King And The Clown Sociology
The King and the Clown (2005) had over 10 million viewers merely 46 days after its release. Joon-gi Lee, the actor cast for Gong-gil in the film became famous and sparked a ‘pretty man' craze in South Korea. The popularity of the box-office hit The King and the Clown demonstrates that Korean people are fascinated by this film; Homosexuality and cross-dressing are key themes of the film and these concepts have been considered as out of social norms in Korea. However, the popularity of The King and the Clown proves a valid research topic, although those key concepts were both consciously and institutionally seen as taboo in South Korea. In a contemporary Western context transgender identity, homosexuality, and cross-dressing tend to be understood as distinct phenomena. However, our understanding of practices of dressing in the clothing of the other sex, or of same-sex attraction may not apply to previous periods or other cultures. As Foucault explores, discourses around gender and sexuality are historically specific (Foucault, 1976 ). Therefore, in this chapter, social changes surrounding cross-dressing and homosexuality will be discussed in the context of historical traces and current trends in South Korea.
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The King and the Clown were classified as a historically based faction drama, a portmanteau of "fact" and "fiction," which weaves historical figures and the social events with fiction together in a story. This chapter will look at how this movie uses references to homosexuality and cross-dressing in Korean history and how this film attracts people in South Korea in 2005. Although Korea is known as one of the intolerant countries concerning homosexuality, however, historians raise insistence that homosexuality was openly allowed and not considered as unusual in Silla Dynasty based on analysis of Hyangga, an old Korean folk song.
Around 5th Century B.C, Silla Dynasty formulated a system of Hwarang, an elite and noble group, also known as Flowering Knights, organised with the members of children of the king and noble birth. According to a Chinese record on Korean culture in 576 by Ling Hucheng of Tang China, the most attractive boys were selected among sons of noble birth, powdered and adorned beautifully. Hwarang, the group of youth, all the people in the country served and worshipped them with respect (Lin Hucheng,
576).
7 Mojukjirangga and Chankiparangga is one of the Hyangga in Shilla era; both were written by the male, praising the beauty of Hwarang and the longing for them. It is hard to affirm that whether there is homosexuality conducted in Hwarang, it can be assumed homosexuality was not a social taboo based on the fact that people in Silla Dynasty widely sang those folk songs depicting respect and love between same sex. Beautifulness and adornments which refer to a representation of femininity were not a woman’s exclusive property. Also, until Goryeo Dynasty, the historical record demonstrates that the combination of the sun and dragon (which refers to masculinity) was allowed. After the coup de tats against Goryeo Dynasty,
S ung - kye Lee who also known as King Taejo established Joseon Dynasty and adopted Confucianism as a spirit of nationalism instead of Buddhism . As Confucianism has settled as main religion in Joseon Dynasty, it was declared that boy and girl over seven shall not use the same room, and that the male is better, higher than the female. The importance of balancing yin and yang which means the harmony of masculinity and femininity raised by Neo - Confuciani sm , which people misinterpreted as the relationship between subordinates and superiors. The cultural tendency resulted in consolidating patriarchal system and subordinating female and femininity to male and masculinity. It is reported that homosexuality among maids in the palace frequently occurred in Joseon era. Although there are no regulations prohibiting homosexuality in Confucianism , according to Sejong Sillok , a homosexual relationship between maids carries a maximum punishment of death(1476). It is because that as all maids are subordinated property to the King, it was not allowed for them to marry or have a relationship with others. However, there is no historical record that there is the regulation equally applied to man. Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism draw the distinct boundary between masculinity and femininity. Unlike Silla era, people did not worship a beautiful male in Joseon Dynasty. People in the Joseon Dynasty depreciated someone who has ambiguous gender characteristics. A Korean word, Gisaeng orabi refers to a man who is pretty as Gisaeng, (which means a woman entertainer at a banquet) or loves to adorn himself in a sarcastic tone. In the period of King Jeongjo, one of his favourite vassal, Yak-yong Jeong, raised an appeal against the appearance of a boy dancer in girl's clothing at the banquet. He insisted that this custom should be stopped or at least changing the clothing. "what I suggest, the king shall keep the distance from the evil temptation …decorating a male body as a female figure is bizarre and strange. I am worried it will create dangerous temptation around. Future will laugh and
