The idea of the unlikely romance is nothing new to storytelling, it predates the written word. They are a staple of K-drama romances, but the results can be mixed at times. The success of these types of dramas depends greatly on the chemistry between the two romantic leads – if the pairing of the actors fails to ignite sparks, then the entire series falls flat. It doesn’t matter how good the writing, direction, and supporting cast is, it is entirely up to the two romantic leads to carry the series. My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and The Accidental Couple are the unlikely romance done correctly and offer interesting variations on the formula.
In Korean folklore, the Gumiho is a shape shifting nine tailed fox that, in order to become human, drains energy from humans. Depending on the media, the Gumiho can either be a total monster (who eats human livers) or a more benevolent that finds a willing partner to take the energy from. They drain off the energy by inserting an orb (via kiss) into their victim’s body and when it has sucked the person dry, they take it out. In My Girlfriend is a Gumiho, Mi-ho is a more benevolent creature (or least tries to be, sometimes her killer urges kick in). She has spent 500 years trapped inside a painting and it is accidentally let out by Cha Dae-woong, a college student and aspiring action star. He is, initially, afraid of Mi-ho and tries to flee from her, but seriously injuries himself in the process. While he is unconscious, Mi-ho, to keep him alive, places her orb into him and he wakes up none the wiser. The orb also enhances his abilities, so that when he auditions for an action movie, he blows away the director, Ban Doo-hong. The two of them come to an understanding – if Dae-woong helps Mi-ho become human, she will help with his movie career.
In order for Mi-ho to become human, Dae-woong must keep the orb inside of him for 100 days and she must drink the blood of a half human/half supernatural being, Park Dong-jo, which takes away her supernatural powers – as the series progresses, she begins to lose her tails. What Dong-jo keeps secret from Mi-ho is that once she extracts the orb from Dae-woong, he will die. It is not specified what kind of supernatural being Dong-jo, all that is shown is that he has lived for a long time. The reason he takes an interest in Mi-ho is that he reminds of her of goblin, Gil-dai, who he slayed after she begged him to do so. Dong-jo has traveled all the country and held many jobs (he is currently a veterinarian). He doesn’t allow himself to get too close to humans, because of the pain that comes when they pass away. He has become weary at his old age, while Mi-ho, after having spent 500 years in painting, is excited by the world around her – she is a fish out of water.
The main reason that I chose to write about My Girlfriend is a
Gumiho is talk about the lead actress, Shin Min-ah, who is slowly becoming one
of my favorite actresses of all time. In the last couple of months, I have
watched multiple dramas starring Shin Min-ah (My Girlfriend is a
Gumhio, Oh My Venus, and Tale of Arang) and she
always impresses me. If you want to see an example of an actor carrying a film,
then check out the 2005 romantic comedy, The Beast and the
Beauty, where she plays a woman who has regained her eyesight, after receiving
eye surgery, and is looking for the man who was by her side when she was blind.
The movie isn’t very good, and the lead male is irritating, but it’s worth
watching for Shin Min-ah’s sweet natured performance. It’s also one of those
romantic comedies where you feel that the heroine is given a raw deal – the
movie’s secondary male lead is more likable than the male lead. Flash forward
to 2024, she is cast as a cynical businesswoman, who views everything in gains
and losses, in No Gain, No Love and
doesn’t miss a beat.
Her performance is My Girlfriend is a Gumiho is one
of her most impressive, because of the depth she brings to the role – in one
scene she is flirty with the male lead, doing her best aeygo, and then in the
next she is crying up a storm (literally) because she believes she has been
abandoned. She can be sweet in one episode and intimidating in the next – there
a couple of times throughout the series where Mi-ho reverts to a more feral
state and Dae-woong can only satiate her thirst for blood by feeding her raw
meat. The premise to the series is ridiculous and there are two approaches Shin
Min-ah could have taken with the material:
the first approach would be to play it with her a wink – she could
occasional break the fourth wall and let the audience know she is in on the
joke (this is basically what acting in most Hollywood franchises has been
reduced to) or she could go with the second route and play it in a sincere
manner. She opts for the latter approach, and the show is all the better for
it. Despite the ridiculous premise, it is easy to root for Mi-ho.
