Asian Popular Cultural - Essay Example

ASIAN POPULAR CULTURE By (Name) The Name of the Class (Course) Professor (Tutor) The Name of the School (University) The City and State where it is located The Date Introduction The Korean culture has steadily developed due to industrialization and urbanization of South Korea especially in Seoul. Shiri is a film developed in 1999, which was very popular in Korea and other foreign countries encouraged the spread of Korean wave. The Korean people like many developing countries experienced the challenges of colonization, a rapid growing economy, and the cultural challenges that came with modernization after being exposed to the outside world. The people having no previous experiences in these matters, experienced and lacked earlier preparation therefore experiencing global challenges like the one that befell the IMF. The start of the Korean wave known to the Koreans as “hallyu” presented an opportunity for the government to sell the Korean culture using the media to export it(Shin, 2006). This brought with it challenges and impact on the Asian community as a block and even spread to other parts of the world.The wave has influenced the people to a great extend to a point where the youth in China study Korean just to be able to sing one or two tunes of the Korean pop stars songs that are so popular amongst them. In the process to bring back its economy, Korea, through researchers discovered the importance of its culture and her industrial development. It is the discoveries that saw and lead to the national film industry revive in 1993 and lead to the production of a new Korean action thriller, Shiri. This enhanced a great challenge to the Hollywood market since the new local film had attracted more audience. The whole discoveries lead to great demand for the local films and as a result, the Korean Wave obtained adoption from citizens(Cho,Hae-Joang2005). Cho Hae-Joang in his paper titled Reading the “Korean Wave” as a Sign of Global Shift describes the origin of the Korean wave to be a result of many factors but the major one being the hard lesson leant by the government due to the Asian economic crisis that happened in the year 1997. The government desperately needed a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)(Kihei.,T.2004). The government turned to export of Korean music, culture, and dramas through the media as broadcasting stations, film industry, and the internet. The boom of the wave came into focus when a story of a famous Korean pop star came featured in celebrity gossip magazines. This influenced Mrs. Yi Jong-Hwan to write a report for the Dong-aIlbo from Beijing “No end in sight for the Korean Wave in China”. She writes on how the Korean government and Ministry of Tourism and Culture declared October 1997 as a month of the Korean culture. A meeting with chief Chinese officials was held mainly to organize a tour to the major cities in China. Some of the major musicians and music groups in Korea included Baby Vox, H.O.T, and the National Ballet Company. This sparked the media houses as very one started writing about the Korean wave and the impact it had brought to the people. Mrs. Yi Jong-Su a correspondent of DaehanMaeil explained the origin of the name Korean wave to be from the title of Korean pop song that was a big hit in China. She also accredits the spread of the wave to a former stock broker Kim Yun-ho due to his love of the Korean music he quit his job in Korea in 1997 to start a Korean pop music show in chines radio station(So. J.2009). The Last Emperor The last emperor is a movie based on Pu Yi the last emperor of China. His autobiography is the basis for the screenplay in this movie. Pu Yi was only 3 years old when he got a chance to sit on the dragon just as the other emperors did. His story is interesting and shows that subsequent stage that China has gone through to be a revolutionized state of peace it is today. He was born in a land that is dictatorial and gives nobody an initiative. At that time, it was ironical that he was an emperor but he had no power to go with his title. For example, in one of the film Pu Yi is given a bicycle to ride(John Lone, 1987). He rides it entirely within the Forbidden City but while reaching the gate he is stopped by his own soldiers who cannot allow him to go out. This indicated that Pu Yi was not free even in his own hometown. The shape of the gate and the types of building indicates the ideal Chinese culture. Throughout the movie, Pu Yi is seen as a victim and not the emperor his is thought to be. He was abducted and sent to prison by the Red Army when China made links with the Soviet Union. He spent almost a decade under custody of the Red Army prisons for charges of war criminalist and a political inciter. The Red Army considered him a threat