Korean BARBIE???!?
A few weeks ago we watched the drama, "Beautiful Girl Choon H'yang". As it turns out the main character, Han Chae-young is planning to get married in a few months. What shocked me about this article was not the fact that she is getting married, but that she is called the "Barbie" of Korea. I had previously heard about this so called "Barbie Doll" of Korea, but definitely was shocked to find out it was her. She supposedly adopted this nickname due to her gorgeous figure, but I personally still don't understand how the name fits. Other than her chest area, she seems to mimic the body of just about 99 % of all other Korean actresses. I was especially shocked because while watching the drama, I just never noticed that she had a nice body. Is it just me or does everyone else find this nickname to be shocking as well??!??! O.O[Talk of the town]KOREAN ‘BARBIE DOLL’ TO TAKE HER VOWS
Television actress Han Chae-young is planning to get married in May to a financial professional working in a Korean investment company, according to her management agency, Star J Entertainment.Known as the “Barbie Doll of Korea” for her glamorous figure, the 26-year-old actress has been spotted enjoying a recent vacation with her fiance in the United States. “Ms. Han and Mr. Choi Dong-jun met in 1998 when she had just debuted and they have been close friends for eight years,” the agency said in a release. “But it has been six months since they discussed marriage and engaged in a serious relationship. They are planning to hold the wedding in May or June when her movie is done.”Mr. Choi, 30, the son of a wealthy family in Seoul and a graduate of UC Berkley, currently runs a business of his own aside from his post as a financial professional at an investment firm. “He is a sweet man, sincere and reliable,” Han also said in the release. “I watched him for years and I came to believe I could spend a lifetime with him.”
There was also another right underneath this one that talks about Kim Yun-Jin, or better known as Sun from the TV show Lost. I just thought it was interesting to post this since we were discussing in our previous class about whether foreign actresses change their names for the purpose of publicity. Kim Yun-Jin has clearly not changed her birth name and has still been able to be successful in the US. This article states that she has even been awarded within top 30 of world class beauties. If Kim Yun-Jin can do it, why can't Jun Ji-Hyun, especially since she's a lot prettier.
ACTRESS KIM YUN-JIN A ‘WORLD CLASS BEAUTY’Korean actress Kim Yun-jin has been named as one of MSN’s 23 “World Class Beauties.”In an article entitled, “Hollywood is alive with cultural diversity, and these mega-talented stars have us in a trance,” the writer Kati Johnston described Kim as a doe-eyed actress with depth, an accomplished dancer and martial-arts practitioner. “Kim first became well-known to American audiences for her role as Sun on “Lost,” but she was already a huge star in her native Korea, where her nickname is ‘Woman Warrior,’ based on several spy-caper films she’s starred in,” the article said. Other beauties included on the list were Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Halle Berry, Thandie Newton and Penelope Cruz. Among Asian stars, actresses Lucy Liu, Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li have been named.Kim has previously appeared on Barbara Walter’s talk show “The View” and demands to interview her are increasing in the United States, according to her agency. Kim immigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 10. Kim earned her diploma at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. From there, she studied drama at the London Academy of Performing Arts and later earned her acting degree at Boston University.
posted by Jaimmy Chun @ 1:35 PM
4 Comments:
I saw an article that said she got a 7K diamond engagement ring. I'm a bit jealous..just a liiiittleeeee bit. =P
I still don't think we can fault someone for taking on a second name. Many Koreans and Korean Americans have both a Korean and an English name for the sake of convenience. Other immigrants do the two-name thing as well. I obviously don't have an English name, but it's hard for many Americans to deal with my name, even though I think it's fairly straightforward. So, sometimes I do wish I had a name that people didn't stumble over. At the same time, I've made a concession with my Korean name as well: The way my name is pronounced in Korean is not how I pronounce it for English speakers. So, sometimes it feels as though I have two names anyway.
Another thing I was thinking about was Korean stars who use a different name professionally. This is what Jun Ji-Hyun, U;Nee, and others have done. Is this a similar situation to Jun Ji-Hyun changing her name again? What about stars, such as Shinhwa's Andy and Eric, who use English names for their primarily Korean audiences?
This comment has been removed by the author.
Thanks for your interesting post, Jaimmy. As this is a class about Korean Popular Culture, it's nice to be informed and updated in what's really going in Korea's popular media. As a non-Korean interested in Korean culture, this heightens the authenticity of the course, and helps take the learning experience outside the classroom. (I know it sounds cheesy, but bear with me.)
In response to your indignation as to why Han Chae-young is nicknamed the "Barbie" of Korea.. you are right in stating that there is nothing particularly outstanding about her that sets her apart from other Korean actresses.. but I guess certain things about Pop Culture are just irrational.. and as consumers in a hegemonic society, we have to just accept the labels the media distributes, and take it with a grain of salt.
Another interesting point I wanted to highlight in your article is a cultural assessment of the standards of success in both Korean and American societies. The article seems to insinuate that it is befitting for a famous actress to marry an i-banker: both hold vocations which carry status, prestige and economic success. Just taking the microcosm of Penn as an example to illustrate what our culture values: landing a job as an i-banker, consultant or financial analyst is the epidemy of success. More interestingly, is the fact that the i-banker that Han Chae-young is engaged to was educated in one of the top U.S universities (Berkley), before returning to Korean to establish his career. This highlights the pedestal upon which Koreans place the United States and its education system. This also ties in to our earlier section about globalization and the blurring of boundaries between the East and the West.
Post a Comment
<< Home