There is an innocence about Mi-ho – she has been around for centuries,
but because she has spent the last five hundred years trapped in a painting,
she is naïve to the ways of the world. This innocence also means that she has
no filter, which means that she will openly say things that offend the cultural
norms – there is one moment where she is in heat and tells Cha Dae-woong that
she wants to mate with him. He can’t believe how frank she is and throws a huge
hissy fit – one of the most irritating aspects of K-dramas is how puritanical
the male leads can be at times. In real life, if an attractive female told a
male she wanted to mate with him, he would either take her up on the offer, or he
might find it odd but would still be flattered. In K-dramas, the dude freaks
out and runs out of the room, or pushes the female lead out of his house and
locks the door. Hell, often there is a scene where the lead female will confess
her feelings to the lead male, and he acts like she is selling him life
insurance. “I don’t knooooooow! I need to think about it!” Do women find such indecisiveness sexy? I
genuinely want to know – being an angry senior citizen who is suspicious of
everyone, I rarely know what motivates people, especially women.
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho has one of the more entertaining B-stories – the budding romance between the extreme action director, Ban Do-hong, and Cha Min-sook (Dae-woong’s aunt). The two of them first meet on the elevator of a shopping mall – Cha Min-sook farts in the elevator but Do-hong covers for her by apologizing to the other occupants. Do-hong runs an action school and Dae-woong is one of his top students, so he constantly runs into Min-sook. Do-hong is a huge fan of Chow Yun-fat’s performance in A Better Tomorrow and dresses up like the lead character – he also emulates Yun-fat’s performance and often quotes the movie when he is trying to court Min-sook. When he is not dressed up like Chow Yun-fat, he wears the outfit that Bruce Lee wore in Enter the Dragon.
Ban Do-hong is played by Sung Dong-il, who played the
lead female’s father in the Reply trilogy.
Just like in the Reply trilogy,
the daughter of his character, Ban Sun-nyeo, is played by a K-pop – Hyo-min
from T-ara (who goes for the “cute nerdy girl” look by wearing glasses). Sun-nyeo has a crush on Dae-woong, but he is,
initially, too infatuated with fellow actress, Eun Hye-in, to notice. It isn’t
much of a role, it just requires Hyo-min to look cute, and she manages to excel
at that.
In the first few episodes, Dae-woong is hopelessly in love with Hye-in,
but she just shrugs him off. It’s only after Mi-ho has entered the picture that
Hye-in starts to notice him – she can’t stand the fact he is no longer paying
attention to her and let’s her jealously get the better of her. She starts to spy
on Mi-ho, hoping to dig up dirt she can use to discredit Mi-ho. She simply
can’t understand why Dae-woong choose Mi-ho over her and is convinced that
something wicked is afoot. Both Dae-woong and Hye-in have been cast as the
second leads in Do-hong’s action epic, but Hye-in is not satisfied with being
the second banana and tries to persuade the Do-hong into casting her in the
lead role. Do-hong is obsessed with capturing “real action” film and when she catches
Mi-ho powers on full display (he sees her jumping over trees), he wants to cast
her as the female lead in his movie. The problem is that he can’t find her –
whenever Mi-ho sees him walking in her direction, she runs away. When Hye-in
discovers Mi-ho’s secret she uses it to her advantage; she blackmails Mi-ho
into being her stunt double on the movie. She gives this ultimatum to Do-hong:
the only way Mi-ho will work on the movie is as a Hye-in’s stunt double and if
Do-hong casts Hye-in in the lead female role. Do-hong reluctantly accepts the
terms – because he knows that Hye-in isn’t leading lady material. Even though
Hye-in is given the lead role, she still can’t stand to see Dae-woong lavishing
Mi-ho with attention.
