philosophy at age eight


“If you cannot control your peanut butter, you cannot expect to control your life.”
~ Judah-ism

Sunday, December 19, 2010

my girlfriend is a nine-tailed fox (korean drama)

My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox (otherwise known as My Girlfriend is a Gumiho) (2010)
Director: Boo Sung Chul
Starring: Lee Seung Ki, Shin Min Ah (A Love to Kill) and No Min Woo

Synopsis, found here:
Cha Dae Woong (Lee Seung Gi) is a cowardly and extremely immature man who accidentally set free a nine-tail fox (Shin Min Ah) who was imprisoned for 500 years. The fox began to take the form of a beautiful woman who follows the man who set her free around, causing misunderstandings that she is his girlfriend. Although the man enjoys the attention and envy that people around him is giving, he is also always in extreme fear that the Gumiho may want to feed on his liver to become human. But when both of them falls for each other as time goes by, the Gumiho’s enemies appears causing an unexpected twist in their lives.

I will start off with a quick explanation for a nine-tailed fox, being a mythological character unfamiliar to most Americans.  According to wiki:

The kumiho (literally "nine-tailed fox") is a creature that appears in the oral tales and legends of Korea and are akin to European faeries. According to those tales, a fox that lives a  thousand years turns into a kumiho. It can freely transform, among other things, into a beautiful girl often set out to seduce men, and eat their liver. 

More information can be found here.

I was happy to add this show to our list of all-time favorites. It had it all, as far as Johnny and I are concerned:  highly lovable characters (including the requisite irascible grandfather who communicates so much rage and frustration without the need of a single word), extremely funny at times and heart-breaking at others, a real plot that doesn't hinge completely on character-development, cliffhangers and a fun soundtrack. It even had an interesting villain-who-wasn't, not to mention that he wears more make-up than I. (Gotta give credit where due.)
Sheltering from the rain

I think I started to love this show during the first episode, when it showed Cha Dae Woong (extremely irritating male lead) sheltering from a storm under a leaf like a fairy. Usually I never love Korean, Taiwanese or Japanese shows from the first episode--it takes up to three episodes to begin working their charm for me. But I howled with laughter watching the scene where the gumiho terrorizes silly Dae Woong into freeing her from the painting she's been trapped in for 500 years. A phone ghost.  I adore how frequently they can laugh at themselves; so tongue-in-cheek.

Dimples
Mi Ho, played by Shin Min Ah, was brilliant in her role as a nine-tailed fox. I loved her in her previous role in "A Love to Kill", but John really, really didn't. (For one thing, he doesn't like dimples on girls, probably because his brother has dimples, and it just doesn't look right to him. Another was the fact that it was a depressing tragedy.)  Anyway, this show completely turned his opinion of her around. She is extremely naive after 500 years trapped in a temple, and would love nothing better than to eat cow for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She has a cute "meat" dance that reminded me of an adorable 2-year-old I know with a similar "coffee dance." Being a true fox at heart, hilarious moments were inevitable. Like when she saw a "chicken" riding a motorcycle and gave chase:


A fox in the henhouse

No comments: