Monday, 7/30, morning session - Suk-Young Kim, UCLA

[Jane Shen]

Hi Donna,

When I was little, I did not understand the political message, but by watching the " Flower Girl", I still could understand the same family value with Chinese and Korean share in common. When watching these films again now, of cause the political message is clear, and both China and NK has the common political enemies in that period of time-USA and Japan. And if you watch some Chinese movies made in the same periods, you can see many in common or almost same besides the languages and the costumes.

[Jessica Rodarte]

This morning's lectures by Dr. Kim were fascinating.  Before coming here, I really knew nothing about North Korean film and K-pop.  I was aware of the existance of both, but was truly missing the social, economic, and political implications of both.  

• Seeing the way in which North Korean film was used both to entertain and to educate/inculcate, made me very curious about the way in which our own cinematic tradition is both entertainment and a tool to inculcate a particular national narrative.  I was also very struck by the use of language, visuals, and angles to sell particular narratives.  Again with this, it makes me wonder, how much these strategies or forms are used in our own cinematic tradition.
• With the K-pop lecture, I was struck by the way in which the talent agencies mirror or emulate the factory system of the western world.  They reproduce not just the idea of a product, but the labor forms and conditions.  Like with the factory system, it is the owners that make a lot of money and it is the workers who not only lose control of their freedom and decision making, but who in some way are stripped of personhood in exchange for a standardized look and behavior designed and decided by the "factory".  K-pop artists are not artists in the traditional sense.  They are products produced for global consumption using particular models and norms.

[Jane Shen]

I think that Kim Jong-Il who supervised the film making was using the universal family value that could be resonated be all audiences. The long child crying could manupulate the audience in to sympathy, furious, then turn this emotion in to anger towards the source of the tragedy, the landlord ( rich Korean masters) and the Japanese police who defended only the rich landlord's rights.

[Midori Sanchez]

What was the turning point in the lecture for you would you say? I'm curious!

[Zoey McKinney]

Starting with Dr. Kim's lecture on North Korean cinema was very effective because it is definitely the topic I know the least about, and have the least experience with. One of the biggest takeaways for me was the importance of looking at an issue from both sides. Of course we try to teach this already, as we want our students to be aware of bias and critical of the media they are consuming, but I personally have always thought about these lessons in terms of more controversial topics, e.g. the pros and cons of the California missions (which we study in our 4th grade curriculum). Dr. Kim made me realize that issues that seem more straightforward have another side that needs to be examine as well. By this I mean that American popular opinion of North Korea is pretty consistent. It wouldn't really occur to me to stage a debate about it because we pretty much hear the same message from the various American sources. However, exploring the North Korean perspective today showed that I myself was quick to make assumptions without really looking at the other side. "Choe Hak Sin Family," the movie showing an American soldier shooting a Korean woman, was really interesting in that regard. I think viewing it alone, I would have dismissed it as anti-American propaganda (which it certainly is), but today we also looked at why that anti-American attitude exists and what the full historical context is. 

On another note, it was interesting to learn that the difficulty in studying North Korean film lies not in availability, since the Library of Congress has a large collection, but in language, since the movies are not subtitled. The films we watch are often created to appeal to the broadest possible audience, so it's interesting to think about an industry that does the opposite - creates films solely for its own population's consumption, with separate films created for the rest of the world. 

[Shad Springer]

As a sixth grade teacher, one of the most accessible components of this morning's presentation for me was the excerpt of the film "Lazy Pig". Common Core standards for sixth grade literature requires students to compare and contrast texts with audio, film, or other versions of the story. With this in mind, I think "Lazy Pig" would be an excellent source to use when asking the students to compare and contrast its thematic elements with, say, The Three Little Pigs. Both stories extol the virtues of working hard and, indeed, feature porcine characters. (In the Three Little Pigs, the first two pigs could be perceived as receiving their just desserts for having built shoddy, inferior houses out of straw and sticks.) The endings, however, naturally differ dramatically with the other farm animals turning on the poor beast in "Lazy Pig" while the third pig welcomes his friends in his solid home built of brick in the Three Little Pigs. Literature is replete with stories lauding hard work and perseverance, so "Lazy Pig" could make for a good contrasting story with just about any story we read in class. 

