This drama is an easy watch, and I don’t think you need me to review it on a weekly basis.
Here are the things that you might want to pay attention to in future episodes.
1. “MooHak-isms”
MooHak is the hero in this drama, and MooHak-isms are his aphorisms – or pearls of wisdom. He’s young but he’s learned enough of the real world to come up with his own general truths.
For example:
a. “What a load of crap.”
– I think it’s funny that crap is in his mind a lot but it’s just right. Waste management is a major concern in the hog industry. Improper disposal of pig crap is a health and environmental hazard.
b. “You have to wear something like this (i.e., a gold watch) to make them feel inferior.”
– He uses luxury goods for intimidation.
– But he clearly doesn’t have any inferiority complex because he isn’t embarrassed to appear in a house full of elegantly dressed men and women while wearing only a pair of Crocs (a knockoff of Crocs, at that).
c. “How many bowls of gamjatang can you buy with that money?”
d. “You have to get in the habit of calculating everything immediately, so that not even one 10won coin is wrong. You have to stay alert. There are people all over the place who will stab you in the back.”
– I like that he isn’t a spendthrift. And I like that the heroine, Dali, turns out to be good in mental calculation.
e. “Studying and making money are all done so that we can eat and live….A rich or poor person, a good or bad person, one thing that’s common to all is eating three meals a day. You have to make sure you eat well and don’t miss a meal.”
– This is obviously to balance Dali who forgets to eat, when she’s concentrating on a work project.
– Also, this connects MooHak with Dali’s dad who likes to give her his own pithy lectures, and nags her about eating, like “adults need to be able to eat and sleep on their own.”
MooHak is appealing because he’s a self-made man, and not ashamed of his humble beginnings. He told Dali, that at the age of 11, he was able to get merchants in the market to spend their emergency money on his food. And he said this proudly.
2. Music
a. When MooHak and his father were struggling to get out of the door, the music is from “Carmen,” a French opera by George Bizet. This famous aria is called “Habanera,” but the actual title is “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” or “Love is a rebellious bird.”
I thought the song was apt. MooHak’s father was trying to stop him from leaving on a business trip. But he wanted to sign a contract with the Pig Growers Association in Netherlands. For a moment, he and his father were trapped in the revolving glass door of their building, but he escaped.
He’s a rebellious bird who needed to fly off to Netherland where his “love” awaited him.
b. The other music was “Funiculi, Funicula.” As MooHak was listening to the music on his headphones, he was waving his hands in the air like a conductor. He was so moved by the music that he couldn’t restrain himself.
The funny thing here is…
“Funiculi, Funicula” is something like a jingle from a commercial. It’s not opera. It’s not even “Italian.” I was told that the lyrics are in Neapolitan, a dialect spoken in the south of Italy, and isn’t understood widely in Italy.
I guess to see how funny MooHak’s acdtions was, you can compare his air-conducting to “Funiculi, Funicula” to me air-conducting the catchy Coke ditty, “I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony” or Bugs Bunny air-conducting that popular Christmas song, “Jingle Bells.”
“Jingle Bells. Jingle Bells.”
Do you see it? lol.
3. The paintings
I know BoD readers like to know what those paints were so here’s what I think they are:
a. The Modigliani painting
The painting in the drama is in reverse. The original painting is called “Jeanne Hébuterne with Hat and Necklace.” That painting is in a private collection. Jeanne Hébuterne was the artist’s lover. He did a lot of nude paintings, but I don’t think he made of Jeanne.
b. Renoir, “Woman with a Parasol in a Garden”
c. Monet, this is one of his water lilies paintings.
