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What the world needs now is good programming sweet programming It's the only thing thats there's just too little of.
I was reading Xaposert's post about North Korea , and I was reminded of a conversation I had with a Japanese friend named Chieko.
Chieko is in her 40s and has been following the Korean/Japanese strained relationship delemma for quite some time. She works for an Air company and travels a lot. She is the type of person who tells it like it is--she has no romantic view of self, country, religion, or even her own husband and kids.
We were visiting her family and she and I talked alot about Japan and Korea.
quote: Cheiko: "Isn't it wonderful?"
Me: "what?"
C: "The governments in Japan and Korea have been spending so much resources to try to heal relationships, but there has been so much opposition. Older Japanese tend to look down on Koreans as not equals, and many Koreans still feel the animosity of how Japan treated them during the Japanese rule. There is just too much tension."
M: "Yeah, I remember I was in Korea when the Kobe Earthquake hit Japan. I was surprised by how happy so many people were. 'Serves them right! It is God punishing them.' The younger people had sympathy, but 40+ generation were grimmly satisfied."
C: "It is the same way in Japan. I have a friend who married a Korean and they still live in Japan, and her family will not speak to him. He has korean blood and is therfor inferior. That has all changed now. Her grandma even loves him, and her family invites them over all the time. You can not believe the change he is feeling in Japan."
M: "What changed."
C: "A Korean Television show called A Winter Sonata."
Apparently A Winter Sonata is a new Korean drama that has become a sensation in Japan. It has become so big that it is affecting the political landscape. This drama is healing in a way millions of dollars and politicians could never do. Respect and understanding, albeit a little superficial, is entering the collective conscious.
Altho I am scared by North Korea’s irrationality, the North and South have made great strides in allowing access for families to meet across the border. The doors are slowly opening. With more exposure, the North will be more influenced by the life style of the South. Maybe they may even start showing a Winter Sonata.
Apparently you can win a conflict by war, diplomacy, AND/OR entertainment.
quote: It was only in 1998 that South Korea's government began to relax a ban on distributing and selling Japanese pop music and films.
quote: And while ethnic Koreans make up the largest minority in Japan, they have often faced discrimination and been treated as second-class citizens.
quote: But much of the current boom has been fuelled by a Korean soap-opera called A Winter Sonata, and its leading man Bae Yong-joon, or Yon-sama as he is affectionately known in Japan.
quote:Japanese travel agents are offering "Winter Sonata" trips to Korea, while dating agencies have even sprung up to satisfy Japanese women's appetites for Korean men in Yon-sama's wake.
quote:Korea's pop stars and actors still have some way to go before they can truly be rid of the ghosts of the past that continue to haunt relations between the two neighbours.
Oh, as a side note. Book stores are now selling as many Korean Language books as they are English Language books.
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*bump* Because I am surprised that a community that has such strong opinions on entertainment and politics has nothing to say about the influence of one on the other in this thread.
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
I think it's pretty neat. I read it when you first posted it, but I'm not too familiar with either culture and so don't really have anything to add.
Except that I'd like you to tell us what movie you think the "That's the beauty of it" line is in, so someone can go check and see if you're right. I'm not a patient person, and don't want to wait for you to move and unpack. Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I think it's pretty neat. I read it when you first posted it, but I'm not too familiar with either culture and so don't really have anything to add.
