solipsism5

I was up at 3AM in the US responding to you, so I was a little out of it. I wanted to follow up on this because this is an important point. I find it critical to have some emotion and passion in art, and it is fundamental to our enjoyment of a good piece of music, drama etc. I just think there is a balance. As an example, I like classical music and a friend of mine played me a piece by a conductor that was technically perfect, but really lacked any emotion, and I told him it was just not good - I think we came to agree on this. On the other hand, if there are a ton of wrong notes, and the whole structure falls apart, even while played with the truest of emotions, we can't say that's a good performance either. I believe you really need both technical execution and emotional resonance to make a really good work of art, but as you say here, sometimes excellence in one area can at least compensate for the lack in the other. The only problem I have here, is that wasn't the case for me - I just didn't think anything could have made up for the bad writing, and I still say the ML's had some of the best chemistry I've ever seen in a BL.

Again, I hope everyone who did enjoy this BL can still enjoy it but there is nothing wrong with some honest criticism. I think people are a little too touchy on here. I've liked worse BL's than this, but they somehow worked for me, but this one just didn't make it (probably because it was too depressing). I can understand how others can like it on here. It's, overall, no big deal. And my long post was not indicative of a need to have people think the way I do, but more a need to clarify my way of thinking about the show, and hoping they learn to judge shows in a more systematic way.

I certainly did not say there is only one way to evaluate art. Art criticism is very complex. I just said you need to do it dispassionately, or as objectively as possible. In the end, we don’t know what the real definitions are - but we have a general idea. We could just devolve into thinking good art and bad art are about the same having no sense of standards.

Thank you! I’m just trying to clear up the confusion, but I knew it would still not get through to a lot of people.

Not at all. I pointed that out first because it showed the complete lack of research by the screenwriter by using an example that was more concrete and understandable. I was mostly discussing broad themes in the rest of this comment regarding character motivation and structuring which I would consider the opposite of nit-picking. But you are free to enjoy this show any way you want - I certainly don’t care about that.

I know most of this was already said, including by myself. It’s a take on just the technical aspects of the screenplay. I still am surprised this show isn’t just panned, but have no problem with people liking it for whatever reasons. There are many pop culture shows that are also well liked even if they are pretty sub-standard artistically.

I just don’t know why people don’t understand that this series was poorly written. Before you start attacking me, I am fine with you liking this series for whatever reasons – maybe it made you think of your own relationships, or about the complexity of relationships in general. It is enough to like this series just for the chemistry of the two mains, the OST, and the acting. That’s all fine. It just doesn’t take away from the fact that this is written very poorly. There are innumerable technical flaws with the writing and they occur consistently all the way up to the end.

I know I’ve mentioned it before but let’s just look at the restaurant, again. First of all, there is no way that this restaurant would ever have been financed [and as we know, Ji Woo had no money to finance this himself]. No banker would look at Ji Woo’s business proposal and think that it might be a good idea setting up a ritzy Italian restaurant in a small Korean village. As the banker I would also ask Ji Woo what experience does he have in business, because this doesn’t just involve being a chef. Restaurants are one of the riskiest businesses, so as the banker I would already be wary of financing anyone, let alone this proposition set forward by Ji Woo. If we get past that, how is it that Ji Woo stays afloat with no customers for a year? Why doesn’t he even try to drum up business, doing some advertising, and possibly mending fences with people in his community, as well as changing the menu to accommodate the palate of the local inhabitants? The ingredients are super expensive for this kind of restaurant and he would have to pay for rent, and utilities. How does he stay afloat? Where is the staff at this restaurant? When he finally does get business how is he able to be the cook, the waiter, the dishwasher, and the cashier for every customer? I’ve run this kind of business, and I’m telling you that that is impossible. The example of the restaurant I’ve been talking about here is just a concrete example of a flaw in the writing and should give you an idea of the sloppiness that is endemic throughout this screenplay.