Don’t ask me which one because they all look alike to me
d. Da Vinci, “Lady with an Ermine”
I already talked about this. This one was in the poster.
e. Gustav Klimt, “The Music”
If you’ve seen his more famous painting, “The Kiss,” then you’ll recognize that brown-haired woman in that painting as the woman in this painting, holding the lyre. She was his long-time friend and muse, and probably his lover, too.
f. The pig painting
One of the guests had asked if it was a Millet painting and the owner admitted that it was painted by her grandmother as a hobby. Jean-Francois Millet was a French painter whose work I remember best is “The Angelus.”
source: wikipedia
I guess you can compare this with the Butterfly painting in the drama “Lovers of the Red Sky.”
I explained how, in that painting, the horse was not the focal point, but the fragrance left as the horse stomped the flowers in the field. The butterflies were following the fragrance.
Here, I think the point here is devotion. The “Angelus” is the Catholic prayer where we remember the angel appearing before Mary and announcing that she was going to be bear the Son of God. In this painting, we can’t hear the sound of the church bells, but we can see the effect of the church bells on the couple pausing in the work in the fields, and bowing their heads in prayer. They’re showing their devotion.
Anyway…
If I were a character in this story, I wouldn’t say that this was a Millet painting. I would say that that the painter was inspired by a painting by George Morland.
“A boy looking into a pig sty.” Notice the open window?
source: fineartamerica.com
🙂
4. The museum and the cafeteria
I like this symbolism for the couple. She’s the museum and he’s the cafeteria.
Personally, I’ve always loved eating in the museum restaurant. If the grand foyer or entrance hall of the art museum gives the visitor the first impression of the museum, then the dining experience leaves a lasting impression on the visitor. I find that when a museum director is meticulous about the presentation of artwork in the gallery, his/her attention to detail will invariably extend to dining space. Why? Because art and food provide nourishment to our senses and our soul. They’re linked.
I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of symbolism in the future episodes.
5. What is art?
MooHak said, “Does it matter who painted it or how much it costs? If the viewer is satisfied and happy, I think that makes it a great work of art.”
That’s the Viki version. The Kissasian version said, “Is talking about the artist and the price of it that important? I believe as long as the painting satisfies the people looking at it, it’s a great painting.”
Or course, he was being defensive because he knew that the painting hanging on his wall wouldn’t qualify as art to somebody with Dali’s taste.
lol. It reminds me of Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Soup Cans,” though.
I agree, art is very personal. It’s your emotional reaction to the work – whether you’re satisfied or happy — that makes it beautiful.
However, to me, there’s an intellectual component added to the emotional response to art. How you perceive beauty in an artwork is also based on your knowledge of the work, style, composition, technique, artist, material, history, message, and so on. If you aren’t exposed to art, and a variety of it, then you’ll find it difficult to develop a connection to unfamiliar or new art.
In a way, art appreciation is like literacy. If you’re only reading at a grade 3 level, then you won’t be able to understand the classics, a business report, a legal contract, or a love letter. You’re literate but only up to a certain degree.
Art appreciation is VISUAL literacy. You can understand, interpret, and relate to art because you’ve learned to “read” visual imageries like you read text.
Take for instance this shot of MooHak and Dali.
The camera director captured them in film as if they were framed inside a painting. The window is the frame.
Why does it look cozy?
One, the color palette. The walls are gradients of blue, and we’re reminded that it’s already nighttime. But the two of them are safely inside, having dinner in a well-lit room. The yellow color gives warmth
Two, there’s balance. The two of them are sitting across each other, and they looked balanced .
And three, we’re excluded. lol. We’re outside the window, looking in. We aren’t included in their conversation. There’s an air of coziness because it’s just the two of them.
This screenshot isn’t a painting in a gallery, but visually, it looks like one.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
That’s it for this episode. I’ll join you when you need me. Otherwise, happy viewing!
Thank you, @packmule3. You have made me remember some things.
The painting “The Angelus” always reminds me of noon and the special pattern of the bells rung then at the church; the nuns having us say that prayer before we went home for lunch; my grandmother still saying the prayer when we arrived at her nearby house some days.
