Presentation
Korean Title: 야식남녀
Aired in: 2020 (12 episodes)
Channel: JTBC
Grade: 10/10
Actors: Jung Il Woo, Kang Ji Young and Lee Hak Joo
For more…
Jung Il Woo:
– Cinderella and the Four Knights
– Haechi
– Golden Rainbow
– Diary of a Night Watchman
Dramas about homosexuality:
– Where your Eyes Linger
– People with Flaws
– Be Melodramatic
– Life is Beautiful
Analysis
Synopsis
Park Jin Sung is a chef and is struggling financially after his father got into an accident. Kim Ah Jin is a director at a broadcast station and is desperately looking for a gay chef for her new show. Seeing the opportunity to earn money rapidly, Jin Sung lies to Ah Jin and pretends to be gay. He is hired as the main lead for the show.
My Opinion (No Spoilers)
Sweet Munchies is such a gem! I really liked it. First, the 12-episode format enables the story to go enough into details without creating too much drama. Second, the openly tackled theme of homosexuality is interestingly exposed. Indeed, we have a straight character pretending to be gay, while defending his freedom of sexual orientation. Third, the ambiance and the overall atmosphere conveyed by the drama is very heartwarming and feel-good.
Moreover, I was very happy to see Jung Il Woo back on screen!
A highly recommended drama in my opinion!
Analysis (Spoiler Alert)
Homosexuality, the pillar of the drama: Sweet Munchies is a show created by Kim Ah Jin (Kang Ji Young), a rookie director. This show has a simple concept: a gay chef will cook for people and comfort them at the same time. The entire drama called Sweet Munchies as well, wants to illustrate a gay character, bringing consolation and care to people, who have been through break ups, unaccomplished dreams…
Being a central topic, homosexuality is depicted under different angles: the characters are separated between two sides. One pretending, who is Park Jin Sung (Jung Il Woo) and those, who are actually homosexual, Kang Tae Wan (Lee Hak Joo) and Jin Sung’s brother. Thanks to Jin Sung’s lie, the drama is able to explore the various people’s reactions on that topic, somehow reflecting those of the Korean society. Indeed, being in a TV show, Jin Sung is confronted with haters. Ah Jin, as the director, also receives this rejection from the public opinion, especially in the scene, in which three detractors throw paint at her. On the other side, the drama shows a very positive and tolerant side of society, accepting more and more people’s sexual orientation in general.
That is the case with for example Jin Sung’s brother, admitting openly his homosexuality, but also on another level, with Tae Wan. Tae Wan was in Sweet Munchies, literally my favorite character. He is sweet and soft, shy and clumsy but very endearing. From the very beginning, we understand rapidly his situation: he is homosexual but hasn’t done his coming out yet. Therefore, he is pressurized by his father to find a girlfriend and can’t seem to confess his orientation. However, I could really see a beautiful evolution of that character. He was little by little cracking out of the shell. It seems as though he didn’t accept himself for who he was and who he liked. Yet, meeting Jin Sung, another supposedly gay man, help him asserting himself and protecting his own preferences. This encounter really made Tae Wan reconsider and become more self-aware. In fact, he grows in such a way that he is finally able to tell his father that he is gay and confess his feelings to another man. The father’s reaction was extremely heart-warming. Indeed, Tae Wan was afraid he would be rejected but his father does the exact opposite, embracing him and encouraging him. This lesson of tolerance is by the way conveyed by both fathers, Jun Sung’s and Tae Wan’s, who love their children and only want what is best for them.
Interestingly, I found it quite intriguing to have the older generation accepting more easily their children’s sexual orientation than the younger generation embodied by the haters. This proves in my opinion, that parental love is stronger than prejudice and that no one should be discriminated against for who he/she loves.
In overall, Sweet Munchies surfed on the recent wave incorporating more and more gay characters in the dramas. I do appreciate it a lot, that more content opens up to these very burning societal themes, that keep dividing people and societies, when in reality it should bound them closer. I hope we’ll see more of that!
Moreover, the way the drama tackled that theme was very light and never ill-intentioned, a real plus. The goal was to truly emphasize the human being and show how it should prevail over the sexual orientation. Ah Jin’s unrequited love for Jin Sung throughout the drama is the perfect proof of that. She fell in love with the person, even though she knew he was gay. She couldn’t help it but was not afraid of feeling what she felt.
