Monday, June 25, 2007
Film Culture and Fashion
As we discussed in class, film is a huge part of North Korea society and ideology. A South Korean professor noted in this article just how influencial and important film is. As she says, Kim Jong-Il loves film, but is also smart to incorporate it into propaganda and politics. I find the second part of the article, on fashion, interesting as well. When Kim decided that people should start wearing suit and ties to work, the result was a bit odd, as people without dress shirts would wear ties over tshirts, or whatever they were able to obtain. One thing I am not sure I agree with however, is when she states that female labor is not as valued as male labor. Not sure what she means exactly, she may very well mean on the upper levels of administration, but from what we've seen women are an important part of the workforce.
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I was surprised to see that comment about women as well, since in the video we watched women are prominent int he workforce. I would think that tradition runs deep. As noted in the article regarding the liberation of women and proper dress there is somewhat of a clash or difficulty, and that may have been more so the reasoning for women and dress in the workforce. second, as I tried to find pictures of Kim Jung Il with some of his own fashion critiques- I only found himin his jumpsuit and military uniform.
Another thing that I noticed is that North Korean women are forced more towards the traditional side. whenever we see clips of North Korea the women are always wearing traditional Korean dresses, but the men are not, the men are wearing western suits instead of their own traditional Korean apparel. I've always wondered why the men could wear western things, but why during big events women were not seen wearing western style dresses. perhaps its a way to keep women in the traditional sphere of the domesitc home even as they work.
One funny thing is Kim Jong Il himself doesn't wear tie or suit^^
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