Just recently I finished a drama series that many people have heard of including my mom. (She's the one who suggested it to me.) The series is called "Coffee Prince" and is pretty much follows the (love)life of a girl who many mistake for boy and the opening of a coffee shop called the Coffee Prince.
This is a typical drama in the sense that there is a complex web of who likes who and the conflicts between all of those relationships. The twist in this movie is that the main character, who is a girl, is mistaken for a boy. A wealthy man (Han Kyul), who originally hires her Eun-Chan (thinking she's a man) to be his lover to get out of blind dates his grandmother sets up, hires her again (not knowing she's a woman) to work at Coffee Prince, and then falls in love with who he thinks is a man. Han Kyul is not gay but is falling in love with Eun-Chan thinking she is actually a he.
So Han Kyul tries to get over Eun-Chan because he doesn't want to be gay, but ends up professing his love to her. While the two are together Han Kyul still struggles with the fact that Eun-Chan is a man, but because he loves her so much, he's happy anyways. Then, he finds out that Eun-Chan is actually a girl. Of course he's initially upset because she lied to him about being a male so his trust in her takes a blow, but eventually he's happy to be with her as a woman. He keeps on saying "I'm glad you're not a man." when he finds out about her real gender.
I know Korea to be not conservative to gays, and I still think that generally holds true. Although Han Kyung professes he likes Eun-Chan when he thinks she's a guy, he's very relieved when he finds out otherwise. Yes the drama brings being homosexuality into the forefront, but it is something that seems to be dreaded in the drama as well as in the Korean culture. The drama shows that Korean pop culture has started to be more aware, but I have yet to be convinced that the culture is accepting of homosexuality.
What do you think?
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5 comments:
My impression of gay culture in Korea is that it has come a long way in the past decade or so. There are some great clubs to be frequented in Seoul. With the advent of the Internet, however, a lot of people stopped coming out to the bars and started meeting people online. There is still a good deal of pressure on men to get married once they turn 30. A gay friend of mine now has two kids, and does not seem completely happy with his life. He does, however, have a sense of satisfaction knowing that he has fulfilled his duty toward his parents to get married and produce grandchildren. You will see a few prominent gay actors and actresses in Korea these days, but I think they are hardly welcomed and opened. At the same time, people don't really care if someone else is gay--they just don't want their own sons and daughters to be gay. To be sure, Korea is not America, but given enough time, I think there will be a day when two men in Korea can live happily together.
I was reminded of your post when watching "Heaven's Soldiers", in which they have a joke scene about homosexuality. The two men are sleeping in the same room and there is a rat, so the man that sees it gets scared and tries to grab the other guy, and then a third man walks in and sees what looks like (or is supposed to look like) the two other men having sex. I can easily see that same scene being shown in an American comedy, but since I don't know anything about acceptance of gays in Korea I thought it was especially interesting.
I believe that Korean popular culture has become more open to the asepct of homosexuality. I also believe that Korean heterosexual men are very comfortable with their own sexuality. For instance, men go to sauna together. Sauna is a place for community showering. In many dramas, you will often see men even scrubbing each others backs. Therefore, I believe that Korea is becoming more progressive towards becoming a bit more liberal
I agree with Eileen that due to the fact that Korean men shower or bathe together in saunas, they appear to have a strong confidence in their sexualities. However, I don't necessarily believe that Korea is becoming progressive towards accepting homosexuality in their culture simply because they bathe with the same sex. As said by seoulstyle.com in one of their articles called "The Naked Truth", "Koreans have been bathing in public for ages and being naked together actually fosters a feeling of camaraderie" (http://www.seoulstyle.com/art_naked.htm). I believe that bathing naked together in saunas may have become more of a weekly routine that Koreans practice rather than a promotion for homosexuality.
I do know that Koreans are slowly beginning to become more "aware" (as Deb points out) of the number of gay communities within the country; as J.T. states, there are a few underground gay clubs in Korea, and perhaps Korea is slowly-but-surely opening up to homosexuality. Although they may not be ready to completely "accept" homosexuality into their culture (since Korea seems to be strong on holding to its traditions and may not be very open to new concepts at first), Korea could one day be just as liberal and open to the idea as any other country.
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