“My Magic Closet” (Além Do Guarda-Roupa)

By Jae-Ha Kim
Substack
September 30, 2023

☆☆☆☆
Carol (played by Sharon Cho)
Kyung (played by Kim Woo-jin)
Dae-ho (played by Jinkwon)
↑Note: Korean names denote the surname followed by the given name.

This Brazilian take on a K-drama has an intriguing premise. It tells the story of a Korean Brazilian teenager. Carol (Sharon Cho) attends a high school where all the students are ga-ga over anything Korean. And since Carol looks the part, they fetishize her, even though she’s as Brazilian as they are.

Little do they realize that Carol, whose Brazilian mother died in a car accident and whose father returned to South Korea without her, knows little about her ethnic heritage. But perpetual foreigner syndrome runs rampant everywhere and she will never be accepted as truly Brazilian because of her looks. A trio of popular girls at school want to hire her to be their personal Korean stylist. As the leader points out, “Real fans are willing to invest.”

But invest in what? Dressing like a Korean celebrity? Being styled by a Korean person? Having a Korean girl on your payroll?

The first episode accomplishes what “XO, Kitty” failed to deliver. It deftly tackles identity and what it’s like living as diaspora. Carol was born and raised in Brazil, but is constantly referred to as the Korean girl. She tells all her K-pop obsessed classmates that she hates idol music and doesn’t want to have anything to do with Korea or being Korean.

But that slowly changes when, thanks to a magic portal (aka her armoire), members of ACT — the most famous K-pop group in the world — begin appearing in her bedroom (in a wholesome way).

“My Magic Closet” is as much of a Cinderella story as anything else. Since her Brazilian maternal aunt and cousin provide food and shelter for her, they have no qualms taking advantage of her. She even lives in an abandoned part of the house. They may come up with ideas to make their K-cafe (ew) more profitable, but Carol is the one who has to do all the hard labor, which includes wearing ACT’s mascot costume to drum up more business for the cafe.

This fictional group is portrayed by real-life South Korean idols Jinkwon and Lee Min-wook of NewKidd; and former Stray Kids member Kim Woojin. Yoon Jae-chan rounds out the lineup. I had the opportunity to interview Jinkwon this past autumn when I was in South Korea and he shared what it was like working on the show in Sao Paulo:

“I spent four months shooting the series in Brazil and while we all worked hard, I did have time to rest after work and explore. We had a cast and crew who were Thai, Brazilian, Korean and American. There were a lot of languages. I ended up memorizing the entire script so when a person was talking, I was able to act without much difficulty. I have a good memory.” [Laughs]

There is also a subplot running throughout the series that reminded me a bit of “Flashdance.” Carol has dreams of becoming a ballerina, just like her mother. But with school, her job at the cafe and a mega-popular K-pop group interrupting her life, will she ever get the chance to audition at the elite ballet academy?

I think we all know the answer to that.

Airdates: The 10-episode series — each airing under an hour long — debuted aired on HBO Max from July 20 through August 10, 2023.

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