South Korean beauty standards are known to be quite rigid and excessive. Straight long hair, small face, and fair skin tone are some requirements you need to possess if you want to be considered pretty in society. Netflix’s upcoming Korean movie Love Untangles has recently drawn criticism for reinforcing these strict and often harmful beauty standards. Read on to know more.
Why Is Netflix’s Love Untangled Getting Criticised
Set to premiere later this year, Love Untangled is a teen romantic drama film that centres around a young girl struggling with confidence and self-worth. Most of her insecurities stem from her appearance, particularly her natural, textured curly hair.
However, when the trailer dropped, many viewers were not impressed with the plotline. Promotional materials depict the main lead as unpopular, undesirable and often overlooked due to her appearance, specifically her unruly curls. The film reportedly features a transformation arc for the young girl where she finally “tames” her hair and starts to get noticed by the others. This is a trope that viewers feel is overused and also problematic.
Some netizens pointed out how such tropes of changing your outer appearance in order to get noticed by others are very common in Korean movies and dramas. They point out this is due to the toxic beauty ideals of the country’s society that have normalised the trope.
But others have defended Love Untangled’s plot by saying that the movie is set in 1988. During that time, there was no internet or technology, and the main lead also lived in a coastal town. This might be the reason why she struggles to maintain her textured curly hair and does not have the means to style it naturally.
The Netflix movies have sparked a wider conversation centred around Korean beauty norms, and fans are urging the streaming platform to rethink how it portrays beauty, especially in stories meant to uplift the audience. Many are also hoping the movie handles the topic sensitively and proves the backlash to be wrong.
About The Film
Love Untangled follows Park Seri, a 19-year-old girl who gets entangled with a transfer student, Han Yoonseok, while attempting to confess her love for Kim Hyun and getting rid of her curly hair. The film stars Cha Woo Min, Gong Myung and Shin Eun Soo in lead roles.
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So what do you think about the movie?