POUNDS BEAUTY(2006)

Director : Kim Yong-hwa

Casts : Kim Ah-jung

Ju Jin-mo

Stars : 3/5

Just like anyother romantic comedies, it's an easy, light hearted movie. You can just watch, laugh, and forget. However, this movie has a little bit more than a simple romantic comedy, on the fact that it is focusing on obesity, more specifically, on how people treat fat people especially in an Asian culture.

There is a very shocking line in the movie. It's a statement referring fat women as refund goods, ordinary women as real goods, and pretty,sexy women as master piece. This translation is a bit vauge, but I hope you get the sense of it. It may not be as extreme as to referring women to "things", but it is true that judging people by their looks is dangerously entrenched in Asian culture. Even very normal looking girls try to lose weight. Maybe the pressure of the social norms is the reason why their average weight is so low. As a consequence, many girls experience eating disorders and beome mentally and physically weak. It is extremely important to stick to your belief and decide whats right and wrong.

Back to the movie, the only thought that the movie may be provoking is the issue I mentioned above. I'm pretty sure most of the people don't think about the issue it's presenting. If you are bored of American romantic comedy, it may be worth a shot to try a Korean one if there is subtitle. :0)