Hetero-normative Values in Korean Dramas

In the opening scene of Boys Over Flowers, we see two sets of characters switching off between each scenes. One set is the girl main character who is whimsically riding her bike as she sets to delivery dry cleaning completely content with her life, and in the opposing scene, a loner boy receives F4’s “red card,” which signals relentless bullying and harassment even to the point of suicide. The first scene’s whimsical and adventurous music is juxtaposed with the second scene’s suspenseful and action filled sequences. This scene I am describing does not always occur in every Korean Drama, but the underlying theme, the reinforcement of hetero-normative values, are very prevalent in most Korean Dramas. As mentioned above, the scene discretely displays the dichotomy of how female characters are expected to be perceived and how male characters are expected to be perceived. Female characters are cute, whimsical, and supportive, while male characters are called bishounens, which are men and boys that depict a specific attractive appearance that appears androgynous, typically angry, and secretly sensitive. While this example I am using in Boys Over Flowers is quite over exaggerated, it is still an example of enforcing hetero-normative values. The characters are very heteronormative, and what the audience sees on the screen is expected to be emulated in their accepted culture.

As discussed in Virtual Hallyu, by Kyung Hyun Kim, all of this is part of the virtual, which is what the audience sees , what the audience wants to see, how things should be. The actual however is how the audience reacts to the virtual and the behaviors that emerge after consuming the virtual. This is true for the South Korean Government, which invested heavily in Korean drama as a means of soft power for the nations. This allowed the government and few individuals to reinforce hetero-normative lifestyles displayed on the screen. The virtual is the Korean drama, the actual is the evidence, which is the political, social, and economic reaction to the screen. With that said, Korean dramas are not a true reflection of life in South Korea and is instead a portrayal of the ideal way to act in South Korea. Therefore, it is clear to see that any values that deviate from the structural hetero-normative values is frowned upon and underrepresented in Korean culture. Many Korean dramas display male and female behaviors of masculinity and femininity into well-defined boxes, which characters must neatly fit into.