Just a few minutes ago the local C of E church bell-ringers rang its bells to call people in for the Sunday service. There was a long period during the lockdowns when the bells weren’t rung, probably for the first time in many hundreds of years. It is so nice to hear them again, the joyous ones for weddings and even the slow monotone ones for funerals.
Thank you! I’m just starting to fall in love with Klimt and I could tell that it was a painting of his, but I couldn’t identify it. It’s a beautiful piece.
Thank you, @PM3 this is great 💛 and i’m loving this show and everything you mentioned in this post.
i appreciate your points on moohak-isms, the music, and the paintings. i like how you mentioned that some frames are captured as if they’re inside a painting… i’ve seen a few in this show so far. i love it!
i like what you said about “art appreciation is visual literacy.” can’t enjoy art to the fullest if you’re not literate on it haha. i’ve had my share of going to museums here in Cali, NYC and in Paris. i’ve done some paintings myself 😊 it’s a hobby at this point (if rock painting counts LOL). i’m so glad some museums have FREE days (except for special exhibits). it’s really fun though when i get to go.
i think this show is beautiful… even the melodrama (dali’s situation *dad passing/history *engagement broken ~ is heartbreaking). so glad to see Moohak by her side *even if there’s a stalker feels wahaha.
I just watched the first episode and I’m loving it. It’s great fun to look at and the two leads are wonderful together. Our ML is the actor from Do You Like Brahms and his new character is so different and he’s hilarious. I like the love at first sight trope done well. There is a lot to enjoy. Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds.
@Old American Lady,
Do you mind doing me a favor? When you watch the episodes of DatCP, please jot down the episode titles. I think there’s a pattern. Thanks!
@packmule3 Thanks to your review, I started watching this and liked the first episode. Let’s see how it goes 🙂 I like the lead couple so far, and the references to art. Also on the camera capturing shots as if they were framed inside a painting, I saw more such shots. Clearly, it’s a recurrent theme, in keeping with the art themed storyline.
You’re welcome, Phoenix. Were there more “picture-frame” shots? Oooh. If you tell me, I’ll take a screenshot of them, too. 🙂
@packmule3, There is a lot to recommend this drama. The leads work well together, playing off each other in both funny and poignant ways. Supporting cast including the ML dad who is a great comic actor and the ML Exec Assistant who is a drill scene stealer makes it a fun watch. They say a lot about snobbery-fun scene about art appreciation between Dali and these comic thugs in Ep3. And our FL is not your typical down on your luck heroine. And our actor who plays the ML certainly shows that he has comic range-he us so different from his sensitive pianist role in Brahms. The costue designer here styled him in an expensive gauche way that helps to establish his character too. Lots to keep one’s interest and I won’t even go into how the music works so well.bI hope you get the time to watch this. I think you’ll get a kick out of it. Am enjoying this and One the Woman.
@packmule3, I have to run out to an appointment but I just read a past post to me and will write down the episode titles and send them to you when I come back. Sorry about that
Okay @packmule3 I think they were mostly in eps.1 and 2, and not so later but I maybe wrong. Some were taken as if in a painting before the camera zoomed in or zoomed out. Let me note the timings. I got so hooked on the drama that I binge watched 5 episodes straight and I’m on ep.6 now. Really like the leads, totally agree with @Old American Lady on her comments on the characters, the settings and costumes. Honestly, @packmule3, as I hadn’t ever watched these leads before and as this wasn’t a hyped kdrama with lots of pre-release publucity, I would not even have known about it if you and everyone here hadn’t posted about liking this. I lile how the main leads are a complete contrast to one another – Dali is introverted, understated, polished, speaks less and expresses even less. Moo Tak is exactly her opposite- loud, opinionated, wuth no refinement. But I do agree with your comment on the food thread that they may end up discovering that they have complementary skillsets. Moo tak can run the gallery’s restaurant and she can teach him refinement.
Not a run of the mill romance this one, and that’s why I like it. There’s the whole who murdered the father and why plot as well to keep us hooked.
