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Backstreet Rookie korean drama review
Completed
Backstreet Rookie
1 people found this review helpful
by nikolama
Sep 17, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 4.0
Story 3.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers

Uncomfortable "fluffy romance"

I love fluffy romance, don't get me wrong; however, this drama is just bad.

Why?
- The fact that JSB had not finished high school (by itself would've been okay, with context not so much) and that they made her kiss CDH in a high school uniform was uncomfortable. Some say, "oh, but the actors are both adults!" and? It is a harmful portrayal of relationships because it looks like some sort of pedophilic fantasy. The drama started with this sort of power imbalance and continued with a similar pattern: CDH (30+?) is JSB's (early 20's) boss who scolds her all the time while she continues to act like a stalker teenager, then all the scenes of him having to teach her because she wants to pass high school and all the other times where he has to save her.
- The dreadlocks of Han Dal Shik. By itself problematic; however, the combination of them with HDS as a character perpetuates harmful stereotypes. HDS is lazy, dirty, poor, nasty, and unlikeable. So we get scenes with flies coming out of his dreadlocks and people making a note of his "weird hairstyle."
- None of the characters are likable. CDH is dull and quick to get angry; JSB, while being all for justice and punishing others, will ruin the pre-existing relationship of the person she loves, but because she's a cute damsel in distress, that's okay; YYJ has the annoying typical rich girl behavior.
- It's boring and cliche. The latter would've not been a problem at all if I liked the characters.
- Annoying CGI
- I couldn't root for either of the CDH's romances.
- 16 episodes was too much for this drama.

I can't stress enough how much I would've liked this concept had it been actually done well.
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