Over the last couple days I\u2019ve been reading two books: \u00a0the first, about pensions and Social Security, will get a much longer treatment over the next couple days (spoiler alert: \u00a0if he<\/i>\u00a0can get a book published the central narrative of which is \u201cgreed destroyed defined benefit pensions,\u201d why can\u2019t I write and publish something that\u2019s actually useful?), but here\u2019s a bit of a summary of my mental-health-break book.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to really process how much and how fast Korea has changed. \u00a0In my grade-school days, each of my siblings and I had little black-and-white TVs from Gold Star \u2014 which, due to its reputation for cheap, poor-quality products, renamed themselves LG in 1995. \u00a0And it\u2019s hard to fathom that Korea wasn\u2019t a democracy until 1987, previously being governed by a series of autocratic rulers.<\/p>\n
And, of course, Psy burst on the scene with the hit Gagnam Style, which we have watched in the original, the Minecraft parody, and multiple other variations. \u00a0News reports would periodically tell us that this wasn\u2019t really \u201cK-Pop\u201d though I had never heard much about K-Pop in the first place, though there\u2019s a store in nearby Woodfield Mall which specializes in its memorabilia. <\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the story: \u00a0after the financial crash of 1997, Korea\u2019s leaders crafted a deliberate plan to move the country forward economically when they had little in the way of natural resources, and they actively supported cultural exports. \u00a0In addition, certain elements of Korea\u2019s situation made them well-suited to be pop culture exporters.<\/p>\n
Pop music: \u00a0apparently this is huge in Asia, even overtaking \u201cJ-pop\u201d in its home turf. \u00a0The music is not the result of individuals or garage bands crafting their sound, but of corporate forces. \u00a0Children are taken on with very long-term contracts, spending the first 5 \u2013 7 years training in dance and voice. \u00a0The songs (videos and concerts) are meticulously choreographed. \u00a0And, even though my quick youtube survey of K-pop revealed a lot of hip swaying with camera close-ups of rear-ends, the sort of misbehavior that\u2019s the norm for an American pop star is absolutely out of the question; the musicians have to be squeaky-clean or they\u2019ll be replaced, pronto. \u00a0Other factors in Korea\u2019s favor: \u00a0for a long stretch, rock music was banned, so the creators of K-pop had a blank slate, and didn\u2019t hesitate to create\/copy sounds. \u00a0The men in the boy bands have great followings across Asia due to a stereotype that Korean men are both masculine and caring at the same time. \u00a0And some of the bands even record their songs in Japanese. \u00a0(I was struck, in my brief listen, by the fact that the lyrics, while of course, incomprehensible, didn\u2019t sound \u201cforeign\u201d \u2014 I don\u2019t know whether that\u2019s just how Korean sounds, or whether it\u2019s something in the nature of how the music is created that the lyrics sound generic.)<\/p>\n
Television: \u00a0again, this is huge, and not just in Asia but in the Middle East and Latin America. \u00a0One factor is the government\u2019s decision to make this an export industry and fund the creation of these shows; another is the fact that Korean shows are generally fairly conservative and well-suited for more conservative cultures.<\/p>\n
Movies are growing. \u00a0And video games are big. \u00a0And beyond that, Samsung is establishing itself as a tech giant.<\/p>\n
The author spent time in Korea in the 80s, as the child of Korean-American immigrants who returned home, so she was an outsider in many ways but experienced the culture more closely than an ordinary American journalist coming in to do a series of interviews. \u00a0And her anecdotes and her now vs. then contrasts add another dimension to the book.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, it raises the question: \u00a0how much can the government do to direct the economy? \u00a0 Because their strategy here sure seems to have been worked. \u00a0Is this something that works in some unique circumstances? \u00a0Or were they just lucky that they picked an area where they truly were able to succeed, as opposed to throwing away money on boondoggles of one kind or another? <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the last couple days I\u2019ve been reading two books: \u00a0the first, about pensions and Social Security, will get a much longer treatment over the next couple days (spoiler alert: \u00a0if he\u00a0can get a book published the central narrative of which is \u201cgreed destroyed defined benefit pensions,\u201d why can\u2019t I write and publish something that\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n