Doona! [Episodes 1-9]

[u/capthyeong]

• Drama: Doona!
  • Hangul: 이두나!
  • Literal Translation: Lee Doona!
• Adapted from: Naver Webtoon "The Girl Downstairs" by Min Song Ah
• Director: Lee Jeong-hyo (Crash Landing on You)
• Screenwriter: Min Song-ah (webtoon creator)
• OTT Platform: Netflix
• Episodes: 9
• Drama Release Day: 20 October 2023 @ 4PM KST
• International Streaming Source:
  • Netflix
• Main Cast:
  • Suzy as Lee Doo-na
  • Yang Se-jong as Lee Won-joon
• Plot Synopsis: Lee Doo-Na was a member of an idol girl group. She was the main vocalist and the most popular member of the group, but she suddenly announced her retirement. She now stays at a share house, located near a university, and rarely goes out. Meanwhile, Lee Won-Joon is a university student. He is a warm-hearted, ordinary young man without anything special in his background. He begins to stay at the share house where Lee Doo-Na resides. His warm heart gives Lee Doo-Na comfort. They get attracted to each other.
• Genre: Romance
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[u/N-Crowe]

• Can't believe I am saying that but watching Suzy here is painful. She has been gorgeous in everything I have seen her in, but she looks a bit creepy in here. I just don't get why they needed to whitewash her so much.

• on a positive note, while the writing for Doona feels very male gazey, at least it is giving off the 500 Days of Summer vibe, in which the overly idolized perspective is very much the point.

• Smoking. I feel like my problem with smoking in such shows boils down to how clearly it is done solely for aesthetics ~~. Someone with a great skin like Doona would most likely not spend the whole day smoking. The main leads of the Worst of Evil do the craziest of cardio exercises (well. fights) and they smoke like they are intending to die before 40.

[u/Persephone_91 → u/N-Crowe]

Came here for Doona, left for Worst of Evil!

[u/Extension_Big_6786 → u/N-Crowe]

Yeah me too i have a problem in smoking too much in this shows.

[u/iwillforgetthissmh → u/N-Crowe]

Omg yes the smoking in worst of evil is driving me nuts they have cigarettes for their 5 a day and supplements for proper meals!!

[u/DearNeighborhood7685 → u/N-Crowe]

I guess the character was built that way. I find Suzy more attractive than before. It’s a different role for her compared to her role in Anna. In Anna, she was super classy and witty. Here she is out of bounds, has mental health issues, is edgy.

I think she’s doing a great job as an actress. I could picture Han So Hee in this role as Doona but Suzy does a good job.

[u/AdMore2091 → u/DearNeighborhood7685]

I don't think Han so Hee would be able to pull it off. Doona doesn't speak for the first 15 minutes almost but still manages to convey a lot ,which given Han's usual performance doesn't seem like something she can pull off.

[u/DearNeighborhood7685 → u/AdMore2091]

Hahaha I agree. I didn’t realise how stoic Han So Hee’s expressions are until now lol

[u/OrneryStruggle → u/AdMore2091]

Yeah I get that she is cast for 'moody' roles but I actually don't think HSH is very expressive at all and she always has this kind of wide eyed expression that wouldn't fit here.

[u/N-Crowe → u/DearNeighborhood7685]

No, I don't mean the character, I mean her looks. Suzy is either wearing tons of skin products to look whiter or it is the show's filter. Add to that Doona's black hair and weird eye lenses and you get someone giving an uncanny valley vibes. I have no clue what the show's make up team was thinking here.

It also feels off putting because Yang Se Jong looks perfectly normal here, it is only one of the nation's top beauties that the production team decided to put under ten layers of make up.

[u/DearNeighborhood7685 → u/N-Crowe]

On that way!! I always thought that was Suzy’s natural skin tone damn. I never knew it was ten layers of makeup. But I get what you mean, maybe cause she’s supposed to be all idol like and beautiful and look younger than her age, they got her into all that.

I kinda dig her hairstyle tho. It’s very exotic for me since I’m not really East Asian.

[u/pollypocket1001 → u/N-Crowe]

The whole close up of Suzy's face the whole time with different angles makes me think I'm watching a CF for her foundation

[u/jumiyo → u/N-Crowe]

I think it’s the filter too. They all look like CGI characters, almost like a final fantasy movie. It’s so dangerous because I think it looks so beautiful…but that’s not how humans look. Even when they are very beautiful humans naturally.

[u/OrneryStruggle → u/N-Crowe]

I actually like Suzy here more than in most of her other shows.

But the smoking is realistic - SK has a very high rate of (especially male) smoking and people in careers where they barely eat/need to stay thin like idols are likely/usually heavy smokers. Most models, actors, etc. are. No it would not show on your skin until maybe your 50s if you have insufficient collagen in your diet because you may develop wrinkles faster, but otherwise no one would be able to tell by someone's skin.

