Capturing the emotions of facing life’s crossroad, Record of Youth is unapologetic in presenting an unbridled perspective of confronting what it means to build a future with personal dreams in it.
Record of Youth ripples a nagging message to its target audience. The new tvN series poured its message right away – that diligence is not enough to claim someone’s dream.
In real life, aside from love failures, the other crippling truth any ordinary youth confronts, is creating his niche in the working population. But establishing a career you love, while earning money that will make you and your family happy is hard to come by.
Park Bo Gum and Park So Dam represent faces of familiar youth in the same predicament. In contrast, Byeon Woo Seok epitomizes the exact opposite.
Record of Youth Opening Week Story
Seven years since achieving a top model status, Sa Hye Jun remains as a model with a dream of becoming an actor. While doing a few side jobs, his relationship with his family is not a bed of roses. His family thinks his acting dream is far-fetched considering the years of effort without him making it big still.
Fortunately, Hye-jun has his grandfather supporting him unconditionally and close brother friends who understand his dream and always got his back.
In one of his modelling gigs, he chances upon Ahn Jeong-ha (Park So Dam) who has been fangirling over him for as long as she remembers. She led Hye-jun to believe that she’s a fan of his best friend Won Hae-hyo (Byeon Woo Seok).
Working diligently as a make-up artist, Jeong-ha has realistic viewpoints in life. She likes the idea of romance because it makes her happy yet she does not want to be in a relationship for its taxing effect. Drawing strength to her admiration to Hye-jun, she thinks she has to be successful first, so that she can rightfully support as his fan.
Meanwhile, Hae-hyo has forged a strong brotherhood with Hye-jun despite the difference in their social status. While his friend need to exert effort to build his presence, Hae-hyo’s affluent life makes it easier to work his way up to the acting world ladder. With his mother also pushing him to the limelight through her status and power, what Hye-jun wants – Hae-hyo ironically easily gets.
To Chase Or To Give Up A Life-long Dream
While Hye-jun’s worries pile up, his military draft notice came in the mail. But, awaiting for the result of the recent film audition he had, he marked it as his last sign whether to pursue or not the career he loves.
It does not help how his old agency’s CEO is evil-personified, who has been blocking opportunities for Hye-jun when he didn’t even give him the pay he deserved. He even had the audacity to compare Hye-jun and Hae-hyo’s career paths. Having a pure heart, Hye-jun refuses to take in the vile words from a person like him.
On a bright side, he draws people easily. One of those is Min-jae, a former employee in the agency he used to work with. She helped Hye-jun score a modelling gig overseas and has been threatening their old boss to straighten up or his evildoings that his wife would not be happy about would be revealed.
Unlucky for him, the movie role went to Hae-hyo. He further learns that his friend’s popularity contributed to him winning the role To make his situation worse, his family does not feel an ounce of sympathy to his emotionally battered heart. Aside from that, a designer who has been obsessed with him keeps insisting to be his sponsor which he strongly dislike.
Ultimately, he goes to see Jeong-ha, with whom he built a connection with and asked her to do a military cut; hinting his direction to comply with the military draft notice.
Record of Youth Opening Week Peak Points & Musings
Hard-hitting lines highlight the grievances of mid-20’s people in Record of Youth. That attracted my attention and made me recount if I had the same grit 12 years ago. Overall, the premiere week honestly was pretty much discussed in the teasers released for the series over the past few weeks. So, it was just like getting a clearer picture.
Park Bo Gum in a rebellious demeanor is interesting to watch since we had seen him perfected the calm, composed and emotionally aggravated characters. His new role interestingly showed off a facet of his acting range that previews more profound roles for him in the future.
His strong stance of “wanting to live his own life without external meddling” subtly calls on generation views’ disparities. Record of Youth vaunts a young man pressured from how his family wants him to lead a life that is acceptable in the society’s norm. Bearing a bleak future, he is having a hard time to convince his family to believe that he knows what’s good for him.
How he would manage to turn the table in his favor, and prove that everything is possible with hard work, will be the drawing point of this series.
Likewise, I love how the character of Park So Dam displayed a decisive woman who knows how to rationalize. Because the major cavil on the millennials today are their inability to own responsibility. Jeong-ha introduced a character who took a risk getting a house while living on his own and without much regard to problems related to love.
But, with her creating a direct connection to her secret crush, would she now work on her dreams and aspire love at the same time?
Thinking his success is through his hard-earned diligence, how would Hae-hyo confront the reality that his mother is backing him up every step of the way?
Follow the lives of Hye-jun, Jeong-ha and Hae-hyo in Record of Youth!
Streaming on Netflix
- September 2020 Korean Dramas: “Record of Youth”, “18 Again”, “More Than Friends”, “The School Nurse Files” & More
- Watch Park Bo Gum Pursue His Dreams In New “Record Of Youth” Trailer
Photos: tvN | Netflix
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