As a cultural artifact, I watched a Korean TV show called Heart Signal. Heart Signal is a reality TV show about dating. The concept of the show is that there are 6 strangers, 3 boys and 3 girls, that live in a house together. As an audience, you just watch them live their normal lives and see how they interact with each other. At the end of the day, each member of the house has to anonymously text the person they are interested in.
I thought this show had a very interesting concept and I’ve also never watched Korean reality TV before. I was able to get a glimpse of Korean culture by watching this show. I think that this show does a pretty good job of letting viewers learn about Korean culture in all aspects of life. Since it’s just following their normal lives, you get to see Korean culture at home, at the workplace, their family, and how it plays out in their relationships.
One aspect of Korean culture I saw was how Korean people flirt with each other and their behaviors in relationships. Although flirting is a universal thing, I thought that there were aspects that were more specific to Koran dating culture. One example of Korean culture be evident within relationships is when a younger guy went on a date with an older girl. Korean is a language that uses honorifics, so the guy had to use honorifics with the girl. Since they were on a date, it was a little awkward and she told him that he didn’t have to use honorifics with her. The guy took this as an opportunity to tease her and flirt in that way.
Another aspect of Korean culture was watching 밀당 (mildang) between two people. Mildang is literally translated to “push and pull”, and the English equivalent is playing hard to get. One of the guys was playing hard to get by teasing the girl and seeming like he wasn’t interested in her. This only made the girl want him more. I did my final presentation last semester on Korean dating culture and this was one of the terms I researched for my project. Speaking to my Korean friends, they’ve said that this is a very popular thing to do for Koreans. I’ve never witnessed it myself, but it was cool to actually see how it plays out and understand why people find it so attractive.
A final aspect of Korean culture that I have learned more about while watching this show is the Korean work culture. These people are very focused on their career and it seems as though their career is one of the defining characteristics of a person. 5 out of the 6 people living in the house are working, while one of them is a student. In one of the episodes, the student was distressed over her career path and how she didn’t have things figured out. She was so distressed about it to the point that she started to cry. Since the other people in the house have experience working, they consoled her and assured her that although there is a lot of pressure put on people to find a good career, she still has time to figure out what she wants to do with her life. I think this is not just specific to Korean culture, but Asian culture in general. There is a huge emphasis on your career, since it will dictate how you are viewed in society.
In conclusion, I thought watching Heart Signal gave great insight into Korean culture and I really think that I’ve learned a lot from watching it. Since it has been so beneficial for me to watch, I will continue to watch it and maybe even watch other seasons.
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