Once upon a time in a far away urban kingdom lived a young man who dreamt of nothing but his music day and night. When he could not persuade his parents to let him pursue his ambition he decided to ran away.
He had the freedom that he sought but had to experience hardships while on his own. Alas, the young body can only endure so much, that he found himself back to the comfort of his parents’ home.
But he did not give up on his dream. A twist of fate found him and was offered the stairway towards that dream on the condition that he would dance and not become a guitar man.What’s more he will be groomed to be a pretty boy as part of his makeover. Not that he wasn’t good looking to begin with but they needed to enhance what was already there and to ride on the trend of pretty boy performers.
So the princely pretty boy was born. He was made to wear garments that showed his assets. His hair was styled and dyed as to what was popular then. He was taught to smile before the camera and most of all, project the created gentle image though a rebellious streak and an out- of- the- box mind cannot be hidden.
Perhaps that was his real charm. The burgeoning looks of an adult man in the making now polished and revealed along with his bravado made people sit up and take notice.He was compared to a wild horse with his energy, stamina and confidence to try new avenues and not look back to regret. He strongly believed there is only a short life to live, and so get a shot at it. That was precisely what he did.
The small screen beckoned and this pretty boy heeded its love calls. There were two short ones till Boys Over Flowers came along and propelled him to stardom. Even if there was no BOF (although it was said he was the first one hired), other dramas would have found him just the same. He is after all a pop idol, a leader of his boyband, had a fan base. TV drama producers knew they had a gold nugget in their hands.
A few years past by, the pretty boy realized the time has come to try living in solo land to pursue his original intentions in entertainment. With it came the outgrowing of the pretty boy image though prettiness still was giving him an advantage. This was in spite of the pretty boy syndrome already a dime a dozen phenomena among new and older entertainers. His features such as a perfect handsome symmetrical face and well maintained chiseled body, impeccable manners and spotless reputation not to mention charisma made him a class of his own. His ultra hard working ways to shore up his skills and talent have always been praised by co-workers.
His musical adventures trying out genres he had not done before met with success not only in sales of albums, received awards but also in the swelling of popularity. He tried projecting other images along the way. The cute was still there in Kiss,Kiss but the adult man yearning to be recognized has already announced its arrival in Breakdown, Please, Lucky Guy and his latest Unlimited and a redo of Your Story.
The projected image is always important. It is one’s identity at least for a while. And how do pretty boys discard the old to embrace the new? Change haircuts (away with the bangs). Change wardrobe. Change the way the voice is used. Change character roles. Get away from the squeaky clean face and being locker pinup boy. Kim Hyun Joong been there, done that.
Being a pretty boy has a shelf life. After eight years (in his case) he has moved on as part of career development and growing up. Kim Hyun Joong is 28 years old, several months away from military service and to be realistic cannot be a teeny bopper all his showbiz life. Nevertheless, he got his wish fulfilled to be manly in his roles in the abandoned City Conquest drama and now the ongoing drama Inspiring Generation.
In Inspiring Generation, KHJ as Shin Jung Tae is a tough, hard core survivor in the dangerous 30′s, making decisions and actions in love and in war. An image he made out of his own disciplined mind and body. A far cry from the inheritance rich, sensitive but caring Jihoo of the F4, soulmate to Jandi in Boys Over Flowers.
And so the story of the Kim Hyun Joong, the pretty boy made by the entertainment gurus ends. Come in self made MAN. Another phase in the public life of Kim Hyun Joong has began.
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu