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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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dnamkung
Joined: 09 Apr 2004
Location: Victoria British Columbia
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 Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 8:54 am Post subject: Koreans... more romantic/emotional than the west? |
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Being a Korean/Canadian/American, i've watched plenty of both korean and western dramatic movies.
I've noticed that the korean movies i've watched.. i think one might have been peppermint candy for example, have all been incredibly emotional, where the guys are very sappy, etc etc..
just talking to my korean guy friends, they are so muich more emotional and sappy than my canadian friends..
anyone agree/disagree with me?
Girls are the same case i find.. crazy emotional korean girls. they scare the hell out of me.  |
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kiwiboy_nz_99
Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Location: ...Enlightenment...
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 9:15 am Post subject: |
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| Don't confuse being emotional with being neurotic ... |
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Hardy Boy
Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Location: I live in a shoe. Made in B.C., Northern Vancouver Island
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 9:18 am Post subject: Re: Koreans... more romantic/emotional than the west? |
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| dnamkung wrote: |
| korean and western dramatic movies... korean movies... have all been incredibly emotional, where the guys are very sappy, etc etc.... they are so muich more emotional and sappy... Girls are the same case...crazy emotional korean girls. they scare the hell out of me |
Emotional men in many Korean movies beat up their girlfriends and kill their lovers.
I am amazed at how twisted and morally bankrupt are some Korean films.
The "girls" in many are childishly helpless or naggingly vindictive. The men get angry and hurt others all the while looking more pained by it than those they are hurting.
Have you seen the one where he and she make love and then sit on the bed embraced lovingly, then he slowly chokes her to death? Or the one where the guy ties up a woman and then yells at her for ten minutes of the film before stabbing her to death when she tries to get away? Or the one where the man cries before visiting the girl and then hides his emotion as they kiss and have sex and then he suffocates her with a pillow? Or the one where the camera is entirely from the man's perspective (as if the camera were the eyes) as he chases the girl up a sidestreet, hits her a bit, she runs farther, he hits her some more, she stumbles further before he chokes her to death? Or the one...
And these were on T.V.!! OMG.
I don't understand Korean but I understand violence and there's a whole lot of emotional Korean men killing or abusing Korean women or girls in Korean cinema.
So, if you're going to compare Korean movies with Western movies in terms of emotional men and women, I'd say there's no comparison. |
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dnamkung
Joined: 09 Apr 2004
Location: Victoria British Columbia
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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holy crap. no i haven't.
sorry, i didn't mean national media,
but i meant people in general.. but i guess i did forget to take the domestically violent tendancies of korean men.
touche. |
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indiercj
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 3:15 pm Post subject: |
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| dnamkung wrote: |
holy crap. no i haven't.
sorry, i didn't mean national media,
but i meant people in general.. but i guess i did forget to take the domestically violent tendancies of korean men.
touche. |
You won't get any valuable answers here. Yes, Koreans are more emotional. There's some good side and bad side in this. But most people posting here have some fixed negative image about Korea(nealy in a state of being possessed) that they can't get one little step further. You won't get the big picture here.
They think "HellBoy" kinda character to be cool, to be a real men. Ask your question here instead. People there seem to be more interested in Korean society in general. Not many posters there live in Korea but the level of understanding Korean society is somewhat deeper IMO. |
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| indiercj wrote: |
| They think "HellBoy" kinda character to be cool, to be a real men. Ask your question here instead. People there seem to be more interested in Korean society in general. Not many posters there live in Korea but the level of understanding Korean society is somewhat deeper IMO. |
Did you just suggest that people who have had no actual experience with Korean society are more likely to understand the culture of Korean society simply because they watched a few films? Or by extention, are you suggesting that Korea society is better represented by films than by actually experiencing it? |
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indiercj
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Gord wrote: |
| indiercj wrote: |
| They think "HellBoy" kinda character to be cool, to be a real men. Ask your question here instead. People there seem to be more interested in Korean society in general. Not many posters there live in Korea but the level of understanding Korean society is somewhat deeper IMO. |
Did you just suggest that people who have had no actual experience with Korean society are more likely to understand the culture of Korean society simply because they watched a few films? Or by extention, are you suggesting that Korea society is better represented by films than by actually experiencing it? |
Not exactly. But they tend to be more open to any source of information on Korean society(some of the main posters there frequently visited Korea and knows a lot of Koreans)while here some people sound like being stuck forever on some of their limited ugly experiences.
As the original poster seemed to be asking for an answer to "why is it..." kind of question on Korea(Not the "They are f*cked up isn't it?" kind of rant), I just thought open people's opinions would help him more. |
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Hardy Boy
Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Location: I live in a shoe. Made in B.C., Northern Vancouver Island
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| Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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The original poster was talking primarily about emotional men and women in Korean movies NOT in Korean society. I responded with a critical observation of one aspect of Korean movies based entirely on the horrific observations I've made. I cited several examples and I avoided overgeneralizations.
Several films have been disturbing for me, especially because of the connection between emotion and violence. In American movies the killers are often portrayed as unemotional and detached, or at least he usually ends up dead himself or in jail. I haven't seen that with the emotional men in Korean movies who hurt women.
Now, if anybody else has been bothered by that aspect of emotionality in Korean cinema, or wishes to put it in a broader context, so be it.
That point aside, I don't think films are a good reflection of a whole society. The op may have been reaching a bit in drawing a connection between the two. But he, like I, was making a point based on his observations. He noticed that Korean men and women are very emotional in Korean films; and he noticed likewise among those Koreans he knows personally. So, he was trying to discern a general characteristic about Koreans in general. I won't do so but I'll speak about my experience with Koreans personally.
My best Korean friend is a man who I've called a friend for years now and I'm surprised how openly emotional he can be when with me in a room away from the general public. He's come over to my place and started crying within minutes about his girlfriend. I try to comfort him but I'm not used to the open expression of emotion. Back in Canada, guy friends would finish their first drink and second, third and fourth before acting likewise. It does scare me sometimes. Once he said he would commit suicide if she left him, which she had threatened, and I wasn't sure what to make of it. I try to just be there for him, hugging his shoulders, saying it'll all work out, focus on the positive and offer him a drink.
Is my Korean friend overly emotional or typical of Korean men? I don't know. There's a certain composure maintained by even him in public, so I don't know how hot is the lava below the surface. But I am often surprised at how quick some Koreans can get angry or sad. I think it's just because I don't understand the context, so it always seems surprising when a person gets emotional in public. But as I said, it doesn't happen often. The vast majority of Koreans I meet in public only show emotions by laughing or looking mildly irritated.
I think the op should know that he'll find Koreans on the street aren't as weepy or angry as in Korean cinema, as far as I can tell. dnamkung, have you heard a lot of Korean music? Emotions of love and heartbreak are widespread in the music here, in the many ballads that are popular. |
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