A lie at the heart of the story: Sweet Munchies cleverly talked about homosexuality, without criticizing any side; by using a lie as the heart of the story. Indeed, from episode 1 we know that Park Jin Sung is not gay. Considering his financial situation (his father had an accident and his restaurant closes) and the unexpected opportunity he is given (earn a lot of money by appearing on the show), he really doesn’t have much choice. I think he really considered all possibilities on that matter. He knew pretending to be homosexual on national TV was not the right thing to do, but he also had to consider his own survival. On that matter, I always asked myself what I would’ve done, had I been at his place. Well, the exact same thing!
However, his real mistake was to continue with the show; meaning that after the pilot, he never should have accepted to do more episodes. This wrong decision (that he did out of good intentions towards Ah Jin) is the real reason everything went amiss. That’s why, at the end, he doesn’t try to justify himself or give excuses. He knows he has lied and simply exposes the facts; explaining he needed money.
Park Jin Sung, just like the other characters actually, has a bright and positive personality. He is always willing to help others, even though it can sometimes put him in a bad situation. This is exactly what happened with Ah Jin. She was his friend and he empathized strongly with her (maybe pitied her a bit, I don’t know). Being aware of her difficulties at work and seeing her struggle to the extent she may lose her job, pushed him into lying.
So from the first episode, we know the story is not going to end well. Throughout the episodes, I was really scared the whole story might blow up in their face. In the end, rumors circulate, accusing them of plotting it all together (Korean and anonymous rumors and hate comments online have to stop!), which creates a sort of chaos for the two of them. A lot of people were hurt in the process and I really regretted that the meaning of the show (in the drama) was drowned under the criticisms.
One small issue I noted: the ending was way too soft. I was really expecting the whole story to turn into a national drama. Even though it blew up in their face, the resolution was very easy and almost unrealistic. As a viewer, I can only be grateful to the writer for protecting the characters. However, the press really let go of the story fast (Jin Sung only needed to state the facts) and the whole issue was resolved quite quick as well. Ah Jin lost her job, but found a better one. Her manager was demoted and the show stopped. And that’s it! Also, the time jump accelerated the resolution. For me, they didn’t emphasize the dramatic revelation of the lie, because that was not the purpose of the drama. The goal was to illustrate differences in the population and tolerance, not the dramatic consequences of lies (that we all know of).
“Don’t reveal anything”: One detail absolutely revolted me in the drama though: the reaction of Lee Sang Young (Kim Seung Soo), Ah Jin’s sunbae, when he finds out about the truth. Of course, he wants to keep it quiet, finish the show and let it pass. He even goes to the point that he gives a lesson to Jin Sung and lectures him (I believe that he was not at his place, since the show was not even his to begin with, whatever!). Yet, he is the one giving hints to everybody with his prank cameras and his reactions, when someone asks questions. He was incapable of covering his real thoughts, which obviously convinced his interlocutors that something was off.
Nam Gyu Jang (Yang Dae Hyeok) is also the worst at keeping secrets. Two seconds after his boss has told him not to say a thing, he publicly yells at Ah Jin, almost revealing the truth to everyone, including the journalists.
By the way, where did the journalist come from in that scene? How come a journalist is present inside CK’s office at the exact same time the truth is spilled? Realism please?
Anyway, we all know the saying: “Don’t ask others to keep your secrets, if you can’t keep them yourself”. The drama is the perfect depiction of that thinking.
A solid and united team: The group constituting the crew for Sweet Munchies has at first glimpse nothing in common. Ah Jin and the writer Yoo Seung Eun (Gong Min Jung) are friends but that’s it. However, everything changes after their little escape at sea. They get to know each other better (to the point Seung Eun and No Jae Soo (Park Sung Joon) start dating) and the trip really accelerates the emotional development. The team after that becomes united and solid, supporting each other (and loving each other). This emotional link is shown through their fashion. Indeed, they all wear sweat suits of different colors.
