[ParkLisa]

A lot of beauty products, whether Korean or Western, don't really do anything. Wrinkles don't disappear, yet, people buy in hopes that the product will diminish some wrinkles. Surgery will not make someone look pretty/handsome the way they think it will and defintely will not change the person's life. Maybe they will get more dates in the beginning, but the inner core of that person will be the same. What Korea is doing well is selling products through K-dramas and K-pop stars. Through the dramas, the audience sees the make ups being used and sees the actors who have had surgery.  Some dramas are almost like commericals for phones, make ups, coffee makers, vacuums, etc. I've read in different forums how people bought certain K-beauty make up brands, a cordless vacuum cleaner, or an LG refrigerator because they saw them in a drama. 

[ParkLisa]

Hi, Crystal!

I'd like to receive the 3 CEUs.  Thank you!

[ParkLisa]

I thought it was interesting that esport was able to flouish in Korea because of the culture and the physical set ups that already existed, like the PC bangs.  There were PC bangs in my neighborhood for a while but they were shut down for some reason - probably the late hours.  Teens in Korea have the PC bang to play video games.  The fact that PC bangs organized touraments which led to televised, professional leagues show how all the factors in Korea worked together to push esport to a level unheard of in other countries. Schools in the US are slowly trying to catch up.   

[ParkLisa]

I was watching a Korean drama and the girlfriend gave her boyfriend a present: it was a locket necklace with a picture of herself inside the locket.  I was taken aback because in the US, lockets necklaces are usually worn by women. I'm not sure if that's a trend in Korea now. But after watching the drama and listening to the lecture, I'm realizing that tradtional norms are being shifted as people watch Kdramas/movies and listen to Kpop. Because actors, actresses and musicians are so popular, whatever they use - like Gianna Jun using that lipstick color - are coveted by their fans/audiences.  Now, it's no longer just the make up that the fans want, they want to look like their idols and they can, to an extent, with the surgeries.  Also, by seeing their idols who also probably had aesthetic surgeries as well, the fans/audiences can see what worked and what didn't work and get ideas about how to change their face with make up or with surgery.  I think aesthetic surgery, because so many people are getting things done, no longer have a negative connotation about it; rather, it's becoming like make up or colored contact lens where people can go and get surgery and then remove or fix what they are not satisfied with by going to another doctor.  Aesthetic surgery has become common place, like buying make up.  As a result, it has become a huge business because people don't think it's a big deal to get something changed on their face forever. I also found it interesting that jaw surgery started as procedures for reconstructive surgery.  I remember reading something about BB cream being used for cream after laser surger and doctors realized that it provided coverage.  It's like Korean make up researchers and aesthetic surgeons take procedures or things that already existed for something else and repurpose them for beauty products or beauty procedures.   

[ParkLisa]

Just like Jeanine, I couldn't watch Squid Game, but many of my students were totally into it.  I liked that students who were not into K-dramas were watching; however, I was conflicted about the fact that they were watching a drama about such a brutal world. As a viewer, I understood that Squid Game was a drama that was exceedingly well made.  As a teacher, I was disturbed that students were watching at such an early age.  One of my students said that they were thinking about doing their version of Squid Game which showed how students are imitating what they watch and in the process, taking in the themes subconsciously.  I feel like a lot of the Kdramas that are coming out now are more and more about vengence and less and less about hopeful themes.  I remember the old dramas like Daejangeum where characters faced obstacles but still tried to do the right thing by helping others, not cheating others, even sometimes at a cost to themselves.   To change to another thread, I also agree with Courntney when she said that Squid Game caused her to NEED to know what happens.  I think Kdramas do a good job with causing people to binge watch.  I remember long time ago watching to 3 or 4 am on a week day because I could not stop.  I had work the next day, but I just HAD to know what happened next.  I haven't felt that way about a lot of the dramas recently. It seems like Squid Game was able to do that.  What has changed is that a lot of the dramas now LOOK amazing.  Cinemantography has improved drastically.  Some older dramas don't age well in that if I watch it now, it's all talky and not as visually arresting. 

[ParkLisa]

After reading Fuhr's article and listening to Prof. Jung-Kim's lecture, I realized how important transnationalism is and how this concept is causing the entertainment companies to push their bands to sing in English. By speaking in English, they are breaking the cultural and language barrier.  BTS is no longer a Korean group; they are a group made up of Koreans who sing in English.  The message from the songs and the songs themselves become the focus and slowly the nationality and the ethnicity of the singers matters less and less.  Hence, the entertainment groups (SM or JYP) can put together a group with a singer from India, Brazil and Korea.  "Korean" now is the ethnicity of the band members and has nothing to do with the language or culture.  Based on the article, Rain was not successful in the US because he was not fluent in English.  By having fluent English speaking singers, the bands transcends the language barrier and become like Adele or Taylor Swift. If Adele performs in Korea, she is not a British singer, she is Adele.  We listen to her for her voice and for her message. Now, by singing in English, BTS is no longer a "Korean" band, with all its implication of a cultural or language barrier, but they can transcend all that and become BTS, a band with amazing vocalists who can dance and sing songs with strong social messages. (I had noticed that English speaking has been more prevelant in K-dramas as well.  10 years ago, K-dramas rarely used English words. However, recently, K-dramas, like High Class and Business Proposal, had actors speaking in English as part of the storyline, sometimes to comedic effect as in Business Proposal.)

[ParkLisa]

I thought it was interesting that the dark K-movies are winning the prizes and are so popular. Prof. Jung-Kim gave the definition of "popular culture" and I wondered why these movies are so popular - not just in Korea but all over the world. My light bulb moment was that question: why are the dark movies so popular not just in Korea but in the world?  I've watched K-comedies/movies that are super fun with a good message, like Miss Granny, yet that movie is not trending on Netflix. People are not watching it as much as the dark movies/shows.

[ParkLisa]

Hello!

My name is Lisa Park and I teach Eng 2 and APLit. in Orange County, CA. So many of my students watch Korean dramas that some of them have learned how to speak Korean through just watching years of K-dramas and listening to K-music. When they find out that I also watch K-dramas, we connect in a new way. Sometimes I use K-drama examples when I teach because it works/fits into the lesson. I am excited to take this class to learn more about K-dramas, movies, and music. Currently, I am also watching Extraordinary Attorney Woo 🙂

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