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*Attention* I try to avoid revealing any spoilers, but since this is a review site after all, there will be times when I write about events that happen in the drama. Even so, I will try my best to avoid revealing any big plot twists!

Friday, March 16, 2012

프로포즈 대작전 (a.k.a. Operation Proposal) Review 1 of 2: Episodes 1-11

프로포즈 대작전
(a.k.a. Operation Proposal)
2012
CSTV



Main Cast:
Yoo Seung Ho 유승호 as Kang Baek Ho 강백호
Park Eun Bin 박은빈 as Ham Yi Seul 함이슬
Lee Hyun Jin 이현진 as Kwon Jin Won 권진원
Go Kyung Pyo 고경표 as Song Chan Wook 송찬욱
Park Young Seo 박영서 as Joo Tae Nam 주태남
Kim Ye Won 김예원 as Yoo Chae Ri 유체리
Lee Doo Il 이두일 as Jo Kook Dae 조국대
Park Jin Joo 박진주 as Jo Jin Joo 조진주

Synopsis:
     Kang Baek Ho and Ham Yi Seul have been best friends since elementary school. Actually Baek Ho has had feelings for Yi Seul but kept them wrapped in his heart. Finally, when Yi Seul is about to marry another man (Jin Won) at a wedding ceremony which is attended by Baek Ho, Baek Ho regrets that he never confessed his love for the bride. Such a fantasy, a fairy appears and gives him a second chance to win Yi Seul. Then Baek Ho travels to the past and recreates every moment he has with Yi Seul in order to win her heart. Will he succeed?
(credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Proposal#Plot)


     When I first started watching Operation Proposal, I thought it would be a story about someone who gets to go back to a moment he regrets and change something, thus changing his future to be exactly what he wanted. I figured it was a nice storyline. I mean, who doesn't have a moment they wish they could go back to and change? But then I figured that would be too simple of a plot line so I wondered how they were going to make things interesting. Well, lo and behold, he went back to the present and things were still pretty much the same. Ok, so maybe he has to work for his happiness. Fair enough, right? I mean, he already gets a chance to go back and change things, so why should everything else be so easy?

     Well, after going back even 5 times, he still ends up in a similar place as before: losing the girl. At this point I started getting really frustrated at Baekho, Yiseul, and even the coach. Baekho makes the same mistakes every time because that’s who he is. That’s his personality. I mean sure, every time he goes back, his career gets better,  his friends' relationships and careers get better, and Yiseul ends up getting her dream job. But the relationship between Yiseul and Baekho seems to end up always in the same place. Of course, Baekho isn't the only one at fault. I personally think that Yiseul should have more nerve. She’s such a stereotypical Korean drama girl that it's just downright pissing me off! If she likes the guy she should admit it, or when he does confess to her and try hard to be there for her, maybe she should hold onto that. Ok, sure, with his immature jerk personality before, I could see why it was hard to tell him how she really felt. And of course it must have been difficult for her to even imagine that his kind thoughtful actions meant little more than a joke. Even I (and I'm not exactly the most fragile girl in the world....) would be scared of being belittled and laughed at by him. But once he starts going back to his past to try to fix things, I don't think she tried as hard as she could have, especially since he would have been very positively receptive of her feelings, and especially since he was trying hard to make amends and show her how he felt.


     But by the 11th episode, I have to wonder if some people are destined to go a certain path. No matter how hard Baekho tries, Yiseul ends up going to the teacher. And seriously, it's getting seriously frustrating watching him keep going back to try and fix things. I mean dude, come on! you need to know when to give up. I’m not saying it’s easy, but at some point he should think about what would make the person he loves happiest. She always feels neglected or forgotten or hurt at some point when she is with Baekho, but the teacher has always been there for her. And they seem pretty happy together. Sometimes the best thing you can do for the person you love is to let them go. At this point in the drama, I feel like Baekho is acting very selfishly. and I understand that it sucks to admit that the one person who can make the one you love happy is not you. It’s a terrible and painful thing to realize. But wouldn’t it be more painful still to keep fighting it and going back to change things and getting hurt over and over and over again? Wouldn’t it be better to have the pain of admitting defeat and letting go for a short while, and then be able to move on? I understand Baekho’s motives. I understand his regret. Heck, I’ve been there, and I’m sure many of you readers have also felt the heart-wrenching pain of regret. So I understand why he keeps trying over and over and over. But if he were to really sit down and think about it, especially at this point in the game, maybe he could come to the conclusion that maybe Yiseul and the teacher were always destined to be together, no matter how hard he tried to change his past actions.
     Another frustrating fact about all this is that after he goes back to the present (Valentine's Day 2012), he has no control over his past self’s actions after the point in time that he was changed (does that make sense? Time travel gets so confusing..). I would assume that his past self would go back to being his normal immature self, which is why he keeps losing Yiseul. Perhaps what the Conductor is trying to show him is that no matter how much he changes his actions in his past, he can’t change who he was as a person. Which brings me to the conductor! What a strange fellow! I think its pretty awesome that he keeps giving Baekho chances to go back and change his life and his relationship with Yiseul, but I wonder what his motive is. Does he figure that destiny is destiny and even time travel can’t change that, but he wants Baekho to be able to move on and live with no regrets after he runs out of chances, so that’s why he keeps sending him back? That would be nice if it were true. Baekho would feel more so that he tried his hardest but it just wasn’t meant to be. That would really be a moral worth learning; that some what-ifs were never meant to be, even if you go back and change things. But after trying so hard and going through the pain of going back to his past and dealing with his skeletons (like the injury, the army, his mother, and of course losing Yiseul again.... and again....), I kind of wish he could just get the girl, get his dream job, have his friends all be successful and happy (and married), and live happily ever after. I would much rather have a happy ending than a story with a moral. Most of the time. But I guess we’ll see how it plays out from here on out. And by the way, I am a rather cheesy hopeless romantic in case you didn't know (how could you? But now you do. Hehe..), so I am always really excited and happy when the male and female protagonists end up together... So, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a satisfying (maybe even happy?) ending.


Feel free to leave a comment! I would love to read your comments and feedback! Thank you!!

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