@packmule3, I have to run out to an appointment but I just read a past post to me and will write down the episode titles a innd send them to you when I come back. Sorry about that
@packmule3 @Old American Lady Since I was watching this from the beginning anyways, I noted down the episode titles:
Ep.1: How Many Bowls of Gamjatang is a Modigliani Painting Worth?
Ep.2: Could Brand Name Watches Capture Eternity?
Ep.3: What is ‘Untitled’ About? (I didn’t get this one, any thoughts, @packmule3?)
Ep.4: Can you Tell if Someone is Rich by How they Eat Yogurt?
Ep.5: Does Rain seem Different from a Hotel than a Motel?
Ep.6: Can Garbage become Art?
I think the titles are a play on how rich and poor are just perspectives or outer shells and don’t change the basic nature of people. Also the best things in life cannot be measured in terms of value and look the same, whether one is rich or poor – like rain or time.
What do you think, @packmule3?
@Phoenix, Thank you so much for listing the titles. You are one of the reasons that I think BOD is a lovely group of caring people, even when we’re prickly.
I like your take on the episode meanings. I just watched the third episode and I’m slowly parsing them out because I am getting pleasure from watching on many levels. I think some of this series is satirical, with a somewhat savage take on people with money. The snooty art collector party with our hostess caring about monetary value as opposed to the aesthetician value of the Modigliani was a fun example of this as was the collector from ML’s ex’s gallery who complained about how the artist who did the piece that she bought was not dying yet. Our hero, of course, is something of a yahoo, but is a pretty honest broker and apart from his outright materialism, is for real. It will be fun to see how our lead characters influence one another. I think that the culture clashes are part of the charm of this drama.
@Phoenix, Moo Tak is an artist too, a food artist. He cooks delicious food but also artfully plates it. Of course it’s an art that’s meant to disappear but then we have the difference between Mom’s kitchen and Michellin Star restaurants….
Also, I have to comment on the early episode photos o f the pigs.. so much fun. Art and pigs, pigs and art. What a juxtaposition and a learning opportunity (so many different types of pigs-not boaring(groan)….
This drama just tickles me in so many ways.
@Old American Lady: I’ve enjoyed sharing exchanging drama viewing experiences so much on BoD over the last few years (I’ve forgotten since when!) that I keep coming back here, after short hiatus when life intervenes. Don’t think I would enjoy kdramas as much if BoD wasn’t around😊
I agree with you on this drama being a satire on how all that glitters is not gold. I just finished episode 6 and there’s a hilarious sequence about an award-winning artwork that is actually made of garbage. The writer was clearly poking fun at such so-called modern expressions of art.
I liked the last sequence (my inner romance-loving fangirl went “squeeeel” seeing a backhug finally, and by the FL too😍)
There’s definitely contrast drawn between Dali and MooHak, but what I find interesting is watching how the push and pull between them affects the other workers in the art museum. During the morning meeting when MooHak shocked everyone by being so uncultured (pun intended) as to lick yogurt off the lid, I noticed that the beret-wearing handyman then followed suit and quickly licked his yogurt lid. MooHak’s Everyman perspective on the world of old money, bookish education, cultural posturing, and the club secrets of the high class seems to give permission to employees with one foot in each world to release their true selves.
@Welmaris: Well said! I noticed that yogurt cap lucking scene too, and that’s what the episode’s title must be alluding to. It is a classic juxtaposition of mass vs.elitist tastes. I found it also interesting how to “uncultured” hooligans Moo Hak had brought as peotestors turned out to be genuinely interested in appreciating abstract art. They interpreted the same painting as a flower and pizza, based on their perceptions. It also was a subtle message that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and art can be appreciated by anyone, rich or poor, and can be open to lots of interpretations. I like how this drama makes me think.
