I have a hard time taking the cleanshaven babyfaced youths as badass warriors in sageuk. A really hard time. I need some grizzle on those faces and some features that don’t look androgynous or 12.
Unfortunately, it seems that very few k-actors can grow real facial hair. Plus I think it goes against the flower boy image most shows want to portray. If they do get facial hair, it’s normally reserved for what I call the ~passage of time~ goatee.
It’s hard for me to believe that these waifish flower boys with perfect skin would be able to pick up a sword and swing it more than once or twice without being worn out. Don’t even get me started on how they maintain those complexions (and the awful hairstyles you pointed out) without products. Watching sageuk requires me to suspend disbelief so hard on some of these characters. 😛
Beauty standards are so weird. Especially how different they can be culturally. Western culture has conditioned me to be attracted to tan skin and strong jaw lines, so a lot of the actors considered attractive in dramaland look like alien-esque , elven kings to me. But I try not to judge.
I’d hope that the distaste for the awful wigs are universal though. I’m having war flashbacks remembering some.
callie
July 1, 2017 at 9:41 PM
Drama Pet Peeve #2: Sageuk Side Bangs. I’m not gonna take you seriously as a king if we share the same haircut I had in middle school.
Kestrel
July 1, 2017 at 9:43 PM
I have a hard time taking the cleanshaven babyfaced youths as badass warriors in sageuk. A really hard time. I need some grizzle on those faces and some features that don’t look androgynous or 12.
callie
July 1, 2017 at 9:52 PM
Unfortunately, it seems that very few k-actors can grow real facial hair. Plus I think it goes against the flower boy image most shows want to portray. If they do get facial hair, it’s normally reserved for what I call the ~passage of time~ goatee.
Kestrel
July 1, 2017 at 9:55 PM
LOL @ POT Goatee.
It’s hard for me to believe that these waifish flower boys with perfect skin would be able to pick up a sword and swing it more than once or twice without being worn out. Don’t even get me started on how they maintain those complexions (and the awful hairstyles you pointed out) without products. Watching sageuk requires me to suspend disbelief so hard on some of these characters. 😛
callie
July 1, 2017 at 10:04 PM
Beauty standards are so weird. Especially how different they can be culturally. Western culture has conditioned me to be attracted to tan skin and strong jaw lines, so a lot of the actors considered attractive in dramaland look like alien-esque , elven kings to me. But I try not to judge.
I’d hope that the distaste for the awful wigs are universal though. I’m having war flashbacks remembering some.
Kestrel
July 1, 2017 at 10:07 PM
The distaste for awful wigs is indeed universal.