"A State of Mind" and our class discussion got me thinking, how much of a reliable source is North Korea? Everything that goes into North Korea is very censored and mediated and I assume that hold true for images and things which come out of the country. So, is what North Koreans say about North Korea true? Speaking out against Kim Jong-Il, North Korea, or its government is probably tantamount to treason, making people extremely cautious and weary about speaking out. In the film, many of the North Koreans seemed to be brainwashed and have completely internalized communist values and anti-Western sentiment, but I wonder how much they actually believe and what is being said simply because they know it has to be said. It's sort of similar to people in the US armed forces, they are not allowed to speak out against our president or the war effort, so when reporters ask, "How do you feel about the war and Bush Admin?" their answers are extremely predictable and make it seems as if all the soldiers are ready and willing to fight.

As far as North Korean and South Korean re-unification, I question how much the middle and upper echelons of North Korean society would be willing to re-unite, since they are not the ones really being effected by any poverty or poor living conditions. South Korea seems to have this almost condescending attitude towards North Korea, or it can seem that way. All those singers coming together for a re-unification song reminded me of Michael Jackson and his "We Are the World" thing back in the 1990s. Acting like North Korea is a helpless child that needs to be cared for might not be the best way to treat the situation, even if it is true.

This sort of, "we don't really need South Korea" attitude by North Koreans I think was SO obvious when we watched the video of Shinhwa perform. These wealthy(ish) Koreans probably were thinking something similar to "We need to be cultured into this?" or "This is what is the better way of life?" At least, that's what I imagine they were thinking.

On a seperate note, I had two interesting experiences over Thanksgiving. The first was over dinner when my mom told a story that when I was little I hated rice, something which everyone thought was really funny. The second was a friend of mine showed me "The Onion's Atlas of the World" which talked about South Korea being number 1 and being number 2, in other words, we are still always overshadowed by other Asian countries. This got me thinking about cultural expectations, what people expect or assume when you tell them that your South Korean. I guess this could relate to our discussion about Korean youth and their ethnic national pride, sort of embracing what Koreans are known to be. Anyone else have any interesting encounters with cultural expectations?