Good How Korean Drama Affects Hong Kong Essay Example

In the recent past, Korean drama has spread across the universe like burning fire. It popularity continues to rise at an alarming rate especially in the Asian region. People have associated Korean drama with entertainment because it offers an appealing and satisfactory content that develops a desire to look for more from the spectators. The filming industry and the K-pop song are the leading genres of Korean drama that has transformed culture both in Korea and other regions in the Middle East. Interestingly, it is important to note how people have integrated the Korean culture in their lifestyle because their drama continues to influence many people. For instance, Hong Kong is the most affected region by Korean drama because there is evidence indicating the change of lifestyle in these areas as people, especially youth, tries to copy the culture portrayed in the Korean culture as illustrated in the Korean drama. The globalization of Korean cuisine has transformed their contemporary culture, and it’s now widely accepted by numerous individuals. The “popular culture” in the Korean society encompasses of the ideas, values and leadership of the Korean community and it is spread via film and music to the Hong Kong subordinate group. The Korean dramas have a great influence on the culture in Hong Kong and other regions of the universe. Scholars, pundits and think tanks have contributed to the development of the debate about the influence of K-drama and K-pop to the way of life amongst the Hong Kong culture.
In this paper, I will candidly and comprehensively address the impact of Korean drama, films and music on the Hong Kong culture. In addition, I will analyze how the way of life and national identities of the Hong Kong population has been transformed into the Korean drama.

Literature review

Korean Television dramas have positively influenced the likeability of Korean celebrities in the world. These dramas are focused on the social, cultural, historical, geographic, political and economic dimensions of Korea (Lee et.al, 2014). The fashionable and stylish television drama describes Korea as an exhilarating, sophisticated and most modernized country (Lee et.al, 2014). The drama influences other cultures because they represent the modern life, love affairs, and the consumption appetites of the younger generation. Mass media has promoted the culture in Hong Kong as the youths have abandoned their culture and opted for the loving the Korean way.
According to Francesca (2013), popular cultures in the society are explained via the hegemony theory. The “popular culture” in the Korean society encompasses of the ideas, values and leadership of the Korean community and it is spread via film and music to the Hong Kong subordinate group (Lee et.al, 2014). The Korean films and music videos are produced with a high quality and give them the power to spread the hegemonic popular culture by expressing their ideas making their culture popular among the residents of Hong Kong (Francesca (2013).
A report by Lee Kim Sooyeon measured the influence of Hallyu on the Hong Kong population. The Korean drama entitled, what is Love, spread across China and Taiwan because of the appearance of the term Hallyu. The drama became very popular in Hong Kong because 47% of these populations had watched the famous Hallyu dramas known as Daejanggeum. The spectators developed passion and everybody had the desire to incorporate the culture portrayed in the drama in their way of life (Sooyeon, 2014).
The Korean drama also popularized other genres, for example, pop music and pop culture which received a colossal following in Hong Kong (Francesca (2013). The Hong Kong people demanded the Republic of Korea to host the K-pop concerts because they perceived the culture as part of their life. A university student from Hong Kong, Sophia Wong, claimed, “Many Hong Kong students love K-pop. In my case, I love Super Junior, so whenever Super Junior visits Hong Kong, I go to their concert every time” (Sooyeon, 2014). This demonstrated how the K-drama and K-pop had been integrated with the Hong Kong population, and they lived a life, not of their own.
Lee believes that soft popular content can transform and evolve and spontaneously spread across cinema, music and animation platforms. Moreover, he stressed the competitive power induced by the soft popular content by drawing insights from Bae Yong-jun, Korean actor, and his influence on the gentleness and feminine softness to foreign audiences (Black, Epstein & Tokita, 2010). The content of the stated Korean actor is most popular with feminine consumers across the Asian region especially, Hong Kong.
As demonstrated in the literature review, scholars and think tanks have conducted research studies to measure the extent in which the Korean drama has influenced the culture of the Hong Kong People. Previous studies increased my knowledge and awareness on the research topic. The previous research looked at the influence on various angles and developed findings, discussion and important recommendations that I used in my research. As a matter of fact, I decided to pay attention to specific dramas, films and music to learn about the influence subjected to the Hong Kong culture.

