İyi Seyirler Dileriz.
Prosecutor Princess (2010)
Prosecutor Princess
검사 프린세스 / Prosecutor Mata Hari
(Mar – May 2010)
who’s in it
Kim SoYeon (Iris, The Grand Chef)
Park ShiHoo (Iljimae)
Han JungSoo (Chuno)
Choi SongHyun (Birth of the Rich)
Park JungAh
what’s it about
Kim SoYeon plays a newbie prosecutor in the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Just as a side note, South Korea’s Prosecutor’s Office is not to be confused with the procedures of the District Attorney’s Office in the U.S. legal system (if, of course, your frame of reference is like mine and coming from this side of the ocean). In Korea, qualified prosecutors are appointed to office after completing a two year training course in acquiring their law degree; they are civil servants who participate in an investigative judicial process that includes fact-finding and sentencing. They are not too dissimilar from an American district attorney, but they hold far more authority and influence than their U.S. counterparts because unlike in the States where there are grand juries for evidential review and a trial by jury—the right to be judged by a panel of one’s peers—is a constitutional right, there is no true system of juries in South Korea, although their judicial system has recently evolved to allow for special civil participation.
Back to our heroine: she’s gorgeous, fashionable (well, expensively dressed anyway) and completely self-absorbed. She’s not so much an airhead as a shallowhead. As she points out early in episode 1, she has a rather high IQ and is quite the clever femme fatale. She’s got a good-sized brain, but she chooses to utilize it for fashion and frivolity rather than waste it on the duller side of life.
Now, at her new salaried job, which appears to be more an act of prestige-climbing for her father than any true passion for justice on her part, she’s a bright pink flamingo in a field of monochromatic ostriches. These dedicated and hard-working birds don’t like her skimpy and expensive feathers, nor do they care for her lack of consideration for their more humble lifestyle, and most especially, they can’t abide her brand of work ethic, which comes across as thoughtless and lazy. The problem is, every Kim SoYeon action is motivated by selfish instant-gratification and not only is she unable to see anyone else’s point of view, but her me-me-me world is narrow and insulated. Her talent for self-justification is a defensive barrier that her coworkers are unable to break down.
The lead prosecutor in the office, also a love interest, is Han JungSoo, the hunky ab-licious actor who played General Choi in recent KBS saeguk blockbuster drama Chuno. He’s drawn to this carefree new recruit, but his reasons may be one of nostalgia, more of a face thing than anything else, as she resembles someone from his past. Another man with ambiguous interest in the affairs of Kim SoYeon is a well-to-do-lawyer played by Park ShiHoo. He’s got one interfering eye on Kim SoYeon, and while he’s charming enough and full of flirty smiles whenever she’s around, it is unclear whether this interest a good thing or reflective of a darker twist yet to reveal itself.
What will become of our red Audi-driving fashionista prosecutor when she learns that in the real world, people and laws aren’t black and white, but shades of heather and sadness, a color scheme not found in her vocabulary much less her designer bag?
commitment
16 episodes
network
SBS
first impressions
Between the frantic tempo of the character introductions and the cartoonish depiction of the female lead, I somehow missed the part where I was supposed to find these people interesting. This feels like a Legally Blonde revisit without the original’s wit, charm or heart. Like the main character’s wardrobe, there is too much color and no proper application of all that rich hue. The show and its prosecutor princess are only funny in theory and not actually very fun to watch. Instead of a thoughtful establishment of all the main players and their roles, for our first meeting with the cast, we are given a cheaply contrived scenario surrounding a pair of Grace Kelly inspired shoes, a setup that turns out to be equal parts unamusing and nonsensical.
For all the brightness and exaggerated comedy in the drama, I found it all surprisingly boring. None of it felt very new, not the characters, not the possible romantic entanglements. Kim SoYeon’s character, likewise, feels a little too much, too obvious, and too cliché. After the first few hours, it’s easy to figure out the core clockwork of all the personalities involved, but a little more difficult to tell if I will ever love any of them.
