By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
April 30, 2018
☆☆☆☆
Do Bong-Soon (played by Park Bo-Young)
Ahn Min-Hyuk (played by Park Hyung-Sik)
In Guk-Doo (played by Kim Ji-Soo)
This series came out around the same time as “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo” (역도요정 김복주). That was one reason why I waited so long to watch this. While “Weightlifting Fairy” was a cute drama, it wasn’t great.
“Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon” (힘쎈여자 도봉순) is a wonderful series that started off with so much potential. The first few episodes were so great I thought I might be awarding it four stars. But I ended up docking it a point, because of the cringe-inducing way it treated gay people. More on that later.
Min-Hyuk is the CEO of his own videogame company. When he was a high school student on his way to visit his mother’s grave, his bus lost control, almost crashing into a young mother and her child. When the bus came to a careening halt, he noticed a girl dressed in a pink hoodie walking away. Could she have possibly been the one to stop the bus? How could a tiny student do that?
Ahem.
It is not a spoiler to say that the girl was Bong-Soon. The whole premise of the series is built around how freakishly strong all the women in Bong-Soon’s family are. Not just open-the-pickle-jar strong, but they are possessed with Superman-caliber strength. The power, of course, is both a blessing and a curse. Bong-Soon can help those who are being preyed upon by criminals.
But if she uses the power for her own gain — or hurts an innocent person in the process — she loses her strength and becomes “normal.” This happened to her mother, a former national team weightlifter, who cheated to win. She didn’t lose her powers for that, since she used her powers to bring honor to Korea. (WTF? Whatever…) But when she used her strength to bully kids for their lunch money etc. — woosh — she lost her powers.
Bong-Soon’s twin brother excelled in school and became a doctor. Meanwhile, Bong-Soon dreams of creating her own videogame one day, but has little direction in life.
The chemistry between Park Bo-Young and Park Hyung-Sik — who play Bong-Soon and Min-Hyuk, respectively — is wonderful and is so much stronger than the love triangle in “Hwarang,” which also starred Park Hyung-Sik.
Speaking of love triangles, this was one of the few series where I rooted for both men to win the woman’s love.
Bong-Soon’s childhood friend, Guk-Doo, is now a detective in the local police force. Unaware that his best friend has been in love with him since forever, he is oblivious to all her cues.
And hence begins the gay humor, which I didn’t find funny at all. This being a Korean drama, Min-Hyuk and Bong-Soon start off not liking each other. Scratch that. Min-Hyuk finds her adorable, but knows that she is pining for Guk-Doo. To tick them both off, he pretends to be gay, talking about how attractive Guk-Doo is. (He’s not wrong.)
Bong-Soon refers to him as a pervert.
Homosexuality isn’t a perversion. But the way it’s played for laughs continues well past Min-Hyuk coming clean about liking women. One of his key staff members is a mincing stereotype of a hysterical, bitchy gay man. And by hysterical, I don’t mean as in ha ha funny, but as in crazed.
One of the things the series does really well is with the serial killer subplot. His targets are always young women, who are rail-thin. When he kidnaps one victim who’s skinny, but not thin enough, he tells his lackey not to feed her for a week, because she needs to lose weight.
The series never explains why he targets thin women, which is a shame. Is it because women worldwide are told that they need to be thin to be attractive? Does he view thin women as weaker?
Interestingly enough, both male leads talk about Bong-Soon’s tininess as an attractive feature. Min-Hyuk refers often to her being peanut-sized, while Guk-Doo says he wants a woman whom he can protect. Even after learning of her superpowers, he says that Bong-Soon will always be a small woman who needs his protection. It’s meant as a compliment, but it also was a little offputting.
All this aside, one of the sweetest moments occurred in episode 11, when Min-Hyuk says to her, “Can you please like me?” I’m not gonna lie. I was rooting for her to say, “Yes!” at this point.
Bong-Soon’s mother is the one character I didn’t warm up to. Just as she bullied students back in her school days, she dismisses her husband, as if he were the family pet.
Speaking of which, why do they keep the family dog chained up in their yard? The yard is gated, for Pete’s sake.
The series didn’t need the gross subplot about poo wine (yes, fermented human waste) or the fake Indian monk. But overall it is a well-written drama that will keep viewers engaged.
English shaming: There’s a running joke that Bong-Soon doesn’t know English very well. So? She’s a Korean woman living in Korea, who didn’t attend college and doesn’t work with westerners. Where’s the shame in not knowing a foreign language? I’m not unaware of the importance that many countries place on its citizens to know English. When I mentioned to one of my cousins that so few Americans can speak anything other than English, he said, “But English is the language of power.” There is a power dynamic between Bong-Soon and Min-Hyuk. He has the power of wealth and education, while she has the power of physical strength. I thought that was an interesting co-relation. Anyhow, I could’ve done without him making fun of her for saying stop motion, when she meant to say stock option.
WTF moments: When Bong-Soon tracks down a man she thinks is the serial killer, he berates her, saying how dare a small woman come to his apartment alone, to accuse him of crimes. When he realizes that he does indeed have a small, weak woman whom he can overpower in his home, he makes it obvious that he is going to harm her. And yet, when she realizes she made a mistake, she apologizes to him profusely. THE. MAN. WAS. GOING. TO. HURT. YOU. He may not have been a killer, but he also isn’t a good Samaritan.
