I debated on if I should give Pinocchio a chance. I really
enjoyed Lee Jong Suk in I Hear Your Voice which made me want to try Doctor
Strange a chance. I wasn’t too impressed with the comments coming out of the
drama and stayed away from it. Also, Park Shin Hye is happens to be the lead in
this drama. Heirs was a horrible mess from start to finish. Don’t get me wrong,
I’ve enjoyed Shin Hye in most of everything she has done. The problem with her
as an actress is her lack of execution in any skinship relationship. Which I
will talk about Shin Hye a little later. However, Pinocchio is by the same
writer-director team of I Hear Your Voice. I can’t tell you all how much I
really enjoyed that drama, plot holes and all. I loved it so much, I watched it
again twice this year.
Much like Voice, Pinocchio brings a fantasy element in the
form of the case of hiccups when you lie. Only a few people in the world are known
to have the “Pinocchio Syndrome”. I’m a
huge fan of the writer for being able to amplify the theme of the drama with
these uses of fantasy (i.e. Hearing voices). The theme is all about lies and
truth of the media. With 24 hours news channels, it is easy to to relate to how
the media twists the news.
Dal Po is our main lead who has a tragic past. The poor
family gets fingers pointed because the police can’t seem to find a body. Why
didn’t any of the police look all around the grounds? The building blew up. This
means things went flying away from said building. Also, where is the evidence
of how the fire started? The police blindly accept the building manager’s
statement. On top of this, a Pinocchio neighbor believes he saw Dal Po’s father
walking in the street. The key word here “believes”. Sure, he can’t lie,
however if he doesn’t believe it is a lie therefore he won’t hiccup. Witness statement
accounts are flawed in most cases. Statements from witnesses are bad at remembering
details. Also, in the good words of Dr. House, “Everybody lies.” Regardless if
they know it is one.
Nevertheless, the media did a good job of helping the police
believe they’ve done their job. In the eyes of our drama media, there is no evidence
to contradict what the witnesses or building manager told police. IMO crappy
police work, but hey, this is TV and will go with the flow. The main conflict
has its holes, but it was able to play on my heart strings. A happy family torn
apart by lies. A father dies trying to save people, a mother gives up her life,
a brother runs away, and another has to live life with his family gone.
Dal Po may have been abandoned, yet was able to find a new
family with Grandpa. He needed a father and Grandpa needed a son. A broken
family, but a good one. The hierarchy of the family cracks me up. In Ha is the
same age as Dal Po but has to call him uncle and her Dad having call him brother.
I look forward to Dal Po being reunited with his brother, but I’m enjoying this
oddball family.
In Ha is our Pinocchio. Instead of letting this put her
down, she decides to embrace her limitations. She is the Blunt Witch. Instead
of becoming the social wallflower, she honest and frank with no remorse. It is
refreshing of a role for Park Shin Hye. I hope she continues in the direction
she is going as an actress not just this role but her next.
Dal Po and In Ha will have a romance. A one-side love, it feels
like for both sides. Jong Suk is fantastic with this writer-director team. They
play well to his strengths and weakness. I hope they can do the same for Shin
Hye. Her biggest weakness as an actress is her not being able to make me
believe her character’s skinship. Some of this is part her fault and part
director. As a director, they should’ve directed her to be able to embrace her
co-star. He or she is supposed to make the scene look natural of two people in
love staring something special. When the romance takes off, we shall see if
this director is able to help her. She is also partially at fault. If she has
issues not wanting to be “close” with her co-star, she needs to rethink her
projects. There is a difference of a part asking for the actress to kiss
someone or take their clothes off. If she doesn’t want to get close to her
co-stars like this, choice other acting projects where the leads are not
romantic. If this isn’t the case, she should take the criticism and learn from
it.
The drama is building some interesting conflict with Dal Po and
In Ha not being on the same side of the argument. He has always been with her
on everything until this debate. Sure, it wasn’t a cool move for him to out her
as a Pinocchio. In Ha wasn’t evening mad at him for outing her. She came to
figure out she is in love with him. Dal Po on the other hand got dealt with a
horrible bit of news. His father was found at the site dead all these years.
Everything the media said about his family all untrue. Which leads to his out lash
at In Ha. She believes the lies and truth are black and white, while Dal Po
understands lies and truth can be twisted. Their different logic will help keep
the romance at bay for a time while they maybe work together.
I’m having a blast with the drama. It’s cute, fun, and has
its moments to pull on my feelings. If you’re on the fence to watch, get off it
and start. You won’t be disappointed.
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