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Project Makeover
Movie

Project Makeover

2007 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

An unhappy woman goes back in time and poses as her cousin to prevent her younger self from making the same mistakes and ruining her future.

Overall Series Review

The film centers on Na Jung-ju, an unhappy 30-year-old woman who blames her current life failures on a high school romance. She gets a chance to travel back in time to prevent her younger self from making the same romantic mistake, intending to steer her toward a successful, wealthy classmate instead. The narrative is a time-travel romantic comedy focusing purely on the protagonist's personal ambition and regret. The story is set in South Korea with a culturally homogeneous cast and centers on universally human themes of personal choice, financial ambition, and the wisdom of accepting one's past choices. The movie concludes with a lesson on appreciating the path that led to the present, regardless of its imperfections. The themes of race, systemic oppression, alternative sexualities, and religion are entirely absent from the plot's core conflict, making the film's focus squarely on individual agency within a traditional romantic framework.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The movie is a South Korean production featuring a culturally homogeneous cast, with the conflict rooted in the protagonist's personal regret over a high school boyfriend versus a wealthy classmate. The story does not feature Western concepts of race-based intersectionality, forced diversity, or the vilification of any ethnic group. Character merit is judged by personal success and wealth, which is the main goal of the time-travel mission.

Oikophobia1/10

The plot's conflict is entirely personal, focusing on the protagonist's individual life choices and desire for personal financial security. The time-travel story concludes with a theme of appreciating the past and the present life it created, which is an affirmation of one's own life journey and avoids any message of civilizational self-hatred or demonization of ancestors. The setting and culture are treated as a neutral backdrop.

Feminism4/10

The female protagonist is a strong agent in the narrative, actively taking control of her life by traveling through time to secure a better future. However, her primary goal is to secure a financially successful male partner (a wealthy businessman), which is a traditional pursuit that contradicts the 'career is the only fulfillment' trope. The male characters are flawed (the singer is a bad boyfriend, the businessman is a target for wealth), but they are not universally depicted as bumbling idiots or purely toxic, earning a moderate score for the centering of female agency toward a traditional, finance-focused goal.

LGBTQ+1/10

The core of the movie is a heterosexual love triangle in a high school setting, centered on dating and traditional romance. The narrative contains no elements of queer theory, deconstruction of the nuclear family, or promotion of gender ideology. Sexuality is treated as a private matter that is a natural part of a high school relationship.

Anti-Theism1/10

The movie is a secular time-travel fantasy comedy. The plot does not contain any religious themes or messages, making no attempt to critique Christianity or any other traditional faith. Morality is framed around the secular lesson of accepting one's past choices rather than a subjective 'power dynamics' lecture.