and therefore decided to transform him from an emperor to a gardener. Upon his release, he walks into a country that has just been proclaimed by People’s Republic of China. Bernardo Bertolucci the director of this film calls Beijing the Forbidden City and gives chronological events of Pu Yi from childhood into adulthood. Within the flashbacks, various incidences of Chinese culture, religion, and tough political stances are highlighted. Bernardo was keen to ensure that he maintained the Chinese culture throughout this movie. This is evident by the style of the movie, dress code of the actors, narration, music, language, and the objects such as building and horses within the movie. It is also clear that Chinese are always keen to respect and observe their culture. The inclusion of the Chinese culture in this film has enabled this movie to win various awards. The Chinese were the first to embrace it when the government permitted its play as the first feature film to be aired in the Forbidden City. The movie subsequently won nine academy awards and the Best picture and Director Awards. Symbols of Chinese Culture In this movie, the director brings the Chinese world forth. The introduction of the film is stamped with the name Pu Yi, which is an indication of the Chinese culture and not the western culture. The red color is surrounded by a black color that surrounds the life and history of Chinese last emperor Pu Yi. Chinese country is well renowned for the red color. This color is widely used in the background of the title of this movie. In addition to this, the Forbidden City is stamped with the red color. Another symbol of the Chinese culture is the title, which is expressed, in Chinese calligraphy mainly understood by people who understand Chinese. This is also a representation that this movie is meant to attract Chinese people before attracting foreign audience. The calligraphy is designed in a traditional way and has remained in a single word. Pu Yi is an indication of Chinese culture. The use of his name shows a representation of Chinese culture. The buildings in the Forbidden City are attractive and huge and this indicates China as a country of dynasty. A clean reflection of the pictorial buildings and the colorful dress code of Pu Yi’s soldiers represent power in China. The respective behavior and the language spoken especially the pronunciation of some words by some characters in this film is a true indication of the directors intention of maintaining this movie a purely Chinese movie. Most of the soldiers are dressed in different colorful colors outside the palace is a clear reflection of Chinese culture. Pu Yi’s picture at 3 years show him wearing a kings robe standing on a kings throne which is covered all over with gold. The brown golden colors are all over the palace as an indication of the Chinese dynasty. A close look at the Chinese soldiers in the film show that most of them have shaved off their hair as an indication of respect to their king. The director of this movie introduces incidences of conflict between the Western and Chinese culture. This is evident when Pu Yi meets his tutor Johnston from Scotland. Johnston is tall middle-aged man. The conflict arises at the beginning with his name. His name is English while Chinese characters maintain their traditional Chinese names. Johnston influences Pu Yi into Western culture. For example, he brings Pu Yi a bicycle and challenges him to ride in the Forbidden City. Pu Yi rides the bicycle and tries to get out of the city but he is stopped. A soldier takes the bike whips it and scolds it. Upon Johnston observing this, he calls the soldier an old cruel and ignorant man. Traditional Chinese was also underdeveloped in terms of medicine. Johnston was able to realize that Pu Yi was short sighted. He immediately insisted that Pu Yi be taken to an optician so that he can get a pair of lenses for his spectacles. High consorts and ministers within the palace disagreed to his request but later agreed when Johnston threatened that Pu Yi risked a chance of getting blind. The High Consorts argued that emperors are not allowed to wear spectacles. The director highlights more incidences of Westernization and Civilization conflict when Johnston treats the young emperor as a symbol of great importance. Besides providing education to Pu Yi, he gave him advices pointing put cases of corruption and consumption behind the dynasty. He was also keen to point out incidences of pride and cultural images in the movie. The director also expresses cultural conflict in women and introduces a crosscut conflict between westernization and Chinese culture. For example, Cixi and the High Consorts play traditional women roles. Wan Jung Pu Yi’s empress and Wen Hsiuare used as a symbol of modern generation of women. This is