Body of the Paper

The Winter Sonata Drama very popular drama in China because it incorporates similar themes and interesting topic like in the ‘Bae Yong Jun Syndrome.” In the begging, the audience does not like the character of Bae but later in the drama, he appears to be a hero and a crowd mover. Audiences are fascinated by Winter Sonata not knowing that they love the Korean culture. The people of Hong Kong observed the demonstrated cultural differences in Korea with the manner in which the dinner is taken and even how people sit together during meals. In an interview, people accepted that The Korean image demonstrated in the drama had developed a ‘close but far’ behavior towards their away of life. From a male perspective, the audiences did not negatively perceive the Korean culture but praised it because it supported an authoritarian lifestyle where women are considered as inferior beings.
Korean TV dramas and Pop music have inflicted the cultural representation of Korean communities to the Hong Kong population. The consumption of the media products has created a nostalgic feeling as people want to appear like the actors and presenters in the films and music videos. It is evident that the drama had created emerging “identities, consciousness, and mentalities within its cultural geography” (Iwabuchi, 2013). Also, the K-pop songs are widely listened by the Hong Kong youths who play the tunes in parties and other occasions. They go to an extent of trying to appear like the celebrities in the songs. Their minds have been brainwashed as their dressing styles have changed so that they can appear similar to the pop music artists.
For as long as anyone can remember, the western popular culture and fashion has influenced the way of life to Hong Kong people. Since the 1970s, Western pop culture has attracted thousands of listeners from Hong Kong. Youths in Hong Kong worships the K-pop artists as their idols. The youngsters are mostly affected as they try what they can to fit in the trendy western fashion demonstrated by the artists (Tsang, 2014). For instance, the mode of dressing of youths from Hong Kong has changed as they want to fit in the popular western culture depicted in Korean TV dramas, music and newspapers amongst others. Recently, male youths have developed a desire of ensuring their dressing code includes a narrow tie, slim cut with small lapel suits, and a fashionable sleeked back hairstyle (Francesca, 2013). On the other hand, women have been influenced to love the straight blouses and knitted cardigans which are accompanied with tight knit pants. Chan Po Chu and Siao Fong Fong are examples of local Hong Kong movie stars that went to an extent of adapting the western look to impress their audience. Such decisions made the youths go against all odds for the sake of appearing the same as they believed that they would look elegant and attractive.
Moreover, the end of the 1960s was marked by advertising and marketing as new industries emerged. The development of industries brought a wide range of products that aimed to carry the consumer market by storm. The youth followed the ads from the media because they had already been influenced by the mass media (Francesca, 2013). As the population was glued on their television to watch the dramas, movies and music videos from Korea, they slowly adopted the western culture. For instance, the middle-class population in Hong Kong spent their money in fashion shops so that they could purchase clothes with the dressing code of the popular movie stars in dramas and movies.
Most surprisingly, the K-pop culture influenced the local pop stars artists in Hong Kong as they copied their lifestyle. In reality, the western culture had penetrated in the population, and this led to a distinct fashion style in Hong Kong. Actually, the trendy fashion encompassed of the “tight-fitting wing collar blouses, slim-waist dresses, hot pants, boy shawl collar jackets, flared hipsters, denim jeans, miniskirts and horizontal striped leggings amongst others (Tsang, 2014). The iconic pop stars at that period dressed to impress their target audience little did they know that the pop culture was diffused amongst the population. The Korean drama starts that set pace to the western culture demonstrated in the context includes Bae Yong-Joon, Cho Ji-woo, Lee Young-ae, Song Seung-hun, Kwon Sang-woo and Dong Hye-Kyo (Francesca, 2013).
Furthermore, The Korean eating habits spread across the Hong Kong town. The rapid spread of Korean eating habit affects Hong Kong residents as most of the people in the city are adopting these eating habits of the Korean people. An example of an eating habit is where Koreans consume a lot of salt in their food. Dishes such as bibimbap are favorite meals of Koreans. This dish contains a lot of salts. Scientific research shows that the Koreans are heavy consumers of sodium (Kim & Choi, 2004). Consuming a lot of salts has negative health effects. This demonstrates why most of the people in Hong Kong are suffering from heart related diseases. Other Korean foods which contain a lot of salts are the kimchi,ramen, Korean soups and stews and even salted seafood. The habit of eating this food has affected the whole of Hong Kong and thus affects the health status of Hong Kong people. This has made the non-Koreans abandon their eating habits and adopt the Korean eating habits. The Cantonese eating style is currently rampant in Hong Kong (Kim &Choi, 2004). The Koreans introduced the style in the town. It includes using soups which are regarded as essential meal for the Koreans and the Chinese. It is reported that Hong is one of the largest consumers of fast selling foods such as packed chips and crisps. This habit eating ready food was a habit of Koreans but has affected the whole Hong Kong.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there is massive evidence that depicts how Korean drama, television shows, films, and music have influenced the culture of Hong Kong people. The youths are the most affected individuals by the situation. The aspect of culture that has changed includes the eating habits, way of dressing and consumption of Korean products amongst others. The consumption of the media products has created a nostalgic feeling as people want to appear like the actors and presenters in the films and music videos. Korean TV dramas and Pop music have successfully inflicted the cultural representation of Korean communities to the Hong Kong population.

References

Black, D., Epstein, S., & Tokita, A. (2010). Complicated Currents: Media Flows, Soft Power and East Asia. Complicated Currents: Media flows, soft power and East Asia.
Francesca, K. T. (2013). Does the Korean Popular culture influence on Hong Kong generation Y's Consumer Behavior on Fashion? (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). The Hong Kong Polytechnic University .
Iwabuchi, K. (2013). Korean Wave and inter-Asian referencing. The Korean Wave: Korean Media Go Global, 43.
Kim, U., & Choi, S. H. (2004). Individualism, collectivism, and child development: A Korean perspective. Cross-cultural roots of minority child development, 227-257.
Kim, Y. (Ed.). (2008). Media consumption and everyday life in Asia. Routledge.
Lee, B., Ham, S., & Kim, D. (2014). The effects of likability of Korean celebrities, dramas, and music on preferences for Korean restaurants: A mediating effect of a country image of Korea. International Journal of Hospitality Management.
Mori, Y. (2008). Winter sonata and cultural practices of active fans in Japan: Considering middle-aged women as cultural agents. East Asian pop culture: Analysing the Korean wave, 1, 127.
Tsang, S. (2014, June 18). Food and fashion: How k-drama is influencing Asia. CNBC. Retrieved from http://www.cnbc.com/id/101767713#.