Bidam: Be Still My Heart

(Bidam – hotter when he’s holding a sword and styled like a Shilla warrior god)

I am currently watching Bad Guy – which is not as good as I had hoped, but better than the average fare currently airing. I’m sticking with Bad Guy, primarily because it stars Kim Nam Gil. Perhaps its a mixture of heightened expectations mixed with the reality of it being a different sort of role, but Kim Nam Gil is nowhere near as astronomically hot as he was in Queen Seon Deok. I’ve also just finished watching Goodbye Solo, where Kim Nam Gil was not only NOT hot, he was boring and his acting was hardly anything to write home about. I also watched Kim Nam Gil in his minor role in Be Strong Geum Soon, where he looked about 16 years old and blended into the woodwork. Poor Bidam!

(Bidam – looks good day or night – somber or playful)

It goes to show that even the best thespians need the right roles, and a role that’s not right will often dampen the brightness of our favorite actor or actress. Bad Guy appears a tailor-made vehicle for Kim Nam Gil, and I hope the writing and character development continue to improve and creates a drama that is both interesting and challenging for all the actors involved.

(With his long hair flowing and wearing all black, how in Drama God’s name do you want me to believe he’s in a sageuk!)

With that said, I discovered that I was missing not Kim Nam Gil, but his alter-ego, Bidam from Queen Seon Deok. All those wuxia dramas I’ve been watching only reminded me how Bidam was a character ripped straight from a Louis Cha novel and dropped into a sageuk. He mixed up the genres and created an indelible performance that was so riveting, history was changed and Deokman ended up professing her love for him (as opposed to treating him like the stalker creep he was and having his man-parts cut off).

(Real men don’t cry, they tear up like Bidam)

What I loved about Bidam as a character was that he was so tragic, yet at every juncture he engaged the viewers sympathies. Even when he was in the wrong, we wished that he was in the right. It was unfortunate that Bidam’s popularity overshadowed all the other characters (except for Mishil), but it was inevitable when the drama turned broody and mopey in the second half. Bidam was the only person with an ounce of energy left, and his was the story I was dying to see reach its conclusion, however fitting. If I could have made a sageuk about Bidam, I would have.

(You can’t be Bidam and not rock a bow and arrow – also used to shoot me right through the heart with love for you)

Bidam was tragic hero that was part circumstance-driven, and part self-created. Queen Seon Deok was an uneven drama that was more boring than exciting, but anytime Bidam appeared I stopped fast-forwarding and starting oogling. Bidam is my type of wuxia hero – angsty, full of self-doubt which manifests itself as haughty arrogance, dying for a woman to love him, and above all else, a fearless warrior. It’s impossible to describe the allure of Bidam, but I’ve seen enough sagueks to know this type of saguek male lead rarely, if ever, is created. Sageuk guys are notorious straight-arrows. Bidam is a rule-breaker.

(Pissed-off Bidam is even hotter, especially when he’s about to go postal on his opponent)

For that, I devote an entire post to Bidam! Kim Nam Gil is off to the army in a few weeks, and who knows what he’ll be like when he returns. But he, and we, will always have Bidam. I won’t ever re-watch Queen Seon Deok, but these pictures will make me happy forever. And just as an added bonus, have an MV all about Bidam and his kickass ways.

(The MV is titled Bidam’s Sword Dance – I think its self-explanatory what the MV is about)