“Record of Youth” (청춘기록)

By Jae-Ha Kim
jaehakim.com
November 13, 2020

☆☆☆☆
Sa Hye-Jun (played by Park Bo-Gum)
Ahn Jeong-Ha (played by Park So-Dam)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

“Record of Youth” started off stronger than it ended. But while the finale somewhat bothered me, I also liked that it steered away from a fairytale ending that would’ve taken away from the lead characters’ struggles.

Hye-Jun is a hardworking model, whose dream is to become a famous actor. As with many young people pursuing artistic careers, he has to supplement his income by working several part-time jobs, including manning the cash register at Subway and clearing dishes at a small restaurant.

After putting in years at an office job where she was treated like dirt, Jeong-Ha quit and took the first step towards her goal of launching her own cosmetics line. She takes a job at a high-end beauty salon, where she is constantly bullied by a jealous co-worker. Like many other twentysomethings, she developed a crush on Hye-Jun during his modeling glory days. And, as luck would have it, she is selected to do his makeup for a runway show.

One of the elements that I liked about the series was that it didn’t present a young woman as being crazy, simply for harboring a crush. When she did meet the object of her affection, she was professional and pleasant, but not the least bit ridiculous or delusional. In fact, she went out of her way not to fawn over Hye-Jun.

Interestingly enough, it’s Jeong-Ha — and not the model men — who is the independent one. While Hye-Jun and his friends — rising actor Hae-Hyo (portrayed by Byeon Woo-Seok) and photographer Jin-Woo (played by Kwon Soo-Hyun) — reside in their parents’ homes, she lives in her own apartment that she bought with her own savings.

There is a mild second lead romance set up, with Hae-Hyo developing a crush on Jeong-Ha. But honestly, it felt more like a competitive thing with Hye-Jun than any true romantic interest in her.

“Record of Youth” is Park Bo-Gum’s swan song before he enlisted to serve his mandatory military duty in South Korea. While it’s meant to be a traditional love story, the friendship between the three male leads and the woman Park loves was the real draw. The burgeoning romance between Jeong-Ha and Hye-Jun is sweet, but tepid.

I found the friendships to be more interesting. Hae-Hyo hails from a wealthy family and his mother micromanages his career, from buying him fake followers on Instagram (which, let’s face it, isn’t too shocking, considering many celebrities do this) to trying to get him to distance himself from his childhood friends, who are in a much lower socio-economic class. She tolerates the boys when they visit her son, because they won’t ever be a part of her family. But she sympathizes with Hye-Jun’s wealthy ex-girlfriend, whose family didn’t want him as a potential son-in-law because of his low social standing.

The family issues show the struggles young people face. Hye-Jun sacrificed his own education so that his parents wouldn’t have to pay for two children’s college education. His older brother is their father’s pride and joy, because he graduated from a prestigious SKY school. And though Hye-Jun supported himself after leaving high school, his father views him as a failure because he isn’t letting go of his dreams of becoming an actor.

Jeong-Ha grew up watching her mother berate her father, who was a talented fine artist, but didn’t make much money with his artwork. At what point should a person give up their dreams out of fear that they will fail?

There is also a weird subplot involving Hye-Jun’s former manager, an unscrupulous man with a horrible reputation, who stops at nothing to elevate himself. And yet, this manager is hired by the most well-known talent agency and is put in charge of managing Korea’s hottest young actor as his client. How? Make it make sense!

As Hye-Jun begins to find success as an actor, rumors spread that he was a gay fashion designer’s boy toy. He refuses to dignify the rumors with a comment, even though he realizes this “scandal” could be a career breaker. But it’s a testament to his character that you can be a success without stomping on other peoples’ lives.

More importantly, he realizes what his true goals are. Early in his career, he thought that becoming famous would bring him money and fame and would guarantee his sense of worth. But he began to realize that acting levels the field, because a poor man can be a king on screen. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from. What matters is the life you create with your abilities.

Airdates:

Sixteen episodes — about an hour each — aired from September 7 to October 27, 2020 on tvN.

Spoiler Alert:

Hye-Jun becomes a huge star. He has limited time that he can spend with Jeong-Ha. Though they love each other, she realizes that his having a relationship with her can be a detriment to his career. Not wanting to bear that burden, she breaks up with him and, in the process, breaks his heart. He deals with this by taking a break from acting and enlisting for his mandatory military duty.

It’s not a coincidence that during this series’ run, Park Bo-Gum also enlisted in the navy for his mandatory duty. When Hye-Jun left his fans with a sweet live message, thanking them for believing in and supporting him, it felt as though it was Park’s own message for his own real-life fandom.

There’s a flashforward in the finale that shows that Hye-Jun’s popularity wasn’t impacted negatively by his military absence. He is on the set of his next film. Jeong-Ha happens to be working nearby. The two spot each other and exchange pleasantries. Many viewers didn’t like that no rekindling of their romance was depicted. But in my mind, they do get back together — probably at a snail’s pace, though.

© 2020 JAE-HA KIM | All Rights Reserved