Celebrity

Social media is just as shallow

Story: A rich-turned-broke lady had a taste of her previous life but with a twist. She missed the comfortable life that money had brought her but life nowadays is just not the same, because of the existence of advanced technology aka social media. I do like her character though, self-aware, strong willed and confident.

Acting: Honestly, the acting is not the best but the flow of the story is binge-able and you just can’t help but play ‘next’. One of the things I loved is the subtle and slow burn romance of A-ri and Jeon Kyung(although I don’t remember him smiling that much)they have this sizzling chemistry on the first half of the series.

Music: Nothing memorable but catchy enough to move along with the music and the sound effects during the scenes with the main couple is appropriate and can give an exciting feeling to root for them.

Rewatch Value: I guess it’s not something that I would personally rewatch but I can totally recommend for people who wants to binge watch.

Overall: 8.5/10. Since I didn’t expect much on this series, I was quite surprised that I finished it in 2 days(of course I had to work and sleep). So, 2 days is quite fast for me. If I didn’t have work, I could finish this in one day, that’s how interesting it was. It’s not too deep but not too shallow as well. It just shows how the life of social media can turn you into an attention-seeking or social climber person. Of course, not everyone is like that, but even so, you would still question yourself, are you one of those people who will comment on random fights online like it would actually benefit you? Are you one of those who get easily convinced of the products endorsed by your idols? Are you one of those who want try or eat those popular food that’s been circulating around the web? It’s a thought-provoking series, however, it’s up to you to realize, if you are easily influenced by these type of advertisements or issues you see online. Just like social media, the series is just as shallow, but not in a bad way, it just represents how shallow the ‘life’ is online. Lastly, I think ‘influencer’ would be a better title.

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A badass FL and the perfect balance of thriller & romance

I went into this one kind of nervous — I thought it would be pretty soapy and I'm not a huge fan of dramas about catfights between rich people.

BUT. Wow. I was so impressed right off the bat with the FL's personality. She's strong, straightforward, and stubborn, and most importantly is proud of who she is and stands up for it. It was so refreshing, and the drama did an amazing job of making her still seem human and flawed, susceptible to temptations. I couldn't have asked for a better protagonist or a better actress; Park Gyu-young absolutely KILLED it.

I also found that this was just the perfect balance between thriller/mystery and romance. Their scenes fit seamlessly into the plot and of course they're the scenes I'll always go back to rewatch.

Plot-wise, this was just so bingeable. There are annoying side characters but they never overwhelm the plot (or our main lead), and they're actually given each given a bit of backstory as well, which also never seemed out-of-place.

I do think there was a trade-off to be made with the 12 (instead of 16) episode format. On one hand I really loved the fast pacing, but I also wish we had a little more time to handle the final conflict/mystery. There are some more confrontations and reunions I wish we got, some more conversations I wish we saw. But it's small potatoes in the grand scheme of just how much I actually enjoyed watching this show.

Overall, I'm still really impressed with how they wrapped up the ending. It's immensely satisfying but I wouldn't be opposed to a season 2 considering the suspicious final cameo we got...;)

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Akin to Reality

What a good hit of reality. It accurately depicted the nature of competition in any field but specifically the Influencers one.

PGY was totally fitted to the role, so much so that the line between reality and fiction blurred. Besides her almost all of the cast contributed equal in making the series true to its intention.
One could see that absence of any one of the character would have sunken the ship.
There were No plotholes to be found.

Despite those there were certain scenes with not much plot development, mostly scenes of Mr. Han with Ms.Yoon. The reason might be because we were being introduced to their past and while their story wasnt pivotal to the series it's existence did make the series whole.

All signs of a well produced, great screenplay Drama.

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Intense war along the way but ending was tame

The script is extremely well written, most of its dialogues are very detailed and able to live up to its tension. The pacing is great and the storyline spreads out incredibly, the social media war was well thought out and it's quite informative on how the social media business works behind the scene, the main lead who starts from the bottom and eventually becomes a vigilante that purges everyone else stepping in her way. Every trick and stunt in the luxury market reflects on the current society where humans are divided into rankings or levels, it's all highlighted with contrasty cinematography like a wide spectrum of colors. It's just that the ending is a little tame and expected when the war was fought so intensely along the way, but overall it is already one of the better kdrama this year.

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Something wrong somewhere

Not gonna lie, it got on netflix's top list made me watch the show and the trailer looked very exciting and good. so it looks promising. who doesn't like watching rich people fight over money and be pathetic about it lol.

starting first ep, when the fl narrating how she got what she got, i was just gobsmacked. not at how good it is, but how awkward the whole scene is.

the fl acting was so robotic and it looks like she's having hard time to figure out what emotions she should show during that time.
i was quite surprised because the director is not a rookie, i know they directed some well known dramas before.

the the whole describing how influencer works about promoting stuff, the whole editing, showing public reaction, is so dizzying and all over the place. i got dizzy and overwhelmed.

the plot was interesting but the level of execution and idk like editing process? it just makes me stop watching it.