@Welmaris, You make a great observation about our perceptions of class. I think we have been conditioned to think about wealthy people having taste and class. We also have been taught the distinction between old and new money. However, in reality, there is no real correlation between wealth and culture, wealth and taste. The photos of the Met Gala proved that one. And art is a tricky business. What is art and what is kitsh. Who gets to make art. How does commerce affect art,e.g., an “artist” like Jeff Koons doesn’t even make his own “creations” but subcontracts others who produce them in limited editions to be sold to the highest bidder. And there are art brokers like a woman who lived in my college dorm, who has successfully made purchases if art work for wealthy people who use those c purchases as investments. These people really have no interest in the actual work, but buy them first for the possibility of their gaining in monetary value and second to display to others their refinement (even though they just were following the recommendation if an “expert”). And if you get me started, I’d like to recommend Kafka’s, The Hunger Artist, that shows that perceived art is how it is sold and not in its making.
I think MooHak is like the child in the Emperors New Clothes, who sees some of the reality if the art world and Dali, in her own way, sees some of it but misses a lot because she chooses to see it from higher ground. Dali’s father interests me because, although he has a great esthetic sense, he also can be down to earth, asking his daughter whether she’s eaten, getting her her art case and building her that swing. I think some of those more earthy characteristics can also be seen in Moohak and that may partially explain her attraction to him-could you resist a man who cooks a beautiful, tasty meal for you and then does the dishes.
There is so much to enjoy in this drama, but it also in its almost light hearted way, is a think piece. And the duck painting, the pig painting and the big won note just serve to bring some of its ideas forward. And a shout out to our museum batista everywhere LOL
The Emperor’s New Clothes is exactly what I was thinking, @Old American Lady. Moo-hak even asked the beret-wearing man if it wasn’t indeed junk? There wasn’t a reply, but you could see by his expression and slight movement (as he was holding the broken metal frame) that he rather agreed, but felt he couldn’t say anything because of the other employees.
@Phoenix, yes to the protesters/rent-a-thugs/gamjatang chefs having different perspectives on the art shown. I wish that Dali or anyone else had explained the thought behind the installation to Moo-hak either before that morning or at the moment. If this was an artist that Dali’s father supported, her perspective must have some value.
@OAL, I’m fortunate to be married to a man who cooks for me, but I always end up doing the dishes. He claims it’s because my standards of cleanliness are too exacting. Is is wrong of me to not want to see evidence of what the dishes previously held or touched?
I@m with you @Welmaris. When we both were working full time and had different work schedules, my husband did a lot of cooking and I was lucky to have dinner on the table when I came home. I really appreciated tit, especially on stressful days. Like you, I did the dishes for the same reason.I think we are lucky that way. I 5hank my mother in law for this. She had to return to work when my husband was a teen ager. She told him he’d have to be responsible for various chores including dinner. He was a good son. One of the other things he did was iron. He did a better job than I did. Now that we’re retired and we share chores. Counting my blessings.
Thanks for listing the , Phoenix!
I skipped Ep 3 🙂 but once I watch it I’ll share with you my thoughts on it.
I skimmed through Ep 6. The garbage refers to the art that Moohak discarded and to Moohak himself. The way he treated Dali — or at least SEEMED to have treated her — was trashy and execrable. But it too can be elevated to artform depending on how the audience look at it.
For instance, when he came after the thug and pummel him in the police station because the thug threatened to kill Dali, in Dali’s civilized world, he was behaving disgracefully/distastefully like a gangster.
Nevertheless, Dali was moved (just like she’s moved by a painting) to embrace him so he wouldn’t continue to debase himself to the level of the thuggery.
So can garbage become art?
Yes.
But that artwork? lol. From what little I saw of it, it did look like glamorized junk to me. If I were Dali, I would have defended Moohak by lecturing that artist that she did such a great job of making junk look realistic, that Moohak was “moved” to clean it up.
As for “Can you tell if someone is rich by how they eat yogurt?” I like your take on it, @Phoenix.
