Drama Review - “Fight My Way”

(Official Trailer 2)

Lee Najeong (Director) – Fight My Way

Reviewed on September 3, 2017

I highly recommend this drama. While it is not perfect at all and does contain—in my argument—certain, significant flaws, I find that this drama is still one of the best I have ever seen. Furthermore, as I will focus on in this review, this drama’s main strength lies in how it is incredibly versatile and this reason is, perhaps, why the drama was incredibly popular—both in South Korea and even elsewhere. After all, Fight My Way arguably flourishes in the two main aspects of dramas: it appeals to a wide audience; and, it contains solid theatrical features in order to maintain said wide audience.

Personal Message: Edit: As one can tell, I intended to post this review far sooner. I am incredibly busy with university, so I hope for readers to be understanding with the lack of content lately. It has been two weeks since the prior post, but I will sincerely attempt to still be active with this blog despite how hectic my university schedule is. In fact, just finishing this review was incredibly fun and rewarding and it is moments such as these that I regret not writing every day.

Apologies for the lack of content. University has indeed started as of this sentence and thus, I will be busy with upcoming classes. I expect this semester to be by far the busiest, but I will do my best to post around six or so reviews per month. I also will still try to catch up on other reviews from the summer that I have not reviewed: GFRIEND’s “Love Whisper” and Blackpink’s “As If It’s Your Last.” But, considering there are recent comebacks that might be more relevant to review such as PRISTIN’s “We Like,” those mentioned reviews might have to unfortunately be skipped.

Regarding this review, this will be a “bonus” review: a review that still attempts to bring critical, thoughtful discussion but one that will ultimately be hindered by lack of experience. Therefore, readers should feel free to openly challenge this review’s take to the drama or at least interpret the review lightly. After all, while I do enjoy watching dramas from time to time, I am exceptionally inexperienced with the theatrical aspects that are involved. Lastly, for the remaining clarification needed, while it should be noted that there are many to praise and credit for the production of a drama, in this review I will explicitly credit and oftentimes refer to Lee Najeong—the director of Fight My Way. I have decided on doing this as, if I am correct, the directors are the ones in charge of directly guiding how each scene appears in the drama—this being akin to, say, an author of a novel. As a result, she will be who I explicitly credit but of course, in the overall scheme of creating a drama, I hope to remind readers that all staff members deserve credit.

With all of that, let us head into the review for Fight My Way.

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Recommendation: I highly recommend this drama. While it is not perfect at all and does contain—in my argument—certain, significant flaws, I find that this drama is still one of the best I have ever seen. Furthermore, as I will focus on in this review, this drama’s main strength lies in how it is incredibly versatile and this reason is, perhaps, why the drama was incredibly popular—both in South Korea and even elsewhere. After all, Fight My Way arguably flourishes in the two main aspects of dramas: it appeals to a wide audience; and, it contains solid theatrical features in order to maintain said wide audience.

Plot Summary: Summarizing this drama is a bit difficult. Overall, Fight My Way focuses on four main characters: Aera, Dongman, Seolhee, and Jooman. Rather than a singular event being the driving force of the plot, this drama differs in that it is solely minor events that move the plot. For example, the drama might focus on how Aera and Dongman are developing romantic feelings towards each other and the comedy that such brings, or it might opt for a more serious route with showcasing how the two—and even Seolhee and Jooman—constantly face failures with their careers. Ultimately, what can be most appreciated is how relatively tame the plot is and yet how deep and impacting it can be upon viewers; it truly is a drama that addresses “life” in of itself—though in a comedic, romantic, and serious manner.

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Analysis: One distinct aspect to the drama, and perhaps its strongest point, is how it manages to capture a wide audience. This is a surprising point given the typical trends of dramas: targeting a specific audience and then complying with that very audience’s desires. However, with Fight My Way, despite the drama being explicitly labeled as a romantic-comedy, Lee Najeong’s directing is not limited to fulfilling the ideas such a genre encompasses. Without spoiling too much about the drama—hopefully, that is—let us home in on a scene that perhaps best illuminates Lee Najeong’s and the drama’s versatility with genres. (I will be vague so as to not spoil moments.)