I’d be neglect if I didn’t mention the campy theme song that pops up frequently, like a punch in the face that yanks me right out of the moment. Prosecutor’s Wednesday/Thursday rival Personal Taste has been beleaguered with criticisms regarding its editing and obtrusive use of music, but frankly, Prosecutor far surpasses Taste when it comes to abusive employment of obnoxiously cheesy songs that chase after scenes instead of highlighting them.
I was bored and disappointed.
Ok, with all that negativity out of the way (I know, I know, harsh criticisms indeed for a show that is only trying its best), I’m going to discuss some of the positives. Kim SoYeon is an interesting leading lady. She has character and intelligence ingrained in the very mien of her face so it’s credit to her that she is able to passably portray a character who doesn’t think twice about donning Playboy-ish bunny ears and prancing around in tall, black hooker heels while drunkenly crowing out bad karaoke. She has moments of genuine sass and likability. Right now, the cartoonish nature of the entire drama is creating distraction, but once the glitter settles, I’m hoping her character will develop into something less Mariah and more Meryl.
Both men seem well-cast for their parts and there is mystery enough to allow for plot movement. Whether or not that movement will be forward or sideways remains to be seen but I’m tentatively trusting. Also, the extended litter of side characters and their stories could turn out to be potentially engaging tentacles.
The initial start isn’t a complete train wreck, but close. The early episodes feel like a bratty young child acting out for attention. I’m disappointed but I do believe that this drama has in its cast the talent to survive the uninspiring start. I genuinely believe that if the good actors stay the focus in this drama, despite my reservations, Prosecutor has a very good chance of developing into something substantial. I look forward to finding out...
wildcard
Do you like shows about zeroes who become heroes?
Who knew this was gonna turn out to be an Ugly Duckling drama? I certainly hadn’t expected the story to pull out the “she wasn’t always this pretty” card part way into it and make me feel sorry for this bratty rich girl! Okay, okay, it wasn’t so great a surprise that the leading lady was eventually revealed to be a likable person considering the classy actress playing her, but still, the ugly duckling gimmick was a clever way to re-introduce and re-define the character in a drastically different light without completely undoing her already established character definition.
“In this world, there are two types of women: fat and skinny, competent and incompetent—women who are loved by their husbands, and women who are disregarded. Don’t be like your mother, HyeRi.”
These are the words of wisdom passed from mother to daughter, and it gives a fairly good summation of the deep rooted self-esteem issues going on within Kim SoYeon’s character. Obviously I do not agree with such a simplified version of the way the world’s men categorize women, as I believe that a worthy man will always prefer a gal with brains than one without, but it does touch upon a serious issue in the world where women seek self-worth in diets and plastic surgery. I once read an article—about China and Asia—discussing the extreme and dangerous lengths women will go through to attain an ideal type of “beauty,” one that is mostly socially constructed, i.e. skinny and tall. The article talked about women undergoing a potentially maiming surgery that cracks their shins in order to place metal rods so that they can become taller. Anyhow, the finer points of that particular article are way too serious for this review and this drama, but my point is that this sort of cynical view of the way women internalize the pressure to be “beautiful” isn’t a completely inaccurate assessment of society’s love for the pretty people.
Without a doubt, Kim SoYeon is definitely one of the pretty people but this drama wants us to remember that adults were once children, and sometimes adolescence can be a kind of hazing ritual that will leave a scorch mark on the insides of a body for a long time, regardless of how drastically time matures a person on the outside. It asks us to take a second look beyond the pretty face of this seemingly shallow woman and see the timid girl inside. What brought her here? What made her strong? Is she really a ditz or is it an act of self-defense?
It was around that 5th/6th episode mark when the show finally gave us some history and favorable advancement in Kim SoYeon. This is when the character became plausible for me. The early episodes were difficult to get through, I didn’t understand the character and I didn’t like her…she felt too much like a person concocted from bits and pieces of other shows. Luckily, that turned out to be the point. As in real life, snap decisions can be made about the people we meet but after getting to know a person, we may learn that there’s more to them than meets the eye.
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