8 look down on us for this.. it should not be allowed to disguising male into female." ( Yak-yong Jung, 1762~1836) From the historical analysis, the notion of cross-dressing and homosexuality have changed under the trend of political and religious ideology. In a broad perspective, the analysis of historical records proves that cross-dressing and homosexuality have existed throughout Korean history. However political power transfer and the introduction of new religion and ideology influenced public consciousness. Although there was strict regulation for women in the palace in Joseon Dynasty, ordinary people did not consider a homosexual relationship as unusual. The most negative tendency towards homosexual love begins from 20 century with the introduction and predominance of Christianity after Korean War in 1950. By the 1980s, the increasing rate of Christian's in Korea remarked the fastest in the world. Christianity strictly prohibits cross-dressing not only homosexuality, regarding it as one of sin, saying that " Women should not wear male clothing. Men should not wear woman's as well. If you do so, your god, Jehovah will hate you." (Deuteronomy; 22:5) The reason why people in South Korea think homosexuality and cross-dressing as out of social norms can be demonstrably found in legal regime. Newly revised NHRCA (National Human Rights Commission Act) of Republic of Korea proscribes discriminatory act of violating the equal right without rational reasons, including sexual orientation. (Article II, Section 3) However, this cannot be regarded as a de facto prohibition on discrimination as NHRCA does not carry legislative enforcement power. Also, although the civil law of Republic Korea does not mention about the ban on homosexual marriage, a court reached a verdict in 2014 that same-sex union cannot be presumed as marriage within the current law. The word ‘Queer,' originated in German, was firstly used in English around 16th Century to mean ‘strange,' ‘unusual' or ‘out of alignment' and often referred to someone insane or inappropriate person. It was late 19th Century that the word became to imply sexual orientation. Gay liberation movement in the 1970s kindled discourse on gender and sexuality in the context of western culture, which enabled the introduction of Queer Theory in the 1980s. Discourse on homosexuality and gender identity in western trend influenced the gay community in South Korea from the 1980s. The early 1990s, the first community of gay rights activists, was formed and in 1997, the first Queer film festival and massive rally for gay rights were held in Seoul. However, it was the 2000s that mainstream and public in South Korea begin to pay attention to homosexuality and gay rights. In 2000, Seok-cheon Hong, a South
9
Korean actor came out as gay. A year later, Risu Ha, made a debut as a model and singer and became the first transsexual entertainer. However, the public gaze on different sexual orientation was biased and immature in the early 2000s. Broadcasting stations fired Seokcheon Hong from all TV programs and advertisement after revealing his sexuality. Risu Ha also suffered from Internet bullying and hateful comments: people call her as Risu hyung which is used by Korean males to address their older brother. Further, crossdressers have been ridiculed and caricatured both in the media and people's common sense in South Korea. According to Serano, this phenomenon stems from the traditional sexism that femininity is seen as inferior to masculinity, any man who appears effeminate or feminized in any way will drastically lose status and respect in our society (Whipping Girl, 2007). The heightened interest and curiosity towards various types of sexuality in this social trend contributed to the smashing hit of The King and the Clown in 2005. People were fascinated by the film and enraptured about ‘pretty man’ again. Why are people fascinated with what has defined as cultural taboo formed within a society over a few centuries? Freud defines that taboo is the prohibited to public within a society without reasonable reasons. He underlines taboo is associated with power structure, as the certain class can be out of prohibition in the society such as king and noble. According to Freud, taboo generated in the context of culture and society reproduces the desire to break it. In this respect, people in south Korean can be assumed that they have the desire to break taboo. Mulvey asserts that viewers identify their gaze with camera’s(1989). To sum up, people in South Korea have the desire to break taboo, which is shaped over a few centuries. To quench their thirst in clandestine way, people choose to see the film, identifying their gaze with camera and having an indirect experience to break taboo.
The King and the Clown were classified as a historically based faction drama, a portmanteau of "fact" and "fiction," which weaves historical figures and the social events with fiction together in a story. This chapter will look at how this movie uses references to homosexuality and cross-dressing in Korean history and how this film attracts people in South Korea in 2005. Although Korea is known as one of the intolerant countries concerning homosexuality, however, historians raise insistence that homosexuality was openly allowed and not considered as unusual in Silla Dynasty based on analysis of Hyangga, an old Korean folk song.
Around 5th Century B.C, Silla Dynasty formulated a system of Hwarang, an elite and noble group, also known as Flowering Knights, organised with the members of children of the king and noble birth. According to a Chinese record on Korean culture in 576 by Ling Hucheng of Tang China, the most attractive boys were selected among sons of noble birth, powdered and adorned beautifully. Hwarang, the group of youth, all the people in the country served and worshipped them with respect (Lin Hucheng,
576).
