SDLC 112 - Cultural Post #3
My third cultural post comes from a Netflix series, Korean drama, that I have recently watched known as Bloodhounds (사냥개들). I have actually watched the first season already and this would be the second season I am watching. Building upon the first season where two protagonists, Gunwoo and Woojin dismantled a loan shark, they continue battling against another threat, a large boxing league that is being operated on the dark web.
One of my interpretive understandings of this drama as a whole is the underlying theme of battling against a hyper-capitalist exploitatory society. In season one, the main protagonists fight against loan sharks that trick small businesses into signing contracts that are virtually unpayable. In season two, the IKFC, which is the name of the underground boxing operation, functioned as a completely unregulated underground market where humans are reduced to disposable assets. Boxers are stripped of their agency and transformed into mere instruments for profit. Throughout the show, the series incorporates modern financial mechanisms such as anonymous cryptocurrency transactions to highlight the untraceable and insulated nature of corrupted individuals.
Not to extrapolate too deep into the Netflix series, but oftentimes, I feel as though this dynamic is reflective of real world anxieties surrounding wealth disparities and the bitter reality of the socioeconomic gap. Although this drama is purely fictional, I feel as though it does a great job externalizing the working class having to “bleed” to survive while the wealthy extract entertainment and further riches from the suffering of the lower class.
My ultimate conclusion of this Korean drama is that despite its main entertainment purposes, there are some social truths that are hidden. By pushing the mechanisms of capitalism to the absolute extreme, the drama forced viewers to witness the moral decay of humans treating other humans as commodities. Which is partially true, Korea after all is one of the most capitalistic societies in the world. Ultimately, the drama suggests that in a society obsessed with profit and wealth, human solidarity is the one true defense to break this cycle.
My third cultural post comes from a Netflix series, Korean drama, that I have recently watched known as Bloodhounds (사냥개들). I have actually watched the first season already and this would be the second season I am watching. Building upon the first season where two protagonists, Gunwoo and Woojin dismantled a loan shark, they continue battling against another threat, a large boxing league that is being operated on the dark web.
One of my interpretive understandings of this drama as a whole is the underlying theme of battling against a hyper-capitalist exploitatory society. In season one, the main protagonists fight against loan sharks that trick small businesses into signing contracts that are virtually unpayable. In season two, the IKFC, which is the name of the underground boxing operation, functioned as a completely unregulated underground market where humans are reduced to disposable assets. Boxers are stripped of their agency and transformed into mere instruments for profit. Throughout the show, the series incorporates modern financial mechanisms such as anonymous cryptocurrency transactions to highlight the untraceable and insulated nature of corrupted individuals.
Not to extrapolate too deep into the Netflix series, but oftentimes, I feel as though this dynamic is reflective of real world anxieties surrounding wealth disparities and the bitter reality of the socioeconomic gap. Although this drama is purely fictional, I feel as though it does a great job externalizing the working class having to “bleed” to survive while the wealthy extract entertainment and further riches from the suffering of the lower class.
My ultimate conclusion of this Korean drama is that despite its main entertainment purposes, there are some social truths that are hidden. By pushing the mechanisms of capitalism to the absolute extreme, the drama forced viewers to witness the moral decay of humans treating other humans as commodities. Which is partially true, Korea after all is one of the most capitalistic societies in the world. Ultimately, the drama suggests that in a society obsessed with profit and wealth, human solidarity is the one true defense to break this cycle.
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