because they are educated with Western culture and behave more civilized and modern. For example, during the couple’s wedding night, Wan Jung told Pu Yi that even though he fears having sex with a stranger; the two could behave like a modern couple and sleep without having sex. Pu Yi agreed to her suggestion and shook her hands then he left peacefully. The suggestion to behave like a modern couple meant that Wan Jung was modern and civilized. WenHsui represented modernization in the movie when she refused to be married off as a second wife to Pu Yi. This is after she was thrown out of her royal house in the Forbidden City by the Republic of China army. She decided she could not be the second wife anymore and immediately returned to her normal wife. These incidences show that there are Chinese women who are educated and having a strong mind and independent. Their roles have been used conclusively to reiterate the cultural conflict in this movie. The director emphasizes how Pu Yi worshipped western culture and everything foreign. For example, Pu Yi wanted to go abroad and study especially after being influenced by his tutor Johnston. He also wished he could buy cars. While being re-educated he confessed that he liked buying foreign things even when he did not require them or felt the need for them at all. According to the director, Pu Yi thought that everything foreign was good. Women have been used to display Chinese culture in this movie. Cixi and the High Consorts represent the older generation of women. Young empress and the Secondary Consort represent the modern generation of women. The director of this movie chose the old Budda, Cixi as the former dynasty of Ching Dynasty. This is a representation of older women in the Chinese culture. Her presence was always filled with eunuchs and maids indicating the power that a Chinese woman has in their culture. In addition to this, the director of the movie reintroduces the red and color variation within the dynasty. Her dressing is full of gold and jewelry as an indication of the power a Chinese woman has in their culture(Choe, Yong-Sik2001). The director of the film Bernardo Bertolucci uses women to indicate the power they have and their roles in the society. For example, The High Consorts rejected the application by Johnston Pu Yi’s tutor for spectacles on behalf of Pu Yi. The High Consorts argued that emperors were not allowed to put on glasses. Moreover, the High Consorts participated in expelling A-Mo, Pu Yi’s nursemaid from the Forbidden City after his tutor arrived. They felt that Pu Yi did not need her nursemaid anymore. This is ironical since A-Mo played a major role in Pu Yi’s life since she played a role of a mother to him. The director of this movie has also been able to express that Chinese are laggards in terms of politics, technology and rules. For example, the conversation between Johnston and Pu Yi where Pu Yi is asking Johnston why he is not in a short skirt. Johnston replies and tells him that Scotsmen do not wear skirts but kilts. Politically, Pu Yi is unaware of who is George Washington. He possesses this question to Johnston who tells him that George Washington was a revolutionary general and the first American president (Lee, 2007, p.56). While reviewing the two scholarly works we appreciate the difference in terms of artistic work. In the Last Manchu, the Author Kramer suggests that there are several concepts of westernization that have been exaggerated and are not present in the original Pu Yi’s autobiography. According to the author, it is indeed true that Pu Yi worshipped foreign culture but the movie exaggerates it so much. The author also believes that the use of English as the language for this movie has destroyed some aspects of culture, which should have been brought out clearly using the Chinese language. In conclusion, both artists have brought up the scenario of the last emperor. However, their introduction into this movie does not reflect any revolution of Chinese country in the hands of the last emperor Pu Yi(Yang, 2012). Shiri Shiri is a Korean drama movie that was written and produced by Kang Je-gyu. The movie contains a strong Korean national sentiment, which fueled the drama. The film is about how Korean soldiers are engaged in intensive training regime. The plot is about these soldiers trained to be sleeper agents whom are later activated. These soldiers consist of Lee Bang-Hee who is quite promising and frankly delivers by assassinating many Korean key figures within 6 years. This was aimed at eradicating terrorist attacks in Korea. The film has managed to maintain its culture especially by the use of the name Shiri. The dressing pattern of the actors is also cultural however; this is mainly influenced by Hollywood movies (Shin, 2006). The Asian production contains