When talking about the Korean Wave in class, I remembered that my friend Cuong is a fan of some Korean dramas. I was intrigued about the whole hallyu phenomenon so I decided to briefly interview him on the subject.
Allison: What parts of hallyu do you follow? (TV shows, movies, music)
Cuong:I follow Movies and TV shows.
A: How did you get interested in hallyu?
C: It's a long story, actually. As a family we've always watched tv shows and movies that were foreign, ie from China/Hong Kong/Japan/ and of course, Korea. My mom is a huge fan of tv shows from Korea and that's how I started watching it. It's really just grown from watching what my parents watch to finding what I want to watch.
A: How do Korean television programs differ from U.S. shows?
C: One of the most basic differences is that a Korean program begins with an end-date where U.S. shows hope to "last". A Korean TV show is filmed with a specific number of episodes to air before the show is over. Sometimes when a show does really well, they'll extend it by a couple of episodes.
A: Do you think hallyu could have mass appeal to U.S. consumers?
C: I definitely think so, the reasons why Korean shows/movies are so fun to watch is because they're equal parts whimsical and dramatic, I've watched movies that have plots that are probably deemed "unreal" for U.S. TV/movies.
A: American entertainment exports have often been accused of promoting American values like capitalism and individualism. What values do you think hallyu promotes?
C: Hallyu promotes family values, your standard good/bad and, as corny as it sounds, overcoming adversity.
A lot of what Cuong brought up was echoed in the Youna Kim article, "The rising East Asian 'Wave'". When talking about South Korea's most popular television show, Winter Sonata, Kim mentions that it showcases "love in its purest form". Kim believes Americans would have a hard time embracing an 'old-fashioned' love story; that, as Cuong says, it would seem unreal.
The article also touches upon the values behind Korean shows, such as "family values and traditional emotive delicacies", saying that "Asian sensibilties" are part of what makes the shows so popular. The Joseph Chan article suggests that Americans do not relate to stories of filial piety, or as it's called in China, xiaodao. Chan describes how Disney changed the story of Mulan from a tale of familial duty to one of fierce individualism. If family values don't sell in the U.S., it would suggest that the Korean Wave might not be able to cross the pacific. But I find it interesting that my friend describes Korean shows as more whimsical than American television. With programs like Glee making a dent in the ratings, it seems to me that Americans are looking for more whimsy in their television; maybe the United States could be hallyu's next big market.
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I definitely think that the U.S. could use some mainstream foreign language television shows. Certain foreign films have proven to be popular in the States, so why can't TV? Many American shows do promote values such as family and overcoming adversity, although these shows were more dominant in the 80s and 90s with shows like "The Cosby Show" and "Roseanne".
ReplyDeleteNowadays, with the rising popularity of cable networks, many television programs deal with much darker material, such as prostitution, drugs, depression, serial killing, etc. I feel that a non-English language show with heavy themes and storylines would be more successful than hallyu. I feel that American audiences would reject hallyu as soap opera and not appreciate it. Then again, I had no faith in "Glee" and now it's the number one new show on any network, I believe?
Many shows, even on primetime, have started incorporating international characters who speak their native languages. This has been done on "24", "Lost", "Heroes", and will surely be a continuing trend. Perhaps one day our televisions will be full of channels, all with English subtitles at the bottom of the screen.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with what you are both saying....
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, we are definitely in desperate need of more "whimsical" shows because, as Thomas said, most of our shows are dark; very "Law-and-Order-esque". However, I find myself drawn to these types of shows because, let's face it, we like watching shows with action, murder, and mystery. "24" is one of the best examples, being one of the most watched television shows right now. My friend made me watch an episode of "Glee" the other day and I found myself bored. Do I really need an action-packed, gory, and dark show to catch my attention? I think eventually the hallyu phenomenon will catch on because people will become sick of all the violent TV shows, but for now, I think we will continue to watch the same kinds of shows and pay less attention to the more whimsical ones.