During one specific scene and episode, we find that Aera fails to acquire a certain job role due to unjust decisions. In her defeated state, she ends up running into Dongman. Fast forwarding, we find the two sitting together on a bench as Aera eventually reveals that she did not in fact get the job. After Dongman’s insightful, lingering quote of how, in summary, pretending to be fine and refusing to cry are not “cool acts,” Aera finally sheds tears—though, comically, she mentions that if anyone sees her cry, Dongman will become her murdered victim. And, for the remaining details, as avid drama watchers might predict, Dongman indeed shields Aera with his jacket before finally pulling her head into his chest for her to cry into.

Now, for what makes this scene so momentous, it is due to how well the director balances various tones and even genres if we dare go that far. Simplistically, the director could have opted to focus on one specific tone and flesh it out—a simple example being heavily emphasizing the romantic aspects to this scene. But, instead, Lee Najeong includes the three main points to the drama: seriousness, comedy, and romance. With the serious take to this scene, for example, Aera’s depicted situation is far from merely being “only in dramas”; her being rejected of that dream job had a lot of social commentary if we dare analyze Fight My Way in this lens. For what occurred, Aera lacked—or more accurately, lacks—“social capital”; she is not young nor deemed pretty, she lacks formal education via college degrees, and she lacks “experience.” The most upsetting aspect, though, is that she is skilled and has the passion and work ethics. Sadly, none of those traits matter when her overall social capital does not suffice—“capital” that is hard for a lower-classed individual to have due to their circumstances.

And so for what this reveals, Fight My Way despite being a romantic-comedy does at times become incredibly solemn—a feature that not only helps balance out the drama, but is one that attracts viewers who otherwise would be repelled away by excessive romance and comedy. Likewise, though, the director still accommodates for those who are watching primarily for the romance and comedy—such as, admittedly, in my case. Quite clearly, those aspects are also fulfilled within this very episode and scene given Aera’s remark of threatening Dongman’s life to maintain her tough persona and how Dongman does very sweetly hold her close and comforts her. All in all, this versatility is arguably why the drama does well in terms of having a very broad yet loyal audience: it simply captures the spectrum of viewers who care more for serious aspects such as social commentary (be it gender or class as the drama tended to focus on), but also for viewers who merely want to gush over the romance.

Moving on to focusing on the drama in a theatrical sense, we will transition to this point as while we understand why the audience is broad, we now need to understand why that very audience remains loyal to watching the drama. The answer, then, is we need to focus on how the drama plays out in a technical, theatrical sense.

For what initially caught my attention and perhaps many other viewers, Fight My Way’s aesthetic appeal—this ranges from the overall setting to as specific as what the actresses and actors wear—entirely goes against the average drama: it is humble. In fact, even Park Seojoon, the actor who portrays Dongman, addresses this point and embraces it as he finds that this allows the drama to focus less on sheer visual appeal and more on the actual acting that occurs. But even without the added bonus of the acting having a greater presence, there is another benefit to the drama’s lack of exquisite fashion or a setting that is luxurious: the drama unveils the beauty of “normal”—that there is, indeed, beauty to sceneries that would seldom exist in dramas. From simple t-shirts and sweatpants to smaller apartments to a roughly established rooftop hangout spot, Fight My Way boldly challenges the way many other dramas utilize their settings. In many cases, gorgeous settings are used to help viewers escape reality but with this drama, Lee Najeong seems to want viewers to see reality—to see that their own lives, to certain degrees, are reflected in the drama.

For another theatrical aspect that I do wish to cover, as with any drama, we definitely need to spend time covering the acting—the skill that brings dramas to life akin to vocalists bringing a song to life. Regarding the acting, as stale as the following will sound, I find that the actresses and actors have all done an excellent job. There were minimal—if at all any—moments where I found the acting to be far too exaggerated or simply unfitting. To perhaps best explain why the acting is quite impressive, I think we ought to look not at emotional scenes—scenes that typically are used to gauge acting—but rather we need to look at comical scenes. After all, emotional scenes are easily manipulated beyond just acting: music; mere empathy; tears on everyone; and so forth. In other words, I find that it requires much more acting to make someone laugh versus to make them cry and hence why I believe that focusing on comical scenes is important if we are to gauge the acting.

Once again to prevent spoilers, I will be extremely vague but I do wish to refer to a certain scene. There is a time where Dongman finds that Aera is dating someone, and in short, much laughter is to come. Most impressively, though, is that the humor has less to do with witty scriptwriting and more with Park Seojoon’s performance (and, of course, Lee Najeong’s directing). Through purely facial expressions for example, viewers are able to gather many details: that Dongman’s world has shattered. It is through his horrified look that viewers not only get basic comedy out of such, but it is also when viewers could start piecing together that, perhaps, Dongman does have a crush on Aera and thus we are able to laugh at Dongman’s regrets and poor decisions of being mean to Aera. Similar types of acting-based comedic scenes also occur—a notable one being when Dongman begins to finally notice how Aera is attractive to him and seems to be struggling for breath as he wonders why her legs are now pretty despite, quite obviously, Aera’s leg never physically changed at all. (And, this is even more comedic when we factor in how, in many prior episodes, Dongman was extremely repulsed at having to touch Aera’s hair.)

(That said, for a serious moment and digression, readers who know what scene I am referring to might have found it disturbing—and that is not due to sexual undertones as that was not there. Rather, I refer to Dongman controlling Aera’s fashion. In terms of what viewers need to understand, this is where viewers need to be aware of cultural context—that, indeed, Dongman’s act was less of being oppressive and more of protecting, though that can and should be openly challenged or even defended depending on one’s argument. Nevertheless, it is worth bearing in mind why such a very stereotypical drama romance scene was used there, and of course that it added the comedic element of, as explained, Dongman acting as if Aera’s leg had suddenly changed.

Ultimately, how viewers interpret that scene is up to individual ideas: one can find it disturbing and offensive and rightfully so, but equally one has to bear in mind different cultural takes and how the “fashion control” that occurs is, in the appropriate cultural context, less about a man controlling a woman and more as merely “protecting” an individual. And, overall, I hope this single scene does not entirely detract from the drama’s otherwise very positive messages about gender equality and feminism—after all, both Aera’s and Seolhee’s depicted characters offer the most balanced perspective one could ask for and I admire the drama for offering what I argue is true feminism: that a woman should behave how she wants. Aera’s character presents the typical “strong woman” that many appreciate and love when it comes instantly thinking of feminism, but Seolhee’s character also presents the side that is oftentimes forgotten: that there is nothing wrong with desiring to be a stay-at-home-Mom and that her main dream in life is “to be a mother”—though I have now arguably just spoiled a very powerful line from her as viewers who watch the drama will see. Without this tangent getting any further, I simply wish to end it with the drama’s message about feminism: that it is not just only about a “strong woman” like Aera; feminism also means giving a voice to women who do not want to be like Aera but instead are more like Seolhee. And, before men are dismissed, much is also to be appreciated for the drama showcasing that a man crying, being emotional, and showing moments of weakness is, as Dongman would say, in fact “cool.”)

On topic, now that we have covered many reasons for why the drama is a stronger one, I unfortunately cannot end the review here. I recommend Fight My Way and will claim it is by far one of the best dramas I have seen, but it would be erroneous to claim it was objectively the best. It does have, as any drama does, many flaws—some of which, I will argue, are too significant to ignore.

One prominent problem that the drama struggles to handle is that towards the last four or so episodes, the drama’s tone and genre versatility disappear. Suddenly, Lee Najeong’s impressive directing where there is a balance of seriousness, romance, and comedy becomes predominantly just serious. Much of the comedic aspects are lost, and given how central humor is in the drama, having it entirely put aside—while understandable as the drama is attempting to conclude neatly—leaves a noticeable void. Likewise, many of the romantic scenes are lost—though if heartbreak counts, then perhaps “romance” in a distorted sense does still remain. (And readers should watch the drama to understand this supposed “heartbreak” that occurs towards the last episodes. Before readers claim I spoiled the ending, I will say that is far more complicated.)

Even so, while one could indeed dismiss the prior point, I find that what ultimately prevents me from claiming that Fight My Way is the best drama is due to poor character developments that occur for non-lead characters. Many supporting characters are simply far too one-dimensional, and this does hinder the plot and complexity of the drama. One key example is Hyeran, Dongman’s ex-girlfriend. Her character exists to cause tensions between Aera and Dongman but, the infuriating part is Hyeran lacks reasoning for her heinous acts. The drama, in essence, simply did not develop her character enough for there to be understandable reasons—or at least, I personally do not count “Hyeran became divorced and now wants to go back to her first option: Dongman” as a thoroughly developed character. It would have been far more interesting as a character and plot if, for example, Hyeran was actually a typical, well-behaved human and that she had a deeper past with Dongman. Instead of relentlessly and disturbingly chasing Dongman after being divorced, what if the two were previously in a very respectful and close relationship and ended on good terms and that she now wonders if they could get back together? This route not only prevents Hyeran from being a superficial character, but it also suits with the drama’s realistic style and causes conflicts not due to, essentially, being stalked but because Dongman has feelings he needs to address if he is to understand how he truly feels about Aera. Other characters such as Moobin are also one-dimensional and positioned as antagonists merely for the sake of having antagonists. Rather than relying on generic, binary characters of “good versus evil,” the drama would have been more appealing by having actions that are centered as moral dilemmas rather than the characters themselves. A good example of what I mean is if we look at one of our leads, Jooman: a man whose heart is, without doubt, full of love and helping others. The “evil” that exists, then, is whether too much kindness can ironically become bad.

In Jooman’s case, I argue he was an example of excellent character development and of straying away from the generic, “good versus evil” archetype. For his situation, his kindness with a new co-worker, Yejin, has led to some misunderstanding with Seolhee, his partner—more so as Yejin begins developing feelings for Jooman and is unaware of his relationship with Seolhee (or at least initially). Certainly Jooman never did anything inappropriate with Yejin at all, but as Aera presented, the problem was not focused on that: “It doesn’t matter if you didn’t sleep (have sex) with her or not.” The problem was Jooman constantly lied to Seolhee when helping Yejin as he did not wish to cause mistrust or create suspicion of an affair that did not exist. Now of course, Jooman’s true mistake was simply the lack of open communications and being truthful, but if it took a lie of how he was meeting his friends in order to get an incredibly intoxicated Yejin home safely, Jooman valued doing “what was right” even if it meant having to lie to Seolhee. The main takeaway, overall, is that Jooman’s character presents a situation where he is innately a good person and yet it is his actions that prove complex. He never intended to betray Seolhee’s trust but, in difficult circumstances of wondering what is ethically right—of caring for the safety of a co-worker at the cost of having to lie—we find a character who does away with the typical “good versus evil” setup that Moobin and Hyeran and other character rely on. This level of depth in characters—even for the supporting ones—would have made the drama far more insightful and pleasing. As it stands, many non-lead characters are simply far too one-dimensional and lack convincing, realistic reasons for what we would perceive as inappropriate and cruel behavior.

In the end, I still find Fight My Way to be an incredible drama and the best I have seen. I recommend it to both those familiar with Korean dramas or for those who might be watching one for the first time. Assuming one can overlook poor character development in supporting characters and how the drama becomes excessively serious towards the final episodes, Fight My Way is easily one of the better dramas produced. For me, I personally came for the romance—and rightfully, bawled so much at the most climactic kiss scene I have yet to witness—but ended up very much embracing its serious aspects and social commentary about class and gender and even other aspects such as family. Dongman’s relationship with his father, for example, mirrored my own life: while my father and I are at times somewhat distant, we still do express our love. A particular scene that I heavily related to was despite Dongman and his father having a hefty argument, in the end both left each other gifts and realized they both are the same—and comically, Dongman’s father questioned where Dongman gets his behavior. And of course, there is always the romantic aspect to delight in—though for me, love is still distant. That said, I also feel similar to Dongman with developing a crush for someone but this is definitely far too embarrassing to elaborate on. All in all, as Fight My Way has proven, it truly is a drama about “life” and thus, many readers would most likely find it a worthy drama to watch.

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Apologies for the lack of content for the past two weeks. University is incredibly busy, and with other technical tasks I need to handle—scholarships, working as a writing tutor soon, and so on—it has become hard to find time to write reviews. Given that this review is, despite being a “bonus,” is exceptionally lengthy, the next post will come in a week or so. Song reviews will come as usual, but I ask for readers’ understanding and patience—and likewise, for those waiting for Fiestar subtitled videos.

Until then, look forward to usual song reviews and as always, thank you so much for reading or skimming this review.