Now a lot of the other issues in this screenplay are open to interpretation and I’ve been going around in circles talking to people about them. Here’s the unquestionable flaw with how various issues like mental health are raised and dropped in this series without explanation or without any reasonable follow-up. In a good work of literature you develop your themes and your characters constantly and there is no confusion unless specifically intended by the author for artistic reasons [oh, I can already see some people saying there was artistic reasons for this nebulous mess]. You shouldn’t have to work and struggle to figure what is going on and what a character’s motivation is. It’s like when a chef prepares an intricate meal but no one has difficulty understanding that it’s delicious. The chef has done all the work for you. Here, we are constantly working to figure things out, and that is the problem and why it is not a good screenplay. Let’s talk about the mental health issue. First of all, does Ji Woo have something like severe depression? There is no backstory that explains this to us, so we can’t ever be sure. Before his parents died, did Ji Woo suffer from depression or did he get it from his parents dying, like a form of PTSD? Did this possible mental illness affect his relationship with Seo Joon? What is the resolution of this possible mental illness after they get back together? None of these questions are ever answered, and leaves you constantly guessing as to the character’s motivations. People were speculating that he has a reason for abusing Seo Joon because of his “mental Illness”, but we are left wondering at the end whether this is due to a mental illness or him just him being an asshole. There is no conclusive explanation for any of this and it is central to the story because we never know why Ji Woo acts the way he does. Why is he nice to everyone other than Seo Joon? Really, people with mental illness are not going to be so selective in who they treat well. I never really know who Ji Woo is and the only personality trait I can clearly understand about him is that he is a little shy. If I was in a creative composition class, I would be given an F for the development of this character, and since he is the central character that would sink my whole work into the ground.

What about Seo Joon? I understand that he is totally in love with Ji Woo and would give his right arm to find out where he went, but he strangely neglects to go after him. Anyone in a committed relationship would tell you that this would never, ever happen. Let’s assume that Seo Joon’s connection to Ji Woo is incredibly strong, and something akin to a parent’s love for their child. Just imagine instead of calling 911, and scouring the streets every night for your kid, you send them some text messages, saying that you missed them, and hope they are having some nice cake, at least, for their birthday. This is just such aloof behavior on Seo Joon’s part, and it makes you think he just doesn’t really care, but at the same time you know he is desperate to find Ji Woo by other things, like how he finally sends someone out to search for him in the crazy way that he does, stopping all work till he gets what he wants from his boss. Why does Seo Joon forgive everything that Ji Woo does? Where is the backstory that tells us that Seo Joon has always been a saint, a little Buddha hiding away in the movie business? That seems like it would be an interesting story to explore - like how many lives has Seo Joon saved with his indefatigable kindness? I’ve just never seen this character trait developed so I’m always surprised by it when it comes up.
There are constant questions of all the character’s motivations and who they are. As another example: the girlfriend. Why does Ji Woo’s girlfriend want to get back together with him? Didn’t she ever figure out that he was gay? How deep was their relationship? Is this the only person she can think of to have a relationship with, and why are there no alternatives? I can never figure any of this out. The little girl who becomes attached to Ji Woo like he’s her father, but why? He doesn’t seem like he’s very good with kids, and is certainly cold with virtually everyone. Why does she suddenly run away from everyone? What kind of trauma does she have in her past that causes her to act out like this?

Let’s talk about proportions, weighting, and structuring. This series has eight episodes of angst and the drumbeat of it is constant, followed by 2 episodes of fluff. It is frontloaded with endless seeming conflicts between the Main Leads, with no development, save one moment when they momentarily reconcile after finding the young girl. In many good screenplays we see a lot of dynamic progressions between the characters. This is very stimulating and provides a lot of the entertainment in a given fictional work. This screenplay, instead, focused on the same scenes of vitriol and fighting continuously. Seo Joon attempts to reconcile with Ji Woo, and Ji Woo pretends he doesn’t care about Seo Joon. This scene is repeated in endless seeming variations for eight episodes. This is totally uncreative, and very, very tedious to watch. Why are there 8 episodes of this and only 2 with a totally different kind of screenplay? And why are there two totally different worlds in this one screenplay that seem almost entirely disconnected? If you think this is common, you are mistaken. Even in a fairytale there is continuity, and the dark undertones of the past are not forgotten as they are here.

