Globalization
Having yet to watch "My Lovely Samsun," I cannot comment on the drama itself, but what caught might interest while reading this article is the cast of actors and actresses in the show. One is a Korean Australian and the other is a Korean American (bi-racial). Is this unprecedented or have there been other assemblages of cast of characters as such? How are these hyphenated identities being "acted" out in Korean dramas? As we see in the film "Please Teach Me English," there too are characters who possess hyphenated identities. What does it mean to have such characters in Korean productions? Is this part of globalization and if so, how so? I welcome your thoughts and comments. (JK)
posted by KoreanPop@Penn @ 2:32 PM
2 Comments:
There have been quite a few dramas that have actors or characters who are not Koreans or who have multiple nationalities. Still, these actors or characters were never main characters. I think the fact that more actors and characters of this sort are appearing on the drama represents the change in Korean society even though I am not sure whether I can term it as a "globalization." There are simply a lot more foreign nationals and those who at least have internatioanl experiences in Korea, comparing to ten years or even five years ago. I think this kind of trend will continue, and obviously the media will surely reflect the change of the society. (JungYeon Kim)
Recently, a highly rated Korean drama came out called "My Sweet Spy". It featured a biracial main character who was half Korean/half American. Though he featured prominently in the series, his entire dialogue was in English. I've also noticed that more Asian dramas in general, including this one, have started to include English as a part of the main dialogue. As the environments and storylines in Asian dramas become more sophisticated, it is inevitable that English will be featured prominently. "All In" featured international gamblers while "My Sweet Spy" featured international spies. These shows would require Koreans who have a greater mastery of English, and therefore there is a search for more Korean-American actors.
The recent trend in dramas show that while Koreans still enjoy watching their own history and culture (Tae Chang Gum), they are becoming more and more receptive to media that is more "Americanized," and can integrate other languages and cultures within it.
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