Hye-in isn’t the only one who is trying to separate Mi-ho and Dae-woong;
Dong-jo falls in love with Mi-ho and keeps trying to convince the two of them
to break up. Dong-jo initially was going to kill Mi-ho but he has become so
infatuated with her that he wants her for himself. He opts for the more subtle
approach; he tells Mi-ho and Dae-woong separately that they would be better off
without one another. He uses the old logic, “If you truly love this person,
then you will let them go.” Dong-jo’s pitch to Dae-woong is that he is the only
one who can truly take care of Dong-jo and Dae-woong would just be a hindrance
to her. He also tells Mi-ho that he can prevent her from dying – as Mi-ho loses
her tails she becomes progressively weaker. Dong-jo promises Mi-ho that if she
stays with him, she will regain her strength. Dae-woong makes the noble
sacrifice, returns Mi-ho’s orb to her, and walks away. Of course, we all know
this temporary. There is no way the writers would end a romantic comedy on a
downbeat note. Mi-ho has quite the character arc – she makes friends, makes
enemies, falls in love, gets her heart broken, falls back in love, and even
works a few part-time jobs – is there anything more human than that?
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho is an
entertaining show with interesting twist and turns. It is the kind of premise
that should fall flat on its face, but it succeeds thanks to the imaginative
direction, clever writing, and sincere performance. I should also point out
that over a decade later there was a TV show called My Roommate is a
Gumiho that starred Lee Hye-ri as a female college student who falls in love
with a male Gumiho (played by Jang Ki-yong). It is also an entertaining TV show
that has the same plot beats as My Girlfriend is a Gumiho but
also manages to add its own twist and turns – like incorporating the Red Thread
of Fate into the storyline. I still prefer My Girlfriend is a
Gumiho, mainly because of Shin Min-ah’s performance.
The interesting thing about Accidental Couple is that it
has the exact same plot as the Buster Keaton silent, Spite
Marriage. In both stories, a rube is talked into entering a
sham marriage with a famous actress. In Spite Marriage, Elmer
(Keaton), the owner of a dry-cleaning business, marries famous stage actress,
Trilby Drew, who uses him to get back at her leading man/lover, Lionel Benmore,
who has become flirtatious with a female admirer. This happens on a whim – she
has too much to drink and asks Elmer if he would like to marry her. Elmer has been an admirer of hers for awhile
(he has seen every performance of her current play) and naturally says
yes. The next morning, she wakes up
sober and leaves it up to her manager and Lionel to clean up her mess – they
persuade Elmer to go away, so Trilby can divorce of him on the grounds of
abandonment. Through a series of contrivances, Elmer and Trilby end up meeting
again on a yacht, and she falls in love with him after he saves her from
gangsters who have commandeered the boat.
In Accidental Couple, Gu Dong-baek (Hwang
Jung-min) is talked into entering a sham marriage with the famous TV/movie
star, Han Ji-soo (Kim Ah-joong) to help cover up her relationship with Kim Kang-mo
(Joo Sang-wook), who is the son of mayoral candidate, Kim Jung-wook.
To help cement his win in the election, Jung-wook has arranged for his son to
be engaged to Choi Soo-yeon, whose father owns a prominent news organization
(that Kang-mo works at). Kang-mo assures
Ji-soo that this is only temporary – once his father has won the election, he
will break off his engagement and come back to Ji-soo. However, a tabloid
journalist, Reporter Baek, suspects that two of them are secretly seeing each
other and hopes to catch them in the act. When Kang-mo and Ji-soo get into a
car accident (while fleeing from Reporter Baek) he believes he will finally
snap the incriminating photo. However, Dong-baek just happens to be at the
accident scene (he was walking home from an awards show) and is persuaded by
the frightened couple to take Kang-mo’s place in the driver’s seat while Kang-mo
slips away. Like Elmer in Spite
Marriage, Dong-baek is so enamored with Ji-soo that he agrees
to their request. Baek shows up at the scene but is disappointed to find
Dong-baek in the driver seat.
