"Fun Fact: Did you know, the word 'persona', which is the Latin root word for ‘personality’ is what the Ancient Greeks used to call their theater masks? These masks had megaphone-shaped mouthpieces that helped amplify the actor’s voice. This is also where the term phony comes from." -Khloe Wong, KHLOE Ep. 1
I just finished binging this series called KHLOE on YouTube. Its a Singaporean series, about Khloe Wong (Hanli Hoefer), an Instagram influencer.
Before I get into the story, one thing I really want to mention here is that Khloe breaks the fourth wall. If you’ve seen TV shows like 'The Office" or "Fleabag", you’ll know what I'm talking about. The fourth wall is basically what separates the story from the real world; a character breaks that wall when they talk directly to the camera, i.e the audience; and Khloe talking to “us” is definitely one of the best things in this series. Her snarky comments to the camera are basically her inner feelings and add so much fun to the story.
In the first episode, Khloe introduces us to the world of Instagram celebrities. She calls herself an Influencer, unlike others, who use the terms “Content Creator” and “Tastemaker” and “Personality” instead. We then see her auditioning for a role in an upcoming movie directed by Bob Chandra (Ebi Shankara), a famous “local director” known for his “relatable, educational and original movies” *smirk*. She goes with her friend, Shannon, a "MeTuber", who ends up getting the role because *insert dramatic gasp* she was hooking up with the lead actor (and Bob Chandra’s best friend), Chris Chan.
So what does she do next? Ruin Shannon’s whole career, of course. Aaaaand does a lot of, um, extreme things so she can get the lead role in the movie.
That’s all I’m gonna say, cuz anymore will just spoil the fun.
Overall, this was a really good series! Sure there were some inconsistencies (the major one being- where are the security cameras???), but the actors were amazing. Not just Hanli but also J Jaikishan, who plays Joshua- a tabloid reporter who’s just waiting for his big break so he can finally write “meaningful” stories.
Another reason I really liked this series is that it made me Think. (I mean, isn’t that the sign of a good story?) While watching this series, I couldn’t help but think of the lyric:
"Persona
Who the Hell am I?"
It's from Map of the Soul: Persona, by BTS. In the song, RM raps about how he needed to keep his real self, Kim Namjoon, separate from his music personality RM.
I feel like the entire series is about that- Who is the real you? To everyone around her (except Joshua, and Bob Chandra I guess, lol), Khloe is a super sweet girl who also has the perfect life- good looks, a TON of IG followers and she’s rich. But the Khloe she shows us is completely different; She’s manipulative, cunning and honestly she really seems to hate everyone around her. She does whatever it takes to keep her image perfect.
There’s this dialogue I always see in rom coms- you know, when the two main characters are having their *moment* and they’re all vulnerable and they say something like “With you, I can just be me” or, “you’re the only one who actually sees me”. Don’t get me wrong, I LIVE for these scenes- but now that I think about it, Is there anyone who you can really be yourself with? Because, I honestly don’t think there is. There will always be something or the other that we edit out or edit in, depending on who we’re with.
*mild spoilers ahead*
The reason why I bring this up is because there’s a character who sees the “real” Khloe, too; Anna (Naomi Yeo), an RJ. She’s the only character who notices Khloe breaking the fourth wall. No one else does. In fact, in the last episode, I don’t think Khloe even looks at the camera, until the very last scene. Huh.
Anyway, I really enjoyed watching this series and definitely recommend it. It's ten- 30 minute long episodes, perfect for a binge-watch.
Here's the link to episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt-n76jlCAE