Korea: K- Film, K-Dramas

Every time I go back to Seoul for breaks and such, I am reminded once again how fast Korea transforms and changes. A country that was pretty much much built in less than 60 years, in South Korea, everything moves and revolves so quickly. Not only the infrastructure in Korea, but also the culture as well. In Robison’s chapter, he stated that “Hallyu revitalized the Korean film industry, which rebounded from the humiliating slide and turmoil suffered during the 1980s and the 1990s.” With the successful democratization movement of the late 1980s, South Korea is struggling to keep its traditional values in the face of a rapid growth in national prosperity and standard of living.

Unlike most other countries, where Hollywood films and productions dominate, South Korea’s domestic films dominate the Korean film market. Even with a very slow start, Korean movie industry quickly caught up to the pace of others, with movies like My Sassy Girl and television dramas like Winter Sonata. “The Host” by the director Bong Joon-Ho is still thought to be one of the most successful movie in the Korean film industry. The plot is centered around Park Gang-Du who must save his daughter from a monster terrorizing Seoul. When I was watching this movie, one thing I noticed right away was its blatant anti-American sentiment. Born and raised in Korea, I have always thought Korea had a very favorable view of US. Korea looked towards Western American trends for fashion, music, etc. However, The Host offers the perspective of anti-Americanism that exists in South Korea’s political spectrum. In my opinion, the reason “The Host” was able to break records was yes for its fun and entertaining story line, but also the movie’s ability to mix in history and nationalism in its story.

In terms of international popularity, in my opinion, Korean television shows, or “dramas” have gotten more attention abroad. Most Korean dramas share very similar storylines, plot, and similar character development. I think Korean dramas compared to films have gotten more popular internationally as many popular Korean films tend to focus on Korea’s nationalism (popular movies like Taegukgi Hwinalrimeyeo) while Korean dramas share a more romance, contemporary themes (popular dramas like The Heirs, Boys Over Flowers)

South Korea quickly transformed its country from rural to super urban. Compared to other Asian countries, it has only been short while that South Korea exported and imported foreign culture products in and out of Korea. How do you guys think K-culture has become the global phenomenon it has become today and why K Culture?

It G Ma: Cultural Appropriation or Appreciation?

This week’s reading theme is “Cultural appropriation or appreciation?”. As a MCC student, this question has been discussed many times in multiple classes. However, I have never considered the question in particular to “K-Pop” and Hallyu so it was interesting to think through this particular lens. Everytime this question has been discussed, my question has always been, “Then what is original?” “What isn’t cultural appropriation?” “ “What constitutes “appropriation” of culture?”. In my perspective, appropriation can be either be done well or bad. It can be either cultural appreciation or cultural misappropriation.
Thinking about cultural appropriation through the K-Pop lens, the first thing that I thought of was a controversial song called “IT G MA” by a Korean rapper named Keith Ape. When this song was first released in 2015 it received a lot of mixed reviews globally, as some western listeners accused Keith of severely appropriating the black hip hop culture, some praising Keith’s ability to adopt another culture as his own, and some listeners downright calling the song and the tune messy and everywhere. Personally, when I heard this song for the first time, I thought it was just another western rap music. In my personal opinion, I don’t think “IT G MA” is a imitation of the southern black hip hop culture. I don’t think Keith Ape made the song with the intention of appropriating the southern hip hop culture because he thought it was “cool”, but rather a personalized interpretation of a style of music that is widely pervasive and popular. If you watch the music video of his song, there are small elements of appropriation happening from the African American rap scenes, though I don’t think it to be a bad thing. In my opinion, I don’t think appropriation of culture is a bad thing. Culture travels globally and appropriation can be regarded as the highest form of flattery. With the rise of the internet world, the connectivity of the world has become so close and fast. The practicality of outreach has become so easy and accessible. And if we don’t share and gain inspiration from other cultures, fashions, trends, personalities, and music, then what is the point of all this connectivity? I think 21st century is all about modernity and innovation. We need to be exposed to experiences, people, and trends to continue to make our society exciting and new.
However, I do believe that there is a fine line between culture appropriation and appreciation. Personally, I just don’t know what that line is. What are your opinions?