Wynndzofchange

I’d like to start my review with a song: “I’m an alpaca. I like carrots.”

Now that the music is out of my head, I’ll commence with my review.

There is a lot to say about this drama, and aside from my initial issues with the way the ML was treated, and the seeming indifference by the women involved, were resolved.

As an aside, honesty, the admission of your mistakes, apologizing and forgiveness are paramount to any relationship - whether with a potential mate or a friend. One’s pride or lack thereof are no excuse to withholding the apology owed to someone you have wronged. Being judgemental about a person because they don’t meet your standards for beauty is no reason to belittle, bully or humiliate another person. Misinterpreting someone’s words and intentions doesn’t mean that you are free to hurt them or treat them poorly. These character traits put you in the same category and EQ as the person who may or may not have harmed you.

These are the things that brought this drama into a class by itself. The screen writer did an excellent job bringing the unrealistic standards of beauty, the prejudices against those who, by no fault of their own, miss the societal mark. Misunderstanding someone because you assume you know what they meant by their words because of the ‘filters’ of your internal dialog doesn’t mean your understanding is correct.

Tan Jian Ci’s portrayal of the ML is spot on. He is a scientist, his mind is built to analyze, solve and create something new for his chosen field - makeup. He is a little nerdy, very naive and very persistent in his pursuits. This gets him in a bit of trouble in various circumstances. He doesn’t know how to let go because he is used to finding a solution, and even though his persistence may have initially been annoying, it is understandable when you consider his profession. He is also the King of the awkward first kiss.

Lindy Li plays her role well. She is cheerful, happy, caring and highly protective of the bullied and underdogs. But to herself, she has believed the bullies and judgemental attitudes of children and adults that base a woman’s worth on their looks and appearance. Yet she clings to a belief that someone out there will find her true self worth fighting for, while she also tries to temper her disappointments by non-adherence to fashion or makeup.

Enter the bracelet that contains the filters. The FL is drawn by the ability to change her appearance and by using it, accomplished many good things, but also caused a lot of hurt to the ML - which she seemed to ignore based on her misinterpreted thoughts of his current and past behavior. Her bff and sister did not help matters when it came time to end the charades of the filtered people, and created some terrible resolutions to end the existence of those fictitious people.

However, they overlooked the depth of the pain their poorly planned exits would affect the one person involved with all of them - the ML. He was deeply hurt emotionally and suffered through physical and emotional backlash from these plots and took responsibility on his own shoulders that never should have been placed there.

So while I initially had issues with this line of progression in the story, it began to unravel the lies and misconceptions and brought everything into the light. The ML, once he figured out that all of the people he had been attracted to and fallen in love with were the best qualities that the FL possessed, began to pursue the FL with gentleness and great care, even though the FL still held a false prejudice against him.

Once they were able to get past their misunderstandings from the past and present, they actually started forming a bond that was unbreakable.

The screen writer brilliantly brought in the topics of forgiveness (but wasn’t really emphasized) and communication being paramount to any relationship. There was also acceptance of one’s self, respect for the thoughts and opinions of others, as well as the need for transparency in relationships even when it was uncomfortable, or when you feel like no one can see you for who you truly are.

There a moments of hilarity built in to relieve the tension, and Tan Jian Ci played them to perfection. The dance at the photo shoot, the alpaca, the attempted rescue of one of the fictitious characters - there were many - and they broke the angst of a lot of the heaviness in some of the situations.

I appreciated the way the concept of having a strong support network around you is important as well. Friends and family can support without interference or pressure. This is quite different from a lot of dramas where parents and friends try to manipulate and force an outcome that is better resolved between the parties involved.

The 2nd ML and FL were uniquely built for each other and worked through their issues by doing a lot of talking and taking the time to understand each other - and giving each other time to process their own thoughts. This was another area where this drama stands out.

The music itself added a bit of humor and more fuel for thought about the relationship between perceived physical beauty and the deeply attractive beauty of a persons heart, soul and care for others.

I loved the imagery of the ML proposing on the glass walled pier in the middle of nowhere with the beautiful flowers at the time the FL was invisible to everyone. He saw her not in her physical form but from his heart and loved her for who she is (the often invisible hidden part of every human being). That was a brilliantly subtle scene that spoke volumes about the MLs character.

There is so much hidden in the depths of this drama that it deserves a rewatch, which I will be doing because I know there is much I missed.

All in all this is a drama worth watching. When a story invokes an emotional response, it is well worth the watch, and the experiencing of those emotions whether good or bad. Just like people around us, this story brings to light our own prejudices and misconceptions of outward appearances and words taken out of context.

The moral of this drama is two-fold:

People are more than their appearance, and should never be judged on that concept alone.

And second, communication in any relationship is imperative. Assumptions, internal dialogue based on your own filters are often wrong, so ask questions before you make a judgement call that could hurt someone or yourself. Find ways to dispel the self-aggrandized comments of people who think they are superior to you based on their own looks or prejudices picked up from other small minded people. Appreciate your own uniqueness and embrace the totality of who you are - no one can define you as ugly or unworthy unless you give them that authority by being ashamed of what you look like.