They initially believe they have successfully pulled the wool over the
reporter’s eyes, but while looking at a photo of the accident scene, Baek sees
a figure standing in the background and, correctly, assumes that it is Kang-mo
and is determined to expose the truth. Sang-mo and Ji-soo realize they are not
out of the woods yet and ask Dong-baek to carry one with the deception.
Dong-baek biggest strength is also his biggest weakness – he is good natured to
the point of being a pushover. Despite his initial reservations, he agrees to
go along with the deception. The next thing he knows, his name is trending all
over social media and his face is plastered on all of the newspapers. To
further complicate things, Kang-mo’s father leaks it to the press that
Dong-baek and Ji-soo are going to get married. Ji-soo is so determined to go
through with the deception that she agrees to a sham marriage with Dong-baek.
The one question that never enters Ji-soo’s mind – Is Kang-mo worth it?
What kind of man would not only ask the woman he loves keep their relationship
a secret, but idly stand by and allow her to enter a phony marriage to appease
his father? He even agrees to take their wedding pictures. Part of the reason
Ji-soo agrees to tall of this is that she owes a great of her career to Kang-mo
– the two of them met at college and it was Kang-mo who used his connections to
help Ji-soo get acting gigs. While Kang-mo did provide her with the break she
desperately needed, it was her genuine talent that catapulted her to
superstardom. Her loyalty to Kang-mo is understandable, but she gets nothing
out of this current arrangement – she can only watch from the sidelines while
the man she loves publicly touts that he is going to marry another woman. As a
result, Ji-soo is constantly depressed.
While Trilby was won over by Elmer’s heroic deed, Ji-soo is ultimately
won over by Dong-baek’s good-hearted nature. The main difference between the
two female protagonists is that there much more depth to Han Ji-soo while
Trilby Drew is one dimensional (the heroines in Keaton’s movies were usually
props to drive the story than they were actual characters). The most surprising aspect about The
Accidental Couple is the terrific chemistry between Hwang Jung-min
and Kim Ah-joong. Hwang Jung-min will never make “the most handsome” list and
is a decade older than Kim Ah-joong, but there is nice give and take between
these two talented actors.
Their relationship goes through a believable progression from complete strangers to eventual lovers. At first, Dong-baek is in complete awe of Ji-soo and this leads to awkward exchanges, because he is near speechless in her presence. What baffles Ji-soo and Kang-mo the most is the fact that Dong-baek isn’t asking anything in return for continuing the deception; Ji-soo even admits she would feel more comfortable if Dong-baek asked for money, because she at least would understand his motivation. His “nice guy” seems to good to be true. The second stage of their relationship is Ji-soo giving Dong-baek the cold treatment – she basically views him as “a prop” and doesn’t want to get too close to him, because eventually she will return to Kang-mo and he will go back to the life of a postman. In private, she ignores Dong-baek while publicly puts on a show of affection. This also does wonders for her image; the public is transfixed by the story of a famous actress dating an ordinary man. She also snaps at Dong-baek multiple times – Reporter Baek overhears a conversation between Dong-baek and Ji-soo’s manager, Cha Yun-kyung and it seems to confirm his suspicions that their relationship is a scam.
When Dong-baek tells Ji-soo
about this, she loses her temper and hurls insults at him. It never occurs to
Ji-soo how this deception is affecting Dong-baek’s life. It was during this
scene where I wanted Dong-baek to grow a spine and tell Ji-soo off, especially
when she demands he take part in the sham marriage. Bitch, he doesn’t owe you
shit! Most men would have told Ji-soo to piss off and then spilled the beans to
Reporter Baek (who was offering a decent sum of money to hear Dong-baek’s
story). Dong-baek excuses her appalling
behavior and agrees to the sham marriage – Dong-baek is the type of person who always
looks for the best in people (even when they don’t deserve it).
