Sexuality in Korean Dramas
Azmain Taz
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
SDLC 110
Dramas with Gay characters:
Gender Bending Dramas
- Personal Taste (2010)
- Secret Garden (2010)
- Life is Beautiful (2010)
- Daughters of Club Bilitis (2011)
- Answer me 1997 (2012)
- Pretty man (2013)
Girls dressing up as Guys:
Implications of gender bending roles in dramas
- Coffee Prince (2007)
- The Painter of the Wind (2008)
- You’re Beautiful (2009)
- Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010)
- To the Beautiful You (2012)
- Sword and Flower (2013)
- Goddess of Fire (2013)
- Nail Shop Paris (2013)
- A Well Grown Daughter (2013)
- Empress Ki (2013)
- Gender bending dramas generally portray the struggles of a man who suddenly found himself being attracted to a man
- He might even consult a doctor who recommends medicine as a cure for his homosexuality (symbolizes how Koreans feel that it is a curable disease)
- Problem with gender bending dramas is that they show homosexuality as a conflict of the characters
- they indirectly point towards the question that homosexuality exists rather than addressing the existence of it head on,
- it also invalidates the true pain that closeted homosexuals experience because it is used in the gender bender dramas as a comic device or for creating romantic conflict.
Dramas involving homosexuality
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL:
- The directors had to cut off the scenes of the gay couple professing love to each other because of opposition from the church where the scene was shot.
- The viewers also protested strongly against the show. "If my son becomes gay and dies from AIDS after watching 'Life Is Beautiful,' [the network] must take responsibility!"--they wrote in a protest letter.
PRETTY MAN:
- The homosexuality of an actress is used as a threat against her.
Hong Seok Cheon---Korea's First Gay Celebrity
He came out in 2000 by unexpectedly announcing in a TV show that he liked men. Although that part was later edited out of the show, his career was ruined. He was fired from his company and flooded with dead threats. He decided to fight back. He opened gay restaurants and is now a successful businessman. He has also gained public acceptance as he appeared again in national television in 2012, for the first time since 2000. However, his mother still cannot accept his sexual orientation as she said to him that he was in her prayers, that he really could marry a nice Korean girl if he'd only try. Everyone, she said, can change.
On April 21, 2008, Kim Ji Hoo, an actor and model, came out as a gay man on the reality show Coming Out. Shortly after the episode was aired, his personal webpage was filled with messages denouncing his sexuality. His career was ruined and he committed suicide on October 2008.
When Lady Gaga arrived in South Korea for a concert in 2012, there were mass prayers in churches against homosexuality and pornography
“We will pray to God that the concert will not be realized so that homosexuality and pornography will not spread around the country,” said organizer Kang Ju-Hyun.
Homosexuality in South Korea동성애
References:
And Today...
Why is it taboo?
Ignorance or Discrimination
- The biggest problem is ignorance about homosexuality.
- Older generations and people living in the countryside have no idea what gay or lesbian means
- Homosexuality as a disease.
- Parents would admit their gay children to mental institutions or get married to women
- They were not aware of the gay population in South Korea till Hong Seok Cheon came out.
- Since 2000, Korea Queer Festival have been held in South Korea. It started off with only 50 people participating and this year around 20000 are expected to participate in the festival
- Same-sex marriage between Kim Jho Gwang-su, a prominent director, and producer Kim Seung-hwan, CEO of Rainbow Factory, a production house known for its LGBT output.
- Although their marriage license was rejected, they are going to fight for it.
- Confucian traditions are even more strictly followed in Korean society than in the Chinese.
- Confucian family consists of husband and wife and their children
- Being gay means refusing to participate in society, same as the "failure" to give birth to children.
- One-third of Korean people are conservative Christians, Catholics and Protestants who consider gay relationship to be a sin.
http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/homosexuality-in-korea/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Ji-hoo
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/05/world/la-fg-south-korea-gay-activist-20120306
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=7351116&page=2
http://time.com/6575/south-koreas-lgbt-community-is-fighting-for-equal-rights/
http://www.gigwise.com/news/72423/prayer-protest-at-lewd-lady-gaga-south-korea-show