Hi Anon! Thanks for the question.
I’ll do my best to answer, but my thoughts on My Love From the Stars aka You Who Came From The Stars are… eh.
Yeah. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. It was just… there.
The cinematography was quite lovely, as was expected from that crew. The sexism stuff didn’t really bother me – I don’t think I even noticed it much, actually, but then I wasn’t watching it with that in mind.
Everything I really loved that drama really came down to Jeon Ji Hyun. I am 100% convinced that if she (and her amazing lipstick and glasses and capes and shoes and etc.) weren’t in this show, it would not be the powerhouse that it became. She is amazing. A goddess who deigned to grace the small screen, thank the drama gods. She’s gorgeous and talented and has amazing comedic timing. I lub her.
However, I did think the writing was a little weak. There’s this amazing supernatural aspect to play with, and yet the story was often pretty boring, even with the charismatic psychopathic murderer. I attribute a lot of what I consider the boring bits in the to not just the writing but also to…
(…wait for it…)
…Kim Soo Hyun.
Yeah, surprise, surprise. I know.
That’s probably the crux of the matter, though. I’m not really a Kim Soo Hyun fan (as anyone who knows me or has been following this blog for awhile can attest). He’s pretty; he can act; he’s the most beautiful crier I’ve ever seen. But…
…there’s just a “spark” I don’t feel from him.
The only things I’ve really liked him in were Dream High (but then again, who wouldn’t like the one true trained actor in the middle of a bunch of idols with mediocre acting skills) and The Thieves – but I liked him because of his role within the ensemble, which makes me think I like him best when he’s not the lead. It’s also, of course, why I started out the show with such high hopes because his chemistry with Jeon Ji Hyun in the film was excellent.
But for whatever reason, I didn’t feel the attraction between them in YWCFTS. That could be because of the writing (which felt sloppy and overwrought at times, especially when it came to the whole psychopath murderer plot) or because of my neutral ambivalence regarding Kim Soo Hyun, but it could also be because I actually rarely watch a show for the main romance. I really need side characters to keep me rooted in a show, and while I love her little brother as portrayed by Ahn Jae Hyun and I really enjoyed the sweet-but-oblivious Park Hae Jin, there weren’t enough interesting minor characters to flesh out that world and keep me focused.
I don’t really have more thoughts than that about the show, because I honestly have forgotten most of it. The few things I really remember center around Jeon Ji Hyun or the scenery (those amazing sets! Especially the secret library!).
Again, I know my deal with the show is just my deal. I can appreciate that it was a huge hit, and respect that so many other people loved the show. My tastes are my tastes, and other people’s tastes are their tastes. Which sounds like an obvious statement, but sometimes I think drama fans can clump together and assume that if you’re not with us, you’re against us. Especially with those wildly popular shows that become icons of pop-culture.
If you were looking for an analytic take-down of the drama, I’m sorry – I didn’t pay close enough attention or care enough about the show to remember more than just a handful of scenes. If you were looking to start a discussion on the sexism in the show – again, I only have vague recollections, and I probably had some fan-wankery that Song Yi would kick any ass (literal and figurative) she needed to make sure she’s treated like the goddess she is. I don’t have strong enough emotions about this show to do more than sum up what I’ve been rambling about the past few paragraphs:
tl;dr – the show was okay, I guess, and Jeon Ji Hyun/Cheon Song Yi is the only thing that matters.
The Obsessive Dilettante 