There is also another incident that threatens to derail the whole act –
Ji-soo invites Dong-baek to hang out with a few of her actor friends. When she
leaves the table to use restroom, one of the male actors makes lewd remarks
about Ji-soo. Dong-baek is offended by the man’s crude language and confronts
him in the restroom – he gives the man ten seconds to apologize and, when the
guy fails to do, Dong-baek head butts him in the nose. This upsets Ji-soo,
because she is worried the actor might press charges and that the story will be
plastered all over the media. Ji-soo’s team does buy the man’s silence, but this
incident further divides Dong-baek and Ji-soo.
It is also a matter of time that Dong-baek’s co-workers begin to notice
inconsistencies in his story – he claims that Ji-soo and him had been dating
for months, but it was only recently that he showed interest in his co-worker, Park
Kyung-ae. In fact, he even asked her to attend the award show with him, but she
declined his offer. It is also only after Dong-baek starts “dating” Ji-soo that
Kyung-ae begins to show interest him. This leads to a rumor that Dong-baek was
two-timing Ji-soo and the result is a huge backlash from the public. They are
appalled that an average “Joe” like Dong-baek would cheat on a goddess like
Ji-soo. The post office initially exploits Dong-baek’s relationship with Ji-soo
by making him the face of the post office – they put up posters and cardboard
standees of Dong-baek all over the building. When the scandal breaks out, they
take down the posters and standees and try to distance themselves from
Dong-baek.
However, it is around this time that Dong-baek and Ji-soo’s
relationship takes that next step – from work acquaintance to friend. Ji-soo can’t help but to charmed by
Dong-baek’s simplicity, and the fact that he is an inviting individual. While Kang-mo
is too ashamed to introduce Ji-soo to his father, Dong-baek proudly introduces
Ji-soo to his younger sister, Gu Min-ji, and to all of his co-workers. When she
hears about the two-timing rumors, she actually laughs – she knows that
Dong-baek is not that type of guy. This is also the first time she begins to
realize how this deception has derailed Dong-baek’s private life. He has two
potential love interests, Kyung-ae and Min-ji’s best friend, Jo Seung-eun, but
he cannot pursue either because he is committed to helping out Ji-soo. Even before Dong-baek met Ji-soo, Seung-eun
was already considering going out with him.
To be honest, Seung-eun is probably a better match for Dong-baek because
of their similar backgrounds and worldviews – neither of them are looking to
make a splash, they just want to live ordinary lives. It is also not surprising that Seung-eun
dislikes Ji-soo.
Dong-baek also ingratiates himself to Ji-soo by befriending her
estrange younger brother, Han Sang-chul. One of the things Dong-baek has in
common with Ji-soo is that they lost their parents at a young age and were
forced to raise their younger siblings. Min-ji lives with Dong-baek and they
have a close relationship. After Ji-soo became famous, she sends her young
brother to attend college in Australia. The two of them haven’t spoken in years
– Sang-chul always interpreted his sister sending him to Australia as her
obeying Kang-mo’s orders. Sang-chul has a strong dislike of Kang-mo and blames
him for the distant relationship he has with Ji-soo. However, despite his
disagreeable demeanor, it is apparent that Sang-chul still cares about his
older sister. He just really wants to see Ji-soo be happy. When he first meets
Dong-baek, he is naturally skeptical.
Dong-baeks let him in on the secret that his relationship with Ji-soo is
a sham. Sang-chul is initially tempted
to expose their deception to Reporter Baek but changes his mind when he notices
how happy Ji-soo is whenever she is around Dong-baek. She is always miserable
when she is with Kang-mo, but Dong-baek has the ability to make her smile
regardless of the circumstances. Sang-chul becomes determined to turn their
sham marriage into a real marriage. Dong-baek also has the ability to diffuse a
potentially ugly situation; there is a scene where the Gu siblings persuade the
Han siblings into going on a picnic. Ji-soo and Sang-chul get into a heated
argument that is about to turn ugly when Dong-baek and Min-ji challenge the Han
siblings to a game of soccer. At first,
Sang-chul rolls his eyes at the idea, but as the game progresses, he becomes
more involved and even celebrates with his sister when they score a goal.