many romantic scenes in it, which also indicates the romantic culture of many Koreans. This film can be compared with the recent Korean hit action movie Nikita. Both movies contain opposing regimes sending female snipers who are well trained to eliminate certain personalities in the government. Both movies have remained cultural by balancing kinetic action and romance in addition to surging through sensitive Korean political figures. Sue Jin Lee in her paper titled The Korean Wave: The Seoul Asia describes the origin of the Korean Wave as birthed in the 1990s. She states that the wave portrays unprecedented Korean culture by the Korean media alongside the multinational media. She describes the movie Shiri has spread and even records of an incident that happened when some Vietnamese delegates visited Korea and one by one lined up to get autographs from a Korean woman that was a celebrity. The lady was an actress named Kim Hyu-Joo who stared in the SBS TV drama “Yuri Gudu” meaning glass shoes the drama had become so popular in Vietnam television station in the year 2003 to an extend that at the luncheon the attention was not on the Korean president Roh or prime minister (KhaiHyejung, J. 2007). She writes that this Korean drama is an important aspect in the already dented Korean national image. She explains how Korea has been known to the outside word as a region of hunger stricken people and poverty. The historical events that the Korean people have undergone of the civil war and political injustices do not paint a good picture to the Korean image. Sue Jin-Lee explains the economical milestones that have come with the spread of the Korean movie shiri. Due to the idolization of the Korean celebrities in television dramas and music industry people outside Korea, buy Korea beauty products, fashion, films, and music. However, she continues to explain that following diversified research there comes a clear understanding that the Korean Wave started gaining heat in the mid 1999s. Jonghoe Yang in his paper titled The Korean Wave in East Asia: A Comparison of the Chinese, Japanese, and Taiwanese Audience Who Watch Korean TV Dramas brings out the reason why the Korean culture is so popular amongst many of the people in the Asian communities (Kihei.,T.2004) . In the paper, Jonghoe Yang describes the Korean culture dominance in Japan as a surprise to many people. He regards the Japanese culture at one point being very popular in the Asian countries to an extent of influencing the Korean pop culture. Korean Wave according MunhwaIIbo, came from the title of the combination of Korean pop songs that were a smash hit in China (Yang, 2009,Para. 8). The Korean youth were mainly the driving agents in the Korean movie Shiri. Their efforts brought about the tremendous achievement of the Korean wave. This was depicted by a reporter of the Korea Herald known as Young-silk who wrote an interesting report from a cross-cultural perspective compering the efforts of the Korean youth to be equal to award of Beatles. This is an honorary award in England second to the queen’s knight ward. The success of the Korean movie shiriis also attributed to the aggressive marketers who exported this cultural product to other parts of the country. The film if translated into English will lose its natural meaning. This is because of some of the culturally used words resemble different meanings which might be interpreted differently. Bibliography Bertolucci, B. (Director). (1987). The Last Emperor [Motion Picture]. Cho,Hae-Joang(2005).‘Readingthe“KoreanWave”asasignofglobal shift,’Korea Journal,45(4),pp.147-182. Choe, Yong-Sik (2001). “MarketingKorean PopCulture.”KoreaHerald, August Hyejung, J. (2007).The Nature of Nationalism in the “Korean Wave”:AFramingAnalysis of News Coverageabout Korean Pop Culture. Kang, H. (2010,August 27). Korean culture ‘invades’Japan, a century after annexation. Korea TimesRetrieved November 16, 2010, from the LexisNexis database. Kim,Youna(2006).‘RisingEastAsia‘Wave’:Koreanmediagoglobal’,inThussu,Daya(ed.). `MediaontheMove:GlobalFlowandContraFlow,London:Routledge,pp.135-152. Kihei.,T.(2004) KoreanWave04:KWKankokuTV andStars.Tokyo: Kindaieigasha, Lee, S.(2007).The Korean Wavein Japan: Winter Sonata and ItsImplicationsThrough Audience Perception. Conference Papers -- International CommunicationAssociation,1 27.Retrieved from Communication& Mass Media Complete database. Shim,Doobo(2006).‘HybridityandtheriseofKoreanpopularculturein Asia’,Media, Culture &Society,28(1),pp.25-44. So.J.(2009). Pop Culture as an Instrument forGlobal Public Diplomacy.Conference Papers InternationalCommunicationAssociation, 1-23. Retrieved from Communication & Mass Media Complete data - base. Yang, J. (2012). The Korean Wave (Hallyu ) in East Asia. Development and Society, 102-147. Read More