7 Mojukjirangga and Chankiparangga is one of the Hyangga in Shilla era; both were written by the male, praising the beauty of Hwarang and the longing for them. It is hard to affirm that whether there is homosexuality conducted in Hwarang, it can be assumed homosexuality was not a social taboo based on the fact that people in Silla Dynasty widely sang those folk songs depicting respect and love between same sex. Beautifulness and adornments which refer to a representation of femininity were not a woman’s exclusive property. Also, until Goryeo Dynasty, the historical record demonstrates that the combination of the sun and dragon (which refers to masculinity) was allowed. After the coup de tats against Goryeo Dynasty,
S ung - kye Lee who also known as King Taejo established Joseon Dynasty and adopted Confucianism as a spirit of nationalism instead of Buddhism . As Confucianism has settled as main religion in Joseon Dynasty, it was declared that boy and girl over seven shall not use the same room, and that the male is better, higher than the female. The importance of balancing yin and yang which means the harmony of masculinity and femininity raised by Neo - Confuciani sm , which people misinterpreted as the relationship between subordinates and superiors. The cultural tendency resulted in consolidating patriarchal system and subordinating female and femininity to male and masculinity. It is reported that homosexuality among maids in the palace frequently occurred in Joseon era. Although there are no regulations prohibiting homosexuality in Confucianism , according to Sejong Sillok , a homosexual relationship between maids carries a maximum punishment of death(1476). It is because that as all maids are subordinated property to the King, it was not allowed for them to marry or have a relationship with others. However, there is no historical record that there is the regulation equally applied to man. Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism draw the distinct boundary between masculinity and femininity. Unlike Silla era, people did not worship a beautiful male in Joseon Dynasty. People in the Joseon Dynasty depreciated someone who has ambiguous gender characteristics. A Korean word, Gisaeng orabi refers to a man who is pretty as Gisaeng, (which means a woman entertainer at a banquet) or loves to adorn himself in a sarcastic tone. In the period of King Jeongjo, one of his favourite vassal, Yak-yong Jeong, raised an appeal against the appearance of a boy dancer in girl's clothing at the banquet. He insisted that this custom should be stopped or at least changing the clothing. "what I suggest, the king shall keep the distance from the evil temptation …decorating a male body as a female figure is bizarre and strange. I am worried it will create dangerous temptation around. Future will laugh and
8 look down on us for this.. it should not be allowed to disguising male into female." ( Yak-yong Jung, 1762~1836) From the historical analysis, the notion of cross-dressing and homosexuality have changed under the trend of political and religious ideology. In a broad perspective, the analysis of historical records proves that cross-dressing and homosexuality have existed throughout Korean history. However political power transfer and the introduction of new religion and ideology influenced public consciousness. Although there was strict regulation for women in the palace in Joseon Dynasty, ordinary people did not consider a homosexual relationship as unusual. The most negative tendency towards homosexual love begins from 20 century with the introduction and predominance of Christianity after Korean War in 1950. By the 1980s, the increasing rate of Christian's in Korea remarked the fastest in the world. Christianity strictly prohibits cross-dressing not only homosexuality, regarding it as one of sin, saying that " Women should not wear male clothing. Men should not wear woman's as well. If you do so, your god, Jehovah will hate you." (Deuteronomy; 22:5) The reason why people in South Korea think homosexuality and cross-dressing as out of social norms can be demonstrably found in legal regime. Newly revised NHRCA (National Human Rights Commission Act) of Republic of Korea proscribes discriminatory act of violating the equal right without rational reasons, including sexual orientation. (Article II, Section 3) However, this cannot be regarded as a de facto prohibition on discrimination as NHRCA does not carry legislative enforcement power. Also, although the civil law of Republic Korea does not mention about the ban on homosexual marriage, a court reached a verdict in 2014 that same-sex union cannot be presumed as marriage within the current law. The word ‘Queer,' originated in German, was firstly used in English around 16th Century to mean ‘strange,' ‘unusual' or ‘out of alignment' and often referred to someone insane or inappropriate person. It was late 19th Century that the word became to imply sexual orientation. Gay liberation movement in the 1970s kindled discourse on gender and sexuality in the context of western culture, which enabled the introduction of Queer Theory in the 1980s. Discourse on homosexuality and gender identity in western trend influenced the gay community in South Korea from the 1980s. The early 1990s, the first community of gay rights activists, was formed and in 1997, the first Queer film festival and massive rally for gay rights were held in Seoul. However, it was the 2000s that mainstream and public in South Korea begin to pay attention to homosexuality and gay rights. In 2000, Seok-cheon Hong, a South
9
Korean actor came out as gay. A year later, Risu Ha, made a debut as a model and singer and became the first transsexual entertainer. However, the public gaze on different sexual orientation was biased and immature in the early 2000s. Broadcasting stations fired Seokcheon Hong from all TV programs and advertisement after revealing his sexuality. Risu Ha also suffered from Internet bullying and hateful comments: people call her as Risu hyung which is used by Korean males to address their older brother. Further, crossdressers have been ridiculed and caricatured both in the media and people's common sense in South Korea. According to Serano, this phenomenon stems from the traditional sexism that femininity is seen as inferior to masculinity, any man who appears effeminate or feminized in any way will drastically lose status and respect in our society (Whipping Girl, 2007). The heightened interest and curiosity towards various types of sexuality in this social trend contributed to the smashing hit of The King and the Clown in 2005. People were fascinated by the film and enraptured about ‘pretty man’ again. Why are people fascinated with what has defined as cultural taboo formed within a society over a few centuries? Freud defines that taboo is the prohibited to public within a society without reasonable reasons. He underlines taboo is associated with power structure, as the certain class can be out of prohibition in the society such as king and noble. According to Freud, taboo generated in the context of culture and society reproduces the desire to break it. In this respect, people in south Korean can be assumed that they have the desire to break taboo. Mulvey asserts that viewers identify their gaze with camera’s(1989). To sum up, people in South Korea have the desire to break taboo, which is shaped over a few centuries. To quench their thirst in clandestine way, people choose to see the film, identifying their gaze with camera and having an indirect experience to break taboo.