Beef

"Why do Koreans eat a lot of beef but many still have lactose intolerance with milk?"

Neflix “Beef”, I rate it 9/10. It is a small production but is of high quality and engaging. The nearly full Asian cast reminds me of the Oscar-winning movie Everything Everywhere All At Once. The common element is that both are produced by A24 Studio.

The black-comedy drama is 10 episodes long and better without season 2. I like that the show spent time portraying each supporting role, and none of the details were wasted without a connection to the intertwined plots.

In this journal, I am reflecting on the mental models of the 2 main characters Amy Lau and Danny Cho. I am not a movie critic, I just enjoy watching good movies and shows. I like the colour grade. I enjoy the 90’s rock song, and this is definitely my top 10 drama series for the year 2023.

[image from Netflix: Beef]

Insecurity

• The initial road rage and the subsequent revelation of Amy and Danny's past and current actions were linked to their insecurity and, ultimately, fear. Fear and love are the two fundamental emotions that drive many of our unconscious actions.

• We all have a certain form of insecurity. It is good to know our own insecurities and acknowledge them before they run wild.

Unconditional Love

• Amy and Danny are putting hope in the future and expecting unconditional love. Both of them were disappointed by this external demand. Amy could not get unconditional love from her daughter, husband, or parents. Danny also expects his contribution to the family to get unconditional love from his brother and respect from his parents as the eldest son in a Korean family.

Difference yet the same

• Amy Lau has a happy family and successful business, very different from Danny Cho, who attempted suicide a few times and is miserable in all aspects. They are different in social status and many aspects of life. The drama also portrays other characters who we can see as very different individuals, but almost every character has another hidden side of the persona.

• The drama series diverges and then converges to let Amy and Danny see more and more ‘sameness’ between them. In their dreamy and confused state of mind in the finale, they even see themselves in another person’s body (Amy saw her tattoo on Danny’s lower back), and they speak from another person. It is a showcase of empathy, seeing that we are one. There are more commonalities among us despite our diverse external appearance and behavior.

Authenticity

• Danny and Amy struggle by putting on a mask to face society. They are so distant from being their authentic self until the last episode, where they start seeing their true self in each other.

• Is it easy to be authentic? It seems like the answer is ‘not easy’. It is likely a conscious choice of trade-off. It takes gut and courage to be ‘authentic’.

Metaphors

• Crows were mentioned and seen throughout the series in Beef. In most cultures, the crow symbolizes a lousy omen, such as death. I like the finale's beginning, where two crows start chit-chatting in human language. It was a great revelation of the transcendence journey that Amy and Danny both underwent in the last episode, almost dying to be reborn.

• Mushroom in episode 1 and the poisonous berry in episode 10. Mushroom is a mighty psychedelic spiritual transcendence power in the spiritual personal development space. The joke in episode 1 was the disappointment of Amy and George being invited by Jordan Forster to taste the mushroom in an elaborate ceremony: “It is just a normal mushroom”. As a founder of a famous plant retail chain, Amy is not a natural botanist, and she could not tell poisonous berries from edible species in the last episode.

• The opening artwork of each episode provides a graphical summary of that episode. These small details make this series fun to watch, with more layers of information for the audience to link up the data subconsciously.

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Weekly Update

• I am recovering from a mild cold and throat irritation. I repeated the COVID self-test kit several times. Finally, I tested COVID positive on 7 May 2023.

  • I am not sure if this is a relief or bad news to contract COVID

  • My wife also tested positive on the same day

  • The optimistic view was no severe symptoms

  • The negative aspect is I have to wear a mask at home as my mother-in-law (MiL) still has not shown any positive COVID symptoms. She has weaker immunity; hence we have to take extra precautions

  • In the span of the same week, many of my colleagues and family members (we are mostly working from home) also tested COVID-positive

  • with most people lowering their guard on COVID, it is inevitable that we have to start treating it as endemic but with a long-tail symptom or unknown long-term side effect