This review may contain spoilers
Fun, but Coffee Prince Was Braver Than This
(copied from my Viki Account)
[addition at the bottom for finale postmortem]
Giving this a nine, though it's not finished, for overall excellent storytelling and humor.
That being said, I think it's worthwhile to just talk about the core theme of this series and the ambivalence I have toward it. Without it being finished, I can't say what the intention is or how well it was executed. What I can say, is that this series, whether intentional or not, elucidates the whole issue of compulsory heterosexuality. This issue is, what I think, is the main reason why this series seems to be drawing some controversial opinions.
If you don't know what compulsory heterosexuality that means, it's basically a queer theory argument that describes how men and women are socially and politically ingrained to perform heterosexuality; it defines the relationships between men and women, how we can interact with each other, and what is considered socially acceptable behavior between same gender people in order to de-legitamize and stigmatize relationships that are not heteronormative (i.e. queer relationships).
This idea runs at the center of the premise. If you can understand that, you can understand that every conflict between the characters stems from this. It's not just a question of Yoonjae accepting JiEun No Matter What (that's a little simplistic); it's asking YoonJae's character, and all of us really, to confront the very idea of what is normative gender and sexuality.
Both of their characters are initially presented to us as the ideal heterosexual couple; one that is rooted in stereotypical ideas of masculinity and femininity as being oppositional; e.g. she is small and cute, he is tall, handsome, and strong. Their relationship is getting increasingly physically affectionate, following a prescribed, heteronormative path of development (meet-cute, dating, meeting family, kissing, going on a trip, etc.) It's the very idea of what is considered Normal.
But when confronted with this sudden gender change, "JiHun" is stronger, more handsome, and taller than Yoonjae. This is a gender identity crisis for them both. Because now, his girlfriend is everything he is and MORE. Add to that is the sexuality crisis; because of compulsory heterosexuality, they can no longer be physically affectionate—that is presented as a given and almost never challenged so far. For a character that has defined himself, his masculinity, and his sexuality within a heteronormative picture of his relationship to JiEun, this gender change is like a spear shattering that 2-d view.
Suddenly, their lives and personalities are more fleshed out. Yoonjae learns things about JiEun he never knew. They hang out as friends, discovering new aspects of each other. But there's always this tension at the center: when will JiEun turn back into a woman, so they can get back on their Normal progression? And, if Yoonjae can't love "JiHun" the same way, does that mean their love is only contingent on being "heterosexual"?
This is exactly where the ambivalence lies. If JiEun remains a woman at the end, is that not just dismissing this entire crisis and the uncomfortable questions it raised? Is that sweeping the issue under the rug and just reinforcing the compulsory heterosexuality?
But then, would the series *allow* JiEun to remain a man? In which case there are only two outcomes: they break up because Yoonjae is Straight, or they stay together because YoonJae decides he can love "JiHun" the same way. But what about the gender dysphoria and the real questions about gender identity THAT raises?
These are the main questions I am left with at this juncture. I have a feeling I am going to be disappointed about something despite the overall great level of storytelling this series has had so I'll probably leave this at a 9 for not giving me a lot of confidence after 10 episodes.
Bracing myself for the finale!
[finale postmortem]
After the ending, I can add a more conclusive evaluation. Though the series brings up all the issues I've written about above, it does not necessarily answer or incorporate those issues textually. In other words, the gender/sexuality crisis we are all, inevitably, thinking about gets side-stepped entirely.
Instead, the series concludes with a happy ending by deciding that their main issue was just that they weren't communicating well enough with each other, ultimately over-generalizing the central conflict to become entirely non-political. (I'm using the term political in the context of social politics, not specific state politics.) And, in retrospect, I think it was always going to side-step the issue. The narrative's focus on the other side couples and Minju were its way of avoiding the real questions by creating extraneous plot for the characters to work through instead.
So, yeah. I pretty much stand by my original remarks.