To further keep up the ruse, Dong-baek moves into Ji-soo’s house. He
sleeps in the upstairs guest room while Ji-soo sleeps in her room downstairs.
This further strengthens their bond – they often pass the time by playing board
games and Dong-baek even teaches Ji-soo how to cook. This is also when Kang-mo
begins to feel uncomfortable about their relationship, which makes Sang-chul
happy. This often results in Kang-mo pulling Dong-baek aside and issuing all
sorts of threats. Ji-soo also doesn’t know how to feel; she enjoys Dong-baek’s
company, and even has grown close to Min-ji, but she can’t get over her
feelings for Kang-mo. To Sang-chul, and the viewers, it is a no brainer –
Dong-baek is the perfect guy for her, but it is also easy to understand her
feelings. She wants things to remain as they are, but she is inevitably going
to have to make that tough choice. If she marries Kang-mo, there is no way he
would allow her to stay in touch with Dong-baek. If she picks Dong-baek that
essentially ends her relationship with Kang-mo. It is only after Dong-baek
moves out of her house that she realizes how much she misses and loves
him. To quote the classic Cinderella
song, “Don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.”
The premise of The Accidental Couple is
formulaic (which is why I brought up Spite Marriage) but that
is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, the fact that it is so unapologetic
about adhering to the formula is one of its charms. There is something
satisfying about seeing an average Joe win the heart of a famous movie star –
it is the ultimate wish fulfillment. I also must admit that it took me longer
than usual to write this review, and I have watched a few K-dramas since then,
so there are many details of the two shows I reviewed that I have become iffy.
However, it speaks volumes about My Girlfriend is a Gumiho and The
Accidental Couple that performances by the lead actors in both shows
(Shin Min-ah and Hwang Jung-min) have stuck with me weeks after watching them.
They are both master classes in acting.
Credits
My Girlfriend is a Gumiho
Cast: Shin Min-a (Gu Mi-ho/Park Seon-ju/Gil-dai), Lee Seung-gi (Cha Dae-woong), No Min-woo (Park Dong-joo), Park Soo-jin (Eun Hye-in), Sung Dong-il (Ban Doo-hong), Yoon Yoo-sun (Cha Min-sook), Byun Hee-bong (Cha Poong), Kim Ho-chang (Kim Byung-soo), Hyomin (Ban Sun-nyeo), Hyunwoo (young Cha Dae-woong), Im Hyun-sik (Buddhist Monk), Kim Ji-young (Samshin grandmother), Uee (art student), Park Shin-hye (Go Mi-nyeo).
Director: Boo Seung-chul
Writers: Hong Jung-eun, Hong Mi-ran
16 episodes ~ 60 minutes
The Accidental Couple
Cast: Hwang Jung-min (Gu Dong-baek), Kim Ah-joong (Han Ji-soo), Joo Sang-wook (Kim Kang-mo), Lee Chung-ah (Gu Min-ji), Baek Sung-hyun (Han Sang-chul), Jeon Mi-seon (Cha Yun-kyung), Lee Soo-young (Jo Seung-eun), Yeon Mi-joo (Park Kyung-ae), Moon Jae-won (Yoon-seob), Kang Hee-soo (Tae-won), Kim Hyung-gyu (Kim Suk-hyun), Kim Kwang-kyu (Team leader Go), Yoon Joo-sang (Director Yoon), Jung Dong-hwan (Kim Jung-wook), Lee Hae-young (Reporter Baek), Park Ha-sun (Choi Soo-yeon), Jo Sang-gun (President Choi), Shin Ki-joon (young Dong-baek), Im Si-eun (young Ji-soo), Lee Jua (young Min-ji), Cha Jun-hwan (young Sang-chul).
Director: Ki Min-soo
Writers: Jung Jin-young, Kim Eui-chan
16 episodes ~ 60 minutes
