In this class, Ms. Kim and I reviewed the Korean phrases we learned before, and we also talked about what topics to include in our podcast. For my last semester’s final presentation, I researched about the Korean satire films and the films based on true stories. I found that Korean films did particularly well with reflecting on social problems such as crime, corruption, and inequality. For example, the 2019 film Parasite reflected on classism by portraying the symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the poor Kim family. We first decided that could be a possible topic of our podcast, but ended up talking about a feminist film during the class. Recently I watched a Korean movie called Kim Ji-young: Born 1982, a film that has been causing social tensions in South Korea. This film was adapted from a best-selling novel reflecting on stages of a woman’s life. It was more like a diary than a novel. Kim Ji-young, who once had a job, became a housewife after having her child. She suffered from depression without anyone knowing. The story revealed the ingrained sexism that a woman deals with on a daily basis, in public, at home, and at work. Kim Ji-young was discriminated against for being a mother and a housewife in public while taking most of the responsibility of chores and child care alone. At work, She will sit and accept sexist comments as many young female office workers do. Kim Ji-young hit the glass ceiling and eventually sacrificed her career for her husband’s. There were no dramatic conflicts or shocking scenes in the movie, but what’s most saddening about her story was how people normalize sexism and how common it is in society. I found that the author chose the name Ji Young Kim because it was the most common name for a girl born in 1982, hinting that she could represent every woman. Many believe the main male character is passively endorsing a culture of discrimination against women as well. The first time I heard of the movie was when an actress got attacked for recommending the film. Although some elements in the film are specific to the Eastern culture, similar incidents of sexism are happening around the world. The film’s release also sparked tensions. Some critics argue that it aggravates gender conflicts as people giving the film bad ratings before its release. Although the film was accused of making generalizations, I still found it to be necessary to highlight the blatant “norm” for many women.
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