Celebrity (2023)

A game of Dead or Alive

I may be stupid but this drama actually had me guessing about who was who, who killed who, from start to finish I was pretty much lost. And I guess I like being lost while watching a drama.

The characters where not very lovable most of the time and their voices where a bit to high pitched and as several characters where supposed to be spoiled brats they did seem to raise their voices just a little bit to many times... Making me truly annoyed and hate every single villain in this drama.

That said our supervillan was a true master of privilege and obsurd one liners oh a guy is dyeing of an overdose, oh really they should not take drugs if they can't keep it to the right amount... or something like that his gazes, his logic everything about him just smelled rotten.

Our oppa, with super oppa powers gave us some more odd lines that reeks of privilege but also a slow mo oppa CEO power, though he had way to little screen time I will admit that what we got was highly concentrated oppa...

The female lead is mostly bad ass, smart and so on without beeing to perfect, as she is indeed a very, very cold female lead.

A decent watch that kept me guessing (also pointing fingres).

P.s. the glas in this drama seems to be dangerously thin...

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#influenced

Plot: Seo Ari, a struggling woman who sells cosmetics door to door. After her father's company goes bankrupt, she & her mother are left penniless.
The 12 episodes follow the rise of Seo A-ri and the dark sides to being a E - influencer.

I was interested in this drama after watching the trailer a few weeks ago.
This is the second drama of 2023 to keep me on my toes the whole 12 episodes. Once I started I couldn't stop watching. Each episode leaves you wondering what's next, who is bbbfamous, how is she recording this live stream if she's gone?

You can tell Netflix and Studio Dragon put a lot of money into this show and it was worth it. This drama really showed a different side of being a E-Celeb in Korea that I have never seen before.
I really loved the cinematography and storytelling of this show because the twist at the end I never saw coming.
If you are here for romance, it is definitely a slow burner, but has its moments here and there.

This is a drama for someone who like mystery, thrill, fashion, and what happens once you reach the top of being an online influencer.

Overall, I really liked this drama and would definitely watch it again!

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Feels contrived

I don't know, it started out interesting but became boring by the end. I don't think this needed more than 10 episodes. The characters in the Gabin Society were essentially the same person multiplied. All very one dimensional and I found I couldn't even love to hate them. Even A-ri wasn't very interesting or likeable to me overall. What this drama has against it is that there are a LOT of other really good and intriguing dramas airing right now so this one feels flost in the shuffle. Overall it's not the worst I've seen but it doesn't make my top list for this year.

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Amazing drama !!!
Every one has done awesome job in acting !!!
The storyline is crazy it shows all the true details in our everyday life .
Would definitely recommend everyone to watch it !!!!!!
Probably the best drama this month till now !!
Wanted a little bit more romance of seo ari 🫶😂.
Amazing drama !!!
Every one has done awesome job in acting !!!
The storyline is crazy it shows all the true details in our everyday life .
Would definitely recommend everyone to watch it !!!!!!
Probably the best drama this month till now !!
Wanted a little bit more romance of seo ari 🫶😂.

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Good Enough

Korean Drama " Celebrity " is a thriller makjang ish drama.

The story is pretty intriguing at first, with masterfully handled pace and flashbacks, as the story is orchestrated in a way as to keep things interesting and the audience wanting more in order to solve the mystery.

However, after a strong start, the progress and development of the story got messy and lazy. The romance, moreover, was just too forced and could have been omitted. The twists were predictable as well and the characters annoying.

The cinematography was impressive though. Lush and glossy, with some darkness lurking underneath it.

The performances, finally, were enjoyable.

So, overall, five out of ten.

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A preachy story with a broody Min Hyuk in a convertible ~~~

The story started with our FL trying to make a living while being curious about the life of the influencers. Slowly she is pulled into their world, then from then it was a loop of Seo Ari being bullied-Min Hyuk in his broodiness suave coming to her rescue-antagonists bitching about her-then she making a comeback-repeat. The initial comment they made where FL is arguing with an influencer about having hate comments or digital image on sns is no big deal to cut to in the end FL trying to commit suicide because of same reasons. It was preachy and hypocritical.