Also, she shows her power in public so many times that it’s difficult to believe that her actions weren’t covered on every single news outlet.
Airdates:
This 16-episode series aired from February 24 to April 15, 2017 on JTBC.
Spoiler Alert:
Min-Hyuk was six years old when his dying mother dropped him off at his father’s house. He grew up with three older brothers, only one of whom tolerated him. That brother would later grow up to turn on him, when their father prepares to leave the family business to Min-Hyuk.
When the serial killer attacks Bong-Soon’s best friend, Bong-Soon twisted a pole to thwart him, while she tended to her friend. Of course, he escaped while she was preoccupied. Ugh. She could’ve just as easily wrapped the pole around his legs to immobilize him until the police arrived.
By the time Guk-Doo realizes he’s in love with Bong-Soon, it’s too late. She is already head over heels in love with Min-Hyuk by then. Timing, man. It’s not everything, but it matters.
There is a happily ever after, with Bong-Soon and Min-Hyuk getting married and having twins girls, who inherited their mother’s strength. While he stays home with the babies, she goes out to save Korea, one bad guy at a time.
© 2018 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved
I love this drama
I see it as an evolution in Korean culture that Korean’s are still going through. America portrayed homosexuality in the same way 20 years ago. Coffee Prince was probably SUPER shocking and revolutionary to the Korean audience. I think the fact that homosexuality is even being portrayed at all in K-Dramas is a small step in the right direction.
So I have mixed feelings about this drama. It was so engaging I couldn’t stop watching and I loved it. But then, there were also so many things plotwise I could’t stand. An example: the representation of homosexuality. But also the one of women. The fact that Bong-Soon is super strong could have been a great way to make the show about women empowerment. Yet, the drama is the exact contrary. She’s strong, but all the other women aren’t and not just phisically, they are submissive to men emotionally and NEVER rebel. Even when Bong-Soon saves them from abusive men, she doesn’t tell them to stand up for themselves. Instead, she just punishes the man and leaves. Yes, men need to be respectful towards women. But there will always be some who might threaten a woman’s safety, therefore it’s a good thing to know that women can try to defend themselves. Also, Bong-Soon still gets saved by Min-Hyuk and Guk-Dok more than once and she seems incapable of being thoughtful and succeding against the “bad guys” alone (something male superheroes usually do). When she loses her strengthb it’s like she’s useless, she’s got nothing else. Without the physical strength she somehow has even lost all her determination. She’s like all the other women who let men treat them like pets. She doesn’t even try to still fight, to find other ways to do it. As if all her value relay in her strength. And how she tried to change herself just to be liked by Guk-Dok, like WTF? Her crush on him had never been realistic, even the way she always praised him and acted around him were clear clues of how her love was more of a fantasy she created on her own. They would have never lasted together. It might seem like I hated this show but I swear I was so passionate about it and I still cherish the pleasure amd obsession I felt while watching it. But these things…I cannot close an eye over them. They’re disrespectful and only fuel stereotypes about both women and homosexuals which have been going on for too long now and which can truly be harmful and make it harder to bring acceptance and real equality between individuals.
I could not believe how homosexuality was portrayed in this show. Especially considering how seemingly progressive the show comes across at first, I was continuously irritated by its underlying disapproval of homosexuality. You’d think that a show about a girl who is incredibly strong and with an album cover on Netflix featuring two guys in a romantic pose would be very progressive and liberating, but I can honestly say that I have never seen a more bigoted and misunderstood portrayal of homosexuality and women empowerment before. Don’t be misled by your expectations — there is constant deep-seeded ignorance and bigotry in the writing.
This is the worst most cringe worthy review ever! Loved the show. Saw no “cringe worthy” moments. Your opinion though.
Drama queen much?
Just say you’re homophobic and get it over with. Asshole.
This is an odd comment to leave, because of course it’s my opinion. That’s what a review is.
You left your opinion, without offering any support as to why this is the worst review you ever read. You thought they handled the topic of homosexuality well and in an enlightened way? I didn’t. If this was a drama from decades ago, I would’ve been more understanding of their line of thinking. But this is current and the writers could’ve done better than to resort to cringey stereotypes that are hurtful to the LGBTQ community.
You wrote your hit-and-run comment from behind a fake email address and unimaginative username. Is this how they handle things in Texas? I thought Texans had more integrity than that.
Regardless, thanks for leaving your comment. It’s always interesting to read other viewpoints. If you’d like to come back and write why you thought this series was perfect when many of us thought certain topics could’ve been handled better, I would welcome it. Have a great day!
From Texas? That explains a lot. Racist homophobic Trump supporter Koreaboo who thinks everything her oppars do is perfect. Sad.
I wouldn’t have been so nice to this moron.
Great points Jae. All criticism even from fans should be able to say why they hated something. All she says is that she loved it and therefore anyone who doesn’t agree with her is wrong and cringey. lmao She must think highly of herself so it’s good she’s confident I guess. lmao
You took the time to leave this comment which does nothing but show that you hate gays? 😒