This sparked the media houses as very one started writing about the Korean wave and the impact it had brought to the people. Mrs. Yi Jong-Su a correspondent of DaehanMaeil explained the origin of the name Korean wave to be from the title of Korean pop song that was a big hit in China. She also accredits the spread of the wave to a former stock broker Kim Yun-ho due to his love of the Korean music he quit his job in Korea in 1997 to start a Korean pop music show in chines radio station(So. J.2009).

The Last Emperor The last emperor is a movie based on Pu Yi the last emperor of China. His autobiography is the basis for the screenplay in this movie. Pu Yi was only 3 years old when he got a chance to sit on the dragon just as the other emperors did. His story is interesting and shows that subsequent stage that China has gone through to be a revolutionized state of peace it is today. He was born in a land that is dictatorial and gives nobody an initiative. At that time, it was ironical that he was an emperor but he had no power to go with his title.

For example, in one of the film Pu Yi is given a bicycle to ride(John Lone, 1987). He rides it entirely within the Forbidden City but while reaching the gate he is stopped by his own soldiers who cannot allow him to go out. This indicated that Pu Yi was not free even in his own hometown. The shape of the gate and the types of building indicates the ideal Chinese culture. Throughout the movie, Pu Yi is seen as a victim and not the emperor his is thought to be. He was abducted and sent to prison by the Red Army when China made links with the Soviet Union.

He spent almost a decade under custody of the Red Army prisons for charges of war criminalist and a political inciter. The Red Army considered him a threat and therefore decided to transform him from an emperor to a gardener. Upon his release, he walks into a country that has just been proclaimed by People’s Republic of China. Bernardo Bertolucci the director of this film calls Beijing the Forbidden City and gives chronological events of Pu Yi from childhood into adulthood. Within the flashbacks, various incidences of Chinese culture, religion, and tough political stances are highlighted.

Bernardo was keen to ensure that he maintained the Chinese culture throughout this movie. This is evident by the style of the movie, dress code of the actors, narration, music, language, and the objects such as building and horses within the movie. It is also clear that Chinese are always keen to respect and observe their culture. The inclusion of the Chinese culture in this film has enabled this movie to win various awards. The Chinese were the first to embrace it when the government permitted its play as the first feature film to be aired in the Forbidden City.

The movie subsequently won nine academy awards and the Best picture and Director Awards. Symbols of Chinese Culture In this movie, the director brings the Chinese world forth. The introduction of the film is stamped with the name Pu Yi, which is an indication of the Chinese culture and not the western culture. The red color is surrounded by a black color that surrounds the life and history of Chinese last emperor Pu Yi. Chinese country is well renowned for the red color. This color is widely used in the background of the title of this movie.

In addition to this, the Forbidden City is stamped with the red color. Another symbol of the Chinese culture is the title, which is expressed, in Chinese calligraphy mainly understood by people who understand Chinese. This is also a representation that this movie is meant to attract Chinese people before attracting foreign audience. The calligraphy is designed in a traditional way and has remained in a single word. Pu Yi is an indication of Chinese culture. The use of his name shows a representation of Chinese culture.

The buildings in the Forbidden City are attractive and huge and this indicates China as a country of dynasty. A clean reflection of the pictorial buildings and the colorful dress code of Pu Yi’s soldiers represent power in China.

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