My girl

Television drama can be addictive. Even when they are silly, nonsensical, and when you struggle to suspend your disbelief. Back in the early 1990s, the whole population in China became hooked by Desire, the first soap opera in China...

Then there is Grey's Anatomy... which I never seem to have enough of.

I made a point not to follow television drama in the 1990s. Life is too short to spend hours on end to follow the multi-episode dramas, or to reschedule one's everyday routine to stay tuned. I much prefer listening to music or radio, activities that allow you to walk about and multi-task.

So this is new to me: after some mixed experience with Korean dramas barely a week ago, I found myself watching My Girl - for the third time in a row, well into the wee hours. Indeed like one of the reviews has it: it was well-written with good performance from all involved. A classic rom-com!

The heroine lies as freely as she breathes, and combined with frequent close up shots and monologues from her relating explicitly her inner thoughts (as if we cannot follow the plots without them), it was a total put-off for me at the beginning. But I was curious enough to persist - in the hope to work out how come such silly nonsense had been churned out at all, and I ended up watching the whole series with a fast-farward remote control in hand.

The last two episodes though changed my mind, and when I watched it a second time - this time, in normal play mode, I realised that once you could get over the initial shock (which takes about two episodes), it wasn't difficult to laugh all the way through with the heroine, while admiring the multi-talents of its actress - Lee Da-hea, who is capable of changing her facial expressions within the split of a second and seems to specialise in girlish charms of all kinds. And as if to reward those who, like myself, find the leading man a bit bland, Lee Dung-wook's character is transformed, in the last two episodes, into another man: one that knows exactly what he wants for himself and goes all his ways to get it. Despite his lack of athletics appearance, he looks manly in the last two episodes, and well deserves what he is after in the end.

My Girl relies heavily on stock of stereotyping in plots and characters; a dying grandfather whose wish rules the household; a gambling father who brings but debts to his daughter; a jealous girlfriend who cannot tolerate the sight of another pretty girl. Yet there are many elements which I find fascinating. Besides Lee Da-hea's versatility in appearing sweet, innocent, charming, yet mischievous and naughty almost all at the same time, Korean fashion, the way it projects its hero's image, use of western music throughout, hilarious references to popular Hollywood films/television dramas (such as 007 and X-file) , the status of woman in the modern society... are all subjects that can be looked into.

But perhaps the best thing is that there are only 16 episodes. Despite all the laughs that come with it, it is tiring to have to give up one's routine for too long. My Girl knows when to stop.