Acting wise it was okay and I think antagonists did a way better job than the main people. They truly annoyed me. Uri smiley Min Hyuk became a sexy chaebol flashing his million dollar suit & convertible. The scene where he removes his shoes was oh my God so extraaa. Rich people in Korea do you really do that? And you call that a tradition? If not then that was way over extra.. Lol.. There were some facepalm moments too, say after the club incident the FL was like a person is dying and rich people don't care blah blah , cut to next scene she came home and started celebrating her increase in followers. Seriously the production should review what they are editing!! Another one where she finds out the guy is dead and cut to next scene she is in a convertible holding hands with Min Hyuk. Then she asks him to drop her nearby because she wants some fresh air to which our hero opens his car roof of the convertible. That was some ultra cringy flex dude.

Netflx making comments on about how business are feeding off audience attention felt superficial to me. I mean the business itself does that. Anyway its an okay show just showing off its production value because they can afford to. You may or may not like it, its your preference. The story seemed to be written in a rush to attain viewership rating by flexing brands & "it" culture.

TMI- I feel dramas are stereotyping rich, chaebols, influencers too much. Hate comments online are a serious issue and I don't think being a celebrity would automatically entitle you to hate based on limited information. I don't know I may be wrong but that's how I feel about it.

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People who think that social medias and real life are two contrasting things... watch this show.

"Every choice in this world comes with its consequence, but a lot of people seem to be oblivious to that since it makes their life easier not to know what they've actually done. But we must be aware of our actions. We must know that we can't escape from what we've done. And we must pay the price for the choices we've made. We shouldn't avoid it, and we cannot avoid it."

This show tells us all about the blemishes of a world that pretends to be so perfect and pretends to be teeming with honest people. In a country like South Korea, where one's appearance defines whether the latter will be among the elites or serve the elites, a drama like this needed to be done. Although I felt like the drama lacked realism from time to times, it's a succint watch to get a grasp of a world that one would prefer not to interfere with.

The power of social medias, where someone can rise to fame incredibly fast, but fall to doom utterly fast too. The new trend of influencers, who can even make poop sell out if they want to. They're able to afford luxury brands and luxury service, but they can even be paid to be pampered up. But at what cost? Getting tons of hate comments, hate accounts about you getting tons of likes, always having to be at the best shape... is this a life? Seo Ari will live that journey: from being a rich ivy-schooler-to-be, to selling stuff, to rising to fame as an influencer, to the utlimate fall. One thing the drama was good at is showing us how destructive fame is and it can lead to someone's doom.

Through the show, Seo Ari talks about the behind the scenes of a world that at first glance very tempting, but let's not forget that curiosity is what killed the cat. She exposes that world through a livestream while everyone was thinking that she was dead. Up until the penultimate episode, the livestream is on.

What did I like in the show? The casting. The guest roles. The cinematography. The BGMs. Yoon Sihyeon.
What didn't I like in the show? No deep description of a single character. No male influencers. A bit of a rushed ending.

The budget of this drama must be huge to invite celebrities like Aiki, Yuqi, Seol Inah, Lee Junho... I liked it that they brought real celebrities so that we feel like the world they're describing in the drama is the world we live in. It brought a bit of realism.
The cinematography is nice, especially for those who like fashion and beauty, you would like this.
Yoon Sihyeon is the best ever, that's all I have to say about her.

- As for what drew me back. The lack of description. We get a clear and precise description of the events, but no precise description of a single character. Description as in details about their personality, their life, etc. That made it hard to understand them or just to relate to them in some way. I guess that was the purpose of the writer: our world and theirs isn't the same whatsoever, so what is there to relate to? We're just spectators of their misdeeds just like those people who were glued to their screens througouh the show.
- No male influencers. I didn't like that part of the show. The fact that there were only female influencers. It would've been more interesting to see how male influencers behave, how different they are from the female influencers that we've seen in the show. A nice idea would be to make a second part of Celebrity but this time with Lee Junho as the main character (since he was the last one to appear in the show with the ipad that had Seo Ari fan account in it and with a smile on his face). Being overly superficial and caring about oneself appearance isn't a feminine trait.
- A rushed ending. A bit disappointed about the fact that we didn't even see the whereabouts of Jin Taejeon (he's in jail for sure but i wanted to see it), the mastermind of it all, and the whereabouts of _bbbfamous (also in jail for sure). It just ended with Taejeon smoking and _bbbfamous with wounds that aren't so fatal. I wanted to see their sentence. I also wanted to see the scene of Seo Ari and her mom's encounter after all this time.

