[KOREAN TV DRAMA REVIEWS] 백만장자와 결혼하기 (To Marry a Millionaire)

PD
강신효 (Kang Shin-Hyo)

WRITER
김이영 (Kim Yi-Young)

CAST
김현주 (Kim Hyun-Joo) as Han Eun-Young, 고수 (Go Soo) as Kim Young-Hoon, 윤상현 (Yoon Sang-Hyeon) as Yoo Jin-Ha, 손태영 (Son Tae-Young) as Jung Soo-Min, 정진 (Jung Jin) as Jung Seong-Shik, 이미영 (Lee Mi-Young) as Gu Jung-Seon, 유채영 (Yoo Chae-Young) as Lee Soo-Ji, 박근형 (Park Geun-Hyung) as Young-Hoon’s Father, 최성민 (Choi Sung-Min) as Young-Hoon’s Older Brother, 서준영 (Seo Joon-Young) as Young-Hoon’s Younger Brother, 김희정 (Kim Hee-Jung) as Jang Soo-Ok, 조경훈 (Jo Kyung-Hoon) as Pyeon Sung-Joon, 김학철 (Kim Hak-Cheol) as Hwang In-Cheol, 한상진 (Han Sang-Jin) as Na Sang-Soo, 장영란 (Jang Young-Ran) as Jo Mi-Ran, 신주아 (Shin Joo-Ah) as Nam Hye-Jin), 박정우 (Park Jung-Woo) as Mr. Kang

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THE SHOW
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NOTE: Minor Spoilers

“To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed.”
Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell

Ahhh… do you remember TV before 2000? I mean, before Reality TV invaded, infested the airwaves? Of course the idea at the core of reality TV started decades earlier, inspired in some ways by works like George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Robert Sheckley’s The Prize of Peril and many others. From Candid Camera to Cops, the concept of capturing that ‘slice of life’ TV Series and Dramas often tried to replicate, often without success, gradually led to the current obsession some countries’ TV industries have in regards to this ‘genre’. But when the US version of Big Brother started hitting the waves in 2000, it seemed like Nostradamus’ prophecy was in fact true. The world had really ended, and the place we were living in now was something closer to Bizarro World.

If that voyeuristic, train wreck sensibility that afflicts most Reality TV shown around the world is any indication, you’d think that certain segments of Korean mainstream popular culture would have been influenced by such movement. Yet, Korea is one of the few countries without a ‘Big Brother’, and most of its reality TV output is pretty tame compared to most Western countries, with most shows dealing with the American Idol format, or similar mental cruelties. So even though Joe Millionaire died a quick death in the US after just two editions, this concept still felt fresh for most Korean viewers, hence the ‘excitement’ over SBS’ new brilliant idea, 백만장자와 결혼하기 (To Marry a Millionaire).

The original, another of Fox’s ‘brilliant’ programming ideas, debuted at the beginning of January 2003, disguising a working class ‘average Joe’ as a millionaire looking for his potential bride. Using the allure of French castles and the glitz and glamour associated with that kind of life, plenty of young damsels competed to win the hand of our faux millionaire, until the winner would face reality, and collect a fat paycheck in the process, love or not. And in some ways, adapting this format to the (sometimes Bizarro) world of Korean TV Dramas was not entirely devoid of originality. With the industry’s obsession with Cinderella syndrome-type shows, stereotypical 2nd generation Chaebol ‘hunting games’, and its black and white treatment of the way society approaches one’s economic status seemingly brought this show an element of appeal. Of course the show risked collapse right from the beginning, as essentially most of SBS’ big budget efforts in the previous few years dealt with setups not too different from the idea at the core of shows like Joe Millionaire, that Cinderella mentality which afflicts popular culture. In a way, it was like 파리의 연인 (Lovers in Paris), only the Park Shin-Yang of the situation turns out to be a high school dropout who makes ends meet doing every sort of job. But they must have thought… hey! We’re doing things differently here. Once things get warm and fuzzy, we won’t just follow the usual pattern and let our heroes live happily everafter. No, we must make them lead a miserable life, until they overcome all the obstacles, join hands in unison and Hallelujah! Together. Foh Evahhh…