I’ll also add this —
People often conflate money with culture as if culture is a domain/concept exclusive to, synonymous with, and dictated by the rich. That’s false. By its very definition, culture refers to the ideas, art, traditions, cuisine, music, etc., of a particular society or collective. It’s not only the “wealthy people’s culture”, it’s also the masses’ culture.
I don’t lick yogurt lids:
For one, there’s plenty of yogurt in the container, and if I’m still hungry I get another one. For another, if I lick it, I risk getting smudges either on my chin, nose or my clothes.
Humans are not cats. We don’t have long tongues to lick food off our plates or to lick ourselves clean like a cat. That’s why licking ice cream from a cone can get messy. And that’s why we french-kiss upclose and personal. If we had long tongues, then we can stick out our tongues, and french-kiss a foot apart, instead of nose-to-nose.
In general, I say a tongue should stay inside the mouth. Sticking out a tongue is considered rude in most cultures: rich or poor, Asian or American, native or foreign, educated or non-educated. Sticking out your tongue is cute only in certain situations — like you’re catching snowflakes.
So in the case of licking yogurt, I side with Dali. That said, the over-reaction of Dali’s colleagues is far more offensive than Moohak’s licking of the yogurt lid. If they’re really “cultured” as they think they are, then they should know that there’s a more refined way of showing distaste than gaping at him and calling attention to his art…errr…act.
@packmule3. The definition of what constitutes art is fluid. This drama shows kitsch, primitive,and what I like to call fart-like the garbage “installation”. In its own way this drama is subversive. The garbage artist is an out and out snob whose “art” sure doesn’t seem to be art.I think that type of piece falls within the confines of conceptual art, that to me is another way of skirting learning things like drawing, , ceramics, painting, metal work and sculpture, photography, what we have been taught are the skills necessary for making art. Picasso made cubist and abstract art but he also made fully representational pieces. The conceptual artists and some performance artists seem to me, like scam artists “creating” what our drama shows to be garbage. Moo-hak sees garbage while Dali sees art. But was it really-this subliminal commentary elevates this drama and makes it so much fun.
@packmule3-Why Yogurt-thisbis a stretch because yogurt is made up of cultures if microorganisms-Yogurt is culture-they even eat culture at Dali’s museum. (We can now add bad puns to our comedy mix).
Thank you, @packmule3. I would never have paid attention to the titles unless you had mentioned it and now that I am noting them, I see they are such a clever play on the theme of this drama. Unlike other drama episode titles, the meaning is not explicit but implicit. As @Old American Lady says, it’s this subtle commentary between the lines that makes this drama so interesting.
I think the writer-nim is doing a good job so far.
🙂 Right?
Sometimes it’s also fun to talk about concepts, general ideas and common values, instead of specific characters doing X and Y.
Yes! After watching so many romantic kdramas, it gets boring after a while just talking about the main characters. For instance, I’m quite bored of HTCCC currently, it just doesn’t make me think and the characters are so run-of-the-mill, nothing new there to hold my interest. On the other hand, take an underrated drama like Dali and the Cocky Prince – it has so many hidden layers that one can keep peeling them. Makes even a so-called standard romantic comedy drama unexpectedly interesting, as you said 😊
Gotta say something about the costuming for our characters-so much fun. Dali is styled almost as a throwback to another Era. Her clothing runs from the ladylike to the feminine business suit with thirties vibes. With her hairdo, she has that art aficionado look.
I get the biggest kick out of Moo-hak’s suits. The c prints on some of his jackets are so eclecticism florwl?, but also some are nouveau gangster. His costumes keep us a little off kilter. Looking forward to a better view of his tattoo.
@Old American Lady, Dali’s outfits look retro but costly new designs. His really are used luxury clothing. It’s so funny that they are alike yet different. His look isn’t really on trend; I like your term Nouveau Gangster. I laugh every time he shoots his cuffs.