[비즈한국] How powerful is beauty? Just as journalist Son Suk-hee once remarked upon seeing actor Gang Dong-won, "How trivial internal beauty is," watching Kim Yoo-jung in 'Dear X' makes one naturally marvel at the sheer power of external beauty. While her beauty is not the only reason to keep watching 'Dear X', it is certainly the primary one.
'Dear X' is the story of Baek A-jin (Kim Yoo-jung), a woman who wears a mask to escape her hellish life and climb to the very top, and the 'X's who have been cruelly trampled by her. A-jin is a sociopath, falling into the approximately 4% of the human population with antisocial personality disorder. Capable of moral judgment but devoid of remorse, she shows her true nature from a young age. When her father, Seon-gyu (Bae Soo-bin), throws her alcoholic mother down the stairs to her death, young A-jin is not even startled. She merely asks, deadpan, "Did you really throw her?" To think this is a child who walks away, ignoring her dying mother’s desperate pleas to call for help.
A child like this could hardly grow up to be normal. Once in high school, A-jin appears as a model student on the surface, but secretly uncovers the affair of a teacher she dislikes to force them out of the school, and makes money by running a loan shark business among her classmates. She even frames Shim Sung-hee (Kim I-kyung), who constantly picks fights with her, as a thief, forcing her to transfer schools. There are enablers who help A-jin in her double life: Yoon Jun-seo (Kim Young-dae), who was briefly her stepbrother due to their parents' remarriage, and Kim Jae-o (Kim Do-hoon), who became entangled with her after she caught him stealing in the classroom. Jun-seo, traumatized by the guilt of not protecting A-jin when he saw his mother abusing her, wants to help her in any way he can. Jae-o, abused by his father and a petty thief, gladly pledges his loyalty to A-jin, the only person who told him he had "use."
Of course, Baek A-jin has her own minimum justifications. Starting with a mother who abused her whenever she was drunk, her father—who killed that mother—also made her life a living hell by constantly harassing her and extorting money. The poster tagline, "If your life started in hell, wouldn't it be better to become a monster yourself?" speaks for A-jin’s existence. Having become a monster by choice, A-jin beguiles and manipulates those around her, trapping them in clever snares they cannot escape. To get what she wants, A-jin has no qualms about using anyone.
The irony is that the more cunning and malicious A-jin’s evil deeds become, the more the viewer finds themselves looking at the world through A-jin’s eyes. Even if one understands her childhood, it’s hard to side with her when she uses the kind-hearted and righteous café owner Choi Jung-ho (Kim Ji-hoon) to get rid of her father, or when she intentionally approaches and dates top star Heo In-kang (Hwang In-yeop) to climb higher in the entertainment industry, only to discard him mercilessly. Yet, it is equally hard to ignore Baek A-jin as she argues with a twisted logic: "What's wrong with putting yourself first?"
This strange sense of empathy for Baek A-jin is purely due to Kim Yoo-jung's outstanding performance. 'Dear X' is a quintessential picaresque, a genre where a morally flawed villain drives the narrative. Even if there are reasons for Baek A-jin’s story, both the characters around her, like Yoon Jun-seo, and we the viewers know that not everyone acts like A-jin. Nevertheless, the Baek A-jin that Kim Yoo-jung portrays evokes complex emotions. While one cannot simply agree with her, seeing her blood-splattered, screaming with a mix of strange liberation and madness after striking her father fills one with pity and compassion. When Jun-seo resents A-jin over Heo In-kang's suicide, she gaslights him in return, but then, staring at the bathtub where In-kang died, she tears up and mutters to herself, "But I can't let myself be ruined," making us glimpse her complex inner world. Kim Yoo-jung, long called a "genius actor," is proving herself with a delicate performance that holds viewers in the palm of her hand.
One recent trend in K-dramas is featuring women who are morally flawed or emotionally vacant as the leads. From Yu Seong-ah (Go Min-si) in 'The Frog' last year to Jung Se-ok (Park Eun-bin) in 'Hyper Knife' this year, Gi Ga-young (Suzy) in 'All the Love You Wish For,' and Mo-eun (Kim Go-eun) in 'The Price of Confession' (scheduled for December), this trend is prominent. While it may be premature as I haven't seen 'The Price of Confession,' I suspect Baek A-jin in 'Dear X' will be the most powerful and iconic figure in this trend. Considering it has recorded No. 1 in new paid subscriber contributions on Tving for two consecutive weekends since its release and reached the top of viewership charts on global platforms, it’s clear. If you want to be enchanted by Kim Yoo-jung’s icy beauty and delicate acting, turn on Tving immediately.
Who is Jung Soo-jin?
I have covered and written about film, travel, and pop culture while working for various magazines. I don’t want to fall behind on trends, but I’ve become an "old person" who watches the latest dramas and only predicts the next scene by identifying obvious clichés. I am currently drifting through the vast world of OTT platforms, trying to regain my edge. My current wish is for a unified OTT subscription plan.