Netflix’s adaptation of the massively popular webtoonLookism,which deals with violence and mature themes, does not shy away from showing the brutality of bullying, much like the original work, while it also shows some people changing in the course of the first season, and explores the attitudes that lead to changes, even if they are baby steps.
The setting of the story ofLookismis modern-day South Korea, but it could be anywhere. Even if South Korea does have strict beauty standards that take a toll on the average person’s life – and even worse for those that blatantly deviate from these rigid norms —, much like the themes from the Oscar WinnerParasite,by Bong Joon-Ho are universal, it is no different with those ofLookism.The webtoon series that slowly earned acclaim from readers around the globe for its controversial posture on dealing with social issues in South Korea obviously speaks to the world, not only to South Koreans.
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What Is Lookism?
The word for “lookism” in Hangul (외모지상주의) means “looks supremacy”, and it refers to the preferential treatment obtained in society by those who meet the conventional — and toxic — beauty standards in the country, but as previously noted, it is not something that relates to that country only.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, lookism “describes the prejudice or discrimination people have toward others because of their appearances. People first used the word in the late 1970s in reference to how people were viewing others who were heavier set. Today the panorama of lookism extends from the ‘overly’ beautiful actor or actress to the homely child.”
Lookism And The Twist On A Common Isekai Trope
While borrowing from the concept commonly used in isekai of exploring life in a new body or starting a new life as someone (or something) else, the twist that subverts this trope inLookismadds to the drama and intensity of what could have been a new beginning in another — attractive — body: Park Hyeong-Seok does not get to experience a whole new magical life in a new body only. He still has to live in his old body, and the double life that he now has to live shows and teaches him — and the viewers by extension — interesting lessons. And, at the very end of the first season, it is also shown that he is “not alone” in this “I-got-a-new-body” situation.
Park Hyeong-Seok is not idealized or romanticized or even shown as someone extremely pitiful at first, even if he is the target of horrible bullying because of his appearance since it is shown how his having been treated like garbage for so long has manifested in his personality, and it is cringeworthy to see him treating his mother the way he does in the beginning. It is easy to say he should fight back and solve his problems, but that is not the easy route followed byLookism.However, loneliness and fear walk hand in hand in the lives of most bullying victims.
When he wakes up in a new body, and when he has to live as both his new and old selves, Park Hyeong-Seok not only changes himself but also changes others in the process. It is also shown that people who are good-looking according to established beauty standards can be inherently good, so there is no focus ona Manichean view of good and evil. Help comes from unexpected allies and, the more he interacts with others, the more he learns that people will always be judgmental of others – and one example is showcased when some students attempt to undermine his “new” body’s popularity by finding a weak spot in him, and it is very nice to see how the anime dealt with thwarting this attempt.
A Realistic, Honest, Brutal Yet Hopeful Take On Bullying
The anime is very realistic and quite brutal in its take on the situations faced by the targets ofbullying. Both the webtoon and its anime adaptation portray very well and with honest brutality, without tinted colors, bullying, and the traumas and consequences it brings to a person’s life.
There are people getting bullied like me everywhere. - Park Hyeong-Seok
Lookism is a pervasive and systematic form of social discrimination, and suffering from that from an early age will mold the personalities, behavior, and worldviews of those it affects. Of course,being bullied, the target of extreme violence and discrimination does not justify Hyeong-Seok’s behavior toward his mother, but what he goes through on a daily basis at the very least explains his actions, and he also judges himself for acting that way. His mother suffers in her everyday life as well, so that her son can have a better one. Her character is responsible for one of the most emotional scenes in the anime in the very first episode, which will probably stick in the minds of viewers for a long time.
Maybe There Is Hope For Them After All
This is where I’ll start over. - Park Hyeong-Seok
Even with the open possibility for other seasons and more story and characters development that the first season ofLookismbrings, there is a good sense of closure to this first part of the anime, with hints of what is yet to come and a nice wrapping recapping thegood momentsthe series brought about.
Being a Netflix exclusive,Lookism’s reachwill likely be unusually high, globally speaking, for a Korean anime, even more considering how well-known the source material is, and it gave a nice kick to keep the ball rolling for betterrepresentationin the future. Through the course of 8 episodes, with breakdowns and successes,Lookismmanages to have its underdog characters evolve and achieve some level of success, even if small, even if the steps are not those of giants, but baby steps indeed.
The positive and hopeful message ofLookismis both welcome and impactful. Tracing a parallel of the anime’s opening with the main characters dancing at the sound of “Like That”, by theK-Popsensation ATEEZ and the evolution of the outcasts that end up bonding during their times of duress, with both versions of Park Hyeong-Seok playing major roles in the attempts to change the status quo, in the musical presentation, despite the realistic cynicism also shown at the end of the season, the highlight is a message of hope that will also last for a while in the minds of the viewers and will keep their hearts' warmth for a while, until the next reality check.
