, he was a ghost of a living person. His noona chided him for not showing up at the hospital when she was injured, and he didn’t bother to correct her. Then as he roamed around his big empty GIO lab at night, it became apparent that, not only had he been living in secret, but he had been living a very lonely existence.
There was the company lounge room with a jukebox, dartboard and foosball table, but he had nobody to play with.
And to me, this is the saddest part… there was a chess board with only the black pieces out. He must have been playing with just Holo all this time if the white pieces didn’t have to be on the board.
BTW, he moved the bishop there. In chess, as you probably all know, the most important piece after the King and Queen is the bishop. I can see Holo as the designated bishop in this drama while the King and Queen are Nando and Soyeon. Holo’s the intermediary between the two lead characters, like bishops are mediators between God and humans in the medieval age.
Anyway, to continue…
Three, Nando was a ghost in the sense that he was the soul of Holo. Nando told his sister that any human traits that the Holo had, they came from his programming. In effect, he gave Holo its soul by transferring a part of his identity onto it.
If you want a Christian perspective here, Nando had breathed life into Holo, like God did to mortals. But then, he not only sparked its existence, he also shared his identity with Holo. Nando’s action replicates the Christian view that God made humans in His image and likeness. Nando is to Holo what God is to men and women.
In sum, Nando was a ghost because:
he’s a dead-man walking,
he’s a shadow of himself,
he’s the spirit of Holo.
Neat, huh?
***************
These are my four reasons for continuing with “My Holo Love.”
The first two episodes created a favorable impression — well, enough for me to buy into a few more episodes. In any case, there are only 12 episodes in all to view and they’ve all have been released on Netflix. This should be an easy review.
This drama is a healing romance at its heart. Totally agree that Holo is not the real love interest of So Yeon, but rather an instrument/conduit through whom our couple connects.
Not a big sci-fi person, but I gave My Holo Love a shot b/c (1) trying to get over CLOY, (2) a friend suggested it, and (3) I like Ko Sung-hee (SY) from the Korean adaption of Suits. I’m already 9 episodes deep into My Holo Love so I’ll try and not spoil anything; not b/c I love it but I’ve already invested myself to see it through.
1. The Mysterious First Meeting – “To me, it must have recognized SoYeon because it didn’t scan her like the other strangers. Instead, it stood still and allowed SoYeon to walk through it.” This is true.
2. Prosopagnosia – “In fact, I’m amused by the writer’s decision to make the heroine working in optical retail. Soyeon worked in marketing division of an eyewear company. Isn’t that funny? She had facial blindness but her job entailed selling designer glasses which must look good on their customers’ faces.” I found it humorous as well.
3. “Geunyang” or 그냥 – “Her first love couldn’t be Nando, could it?” Getting warm, but no.
4. Ghost vs AI – “Ha! I thought that remark was funny, but I didn’t realize until the second episode that it was as close to truth as it could get. It was. You see, Holo was an AI, but its creator Nando was a ghost…in three levels.” I didn’t connect that until you said it, but you are totally correct.
I’m with @JohnL since I started watching as an avenue to get passed my CLOY withdrawals. So far, I am enjoying the series, though it took me a second to get invested in the story-line. Past episode 4, things became more interesting to me, despite my invariable dislike for SciFi (though I love fantasy).
I had not processed Nando’s ghost status on 3 levels until I read your post. This makes so much sense and explains some of the plot too.
Gah… you’re making me want to join in but I am maxed out of drama watching if I go to PMY and SKJ when the weather is nice (seriously they should’ve picked a more succinct title 🙄). I watched the egregious aforementioned Robot dramas…but only finished IANAR (because she…well…wasn’t a robot 😂)…I couldn’t finish RUH…the whole premise was like you said…weird. And inherently selfish because you would never have to compromise as the robot would ALWAYS conform to your wishes.
I like the actor. He’s obviously not an A-lister yet (notice the naked body? Lol) but he can act like a harassed and put-upon guy well. 😂 A worry-wart.
The same actor was excellent in Heartless City and Tunnel. Both were intense crime dramas though. Glad to see him in a different genre.
I was skeptical, but this is a very clever drama. I like the role reversal wherein the human has less obvious soul than the hologram. I’ve seen through ep. 3 tonight.
I don’t know the actors (no, didn’t notice the naked body, but wasn’t invested yet, either.) I thought his look when the noona asked if it was his first kiss, and how he furiously brushed his teeth afterwards was so funny.
I’ve seen the actor before but not the actress. She’s believable.
Wait, was that his first kiss? 🤔😱 Of course! He’s been living like a ghost. I forgot about that. 🤦♀️
Love your analysis. You go deep and your details are impeccable. I binge watched this drama and found that there were many profound moments, especially related to the ethics surrounding computer science in general. I was also impressed with the CGI. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone but I think the character development and plot twists, as well as the visuals were top knotch.