Overall, this drama is a nice watch since it's short (12 episodes and ~40 minutes per episode), it has its few imperfections but it's a nice watch for those who like fashion, makeup and all that stuff, and for those who want to know more about influencers in South Korea (you should still watch other documentaries and read articles about it, don't limit yourself to one media to learn more about that two-faced world).

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I was praying for her downfall

A semi- rant

For the past 15 years the whole world has been trying to navigate this social media world with no sort of modicum of dignity and a little bit of sanity. Sadly the reality of today clearly shows that the power of online personalities and their pull on the minds of consumers. These influencers are deem powerful with their ability to sell you a life you don't need but you've been convinced you can somehow afford.
Watching the celebrity didn't teach me anything profound that i didn't already know fr. People living fake lives, because it seems that's the only way they can earn a living while the rest of us judge them from the comfort of our phones. Proclaiming how we're all better than that, smarter than that but still encouraging them by watching their videos, liking their feeds, buying their products and using their promocodes.

Seo Ah ri is a self-righteous hypocrite. Her disdain for the other influencers showed that she did in fact have a superiority complex. From oh I don't have social media, to oh I just fell into it cos I have a short bob and cute style? to, oh I'm too good to be an influencer for money, to oh I can do whatever I want and not expect any consequences, to oh the consequences came but I'm too good of a person. How? ! just how am I suffering this?

Her character felt like some sort of caricature. She is supposed to represent what being a true internet celebrity is about all noble, witty and pure. She's supposed to be different. Then she wears people's clothes and goes into drug dens and threaten people about their private lives and somehow we're supposed to think she's the good guy? She' did exactly what the others were doing except she always lectured us about it after the fact. No successful celebrity got to the top without stepping on heads. I don't care how wholesome they seem. That's the unfortunate way the world is. People will use, manipulate and destroy you for money and fame.
So who is seo ah ri, to think that by herself? That She could bring down all of these people? If she was that great from the beginning,she wouldn't have to do those things. So how come she's the only one that gets a happy ending? When the others also had to be ruthless to stay on top. They did all that to protect themselves.

Her relationship with han jun kyuong wasn't needed. His character didn't have any bearing on the story, he really felt corny. She achieved most of everything without him anyway. That trope of princess maker is outdated (gu jun pyo called and he says it's not 2009) and come on, the harassment at the beginning was getting on my nerves. Will his parents agree to him marrying an influencer? Probably not.

Her bestie. Poor thing i even forgot her name. But she was the realest character. Her sacrifice for her so called friend and the jealousy and anger where ari started being low-key bitchy. You're judging her? You treated her like a personal assistant and is surprised she'd stab you in the back?

I wish they never revealed who _bbbfamous was. Or made her so crazy. She wanted revenge for being treated like crap? or being made to feel like crap? her character represents majority of people that despise celebrities for the life they live but most of these hate sites are never caught. Most live in the shadows and It was laughable how she jumped out the window. Why didn't they call the police? Why did ah ri and that lady confront her like that. She made you who you are but you're butthurt cos she stabbed you in the back?

The story would have had more impact if it was more realistic. It didn't need a love triangle. I would have appreciated if they had showed a more organic rise to fame. Maybe by her promoting those cosmetics that she sold in the beginning and then her defending what she worked for honestly. That would have been more reasonable.

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Outstanding

This was a very intriguing series that had me hooked by the first episode. I was confused at first because there was a lot going on, but it was a good type of confusion that made me interested in what was going on. If you get confused like me, just rewatch the first 15 minutes of episode 1 and you should fully understand what is going on. The script has well-crafted with many twists and turns to keep you guessing. Just when I thought I knew what to expect, it surprised me. It was also very successful with connecting multiple elements and characters together at the end. The cast did an amazing job with portraying their characters. It also helped that all of the characters were well written. It had stunning cinematography. It was a brilliant idea to use the different screen formats to establish the changing time lines to reduce possible confusion.