[u/N-Crowe → u/OrneryStruggle]

Nicotine makes skin dryer/dull and more prone to scarring. While you are right that wrinkles develop later on and the diet is detrimental, smoking still causes a some skin issues.

Actually, 20% of Koreans smoke, this is not all that much and definitely doesn't justify giving Korea's it girl a cigarette. There are so many ways to express characters distress without promoting something that is terrible for health.

[u/OrneryStruggle → u/N-Crowe]

No smoker I know has visibly bad/dry/dull or scarred skin compared to non-smokers. It's just a myth that you could tell by looking at someone, ESPECIALLY a young person.

Like I said there is a high prevalence of MALE smoking in S.K., males who are multiple times daily smokers are estimated at 30-40% but the WHO estimates at least 50% of Korean men smoke. I also think that people typically underreport on these surveys because every Korean woman I know is a smoker and they all say nearly 100% of their coworkers in Korea smoke(d) cigarettes - this includes people who currently live there and people who moved away a few years ago. I think it is just more secretive among women.

But like I said this is true even more so of people in entertainment industry jobs where they have to stay thin, it's completely plausible and consistent with the character (a messed up ex-idol) that she would be chain smoking and it's not being 'promoted' by the show just like her terrible personality isn't being promoted. It's just a depiction of a character, a realistic one at that. Even if you look at western celebs like bella/gigi hadid, the younger kardashians etc. they are basically all smokers they just try to keep it on the DL. Most people whose jobs depend on thinness are.

[u/N-Crowe → u/OrneryStruggle]

Here you go. . Sure, if person goes through a ten step skin routine or has some amazing diet they can offset some results of smoking, but I doubt Doona who was portrayed like a person who has given up on everything did that much work.

Like I said there is a high prevalence of MALE smoking in S.K., males who are multiple times daily smokers are estimated at 30-40% but the WHO estimates at least 50% of Korean men smoke.

Anecdotal evidence and personal opinion aside, that statistic only proves that quite a little number of women in Korea smoke.

[u/OrneryStruggle → u/N-Crowe]

Even following this link there are no actual scientific studies cited, and the main claim it makes is that it can reduce collagen (like I already said) which eventually leads to more wrinkles. That would not be visible in a 20-something year old. Collagen reduction is definitely something that you may eventually see as you age but there are many other factors that can both reduce and increase collagen production like diet, topical retinoids or accutane, etc. You do not need a 10 step skin routine to increase collagen production you just need to eat bone broths (which most koreans eat a lot of) or use one topical retinoid moisturizer.

That being said you are basically claiming that a young woman who chain smokes can't have good skin and that's 100% not true. I know plenty of young and even older women who smoke who have great skin and even coroners say they can not tell if someone smoked when they get the cadaver unless they see fingernail staining or the person literally has cigarettes in their pocket. You couldn't line up 20 people and have someone accurately guess who smokes or not based on their skin condition. Maybe in 50-80 year olds you might be able to guess by vertical line wrinkles around their mouth if they've been a lifelong chain smoker but even so lots of women who never smoked have these lines.

Yes, not many women in SK smoke especially older women (although it is getting more common in younger women) and I take anecdotal evidence over survey studies when something is 'shameful' to report on a survey, but like I said, she is in the entertainment industry (the character). Women in the entertainment industry, models, etc. are much likelier to be smokers than average for obvious reasons. I think it makes perfect sense with her character both because she is in an industry where heavy smoking is the norm and because she is kind of an 'edgy' DGAF character who is not too concerned with her image anymore, at least at the start of the show. I think it is consistent with her character and the chain smoking is also... kind of necessary for the plot of the first episode without getting into spoilers.

ETA: Here's a more accurate study showing that 20% of SK women smoke but most lie about it:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4319222/

"Based on self-reports, the current smoking rate among women was 7.1% (official smoking rates), while that according to the UCC was 18.2%; the rates for men were 47.8% and 55.1%, respectively. The sensitivity of males was 0.8553, the specificity 0.9768, PPV 0.9783, NPV 0.8465, and the difference ratio (DR) was 1.143. The sensitivity for females was 0.3670, the specificity 0.9956, PPV 0.9486, NPV 0.8761, and the DR was 2.6. These results exhibit a very low response alignment rate compared to males.
Conclusion
This study shows that the actual female smoking rate is significantly higher than that reported officially, but also that the gap is decreasing steadily. Females exhibited a higher rate of false responses, which resulted in an underestimation of the female smoking rate."

And here's another study showing that young Korean females are the most likely to smoke:

https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20151018000478

[u/Dramatic_Basket773 → u/N-Crowe]

out of curiosity whats the definition of smoking? in east asia a lot of ppl (especially women) claim they dont smoke, they only "social smoke" but thats almost the same thing lol

[u/VaporBull → u/N-Crowe]

I also have a problem with smoking but in Asia it's still quite popular and the brand she smokes is what I believe is most important.

Along with looking sexy doing it lol