| [ EnglishOnly ] in KIDS 글 쓴 이(By): tivor (the wolf) 날 짜 (Date): 1994년09월16일(금) 07시22분59초 KDT 제 목(Title): about foreigners and korean tv.... i know my post on this topic is very overdue.... but better late than never.... i still felt like writing down what i feel..... let's go over some basic points first. #1. korea is a very ethnocentric, if not racist, society. i know the use of term "racist" is going a bit extreme... but i think it is true. however, i dont think anyone in korea perceives foreigners as being inferior to koreans. rather, koreans are very ethnocentric and very very proud of their ethnic and cultural heritage. further, korea is a very homogenous society. as a result, anyone who does not have roots in the korean society, i.e. foreigners, are seen as outsiders, and koreans are very cold to outsiders. many people in korea are still fighting against the sexist general attitude of the society. i think the racist attitude is here to stay in korea. #2. korean ppl are especially biased against black ppl. i'm noting this point because i remember someone posting why there arent blacks on korean tv. (was it you, wsowa? i gotta go back and check) korean ppl's general bias against black ppl stems from the white supremacist culture of U.S. now what do i mean by that? well, american pop culture has for a long time done a great job of putting down blacks, making them seem inferior to whites. just check out movies or tv shows that are aired in korea. how many black main characters do you see? not a lot. either blacks are villains or sidekicks, a subordinate helper who tags along the white hero character. or worse, they are portrayed as goons or other likewise insignificant characters. none of the koreans paid any attention to that fact, and subconsciously, ppl got the notion that blacks are inferior, or even dangerous. not a surprise there. then comes the LA riot, which is quite recent event. american mass-media, such as CNN, portrayed the event as being the result of disharmony between koreans and blacks, and nothing more. they added to this point by reminding the whole world of a new york incident where a korean shopkeeper shot a black girl in the back. and the korean tv faithfully reported the same thing. now... if white ppl are having hard time appearing on korean tv, how much chance do you think a black person has? #3. many conservative korean ppl are worried about being subject to american cultural imperialism. what is cultural imperialism? well, it means that one culture becomes "superior" so that members of other cultures become subordinate to it. in other words, people lose the heritage of their own culture for the sake of another. now, i believe that culture governs a lot of one's mindset, a way one thinks. becoming subordinate to another culture means giving up your own way of thinking for someone else's way. yeah, i know that sounds a bit extreme, but i believe it so. consider this: many young people of korea (myself sadly included) grow up not learning to appreciate traditional korean arts, like paintings and music. many ppl may argue against this, but i think many of us can critique hollywood movies far better than they can critique a piece of korean traditional music. many ppl have come to regard korea's own arts as mere novelty, something exotic, but not something that is generally accepted and appreciated. western culture has made a great deal of impact in our lives, and in many ways, they were beneficial. however, the western culture also attracted us away from our own culture. and many ppl fear that we may lose our ties with our own culture. a recent korean movie "life of a hollywood kid" (featuring choi min-soo and dok-go young-jae) made viewers think about the significance of the bombardment of american culture in korea (although i thought the movie's plot could have been tighter). (see? i'm critiquing movies) so you say, "just having foreigners appear on korean tv does not mean that we're succumbing to their cultural imperialism" and you're right. i think koreans like to push things to the extreme, and that's why you often dont see any foreigners on korean tv shows. =) oh heck... i think i wrote too long...... hey, wake up. i'm done. well, if anyone wants to further push this discussion to extreme =) i'll be ready to put my two cents worth here. (where does that expression originate from, anyway? that "two cents worth" stuff) i like these discussions here.... helps me to think and clarify my own opinions... so that i can use them to write papers in my racism class. =))) hehehehe Tivor the Wolf who majors in Human Service Studies (huh?) jcp2@cornell.edu "A Beast I am, lest a Beast I become." |