Record of Youth #3: This drama is really let down by its execution and some of the writers’ narrative choices. I don’t think the fact that its set in the modelling/entertainment world takes away from its potential to be relatable. In Fight For My Way, Aera wanted to be an announcer and Dongman wanted to do martial arts, neither of which I would consider to be extremely relatable to a lot of people. In fact, wanting to be a celebrity is probably something more of us have dreamt of before, whether casually or seriously.

The difference is that Hyejun supposedly already made it to the top at one point and then… fizzled out? People recognise him when he picks up shifts at Subway, but he doesn’t have a good pool of social media followers, even though he’s directly associated with the wildly popular Haehyo? And somehow, no one thinks that he has star potential, even though he was already big at one point, and again, is directly associated with Haehyo? I don’t know much about how the entertainment industry works, but it just seems a bit forced to me, like they have to come up with reasons why someone as handsome as Park Bogum isn’t successful and therefore is relatable to us common folk 😂

It doesn’t really feel like we need to root for him that hard because the writers will just find opportunities for him that will eventually lead to his success. There’s no good sense of any legitimate stakes or consequences if Hyejun fails, because we already know things will be fine, and I think therein lies the issue.

I also question the purpose of Jungha being Hyejun’s fan. That, in a vacuum, is relatable. We work hard to make ends meet every day, and fangirling is a nice escape at the end of the day. But once the fangirl meets their idol and becomes fast and good friends with them, the relatability is just lost, and it becomes hard to connect with the character, which is kind of the key point of coming of age/youth dramas.