I am an American who has almost exclusively watched American and to a lesser extent British tv. But now i just can’t get my fill of K Dramas. They are so immersive and varied. The actors, both leads and character actors, are given so much to do. I even enjoy the tropes and absolutely am impressed by the fact that men and women do things like cook, iron and clean their houses, except for some of the chaebols. You just don’t see real life on American tv ande its a cultural difference that I love. Same forvremoving shoes in the house-I’ve been doingnit for years. And I am glad it is pokite to slurp ramen.
Anyway, sorry about the digression. Your blog rocks!
Is that the “give away” for non A-listers? 😂 I find it hilarious but now I understand why we got some from the second lead but not RJH in CLOY.
I like both leads in this series, and the story is compelling enough to stick around. Looking forward to your thoughts as it progresses.
😂 I was the one who declared that no-nudity clause in the contract separates the A-listers from the Other Alphabet-listers.
Think about it. If the actor needs to show his abs to generate buzz, then he’s not that confident about the script, his acting chops, and the director. And if he’s an A-lister, he should be able to dictate the terms of his contract like how many kisses, are there butt scenes, will there be a body double, and so on.
Welcome to the blog, Sharon. Glad you’ve discovered kdramas.
I hope Netflix doesn’t ruin kdramas by imposing Hollywood’s abominable woke culture onto Korean sensibilities. I can’t even watch Disney movies without rolling my eyes at the blatant virtue-signaling.
Absolutely agree. America is not Korea and Korea isnot America. I also hate when streaming servicescut off the titles. K Dramas do a wondrrful thing in the last episode-they thank lots of people, whowbehind the scenes footage and show great group shots of the cast and crew. When this is cut off you lose a lot about how the tv dramas are made. I now subscribe to Viki to get a sense of that. I also have watched the award shows and am struck by how humble the qctors seem whenthey talk about how theirbperformances are lacking and their hope for improvement. I’m sure there’s ego there but they don’t show it. How refreshing!
“ I hope Netflix doesn’t ruin kdramas by imposing Hollywood’s abominable woke culture onto Korean sensibilities. I can’t even watch Disney movies without rolling my eyes at the blatant virtue-signaling.”
Hear hear. I don’t know why they have to insist on that in Hollywood and Disney. It puts me off ALL…THE…TIME. It just annoys me that they keep trying to “inform” me as if I am incapable of “informing myself” about the issues. And it’s not even the main issue at hand in the story/plot, it just feels shoe horned in there “just because”. When the news about the remake of The Little Mermaid came about, the stories online shifted to the casting a black woman. Publicity stunt? Why do they have to do that? It’s a Danish fairytale? The vast majority of Danes are white? They didn’t need to bring the whole race issue into the tale? But they did. 🙄. Just because.
As for A Listers…let’s see if Mr LMH flashes some skin in Eternal Monarch…he’s purportedly an A Lister? 😂. If he does…then your hypothesis may well be debunked.
Oooo I remember a scene from the movie “Notting Hill”… (From a time I used to believe in fairy tale romances… Ha!). Anyway so here, there is a scene where Julia Roberts explains to the table of lesser mortals about nudity clauses in her contracts. And she’s playing an A Lister in the movie. It’s pretty much as @pm3 mentions.
Also, what we forget to consider is that sometimes, there are other reason to no nudity. These actors don’t have the luxury of having less than perfect bodies. We aren’t even beginning to consider things like surgical procedures. The way entertainment industry works, we’ll never come to know. If for any reason (medical or otherwise) they haven’t been able to stick to the brutal exercise and diet regime that ensures a show-off worthy physique, they wouldn’t want to reveal anything.
For example, LMH seems to have made plenty of skin show even as an A Lister. Multiple other actors including HB himself at an earlier time as well. It is taken as a given in their business. Pleasing the audience is an indispensable part of their success on the job so I’m sure they view being topless differently than people with desk jobs.
I remember a time during my ER training (I’m not a medical doctor but its compulsory for people associated with a Hospital University set up where I’m from). Anyway, so we had a TV star who experienced an injury on the set. The ER team was busy in a cardiac emergency so a couple of nurses were doing his first aid while I helped. He was LEAST bothered about the pain or bleeding and only thing he cared was the scar (it was an abdominal injury). He wanted a plastic surgeon to do his first aid. He didn’t want any CT, he didn’t care if there was internal injury, nothing. He only wanted the plastic surgeon. Imagine. He refused to listen to anyone and made so much racket it wasn’t funny at all. I felt like screaming some sense into him! You’re bleeding for God’s sake and our team is trying to save someone else from DYING. so couldn’t he keep still for two seconds and let us follow the procedure?
Of course, I kept my mouth tightly shut and my eyes firmly down as the rest of us. He was an A Lister and I was merely a junior trainee in a University hospital ER 🙊
P.S. I haven’t been able to watch him on screen since then. It’s impossible. I can’t relate to any character he plays after I witnessed what he’s like outside of the dramas. I pity his staff so much.
