ON SOUTH KOREAS RISE TO CULTURAL PROMINENCE. Ten years ago South Korea was just some obscure country in Asia. Japan was the powerhouse, the center of innovation. Its amazing how much has changed in only a few short years. Many Americans dont even know how much their lives are being affected by Korea. One of my friends, who has been touting the merits of the Galaxy as opposed to the Iphone was completely dumbfounded when I informed him that Samsung wasnt an American brand. Most Americans dont even have a curiosity about the origin of stuff. And they are allergic to reading. Anything with subtitles has no chance. When people in the Midwest were humming to Gangnam style last year, it may be the first time they even heard a language other than English and Spanish spoken, let alone on their airwaves. K Pop is absolutely unique in this respect. No other foreign language entertainment can even attest to being on Americas cultural radar. Koreans have bottled something very special. Like the Spaghetti Western, when Italians took an American genre and elevated it to a standard of artistic merit that Americans never even contemplated, Koreans, and perhaps Asians in general, seem to have a commitment to quality that we in America take for granted. There is a passing grade mentality to everything in The States. The Korean spirit is one of competition and non-compromise. This is self evident when we contemplate technology and industry but adapting it to the right brain is pretty new. Americans have long argued that creative endeavor is subjective and cannot be evaluated. Well, its that attitude that produces formula mediocrity, the essence of the American entertainment product. No risks are taken because entertainment has assumed a level of consumerism that forbids anything above the fray. American culture has become like its fast food. The Pop artist Claes Oldenberg used to create giant sculptures of hamburgers. To him, they were the great symbol of American culture. Bland, repetitive, predictable. I call it anti-culture. The absolute death of local culture and local identity in America has been replaced with mainstream suburban strip mall cloneism. Want to know something funny? Americans are the new ant mentality. Amazing that we should look to the likes of Koreans for innovation in the artistic sphere. But there you have it. Koreans are taking the risks. And they are banking the rewards. I will take a Korean Horror flick like I Saw The Devil and put it up against any formula ghost story Hollywood can blither out in the next five years. It is a simple matter of attitude. They have it. We dont. Time to wake up, Americans. We were once the pioneers of self expression. Now we are just treading stale bong water. We have dammed up all our creativity. Before we know it the river of international creative innovation will pass us by.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 08:57:39 +0000
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