One of the things about Korea that fascinates me is its recognition of movie/TV celebrities as public figures. The notion is almost preposterous in the North American context. Sure Angelina Jolie adopts a whole bunch of orphans from developing countries but people would never think that Jolie has to behave in certain way and lead a moral life. Perhaps people even enjoy the fact that her inclination towards humanitarian causes directly contradicts her usual personae on the silver screen: belligerent, hyper-sexual heroines.
This led me to think about commercial endorsement deals that Korean celebrities get. In Europe and North America, we have actors who almost exclusively work for commercials. Seeing Hollywood stars in those things is an unusual phenomenon. When I saw Robert De Niro in an Amex commercial the first thing that hit me was how ineffective and cheesy it was. I have to get an Amex because I like De Niro?
Funnily enough this idea works well in South Korea. This is also why celebrities kill to get a commercial deal and "behave." Singers and actors are expected to act like respectable role models to younger generations and avoid scandals. If they are not marrying each other, they choose people who come from good families and have respected professions. Someone like Madonna will fail miserably to sustain her career in Korea. People may love her music, but will chastise her for messy private life.
It is indeed a very interesting aspect of the Korean society. Maybe I can dare to extend this argument to China as well, considering how Edison Chan publicly issued an apology for his sex scandal.
Traditionally people who work in the field of theatrics are not well thought of in Korea. So why bother treating them like public figures? Why impose a certain set of moral values on them?
I have yet to find a definite cause, but I have a theory. Korean youths grow up watching TV pretty much all the time. Or else, they will be glued to computers. Korean society may have the highest rate of computer literacy in the world (I don't know for sure but I would assume so) but this isn't necessarily a good thing. As per the overall trend across the globe, good parenting is replaced by lackluster electronic baby-sitting. When they should be reading books and newspapers, kids grow up watching a Korean equivalent of MTV. They all aspire to become members of boy/girl-bands. They harbour a sense of rebellion against grownups, dismissing all other professions as something that infringes upon their alleged artistic freedom. (Little do they know that they have little to no sense to distinguish what is truly worth having....) People who should, at best, inspire determination end up becoming their idols. They are to be modeled after.
Of course this is a pitifully shallow description of what I really think, or for that matter what is really going on. I can but offer a caricature of a theory. It is rather pathetic that many Korean kids grow up fantasizing the life of those so-called "idol singers" and place their trust in everything they say, do, and endorse. If one is to be a pawn in the grand scheme of things, why not choose a master that is really worth having?
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