Throughout this series, the viewer has to constantly work to figure things out, and no resolution of things is really complete or satisfactory. The conclusion of a year long conflict between two people is usually not decided in a quick two minute conversation. Sometimes it is, but it is usually not. The viewer needs an explanation as to why, in this particular case, a two minute conversation suffices to resolve the year long conflict. We might have some clarity on Seo Joon’s side, but what causes Ji Woo to suddenly become amenable to making up? The former 8 episodes are moving the audience hard in the direction that these two are no good for each other and should break up, but we have no counter for this and so we feel Ji Woo’s explanation is just too weak. He seems to have been affected by some texts he read. We instantly think to ourselves, but Seo Joon did many far more persuasive things to convince him that he loved him so why do those texts even matter? Let me pose an alternative. We needed something more dramatic here, like Seo Joon saves Ji Woo’s restaurant from financial ruin, or he saves his life somehow, then Ji Woo sees the light, but a few texts like I hope you had a yummy cake for your birthday? Is that what finally breaks through to him? For most of us it is not enough, and that really is indicative of weak writing.

If I was in a creative writing composition class, I would give this screenplay an F for poor research, poor character development, and illogical plot construction. I would give it very low marks for any artistic consideration as well, because there is nothing beautiful about the use of language here, or any deep symbolism. In describing any art work you can take a dispassionate look into the framework of the piece and appreciate it intellectually and not through your emotions. This is the best way to tell whether it is a good piece of art or not. I find many people on here are not doing that at all, but just running to conclusions based on a desire for this to be good, rather than looking at its parts and analyzing them. But what is the point of beating you over the head about this? Do I want to just belittle the people that like this? Not at all. I want you to enjoy good art when you find it and not waste your time on the things that are not close to being good. I would like people to spend their time looking at a Van Gogh painting rather than the doodle of a five year old, and this is my only point in criticizing To My Star. Good luck to you finding better series in the future.

Very well done!! A scathing review that feels light and innocent. This captures the full catalogue of the crimes of this screenwriter. I have no idea what anyone saw in this. It was a total waste of time, and I feel angry at a director who's only concern is making a quick buck, though I think she could easily have done that without sacrificing all her artistic integrity. This was mostly just a very boring show, and it makes no sense to have such low standards to produce angst that isn't even entertaining.

I feel he was joking there, not that he really forgot, but that's interpretable, I guess [though I feel it is impossible to forget a whole year like that, and his mental condition is not explained making you have to work a lot to reach any positive conclusions], but the context of the conversation seemed like they were making light of the whole thing. It renders the whole drama meaningless - the central conflict is just treated as a joke.

How dare Ji Woo say that at the end!! [About forgetting why they broke up] I know other people have mentioned it, but it drives me nuts. Ji Woo basically invalidates the whole struggle and the cause for the whole drama. It's like shooting someone and forgetting all about it. Oh, did I almost kill you? When did that happen? I forgot, hahaha. What is wrong with this screenwriter? Is this some black humor? But it is humor that is totally misplaced.

Now many excused Ji Woo's behavior by alluding to some mental health issue - and I agree that he had something pretty bad, like severe depression, for him to be acting so abusively. But that's been thrown out and now it's like Ji Woo just almost absent-mindedly forgot about the central relationship in his life, and that is the reason for his inordinate cruelty to Seo Joon. I had some sympathy for someone with mental health issues, but not for some punk who doesn't give a shit about the enormous pain he caused someone else. You just have to assume someone that takes that kind of attitude will stray again. He's someone that would say "I will love you forever", until some other whim takes him. I know, some think he didn't mean it, because he's totally absolved by Seo Joon as if he's never done anything wrong, but Ji Woo doesn't deserve the right to joke about this.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8c6wy9

He is a saintly character, so I guess that could be the explanation. He would have to be one in a million, especially being in the movie business where self-absorbed artists are the norm.

It was a pleasant ending, and I just needed it even if it didn't really work for me. Their chemistry is about the best in any BL I've seen. It's sad that this story couldn't do them justice.

This was just not built right. That resolution was far too easy and facile. I know they wrote in a happy ending but it just couldn't have happened that way. Seo Joon put up no defense at all for the year long ghosting he was subjected to, and the constant attacks while he was at the village. Why did Ji Woo have to see the texts before he realized how much Seo Joon loved him? As others have said Seo Joon drove 8 hours a day to see Ji Woo, and did everything humanly possible to show him how much he cared about him, but only the texts are what convinced Ji Woo.