Perhaps these people are best enjoyed from afar, with or without their shirts. 😛
@Arihsi
“Anyway, so we had a TV star…”
Seeing you’re not bound by doctor patient confidentiality, who is the aforementioned TV star? 😂. But in all honesty make up can cover a lot so it should’ve been the least of his worries. Unless it’s somewhere conspicuous like his face, then a plastic surgeon would make sense. Lots of Korean male stars have their tattoos covered up with make up when they go shirtless.
@nrllee I doubt it’s someone you’d know. He’s not Korean, American or British. He’s Italian and works in Italian tv industry. I don’t think he’s known outside. 🙈 (I have moved enough countries to know that people are all fundamentally the same. I’m sure this would be equally true for actors of other ethnicities).
And I know right? you’d think face is the most important for his business. But abdomen is what keeps him alive! I don’t know… What did I expect? I had never seen a star in real life. And this is not the worst of it too. My friends in the ER tell me they’ve had some actors with finger cuts (!!!) behave worse.
The problem with a prominent scar would be different than a tattoo. A tattoo is 2D. Sometimes scars heal in 3D depending on the tissue involved, personal physiology and the finesse of the sutures. They’d have trouble completely covering it with makeup. (Although, what do I know about makeup? I barely manage to choose the correct shade of foundation.)
My issue with AI dramas, it’s the women always are showed so lonely and desperate, they fall in love with a robot/AI and they never really adress their futur together…
So I liked the beginning and the end of the drama, the middle was more draggy…
The actors are good and they have a good chemistry. The videos on The Swoon on Youtube are funny. The production is very good too.
Once again, great post @pm3. And welcome to the new posters here! I like the set up of these first 2 episodes. I also like how they are treating the face blindness in this drama. It’s not just a throwaway plot conceit. We get to see how this condition really affects the FL life, and how it isolates her.
As for the “no shirtless” scenes being reserved only for A listers, well I’m not so sure. So Ji Sub was shirtless in Oh My Venus. And Woo Do Hwan didn’t have any shirtless scenes in Tempted/The Great Seducer, and he was still very newbie. but I will agree that the shirtless scene is a rite of passage for any up and coming actor.
I’ve sustained my first Kdrama injury, having watched 2 more episodes on my phone rather than on the computer. (Phone lead too short, so had to sit at an angle) 🤣
I’m starting to think this has a bit of sci-fi Cyrano de Bergerac about it.
I’m still enjoying it, without being swept off my feet. There are too many illogical bits, especially Holo’s reaction movements in certain situations.
I like that the leads are good looking but still within a normal range, too. I think it’s easy to fall for a lead who is gorgeous, but it takes skill to make the audience fall for someone more average looking.
You’re right! It is like Cyrano de Bergerac! I love love 💕 that play. I still have the 1950s adaptation on videotape. Lol. I hope our video recorder is still working. I want to watch the sad finale again.
Yes!!! Cyrano de Bergerac without a sad finale is an apt description of My Holo love.
I totally agree that it does resemble Cyrano de Bergerac, though I hope not the same type of ending.
I read it (meaning Google told me the story). I don’t think I need to add that I didn’t know about it before it was mentioned on BoD. It is such a sad story 😥
Please, let’s fanfic all sad endings. Lately, there have been so many horrible daily reports on my side of the world (today was the most ridiculous of them all). I can’t take any more sadness.
@pm3 I need somewhere to went out about MoA. 😢 Some of your posts on MoA show “closed for comments”? Where would it be appropriate to add my two cents about Jin Woo’s profound loneliness?
Tell me which MoA threads are closed for comments and I’ll open them up. I might have closed them because of spammers.
@pm3 I thought of it in a slightly different way so that it would be thread appropriate on one of your other posts. That way, I’d get to rant a little and you wouldn’t need to change the settings.
Thank you so much for both providing a space for my brain to present it’s views and for being so kind.
No worries. You’re welcome, arihsi.
@Sayaris, I’ve finished this drama, too. I like the topic of AI and manipulation by those who obtain data. I liked that there was a hero who was as vulnerable or more to a relationship with a ‘robot’ than the heroine. I would say that to me, this was good enough to watch all the way through, but it didn’t grab my imagination the way CLOY did.
I finished it! It’s watchable, as far as the genre is concerned. Well, this is my first kdrama with AI/Robotics genre. I’d rather stay away with this genre cuz I don’t like the idea of a human and AI bring a couple. But not My Holo Love. It’s great. Tho I can’t see what would be the plot of season 2. The lead’s wedding, marriage and family life? Reincarnation of Holo? Dunno. But yeah I had a great watch with this one.
I watched this whole series and enjoyed it overall, as long as I suspended disbelief when it came to technical matters. I also felt the characters weren’t developed in this series as much as put through emotional and psychological leaps that left me wondering how’d they’d gotten to Point D from Point A.