Her Private Life 그녀의 사생활 (Netflix/TvN)-2019

Kim Jae-wook and Park Min-young

This is a poster for the 2019 South Korean television series Her Private Life. The poster art copyright is believed to belong to the distributor of the television series, tvN, the publisher of the television series or the graphic artist. 

Written by	Kim Hye-young
Directed by	Hong Jong-chan

Among all the K Dramas I have seen this "season" this one has all the elements that I could relate to the most: visual arts, performing arts(music included), culinary arts, serendipitous moments, family relationships, love, romance, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.  It is a series that I would at least repeat everything for at least one time.  There are many scenes that have hit a soft spot, and many, many scenes that have given me cheap thrills.  I love that everything was presented beautifully.  Maybe, just maybe, it is not perfect, and many scenes reminded me of AMELIE and ALLY MCBEAL(reminded me only...nothing was plagiarized), but it's truly very memorable, and definitely not a waste of time.  

Main characters (from Wikipedia)

• Park Min-young as Sung Deok-mi / Sinagil/Sian is my Life
  • Park So-yi as young Sung Deok-mi

The chief curator at Cheum Museum of Art who often does not get credit for the work she does under Director Eom, an incompetent socialite. She runs a fan website called "The Road to Sian" by Sian is my Life, which she intends on keeping secret. She later falls in love with Ryan.

     MY THOUGHTS

Among the top female Hallyu stars, PARK MIN-YOUNG is one of my favorites, I guess since GLORY JANE and CITY HUNTER.  I watched reruns of HIGH KICK! after those two aforementioned then I watched the Tagalized version of SUNGKYUNKWAN SCANDAL.  After that I watched HEALER. The last thing I watched before this one was WHAT'S WRONG WITH SECRETARY KIM?  .  She's really very versatile and very bankable.

• Kim Jae-wook as Ryan Gold / Heo Yoon-jae
  • Choi Go as young Ryan Gold

The standoffish new art director of Cheum Museum of Art who is very strict and allergic to caffeine. After seeing Lee Sol's painting, he develops Stendhal syndrome which prohibits him from painting, eventually leading to his retirement. He is also famous in New York for his perspective on new artists. He eventually finds himself falling in love with Deok-mi.

     MY THOUGHTS

I was not certain, but I thought this is the first time I have "encountered" KIM JAE-WOOK... after careful thought, I now know that I am wrong.  I have seen him in DAL-JA'S SPRING (we used to watch ALL of Chae Rim's Dramas, and he played Lee Min-ki's, I mean, Tae-bong's friend in the famous Daedemum Market) and how could I forget that I have seen him in COFFEE PRINCE(He's the half Japanese(his mom is Korean) hottie with long hair who made the girls drool, especially Eun Sae, Eun Chan's baby sister.  He also made delicious waffles, and flipped pancakes(and omelets) like a pro...wait, he is a pro!)?  He's really good and even more handsome now.  His chemistry with Park Min-Young is very strong.  Their kisses are convincingly believable. The have the "kilig factor" that make audiences crave for more(but not too much---they are all still very wholesome...fit for television, but still very exciting) and feel the love between the characters they play.

WHAT DO I THINK ABOUT THIS K-DRAMA?

     FANGIRLING

First and foremost,  I am grateful that I am not one of those fans who would hate the person her idol is dating.  I am one of those who knows how to be happy for the person I am admiring(yes, we are MANY too), and I wouldn't go to certain lengths to endanger the person my "idol" loves or is currently dating.  I would never threaten the beloved of the person I am admiring.  If ever I could be considered, but not really, some sort of a (cyber)stalker, it's just to learn more about him, but not to the point that I would stake out his house or something. I will leave room for mystery(yes, yes I am reminded of "that" guy whom I like who got turned off because...).  Besides, I hate the ones that did that to me in the past, and I am not even someone known to a lot of people, so I would never even think of that.  Fans/admirers should protect and not hurt...admire, but NOT OWN.  Besides, I have my own life to live.  I do not live and breathe for the ones I admire.  Only God deserves all the glory, honor, attention and praise!

Examples of my being happy for my very HARMLESS crushes: I am so kilig with MiG Ayesa and his super gorgeous Timea, and I adore our fourth Miss Universe, Miss Catriona  Gray, so when my other HARMLESS crush, Sam Milby, declared his love for her, I too was in cloud nine. So there. :-) 

     A STORY ABOUT MISUNDERSTANDINGS

So what else is new?  Aren't most of the global dramas all about misunderstandings? Well, unlike most of the dramas or romantic comedies, the misunderstandings in this K-Drama are some of the funniest and enjoyable ever.

Sometimes I chuckle and sometimes I shake my head...there are awful misunderstandings too, but more often than not, the misunderstandings/situations that cause misunderstandings are the life of this Romantic Comedy/Dramedy.  Yes, those scenes kept me going, so-to-speak.