An atypical love triangle: Okay, it is not really a love triangle, but still, it was refreshing to have a new sort of combination between characters. In Sweet Munchies, Park Jin Sung is in love with Ah Jin and it is mutual. However, since Jin Sung pretends to be gay, they can’t date. That lie is also the reason why Tae Wan is attracted to Jin Sung, because he is also gay. Meanwhile, Jin Sung believes Tae Wan is interested in Ah Jin, before he actually discovers he is gay. Complicated right? But this led to some nice and funny jealousy scenes, to which I laughed, knowing the entire situation.
Everyone takes his responsibilities: A great point in that drama is that everyone took his/her responsibilities regarding the blow up of the show. Jin Sung publicly apologized for lying. So did Ah Jin by being fired. Her manager was demoted and she accepted it because she was the one who pushed Ah Jin to commit mistakes. Even Jin Sung’s father blamed himself for being a bad dad and forcing his son to do that to pay for his operation. I loved that all characters in the end were really mature and didn’t try to look for excuses. They had a clear understanding of what they did wrong and accepted their punishment for that.
Except Nam Gyu Jang: Well, everyone, except Gyu Jang. I think he is the only immature character in that drama. First, he is an opportunist and a hypocrite. He jumps right away on the occasion to be considered as the main director of the show. However, when trouble appears, he also lets Ah Jin deal with them (with the haters, his interview with the press, …). He is also very nosy, but not in the right way. He wants to know people’s secrets and use them against them. I really disliked that character! In fact, when everyone else was kind and had absolutely no bad intentions or hard feelings, he was the one character embodying all of that. Hateful, until the end!
Food therapy: Of course, food is at the heart of that drama! And we see a lot of it! Jin Sung is a chef, so obviously, he knows how to cook. The beauty of that (just like in many others food dramas) is that each plate is associated with the current emotion of the characters. I really loved those moments, they made me so hungry! Even though, there were fewer and fewer by the end of the drama, I definitely approve food as a remedy for the soul.
The cycle at the end: By the end of the drama, there is a sort of perpetual cycle that is exposed. Ah Jin has started fresh, with a new job and she goes to a new restaurant, in which she hopes to find Jin Sung. We have a parallel in the last scenes between her first steps towards The Bistro and those towards her new regular place. Question of luck or destiny, she finds Jin Sung there, as her date this time and not as the chef, behind the counter. The story repeats itself thus, but with a slight change: they are together.
What could’ve been added?
Jin Sung’s young brother: This young character is introduced at the very beginning. We understand that he is gay and wants to be a model. At the end, we get a glimpse of his future, with his joining Tae Wan’s fashion show. However, I really regretted the absence of a deeper development of that character: his life, his lifestyle, his future projects. I thought that he was going to be quite recurrent in the episodes, but the more I watched, the less present he was. A shame, since a lot of doors could’ve been opened (his homosexuality, love story, him being a speaker for the homosexual cause as a model…).
Easiness of the love triangle: Well, Korea is not ready for a gay couple on a long format drama (12/16 or more episodes), yet. Indeed, Dramaland shows more and more homosexual characters but it has not crossed the second step, which is representing an actual gay couple (there was Where Your Eyes Linger, yes, but on the long run, no drama to my knowledge). Sweet Munchies chose the easy way out to make sure all viewers would be happy with the ending. The two main characters Ah Jin and Jin Sung end up together. But what about our second lead Tae Wan? He has evolved in the drama by being able to confess his feelings, but this didn’t make him end up with anyone. Personally, I would’ve seen such a great couple between Tae Wan and Jun Sung’s little brother; but nothing happened. I had a dissatisfying feeling that some ending was missing for this character. Maybe they didn’t want to vex anyone by presenting an actual gay couple (I don’t know) but I wanted to see more of Tae Wan’s self-assertion!
In a nutshell, despite these little issues regarding the realism, the absence of some side stories and the sometimes easiness of the plot, Sweet Munchies is a real pleasure to watch and I can only suggest you see it!
P.S.: Don’t forget to listen to the playlist of the entire drama, it’s amazing (The Vane “Superhero”; Sobo “This is My First Life” to quote a few)!
P.S.: After The World of the Married, Lee Hak Joo’s acting is incredible with this completely different character!
Once Upon a Drama 