April 14, 2024 원숭인의 텔레비전

원숭인의  텔레비전  [ Korean TV ] has become a favorite pastime for me (I haven’t watched American TV in years except those programs that appear on Netflix.) I enjoy 원숭인의 

텔레비전 because an entire story of the characters is usually told in one season of about 16 episodes (each episode lasting from 45 minutes to an hour and a half), the actors are generally very skilled, the main characters (especially in romantic dramedies) are often exceptionally beautiful, and the scripts are usually excellent. The writing on a large percentage of the shows presented to American audiences is on a par with Frasier at its best.

I have learned a lot about their culture, and about human relationships, within the confines of Korean familial culture, conglomerates, and politics. “Politics” is everywhere and not confined to government organizations; “cultural” politics is exemplified in the social hierarchy described below.

This is the way I travel the world, by watching shows from Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, South America, Japan, Turkey and other countries. I love seeing not only the natural environment of these disparate places, but also their architecture, politics, culture, cuisine, and the  everyday products used. I notice a great deal of “product placement” in 원숭인의  텔레비전.

Of all the countries I have so visited, I find that Korea has the most beautiful scenery in the temperate zone with no ice-capped mountains, and the most fascinating, although repressive, culture. If we are to believe that television shows depict the reality of the lives of the people with some accuracy, there are a few things that really stand out. Note that these observations are extremely generalized regarding the shows and their characters.

1. Across the entire socioeconomic stratum of society, the culture appears to be highly patriarchal. Women seem to get the short end of the stick at every turn; however, men seem highly protective of the women in their personal lives. Or is it possession and control?

1. It is difficult for the non-monied Korean to find what we would consider to be “normal” employment. There is a large percentage of the population who work more than one job as “part-timers.” This economic strata is what we would call the “working poor” here in the US. “Basically, all job seekers who are poor should just die” Unlock My Boss 

1. Gaining admission to university or a non-temp job, no matter if the job is prestigious or not,  is highly dependent on who your family is, what position they hold in society and how much wealth they have. 

1. Housing standards vary widely, with the 1% having amazing mansions and most others living in very small apartments, studios, or rooftop apartments, which may or may not have the amenities we take for granted, such as adequate insulation, heating, air conditioning or even plumbing. However, it seems that most housing, other than that of the 1%, has heated floors, and the occupants sleep there with blankets. By some of the housing portrayed, there does seem to be a small middle class.

1. Debt is everywhere. There are very few non-monied Koreans who are not struggling with debt. Many times, it seems, in vain.
   

2. In general, there is a strict social hierarchy. One who is older than another, or who has a more exalted rank in their position through family, wealth or job title, is even permitted to physically abuse their “juniors.” Kicking of the shins by seniors is a common way to “teach a lesson to” or “discipline” juniors. If these shows really are a mirror to their society, such kicking happens almost exclusively by men against men; however, it seems that junior women can, at times, be treated in the same fashion. This social hierarchy has rules that include how low you bow to another person and what level of formality is used in speaking. There are seven levels of speech, from extremely formal to casual, and speaking “casually” to someone is forbidden unless they are your junior or unless such casual language is agreed to between the parties. It is an afront to speak casually unless these standards are met. Often, characters ask one another in what year they were born. This social hierarchy also extends to school, where even first graders are obsessed with the social status of their peers. Bullying at levels of violence from mild to extremely brutal, is hierarchically based and occurs regularly. Being an orphan, or not having one parent, is blamed on the child, and is a social stigma, in school, and employment.
   

3. There appears to be a strict moral code regarding sexuality: often adult characters still live in the parental home and are still virgins in their thirties; however, country people marry and leave the parental home earlier than their urban counterparts. Unless there is an abandonment of the child or the parents are abusive, the shows usually have families intact until the sons and daughters marry. Unwed mothers are treated with contempt and deviations from the heterosexual “norm” are barely tolerated. Among those who are not of the 1%, divorce appears to be stigmatizing.
   

4. There also seems to be an unwritten rule that parents own their children. They have the final say on whom they marry, especially within the 1%, and on too many shows, children are abandoned at a young age. It seems that parents are not required by law to provide for them. There does not seem to be much state-sponsored support for these abandoned children; they live in the streets and support themselves through part time jobs or joining gangs.
   

5. Many of the shows seen by American audiences on Netflix are romantic dramedies that have several actions in common, which I find highly amusing: The man “rescues” the woman from colliding with other people or objects, inadvertent touching of the lips from falling on top of each other, inviting the other party to eat reman noodles, and sleeping in the same room, ala “It Happened One Night” with Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable. It seems, through these programs at least, that touching each other at all is scandalous and causes embarrassment and discomfort. The one upon whom a kiss or a hug is suddenly bestowed is generally unresponsive until there is a defined relationship between them. In rom-coms with a distinctly urban setting and having more monied characters, there is more sexually based action, and less of this romantic angst. 
   

6. There are a great many shows that are about, directly or tangentially, the Joseon period. The usual other genres are offered: cop shows, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and thrillers of one kind or another.

 Some Korean history  - because Koreans seem obsessed by it:

Joseon, officially the Great Joseon, was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. 

The middle Joseon period was marked by intense and bloody power struggles between political factions that weakened the country, and large-scale invasions by Japan and Manchu nearly toppled the kingdom.

As an aside, I wonder whether the common Korean greeting of “have you eaten?,” the obsession with food, and eating some things that seem horrendous to ingest, began with the starvation of the people during these times. It had to start sometime...

The Joseon dynasty saw a consolidation of royal power over Korea, the promotion of Confucian ideals and doctrines in Korean society, an adoption of Chinese culture, and a golden age of classical Korean culture, trade, science, literature, and technology.

The extreme social rules regarding hierarchy, speech and gesturing respect though bowing seems to have begun in the Joseon, and is still practiced today.

The House of Yi, also called the Yi dynasty (also transcribed as the Lee dynasty), was the royal family of the Joseon dynasty and later the imperial family of the Korean Empire, descended from the Joseon founder Yi Seong-gye. All of his descendants are members of the Jeonju Yi clan.

Korea had the longest unbroken chain of slavery of any society in history, spanning about 1,500 years, because of a long history of accepted transitions of power by the people, and socially stable societies through the hierarchical system. The slave population declined to 1.5% by 1858. Slavery was legally abolished in 1895 but existed until 1930.

One could argue that it still exists in the temp-job strata, where even getting paid for work can be dicey.

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