MY COMFORT SHOW (aside from swdbs bc sometimes i cant handle horror and thriller)! during true beauty's airing, my sole purpose in life and motivation to get through each week was holding onto the fact that i would get to watch a new episode every week.

now i know my taste in dramas and i am always going for the one with an amazing and gut wrenching plot with plenty of various elements and genres thrown in, but i do also love dramas that are easy and funny to watch. which is why, albeit its lack of depth and in all of its shallowness, i wholeheartedly love true beauty.

i've rewatched probably 7 times already--it's become my background show when eating or when i'm bored or when i want to distract myself! and if i had the choice to rewatch it for the first time, i would absolutely make that choice a million times over.

however, the storyline is somewhat weak (the webtoon's story was better developed, likely because it took practically four years to complete and this drama was meant only for 16 episodes, but still, and also i'm biased because the webtoon did my boy seojun justice whereas the drama did not!!!) and the acting is mediocre, but probably largely due to the fact that these roles simply cannot display one's full skillset. anyway stan true beauty and cha ni's vocals and astro and sf9 :p

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to someone like me, and someone like you, this may have been extremely entertaining and enjoyable: "yay! highly intelligent autistic woman defeats all odds and captures the heart of the highly sought after litigator in the law firm! truly captivating and heartwarming!" but after watching, i realized that the only reason why i was able to enjoy this show, despite it being riddled with misrepresentation was for the simple fact that i am neurotypical. i don't have to worry about how this misrepresentation will affect me, because i will not be affected whatsoever by the backlash that comes with uplifting stereotypes in the media about those who are neurodivergent. thus, my ability and privilege to comfortably watch this show, gleeful and giddy throughout my entire binge.

furthermore, since i believe a generous majority of the people enjoying this show are neurotypical, it is impossible for any of us to even scrape the surface for understanding just how detrimental this poor portrayal is to the autistic community and how this simply exacerbates stereotypes. therefore, it is important to understand why this show and its misrepresentation must not be praised solely for its entertainment value. in entertainment and the media, autistic people are typically and very frequently portrayed through a black and white lens, as extremes on each side of the spectrum: the freakishly intelligent genius with outstanding memory, or the socially isolated nonverbal individual (as seen in woo young woo and jeong-hoon).

as someone who has consumed mass amounts of media and entertainment, i can easily tell you that the media is highly influential in the way i think, speak, communicate, and act. also as an asian american, i can 100% tell you that how asians are depicted in the media has severely impacted the way people see us. i've seen classmates of mine get heckled about why they weren't good at math despite being asian. i've had friends who were labeled as a shameful asian and an embarrassment to their family for not getting that perfect 4.0 gpa. the stereotypical "nerd" asian is not representative of the asian/asian american community and experience as a whole, just as these archetypes for those who are autistic is not representative of the entire autistic community. in fact, the media portrayals can be used to invalidate others' experiences at school, in work, and throughout their daily lives when they don't live up to these stereotypes or don't show signs of being neurologically atypical "enough" to bypass "excuses" for not producing the same quality of work or behaving a certain way.

however, there is one aspect of the show's portrayal of autism that i commend them for: displaying at least some form of (albeit watered-down) realistic systemic and institutionalized oppression that hinder those who are neurodivergent. it's easy to watch things like forrest gump and want to, and choose to believe that anyone despite their differences and inequities can be successful, but that's just not how it is in reality and it's important that people can distinguish that. i also thought it was refreshing that they displayed autism in a woman! anyhow, it was sort of bewildering to think that korean entertainment (in a highly conservative country) has slightly progressed to the point that they'd be willing to even portray someone who isn't neurotypical as the main character. it's a big step for them, but they've still got a long way to go!

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