Let me give everyone a metaphorical explanation of how the show felt to me: To My Star, the Malevolent BL, full of a python-like strangling boredom. It was written by a screenwriter who was like an artist creating a complex mosaic who forgot where to place the tiles, creating a picture that is unrecognizable, and ugly. It is the story of two lovers who run down a digressive path full of shadows, sirens and demons, through a monotonous landscape till they reach a cold desolate place like the 8th plane of Hell, full of tormented souls, which resolves, across an invisible line, into a pleasant meadow. Feeling the release from their long suffering, the lovers finally embrace and kiss each other tenderly.

I liked all the wonderful displays of affection at the end. The way they kissed was just cute, and seemed just like a real couple, but I didn't feel like any of it could have happened, unfortunately. Ji Woo should have gone to intensive therapy first, and Seo Joon shouldn't have let him back with just a few words of explanation. Where is the realism everyone was talking about? You can't have it both ways. We are just ending with excessive fluff when we began with excessive angst.

Oh no problem then. Sorry about that

That’s a joke, lol

Ridiculous. If you can’t disagree with someone without calling them mentally ill, you should be the one seeking therapy.

Huh? You’re entitled to your opinion, and I’m entitled to mine. I’m telling you what I think about the show, and I said it is ok for people to like it. I don’t find this show realistic at all, but you can believe that if you want. Enjoy it however you want to. I’m not leaving, lol. And plenty of people are saying what I’ve just said.

I've never seen a bad BL get so many good reviews. I can't claim to understand it. Usually, during the course of a series, most people agree in this comment section about the quality of a production. I'm just surprised that is not the case here. I think this show is objectively terrible - it's monotonous, rambling, incoherent, and depressing. I can't understand why that is not universally understood, but I guess the screenplay writer has been clever enough to seem like she's doing something deeper, and more complex than is actually the case. You have to be intelligent to create a mess this bad. I guess some people were fooled by it. And I don't blame anyone for liking this junk. This depression porn might turn you on, and you have turned off your higher reasoning functions. I do this with other BL's because of the cute guys, and I am guilty of watching much worse shows than this for very superficial reasons. So, with that said, enjoy episode 9 and 10! I'm here to hate watch this till the end, and to get in some pleasure from all this misery [joking]. I'm actually watching it for a snippet of some happiness for Seo Joon and Ji Woo, because I need it even if I really prefer that they break up, probably because of the pent up need for it after a seemingly endless wait for this to happen.

WOW, this is briliantly funny!! This has to be the funniest thing I've ever read on dramalist. I think this is the best BDSM BL ever made, as you describe it. Why does no one have a safe word? I guess the screenplay writer did not want to curb Ji Woo's relentless sadism.

Another weird idea in this is Ji Woo believes he will just fade away when he's living with Seo Joon. The screenplay writer must have completely forgot that Ji Woo is a noteworthy chef that could have gained quite a bit of celebrity in Seoul. Being a foodie, I can tell you the head chef at a fine dining restaurant will be feted by many prominent people who regularly come to these establishments. This is the age of the celebrity chef, and you can see that Ji Woo has already seen some of the limelight having been the focus of a cooking show. The chubby restaurant critic was impressed by him, and he would definitely have many people wanting to meet him, including prominent businessmen and perhaps even celebrities. What would have been a more interesting screenplay would be Seo Joon and Ji Woo being separated by their competing roles as artists - that would have been a more interesting dynamic than the one we've been watching.

The only reason Ji Woo would fade away is by being a failure while running his restuarant in the middle of nowhere. The reason he really would fade away is by running away from Seo Joon, from Seoul where he could gain fame and celebrity, and moving to this little town.

And why did he choose to go there? Did he do it to mend fences with the people in his community? Nope, he makes no effort to do that. That was all done by his friend, the woman with the daughter whom he befriended, though he never seems capable of being nice to anyone else. Why did he go back to this village? If it was to hide from Seo Joon, it was a poor idea, because the first place Seo Joon should have looked was his hometown - in fact that is why Ji Woo names his restaurant Ti Aspetto [waiting for you]. He knows Seo Joon would think of it someday [though Seo Joon takes way too long]. So he tries to hide from Seo Joon, in a place that is obvious, hoping he will come back to him, so he can live in a place that he can fade away into being a nobody. I mean this screenplay just never makes any sense. It's all just so bizarre the more you look at it. Of course, someone is going to say he was self-destructive, etc., but this is just a confusing mess, and that idea is also never conveyed in any clear way. It would be more apt if he just cloistered himself in an insane asylum.