The K-Pop video "Twinkle" has a number of potential teaching points when connecting with Common Core standards related to the visual arts. Standard 1.4 asks students to describe how balance is effectively used in art. "Twinkle" uses symmetry a number of different times, from the twin staircases curving to the stage floor to the balanced arrangements of the background singers and dancers and even the gaggle of photographers. 

[Martin Castillo]

I grew up buying some of my favorite rock and roll groups' Live album performances in Budokan, Japan. My introduction to Asia was through music in my early teens. My next cultural exposure was J-Pop. As a young adult my perception of Asian entertainment was solely based on my Japanese experience.
Not until watching the series Reply 1997 was my interest reignited in Asian entertainment. Though the hallyu was in full force my interest was in Korean rock bands, especially Deli Spice. Teaching middle schoolers history forced me to reevaluate my interests.
Dr. Kim's lecture gave me ideas on how to perhaps use K-Pop as a hook to introduce my students to modern aspects of Korea. A good parallel would be the K-Pop industry and American sports. Every young man and lady wants that multi million dollar contract and endorsements that come with talent and fame. Nothing comes easy, and everything has a price.

[clay dube]

Hi Folks, 

I'm sure the subtitles won't be as idiomatic as Prof. Kim's, but there's a subtitled version of Flower Girl available here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey2fvPtBsiA

Happy viewing!

 

[clay dube]

Jane mentioned a popular song from the 1984 film Love, Love My Love. I don't know if this is it, but it could be: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ-QOnCco18

[Courtney Hendrix]

The part of Professor Kim's lecture that was interesting for me was how the films evolved and had different roles in North Korea. For example, I had not thought about the idea that they would have been such a novelty in the beginning and because of that easier to draw a crowd despite the strong political messages that were the basis of the majority. It would be an interesting subject matter to bring up with my students who are so media focused to see if they pick up on the hidden messages especially of the animated piece or if they would just see that one as a cute animation just as most children would. I would also like to use the short clips in comparison in my Visual Arts classroom to show the students the evolution of the films and how the visuals can change the feeling or create a tone in the film. 

[Courtney Hendrix]

I also connect to what you said about the K-pop artists not being artists in the traditional sense and how majorly produced every aspect of them are in the sense that not all may even have the talents portrayed but chosen based on looks to fit the genre the company is trying to portray. It was eye opening for me also how short lived the K-pop star's careers were and how they have an 'expiration date' regardless of their success level during the high point of their careers. 

[Robyn Charles]

I am very excited by the information I gained regarding the History of North Korean Film and am both excited and frustrated that the Library of Congress holds an extensive collection of North Korean Films but unfortunately, most do not have subtitles. 

After reviewing the information presented I am excited to craft a lecture (or unit) entitled Deconstructing the "Message Film."  North Korea found its niche in cinema with Propaganda films that were culturally introduced in 1945-1948 by Soviet Occupation – Soviet advisors brought a team of filmmakers and a studio to North Korea - but by the 1950s – 1970s – film becomes an important part of educating North Korean children from a very young age.  With film as an integral part of the curriculum, indoctrination by film allowed for easy distribution of a constructed product to a controlled audience by artists/filmmakers were mere workers that served the collective good and did not express their individual art.  I would love to view examples of these films with my students and discuss the power of (or critique) the "message," the role of the filmmaker(s), auteurs as the messenger in order critically debate whether or not films should have a message or express the point of view.  And if they do express a point of view, who's point of view should they express? The Filmmaker/Artist?  The Production Studio?  Cultural and Societal Norms? The Government?  After what I hope to be a heavy discussion we will then take a look at Hollywood films and "the formula."  We will analyze the similarities and the differences between North Korean propaganda films and Hollywood's "formula."  Do they both convey a message or multiple messages (how they are cast, who is deemed good vs. evil, the ethnicity of flat characters, etc.), do both types of films follow a formula, what is the "point" expressed in of each film, etc.