👶

By the way, I had an inkling about SOMETHING(there were bits and pieces of clues everywhere starting from the first episode), and I found the proof or answer on the 12th episode. 

I like the way the writer, the director, the actors et al handled the situations.  There might be similar situations out there, but it's how the people involved reacted that mattered/matters, so in a way, it's very unique.

⌛💼🎁⌚👓 

THE REST OF THE POWERHOUSE CAST(Everyone is important, and there is no big or small role...it's a team effort, but I'm only going to mention the ones I've "met" before to shorten this blog entry--photos are from Google Images and Microsoft Bing):

SKY CASTLE'S Kim Bora(well, that's where I "met" her)plays HYO-JIN a.k.a. SINDY/CINDY here.  She's the daughter of the eccentric and at times scary DIRECTOR EOM SO HYE(KIM SUN-YOUNG whom I "met" in Hotel King.  She's also in Reply 1988, The Long Way Home, The Legend of the Blue Sea(cameo), and of course, who could forget her on CRASH LANDING ON YOU? ----haaay, and by the way, I am so glad that HYUN BIN and SON YE-JIN #binjin #binjinisreal are in love for REAL).  At first you would love to hate her, but later on you would understand her, and maybe even grow to love her(I mean Hyo-jin or Cindy). 

I first "met" Ahn Bo-hyun in DESCENDANTS OF THE SUN where he is fondly called PICCOLO.  Here he plays the "brother" of Deok-mi. He is really good as Eun Gi, an Olympic Silver Medalist who really cares for Deok-mi(more than a friend or "brother" should) and his foster parents(like they are his real parents).

Jung Si-Yul as Geon-woo.  I "met" this precocious little man in VIP(Jang Nara et al starrer), and even then I was really, realy impressed with him.  Here he plays Deok-mi's best friend's son and a member of Master Nam Eun Gi's Dojo.  My observation or wish is that he would go places one day. 

Park Jin-joo as Lee Seon-joo, Geong-Woo's mother, and Sung Deok-mi's best friend.  She and Deok-mi are inseparable.  Seon-joo's parents are very rich, but she also has her own Cafe.  Besides fangirling on Sian/Shian, she is also building up the career of Joo-Hyuk, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band FADE (the translators said PAID) Oh, before I forget, I first "met" her in Angel Eyes. I've seen her "elsewhere" too.

Kim Mi-kyung as Go Young-sook, Deok-mi's mother, who loves to cook and knit. I first "met" Ms Kim in THERE IS A BLUEBIRD where she played Mrs. Baek, then I saw her in countless Dramas that include PURE IN HEART, SPRING WALTZ, GOODBYE SOLO, THE GOLDEN ERA OF DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, PRETTY IN-SOON, WOMEN OF THE SUN, BECOMING A BILLIONAIRE, SUNGKYUNGKWAN SCANDAL, SECRET GARDEN, THE FUGITIVE OF JOSEON etc. 

Maeng Sang-hoon as Deok-mi's father who loves to collect  Suiseki stones.  He used to be well-off, but something happened leaving Deok-mi's mom to be the head of the family.  Mr. Maeng is one of those who never loses projects.  I have "met" him before in LOVERS, CINDERELLA, FIREWORKS, DAE JANG GEUM(JEWEL IN THE PALACE), LOVE AND AMBITION, DONG-YI etc.  

ONE or Jung Jae Won is a very popular rapper/musician.  He is now a "staple" of TvN(thank goodness, our Satellite TV provider gives us access to TvN) He plays the idol of Deok-mi, Hyo Jin, Seon-joon, among millions of others.  Even if this is my first time to "meet" him, I have to mention him because his role is very vital to the TITLE of this series.  He is the reason why our leading female character has a PRIVATE LIFE.

The last one I will mention, but certainly not the least, is one of the most unforgettable K-Drama actors, Lee Il-hwa.  She could be a comic, a dunce, a very beautiful woman, a chairwoman, a poor woman, a dramatic actress, etc.  In other words, she's very versatile.  She plays a very important role here, so I don't want to mention what, so there'll be no spoilers.  All I would like to say is that she did her "job"...her role, pretty well. Where did I "meet" her first? I "met" her in Three Families Under One Roof. Then I have seen many of her Television programs/Dramas.  The memorable ones, at least for me, are DANGEROUS LOVE, EUN NAH'S DAUGHTER, FIRST WIVE'S CLUB, LOVE MY LOVE, QUEEN OF AMBITION, MY LOVE FROM THE STAR, SHE WAS PRETTY and THE GOOD MANAGER/CHIEF KIM.

"Are you a fan? I hope you become a successful one." 😀😃😄😅😇

Just like my "tocaya", Gia in 

• Official website
• My Korean Jagiya at IMDb

Thanks for your time.  

May 2021 be kinder to all of us.

THE FANGIRL VERDICT-review: HER PRIVATE LIFE