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Entertaining, glamorous and fun

I'm loving it. Never watched anything about influencers before. The story is fresh and feels current. There is a big mystery that hopefully will be solved in the end. And some romance added to the mix. I love fashion so watching them parading in those clothes is a treat, and the makeup, etc. are great too. Plus, I like the way they tell the story: the MC talks about a cheat code to make it to the top, but in the end she goes up thanks to random events happening and the right people noticing her, and I think that's close to reality...in the end, making it to the top as a celebrity is a lottery. Those who are talented and know how to position themselves have more tickets, but it guarantees nothing and in the end only a few lucky people are graced with the price.

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Best 2023 Netflix Series So Far

A good serie that would play with you mind and blow it. It was so addictive that I couldn't watch one episode only! The actors did the roles of their lives and don't forget the amazing work of the screenwriter. Simply, I think this is the best project of Netflix so far. If you want intrigue, suspense and plot twists, you need to watch Celebrity. Even the romance was good and it wasn't the main part. My praises to Kang Min Hyuk because I'm sure I'm going to watch every single of his drama! Also, Park Gyu Young did the acting of her life. If she doesn't win a award for this show, people don't know what good acting is.

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Were You Not Entertained??

Watched it on a whim. I had it on my list on Netflix for a while and just had never been in the mood for it but then the other day I was just craving K-Dramas so I decided to watch it. I was watching a C-Drama I had paused for a while but then just needed to watch a K-drama for whatever reason and this helped to scratch the itch a little. Now I want to watch more K-dramas lol.

I liked it. It kept me captivated enough to finish it in 2 days. Would have been quicker but I had to work lol.

The acting was a bit meh at times but not enough to ruin the story. I'm assuming that is what they were looking for for certain characters, a monotonous complicity with their lives.

I think the FL's character was pretty boring when she wasn't doing anything. It was weird like they would say she knows how to get people's attention and we'd see her smiling and laughing with random people but then in the scenes that drive the story forward, she seems to lack personality. I was thinking maybe they wanted you to not be able to guess what she was going to do next so she would just look blank at times, but I don't know.

My favorite part was definitely those crumbs of romance they threw to us. That man said "I like you, please like me back" and you expect me to not be sat for their scenes?? This rich, successful, unproblematic man who only wanted to protect the FL, you want me to lie and say it was lackluster because of the lack of facial expressions??? I will not stand for this slander lol. But seriously, I love Kang Min Hyuk. He was a supporting character in a few of my first K-dramas so I can't hate him. He's too adorable and I was so surprised to see him in this show. Let alone as the ML.

But honestly, I judge TV Shows and movies based on how much I like them. I am not someone who looks for an underlying message or needs some kind of huge complicated plot to be satisfied. I just watch things for their entertainment value. Was it fun? Did I get bored? Are the FL and ML characters I can empathize with? I really only binge-watch or read when the thing I am watching or reading gets me hooked to the point where I can't put it down. When a show constantly makes me want to keep going and finish it in one sitting, that's enough for me.

K-Dramas have been disappointing for a while now and while this was not a show focused on romance (my favorite genre) it was a very fun world to dive into. I would recommend this, it's short and sweet.

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Very Enlightening

I’ve read some of the negative reviews and I guess I didn’t see what they saw.

I was very impressed with the FL from start to finish. She showed all the emotions, all the attitude, all the despair, all the determination, never came across as too over the top, ever. Loved her.

Some characters were a little much at times, but those behaviors fit those characters.

I enjoyed the story, though it was often quite disheartening, and really enjoyed the well executed plot twists. Could have had a slightly better ending, but I’ve endured much worse ones - this was fine.

I would recommend and would watch again.

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I actually enjoyed this one.

Started stronger that it ended but still was very good.

I think the craziness of the social media bullying and how fast opinions of people and fandom changes in Korea only makes sense if you actually follow a bit of that world. If you haven't experienced how toxic those fanatics are, you will think this series is just exaggerating a lot, but trust me, it isn't. In Korea, fandoms have ended whole careers just because their favorite idol have started a relationship with someone they didn't like or they have had rumors or bullying in school, it's a CRAZY conservative Society, and they act like mobs on social media.

So basically this super thrilling and fast paced drama depicts exactly this social media world in korea, where your can have everything given to you, or taken from you immediately, because unfortunately in these societies it doesn't really matter how talented you are, its all about how much you are liked.

I love the female lead, she has such feisty personality, she is so smart and she won't ever compromise her values. I also love her as actress, I absolutely love all her dramas, ( cant wait for sweet home 2!) and the tension and crazy electrifying attraction she has with the male lead in this drama is just ridiculous, without even speaking. Love them!!

I won't give it a 10 because towards the end they did a couple on nonsensical things that were a bit dumb with the mum and the best friend, I think it could have been a more polished and smart turn in that sense.

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