As discussions evolve we will take a look at a couple of examples of North Korean films in which by the 1980s the films are more entertainment driven letting go of the "message" of serving the greater good and moves into the realm of acknowledging love or individual desires as what drives the characters.  We will compare these films to romantic comedies or films like The Adjustment Bureau.

I hope that after analyzing these films we can circle back to the notion of artists and filmmakers anonymously serving a collective good contrasting the "auteur theory" of U.S. filmmaking.  The positives and negatives, whether some should be given "credit" for their work and if so to what extent does someone have to dictate how that work is made.  Once a healthy dialogue has begun, I would like to challenge my students again with the Hollywood Formula. Whether or not the Hollywood Formula imposes a filmmaking model and under this model, who's view point is being expressed?  The Filmmaker/Artist?  The Production Studio? Cultural and Societal Norms? Or, the Government?  What and how is the line drawn?  Does a film have to be a propaganda film in order to indoctrinate?

[Robyn Charles]

I really enjoyed the K Pop Lecture and I think it will make a wonderful addition to discussion centered on the role of social media creating a global society.  I think it is a fun and energizing way to discuss how we define culture in a society where culture is shared.  K Pop provides an amazing opportunity to explore the microevolution of culture through a very specific experience.   As the amalgamation of every culture expressed through the South Korean lens, marketed globally but dependent upon success in a Japanese market for survival by way of the constructed "entertainment machine" in which true individual artistic evolution and expression is negated so that like South Korean filmmakers and artists several workers serve the collective good (of the group but ultimately the label) and do not express their individual art.  This again would be great discussion points for whether or not an imposed model or formula is good.  (K-Pop has a global fan base.)   Whose viewpoint is being expressed?  The Label?  Has music become propaganda in order to indoctrinate cultural and societal norms? If so, whose culture and whose society?

 

[Robyn Charles]

Hollywood is no longer the end all and be all of cinema. China has proven it could build and cater to not only its own audience but garner and compete for international attention with its own films and with its own stars.  As part of a lecture series on Hollywood rise to superpowerdome, we will look at how World War I descimated the film industry in Europe, Hollywood was able to flourish.  Students will evaluate how Hollywood has maintained its dominance until now.  With China's ascent as a global filmmaking force in its own right it is impacting how even Hollywood films are being made, students will be looking toward the future of filmmaking and how to participate in this ever evolving global market place.

[Anthony Pollard]

     First of all, this study of North Korean cinema is a depiction of the North Korean lifestyle not widely publicized. Professor Kim shared a few cinematic clips which she stated is an illustration of actual situations in the history of North Korea. Additionally, Professor Kim emphatically informed us, we are actually able to locate visual recordings of North Korea cinema through the Library of Congress by simply preforming a search.

     For the American Literature course I teach, regularly, I provide some type of anecdote which causes students to infer the relevance of the information they learn. The Korean War is referenced in our American history, which students simultaneously learn with American literature. So, as students learn American literature, they decide how it applies to their lifelong learning. Historical contexts are an important part of interpreting American literature. North Korean cinema is visual representation for which our students are not exposed, as a result, they are not given an opportunity to include the North Korean experience in their interpretation of the American literature written about war. For example, North Korean pain inflicted by American forces during the war resulted in North Korea logic dictating the USA as a primary enemy of North Korean values (Professor Kim). One of these values is figuratively illustrated cinematically through the visual recording called Lazy Pig (1969). When students can be exposed to North Korean cinema like Lazy Pig in the course of their American literaure study, they have an opprotunity to discuss a wider range of interpretations of literature, from different perspectives.

     At first, it seemed difficult to learn about North Korea cinema because we are taught to disregard anything North Korean, but Professor Kim's exposition about North Korean cinema, illustrated North Korean feelings too.

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