Cultural Post #7

[Ann Pongsakul]

Most of what I know about family dynamics in Korean culture have been through watching Korean dramas. It seems that family is very important in Korean culture. There is a big hierarchy and respecting your elders is a must, so they are the priority. When the elders cannot take care of themselves it seems it becomes the unspoken rule that children have the responsibility to take care of their elders, whether that means taking them into their house, which seems to be the usual case and particularly for families that are not as rich. For the rich families it seems there is always a caretaker in the home, whether or not the elderly family members live in the same house as the younger ones. In one drama I watched called Can we get married, the family status and roles really come out as the two main characters are trying to go through with their engagement and get married. The girl seems to have to make efforts to really please the mother-in-law. Buying gifts for the family is considered a must for the bride and it shows commitment to the family even if the bride is not rich. The groom is stuck in the middle of trying to please his mother's wishes and ideas as he cannot go against her and eventually he breaks up with his fiancé once in order to maintain peace with his mother. It shows that the people currently in the family take priority. Even though people who are actually family are considered most important, it seems that neighbors and friends are also considered as family in some cases. In many dramas, I saw best friends living under the same household and neighbors taking in their neighbors as family.