I’ve got lots of “single-gif” jokes from Chicken Nugget coming up, but this mini-giffsay on masculinity is calling my name. So, if the Nugget Nerds will permit, I’d like to get as serious as I can get about a show that is–more or less–a cursing contest between characters.

I feel that there are two ways that men are predominantly portrayed in CN, one version, as above, is offered to the audience in a self-effacing way, as in the exaggeration (offered both in a Joseon setting and today!) of the man who feels that he’s fulfilling his responsibility to the family by getting all dressed up, and then just lying there…because it feels good. She can say nothing, but smile, of course.
 

In a similar vein, there’s a version of this same “making fun of masculinity” that is humorously portrayed as being worried about “not being perceived as a man.” In this case, in the face of an ajumma who’s clearly not only in better shape than our Sun-man, but on a WAY better bike. So, that’s two “dings” on our ajusshi. “아주머니 왜!!??” we see him shout plaintively at the end of the clip, before, of course, falling completely over (not pictured).
 

But the other is more toxic and is centered on this character, who I’d love to bring to your attention for just a short while. This is Yoo Tae-man who’s supposed to be in his early 20s but he’s apparently trapped in the body of a 50-year-old (I KNOW HOW HE FEELS).

He spends the entire drama feeling second-best to his better-looking brother, Tae-young, seen here in an advertisement that made me chuckle with this OTT on-the-spot-ness, for “Completing your manhood.”
 

This version isn’t, of course, so humorous, as Tae-man is a threat to all concerned. He is, however, amazingly frighteningly brought-to-life, I feel, by Jung Seung-gil. Here, as above, we see Tae-man crack as he realizes his delusions.

And I can’t help but think of the Evil Queen in Snow White who believes her mirror when it lies and tells her she is beautiful. In this version of our Evil Brother…it is his inability to believe lie that drives him mad. Well-played, show.

PS: Can’t resist my further broken-record-ness about the excellent dubbing…the man who dubs Jung Sung-gil’s voice actually sounds like he is in his early 20s, making Tae-min’s character just that more creepy, because he really does sound young while looking middle-aged.