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The First Shop of Coffee Prince:  On discovering what it is to be gay

The First Shop of Coffee Prince (CP) is a Korean romantic comedy that was aired in 2007 by MBC. Although it was not intended to be a story about discovering being gay, it spurred much discussion about this topic.

CP is about Go Eun Chan (portrayed by the popular Korean actress Yoon Eun Hye), a young girl who, after the death of her father, becomes the breadwinner of the family. Eun Chan dresses and acts like a boy in order to get jobs, which are usually given to boys.  Choi Han Kyul (portrayed the handsome Gong Yoo) is the heir to a company that sells coffee. Although Han Kyul shows potential for being a good businessman, he has no drive to work. His grandmother later challenges him to resuscitate the business of a coffee shop, which happens to be a favorite hang out of Eun Chan. In taking up that challenge, Han Kyul decides to hire only male baristas. Of course, Eun Chan disguises herself as a boy and is eventually hired as a barista.

Although Eun Hye who portrayed Eun Chan never really looked like a boy in CP, let’s assume that Han Kyul never really realized she was a girl. Thinking that Eun Chan is a boy, Han Kyul starts to have a dilemna when he realizes that he is falling for Eun Chan. At this point, Han Kyul begins to think he is gay because, try as he might, he cannot help falling for Eun Chan. After many days of self examination, Han Kyul accepts that he may be gay and decides to work out a relationship with Eun Chan who procrastinates about telling him that she is not a boy.  This and the part where Han Kyul discovers that Eun Chan is in fact a girl are extremely funny scenes.  What made these scenes even better is the fast paced manner in which the story is told.

The commendable thing about CP is that it did not really dwell on the morality of being gay. It is after all a light romantic comedy not a social documentary. CP showed, in a straightforward manner, the natural reaction of a person who realizes that he may be gay as he is attracted to someone of the same sex. Also, Han Kyul’s reaction to discovering Eun Chan was not gay was likewise not made dramatic or overly funny.

I think CP will be greatly enjoyed by those with open minds.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 28th, 2009 at 12:08 am and is filed under Pursuits and Pastimes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.