The Fabulous is just an extended version of its trailer. There is nothing more in this K-drama which is set in the fashion industry. Everything is so predictable and repetitive. Here is my review of the K-drama The Fabulous. It stars starring Chae Soo Bin, Choi Min Ho, Lee Sang Woon and Park Hee Jung.
The director of the drama is Kim Jung Hyun. The execution is commendable considering there is nothing on paper. There is nothing new here. An age old cliché story of romance and friendship is, here, set in the glamorous South Korean fashion industry. And it is as lame as it can be; both the romance and friendship.
The cast has zero chemistry, the friendship and romance seem forced. The dialogues are, for lack of a better word, childish. And I am not even kidding; from Minho’s character repeatedly saying like a kid “Soo bin is mine” and the reason for heroine’s dream to be in the fashion industry, that she likes ‘pretty’ things; everything is like a child’s play.
The only thing good about this show is that everybody looks good and wears the best outfits. The cinematography is good and the fashion world comes alive with the camera work.
The Representation
Now let us talk about the elephant in the room – the representation of LGBTQA+ characters. The Fabulous is an utter failure here. They are talking about fashion industry; so it is something that the writers cannot avoid. So, what did they do? Yes, they took the stereotypes from all the previous works and kept them as they are.
So, the couple of gay characters we have here are easily stereotyped. They are there mainly for comedy purposes even while one of the main character is gay. And that is where the representation ends. There is no other representation from the LGBTQIA+ community. Everything is so badly written and if only they focused their energy on creating fleshed out characters instead of on the romance. Seriously, the romance part is the worst.
Overall, The Fabulous is a K-drama that you can miss because you won’t be missing out on anything.
Arya is a curious soul and nerd who loves books and cinema. You can read her articles on Medium. You can also follow her on Instagram where she talks about her favourite books and movies.