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not worth your time

I started and stopped this series several times and finally committed to watching it. I wish I could get my time back. The premise and basic story line of the impact of social media on society is powerful. There are too many characters and none are fully developed. The script is all over the place, especially in the final 2 episodes. I believe the actors could have done more with a better script. Contrary to other critical reviews, I don’t think any of the actors were bad. I do think they were given an incomplete script that didn’t give characters, especially the main ones, enough definition. Who is Seo Ari and why should we care? Why doesn’t she know that rich people do drugs if she was rich herself? What happened to the food vlogging? Who died because of her? The script stops and starts and goes in 1000 directions without finishing a story.

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#LEAP_TO_TOP

Grab your Popcorn, sit tight and get ready for a bumpy ride into the WILD world of the E celebs!

This drama had me in all my addiction. Because I went into this one without Any expectations. Like zero! zero expectations! I saw people watching so I was like. ok let's see ( and I didn't even know any of the leads or what the plot was 100% about) and I'm glad I did see it because wow. I'm speechless! so far Since January to now...July. this is literally my Best Drama so far. the only drama I've given a 10/10 so far in 2023 so far. and you might ask why?

let's go!

The plot was something that took me for a wild ride! the idea of highlighting the wild and dark life of online influencers and Celebrities was something Realistically told and done! I fear the topic of exposing the world of the E celebs might get this drama some hate from those who were triggered lol. but someone Needed to spill some tea! and this drama did just that!

The Comedy wasn't heavy here but it was there. the romance was a subplot but it was something I rooted for so hard. The lead couple was so compatible and cute together that I want another drama of them lol. sadly.. Romance was subplot. But that was good because it had more time to focus on more important stuff!

The Mystery here was soo good. might not be the best but it was JUST GOOD! IT had me on my toes like asking what happens next? what is what? who is who? what's gonna happen omg. that feeling of suspense was real and perfectly executed.

I felt they put nice and decent effort into the script and suspense and it was worth it. because the execution was witty and nice

The characters is something I want to give a standing ovation for because WOW. they were wild and amazing. like I said I don't know the lead ( Only recognised few supports) So I was massively impressed. I feel like they all carried out their roles so we'll Even the annoying character had me wanting to punch them so hard . lol. it was just good. And FL?? FL? Gosh! I hail her acting because it was My cup of tea.

I personally love the FL for her Sassy and badass role here. She did it so good that she always made me proud whenever she was onscreen. She was a realistic character everyone would relate to. I want to have it, I want to rise to power, I want to show them all..Yeah. she was That and I loved her for that! Revenge was served by her so hard!

The ost was something I personally enjoyed. would obviously add to my playlist hehehe

The best thing for me about this Drama was the concept it was going for.. That's the idea is Exposing the world of the E celebs. I was amazed by how it was portrayed. A lot of work was done here.

I loved how each EP began with FL doing some livestream that has everyone in shock ( no spoilers, you should watch now!) And that best part of it all was her speech. The FL talks on the livestream was amazing. Her words were superb! her quotes, her spilling tea of how FL exposes these internet celebrities with truth wow!

and don't get me started how how each EP starts with a hashtag! Unique!

"Do you remember the first cheat code of getting into their world?" How Iconic! her speech were Purely facts!

#LETS_ CONNECT

OMG now I'm in love with hastags😂

And I think this drama did something good. they didn't only speak from the perspective of the E celebs. but also spoke from the thoughts of fans. Lackey? who would enjoy being called on?😂( If you know you know hahah)

all that was talked about in this drama were facts that I enjoyed watching hahah( Guilty Kpop fan here haha)

Seriously, I'd recommend this one to anyone who is interested in seeing something with this concept because it was done well. I don't even get why people say it's bad..No it's not. Some say it's confusing? dear... It's a mystery genre so.. You don't expect it to be self-explanatory 😭😂😂.

And some didn't like it were basically triggered but it's massage. anyways Highly recommended to all. So stop scrolling and watch now😭😂😂

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