Good Message

I think that's a deeper point. It shows that this is the way our society works. It tells the truth. I think that's part of what I took away from it. It isn't hiding how society really is and treats people. She may have had a deeper understanding of the fact that being skinny wasn't going to make her a fulfilled person, but it doesn't change the fact that society (and her love interest) were still only interested in her because of her appearance. It's all really sad, actually.

First of all, WOW!!! Is South-Korea that superficial, that's crazy, but I guess it's the culture. Secondly, the movie served more as a social critique/commentary on whole Plastic Surgery issue than having a 'good message' per-say. They definitely take those surgeries to the next level. However, there is always something good with the bad, and vice versa. Not to get to the whole 'Canada' bit, but I live in Canada, and have lived here for the last 14 years. And believe me, I live in my city's downtown, just a block away from the most popular street and I have to walk it every day to get to work. In the past 3-5 years, the population and popularity of international students, namely South-Korean has increased by at least 70%. And I will tell you this, what they wear (especially the girls) and how they wear it feels out of this world sometimes, and not in a bad way. It looks awesome, and the best part, never sleazy or slutty. I have no idea how they've managed to get such a style that is so sharp, dynamic, spiffy and trendy without resorting to the whole 'the less you wear the better you look' ideology. With that said, I can see how they can go too far. I know a few girls personally, and I can tell you that they are extremely obsessed with aesthetics. Everything has to match, everything has to be a brand name; if you're not a cosmetics/clothing-line walking ad then you should stay home. That's too much. But then again, while the locals wear a mix of average to expensive brands, you'll always see an over-weight person (again, most likely a girl) wearing something extremely skimpy that would make you cringe. And they wear it so liberally. I can tell you this much, that phenomenon could only be seen in North America. In Europe you'd actually get fined for that type of exposure, it's considered obscene (I'm not Joking you here.) In South Korea, you will never see someone like Hanna (pre-surgery) walking with the skimpy dresses she was wearing afterwards. People were looking at her oddly when she was wearing the nurse outfit, or that fancy dress; imagine how they would look at her if she was fat and wearing it. They'd probably throw garbage at her. No to mention that you'd rarely find someone that overweight in South-Korea, unless they're elderly, and even then... That's another reason why this movie works so well for the South-Korean Culture; because unless you're familiar with the South-Korean aesthetics mania, this won't make sense to you. We all know that U.S. has its share of brilliant women singers that are overweight, nothing wrong with that. It's the skinny, fit and the pretty ones that create all the scandals.

Also, part of the movies' message was, surgery or being beautiful won't solve all of your problems. What about Ammy, she was pretty, skinny and fit, but couldn't sing for $hit. So yeah, she lucked out for having an obese singer who didn't mind staying behind the curtain, but once Hannah was gone, boom, her record got delayed a whole year. Her beauty didn't help her there at all. The movie even made enough cracks at her for not only being a bad singer, but a terrible actress as-well. She got so much beating in the movie that having Hannah/Jenny have her moment of revenge at Ammy was pointless. Her appearance only took her so far. And Hannah, she could not have continued her career unless she came to terms with herself. She even said it, she misses 'Hannah' and was caught up with the hype to a point where she lost her own identity.

The end moment, with her friend coming to the surgeon's office was just a gag, and a commentary to the whole 'wholesome' message of the movie: 'Yes, don't put too much emphasis on your looks, but if you still want it, I'm here anyway.' Same idea with saying that Hannah received many more anti-fans than Jenny ever had, some people still hated her and called her a phony. What killed me was the scene when Jenny was interviewed, and the producer suggests plastic surgery for Jehnny (after she'd already had one.) That was a serious WTF moment for me, but it had meaning behind it.

P.S. it would be really Ironic is the actress herself actually had plastic surgery.