Of course most people thought the show would be wrapped around this concept of the reality show. We’d be introduced to all the contestants filling up time to wait for the two lovebirds to accept each other’s love, get some nasty girls using every possible trick in the book to damage our heroine, and some acquired friends who will help her in the process. With the splendid castles of Bordeaux as its background, the beginning of To Marry a Millionaire didn’t lead me to think things would fall in the dark abyss like they do. After all, instead of the usual 잘난 척하는 (stuck up) faux bourgeois we were dealing with an average Kim, finding himself in a strange situation, not knowing one of the contenders to the throne of newfound partner would be his first love.

And PD Kang Shin-Hyo’s glamourous directing style carries over from 올인 (All In), where the Las Vegas setting made things a little more exciting. The first third of the show, alternating between France and Korea, looks quite polished, and I admit I was mildly intrigued by the way the usual tropes were dressed this time, so to speak. Kim Young-Hoon (Go Soo) is more likely to appeal to the average viewer than, say, your average rich mama’s boy who can’t seem to move a finger without someone (complete with tuxedo) telling him what to do. And with Kim Hyun-Joo’s disarming beauty added to the mix, with a bit of sassiness and attitude thrown in, it all didn’t promise too bad. Of course it was painfully obvious what would happen at the end, but the build up to this ‘reality’ show, and its first few episodes, made for some interesting viewing.

The problem, of course, is SBS. What would you do when people complain about the trite situations their Dramas always end up developing? Turn it down a little? Add some much needed 사람냄새 (smell of reality) to the proceedings? Nope. SBS simply went from one extreme to the other, like a novice driver swinging between left and right when they tell him to turn. People were tired of stereotypical 2nd Generation Chaebol mama’s boys? Here’s stereotypical poor 꼴통 (fools) for you. Hey… that’s different, right? The problem with this approach is that we don’t solve the problem that afflicts most SBS Trendy Dramas, and dealing with characters this way is like turning over your socks, with the inside showing this time. They still smell. A lot.

Go Soo, who could be a decent actor if he had a better management (or looked at scripts before choosing shows), doesn’t simply play your average guy off the street. Maybe the Lee Jung-Hyun from the first few episodes of 그린로즈 (Green Rose) would have worked fine, but no. They pile on the stereotypes like a 800 pound gorilla jumping in a little bathtub, with all the water (flow) splashing out. What we’re left with is an empty tub with a big, hairy, smelly thing inside trying to come out. And that’s the biggest problem, really. I can understand Young-Hoon not looking like a Millionaire, feeling awkward throughout the entire reality show, and that could have been taken advantage of by the writers. But Young-Hoon never feels like a real character, it’s simply Go Soo trying to approximate what an average guy off the street would look like. And the results are disastrous. The result of this facade the reality show presented were obvious enough, but when you don’t even care about the journey to get there, what’s the point?

So this show within the show only lasts 5-6 episodes, in which we’re given cardboard cutouts, walking stereotypes thrown in there to fool the viewer into thinking there’s any serious competition. And you never know if the writer wants to exploit this competition format or not, because one minute she focuses on the intrigues involving the other competitors, the other she makes this entire show look meaningless. If there’s no real tension generated from this show, then what was the point of going to France, shooting in ‘exotic’ locations for a couple of weeks, without letting those moments have any real effect on the story? Because it’s all a gimmick.

Not only the show within the show, but the show itself. Even worse, with a few exception there’s no real use of the ‘reality tv’ format, with characters influenced by the presence of the cameras. It’s like bringing an orchestra to play at a McDonald’s as background music. The atmosphere might improve a little, but you’re still eating junk food. When the show is stripped of this big reality tv montage, the writers try to deal with the consequences the characters face removed from this facade, both emotional and financial. But while there’s some half assed attempts at showing the influence of ratings on the quality (or lack thereof) of TV programs, and how the press can create a huge fire from a little spark, that’s only salad dressing for another lame 사각관계 (love rectangle) symphony of shenanigans.

Writer Kim Yi-Young, responsible for that big mess 내 사랑 팥쥐 (My Love Patjwi) [no better name could ever be chosen, as it’s like an ode to 공쥐/팥쥐 (good girl/bad girl) tropes], not only fails to draw you in once the show leaves first gear, but her attempts to build romantic entanglements out of nowhere are simply laughable. Son Tae-Young, who does nothing but look pretty for the first half of the show, suddenly becomes interested in Young-Hoon, with the emotional intensity of an elephant. Yoon Sang-Hyeon’s idea on how to play the ‘enfant terrible’ rich boy is looking constipated half the time, and let’s not even talk about the waste of super-talented veterans like Park Geun-Hyung, who at least salvages the few moments given to him.

As the story progresses, the Drama stops being a ‘reality show’ and becomes a 생쇼 (slang for embarrassment), where plot developments are thrown left and right without rhyme or reason, to desperately cling to that idea that overcoming obstacles to find love at the end will be the show’s salvation. There’s no intensity, not a single character you’ll care about, childish characterization and lame duck acting which doesn’t help things. I kind of expect this from Kim Hyun-Joo, who despite looking a Million Dollar still can’t get rid of the usual slightly sassy damsel in distress roles—and even when she tries to change, results like 토지 (Land) make you fear that there’s no hope to find any real diamond in the rough—but Go Soo deserves a little better. Of course he hasn’t shown even an inch of range, but with that kind of screen presence, he shouldn’t be wasting his time with indecent Korean Wave bait like this.

To Marry a Millionaire continues SBS’ long history of superficiality over intelligent scripts or at least exciting familiarity, which KBS and MBC have learned to cherish after many mistakes in the past. At this point, the only hope to find quality in the station’s output is when talented PDs like Lee Byung-Hoon for 서동요 (The Ballad of Seo Dong) and Lee Jae-Gyu for 패션 70s (Fashion Seventies) find a space amongst the silly ‘Special Projects’ which aren’t special at all, or eclectic writers like the Hong sisters of 마이걸 (My Girl) can voice their creativity. Otherwise, all we’re left with is putrid farces which bank everything on pretty faces and exotic locations. As for me, I have already my brand of ‘reality’ on TV. It’s called 굿바이 솔로 (Goodbye Solo), and written by someone who doesn’t seem to live on Bizarro World.

RATING: 2/10

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AVAILABILITY
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DVD - Korean Version (English, Korean Subtitles)

As I expected, SBS is releasing this turd on DVD, and with English Subtitles to boot. There’s also a couple of extra features, but apparently they make up a staggering 10 Minutes of content overall. Which might be more entertaining than the Drama itself. If you watch this, and then your TV goes off the balcony injuring someone as a result, don’t blame me. I warned you.

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PREVIOUS REVIEWS
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모래시계 (The Sandglass) - SBS 1995 - 10/10
부활 (Rebirth) - KBS 2005 - 9.5/10
다모 (Damo) - MBC 2003 - 9/10
꽃보다 아름다워 (More Beautiful Than Flowers) - KBS 2004 - 8.5/10
패션 70s (Fashion Seventies) - SBS 2005 - 8.5/10
태릉선수촌 (Taereung National Village) - MBC 2005 - 8.5/10
내 이름은 김삼순 (My Lovely Sam-Soon) - MBC 2005 - 8/10
해신 (Emperor of The Sea) - KBS 2005 - 8/10
그린로즈 (Green Rose) - SBS 2005 - 8/10
미안하다 사랑한다 (I’m Sorry, I Love You) - KBS 2004 - 7.5/10
변호사들 (Lawyers) - MBC 2005 - 7.5/10
신입사원 (Super Rookie) - MBC 2005 - 7/10
하노이 신부 (The Bride From Hanoi) - SBS 2005 - 6.5/10
별은 내 가슴에 (Star in My Heart) - MBC 1997 - 6.5/10
엠 (M) - MBC 1994 - 6/10
달콤한 스파이 (Sweet Spy) - MBC 2006 - 6/10
이 죽일놈의 사랑 (A Love To Kill) - KBS 2005 - 4.5/10
러브홀릭 (Loveholic) - KBS 2005 - 3/10