Yungbi Yang
Bursting the Alma bubble
Tasting a little bit of America
Staff and Guest Writers
After having a long day, going home to watch your favorite TV drama and talking about the most recent episode non stop with your friends can be the last refuge. However, the daily routine of coming home in the evening to watch a favorite Korean drama is changing, as young viewers are now also turning their attention to TV dramas from aboard, from the U.S. to be exact. TV dramas such as Ally Mcbeal, Dawsons Creek, Friends, and Sex and the City are regularly shown on various cable channels in Korea and have regular viewers and fan sites all over the Internet. And it is not only the TV dramas that Korean viewers are opening up to but also American movies - especially teen flicks and chick flicks - such as all the American Pie movie series, A Walk to Remember, Legally Blonde etc. A new era where a different language and culture are no longer a problem has begun.
There has got to be a reason why these American TV dramas and teen flicks are getting so much attention despite the language barrier. The plots and characters in the dramas and movies are very different from those of Korean dramas, that they not only satisfy Korean’s curiosity towards another culture’s lifestyle but also enable students to have an interesting second-hand experience of America. The biggest common factor in these shows is that the everyday culture of America’s young people is very different from Koreans. Just by looking at the shows students get the impression that they have a rather liberal everyday life compared to Korea’s teens. For one thing, the plots all contain the subject sex rather naturally. No one in the movies is embarrassed about mentioning sexual topics not to mention free expressions of affection between couples out in public. In fact, sex seems to be a typical topic in young people’s conversations. It makes students wonder if young people in the U.S. really put that much attention on sex and if the atmosphere towards it is really that open to them. Expression of affection between couples – kissing, hugging, (literally clutching each other) – in school hallways or outside on campus is rather amusing too; the fact that they can, and the fact that they do, is something hard to understand, as it is very different from Korean culture.
Another interesting impression was all the partying young people seem to do. Though it may have been a bit exaggerated in movies, Americans, be they high school or university students, seem to do quite a lot of partying. Comparing with Korean student’s life that requires a lot of studying, watching these movies sometimes give us the question “Gee…do they study?” Also it brings up the envy of wanting to be a student in the states.
For Koreans, the open American culture they experience by watching the U.S. TV dramas and movies is interesting, eye-catching, and at times shocking. At times there are misunderstandings due to the exaggeration of movies but this doesn’t mean Koreans take everything from the dramas and movies as 100% the same as reality. Through the dramas and movies Koreans students are able to taste a little bit of America’s culture – especially that of young people – as well as being able to gratify a sense of curiosity towards the U.S. culture.
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