Long heels clack on the streets of Seoul. Rich, brown hair trails after a woman wearing a stylish pink shirt complemented with a blue skirt highlighting her perfect body. As she passes by the crowd, she becomes the object of whispers; “She’s so pretty,” they all seem to say. People stare, some men ask for her number and even strangers are friendly to her. When she posts a selfie on Instagram, it instantly gains hundreds of likes. This is the normal life of a beauty star.
However, when she washes her face, her eyes become small and dark, her lips pale, and her skin blemishes; her black rectangular glasses rest bare over her naked face. Lim Jugyeong is revealed — a woman capable of changing her face through makeup.
“True Beauty“ is a webtoon by Yaongyi, which ran from 2018 to 2023. With more than 1 billion views and 7.4 million subscriptions, it is undoubtedly one of the most popular webtoons on the Line WEBTOON app. True Beauty, the K-drama adaptation (2020-2021), has an average of 9.6 on the Viki app and 8/10 on IMDb and will be adapted into an anime in 2024. Its commercial success, however, does not justify its overwhelming reliance on comedy and neglect of the protagonist’s deep internal strife.
“True Beauty” follows the life of Lim Jugyeong from her high school years to adulthood and explores her experiences of lookism, fears of her bare face revealed, and insecurities of judgement in attempt to better her social life by using make-up. With an unattractive appearance and unpopular taste in horror comics and rock music, Jugyeong was bullied by other girls in middle school. After searching online forums and watching tutorials, she learned to use make-up to change her appearance to appear more beautiful. After having a fresh start in a high school far away, she discovered that her social standing radically rose with her new status as the school’s prettiest girl. However, her new life is threatened when a cold but handsome fellow student named Suho learns her secret.
This coming-of-age webtoon asks audiences what “true” beauty is through the characters Jugyeong meets and her gradual acceptance of her bare face. By creating an entertaining, immersive, and relatable story of one woman’s desire to fit in, “True Beauty” teaches audiences about the dangers of lookism and society’s hypocrisies on beauty standards.
“True Beauty”: the webtoon
Jugyeong’s fear of the exposure of her bare face is a prominent aspect of the story. Dramatically shown when Suho confronts her about her secret, Jugyeong gets on her knees and begs him not to tell anyone. She carries this insecurity into adulthood, attempting to keep the truth hidden at all costs—ultimately reflecting her desire to fit in and the belief that upholding one’s public persona leads to a happier life. In contrast, Jugyeong falls deeper into a pit of guilt and anxiety for hiding the truth from her friends and the general public. Through Jugyeong’s story, “True Beauty” criticizes society’s hypocrisy: a person is criticized when they are perceived as “ugly,” but also criticized for being inauthentic when using other means to be “beautiful.”
In addition to criticizing and questioning the subjectivity of beauty, “True Beauty” also warns against judging others by their looks. Through various story arcs, Jugyeong encounters several talented people who do not have attractive appearances. One of them is Han Gowoon, a talented singer chosen as the main female lead in the play. When she overhears other kids criticizing her for being one of the main leads despite of her lack of beauty, Jugyeong agrees to help her by giving her a make-over. Her beautiful singing and changed appearance shock the crowd, creating a more positive perception of her.
The webtoon teaches viewers not to evaluate attractiveness only on the basis of physical appearance, just as it teaches audiences not critique unattractiveness alone on the basis of looks. For example, Jugyeong’s homeroom teacher, Han Joon-woo, is a handsome man who went on a blind date with her sister. Despite his flattering appearance, his self-centered attitude and his terrible eating etiquette quickly subvert the audience’s expectations. He is one of the series’ characters who demonstrates how one’s beauty does not guarantee that one is a good person.
“True Beauty”: the K-Drama
The K-drama adaptation’s failure to properly address the themes of societal beauty standards and the issue of lookism proves it to be inferior to its original. Although it has a cast of talented actors, such as Moon Ga-young for Jugyeong and Cha Eun-woo for Suho, this adaptation is a cliche, overly comedic version of the original. True Beauty, the K-drama, fails to serve its original purpose of warning people against the dangers of lookism.
While the webtoon included minimal comic relief, the K-drama excessively used humor, which imbalanced the serious message of preventing lookism. From unnecessary references to other dramas such as “Goblin,” “Extraordinary You,” and “Crash Landing on You” and changing relationship dynamics, the K-drama does not convey its main message as well as the webtoon.
Despite being called “True Beauty,” it has a diminished focus on beauty standards and Jugyeong’s hardships of fitting into society.
The love triangle between Jugyeong, Seo-jun, and Suho becomes the focus for the majority of this series; while the webtoon made it difficult to choose who would win Jugyeong’s heart, the K-drama made it obvious that Suho would win her from the start. The second male lead, Seo-jun, is not given the justice he deserves given that he is portrayed as a thug and even rides a motorcycle. He only annoys Jugyeong at the beginning of the series and does not stop bothering her despite her telling him to lose interest in her many times. This makes his character unlikeable and difficult to compare to the seemingly flawless Suho, which is why the attempted love triangle failed.
The series could not maintain a serious tone in any scene. Jugyeong is often shown as extremely clumsy and trips over her legs multiple times. When Jugyeong’s bare face is almost revealed to her classmates, it is done ridiculously. A kiss between her friend and her boyfriend led another friend to smash a cake at them, hitting Jugyeong instead. This nearly led to Jugyeong’s worst nightmare, but she runs out of the room with her face covered in cake. This scene could have created a sense of fear and anticipation from the audience by making it appear more believable. The drama’s aimless comedy attempts to break serious concepts and scenes, compared to the comedy in the webtoon that was balanced with its theme.
Overall, the K-drama adaptation had the potential to explore the themes of its original in unique ways that the webtoon couldn’t possibly achieve, but it failed. Jugyeong’s overarching narrative about her traumatizing past, which caused her to be self-conscious about her beauty, is more of a plot point than the story’s central point.
Conclusion
The “True Beauty” webtoon finds its way inside audiences’ hearts with its compelling characters and meaningful message. Compared to other romances, the readers can’t help but be indecisive between the equally attractive male leads: the hardworking and dedicated Seojun and the kind and selfless Suho. But like these characters, readers develop a desire to root for Jugyeong’s journey to accept herself.
It would be a worthwhile adventure for those willing to experience Jugyeong’s 250-episode story. In a webcomic filled with love, friendship, heartbreak, and joy, readers ultimately learn what it means to find one’s true self and passions. Ultimately, how one can learn much more about others if they are willing to view them by character rather than appearance.