TL;DR: Fun, but Coffee Prince was braver than this.
[addition at the bottom for finale postmortem]
Giving this a nine, though it's not finished, for overall excellent storytelling and humor.
That being said, I think it's worthwhile to just talk about the core theme of this series and the ambivalence I have toward it. Without it being finished, I can't say what the intention is or how well it was executed. What I can say, is that this series, whether intentional or not, elucidates the whole issue of compulsory heterosexuality. This issue is, what I think, is the main reason why this series seems to be drawing some controversial opinions.
If you don't know what compulsory heterosexuality that means, it's basically a queer theory argument that describes how men and women are socially and politically ingrained to perform heterosexuality; it defines the relationships between men and women, how we can interact with each other, and what is considered socially acceptable behavior between same gender people in order to de-legitamize and stigmatize relationships that are not heteronormative (i.e. queer relationships).
This idea runs at the center of the premise. If you can understand that, you can understand that every conflict between the characters stems from this. It's not just a question of Yoonjae accepting JiEun No Matter What (that's a little simplistic); it's asking YoonJae's character, and all of us really, to confront the very idea of what is normative gender and sexuality.
Both of their characters are initially presented to us as the ideal heterosexual couple; one that is rooted in stereotypical ideas of masculinity and femininity as being oppositional; e.g. she is small and cute, he is tall, handsome, and strong. Their relationship is getting increasingly physically affectionate, following a prescribed, heteronormative path of development (meet-cute, dating, meeting family, kissing, going on a trip, etc.) It's the very idea of what is considered Normal.
But when confronted with this sudden gender change, "JiHun" is stronger, more handsome, and taller than Yoonjae. This is a gender identity crisis for them both. Because now, his girlfriend is everything he is and MORE. Add to that is the sexuality crisis; because of compulsory heterosexuality, they can no longer be physically affectionate—that is presented as a given and almost never challenged so far. For a character that has defined himself, his masculinity, and his sexuality within a heteronormative picture of his relationship to JiEun, this gender change is like a spear shattering that 2-d view.
Suddenly, their lives and personalities are more fleshed out. Yoonjae learns things about JiEun he never knew. They hang out as friends, discovering new aspects of each other. But there's always this tension at the center: when will JiEun turn back into a woman, so they can get back on their Normal progression? And, if Yoonjae can't love "JiHun" the same way, does that mean their love is only contingent on being "heterosexual"?
This is exactly where the ambivalence lies. If JiEun remains a woman at the end, is that not just dismissing this entire crisis and the uncomfortable questions it raised? Is that sweeping the issue under the rug and just reinforcing the compulsory heterosexuality?
But then, would the series *allow* JiEun to remain a man? In which case there are only two outcomes: they break up because Yoonjae is Straight, or they stay together because YoonJae decides he can love "JiHun" the same way. But what about the gender dysphoria and the real questions about gender identity THAT raises?
These are the main questions I am left with at this juncture. I have a feeling I am going to be disappointed about something despite the overall great level of storytelling this series has had so I'll probably leave this at a 9 for not giving me a lot of confidence after 10 episodes.
Bracing myself for the finale!
[finale postmortem]
After the ending, I can add a more conclusive evaluation. Though the series brings up all the issues I've written about above, it does not necessarily answer or incorporate those issues textually. In other words, the gender/sexuality crisis we are all, inevitably, thinking about gets side-stepped entirely.
Instead, the series concludes with a happy ending by deciding that their main issue was just that they weren't communicating well enough with each other, ultimately over-generalizing the central conflict to become entirely non-political. (I'm using the term political in the context of social politics, not specific state politics.) And, in retrospect, I think it was always going to side-step the issue. The narrative's focus on the other side couples and Minju were its way of avoiding the real questions by creating extraneous plot for the characters to work through instead.
So, yeah. I pretty much stand by my original remarks.
TL;DR: Fun, but Coffee Prince was braver than this.
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