On Saturday night, Harlow's Monkey (aka Jae Ran) was featured on KTSP's On the Road segment (see earlier post). I had never seen the original airing of Seoul Searching, so I was curious to watch the update. But I missed watching it "live" because I was enjoying the evening with Holly as she performed with Mu Daiko and One Voice Mixed Chorus in St. Paul. After the amazing show, we all celebrated with Holly (who had composed and performed her own song) at Moscow on the Hill.
I finally watched the segment on the internet today. You can catch it all, in three streaming segments, at KSTP (click here). You need to use Netscape or IE to view it (unfortunately). For Jae Ran's own review, visit Harlow's Monkey.
Mostly, it was a poignant snapshot of the modern lives of two Korean adoptee women in Minnesota. In general, these sort of programs overdramatize things to bring in the ratings. Still, I was left feeling that Jae Ran and Kim have a lot of courage and dignity. Kudos to them for having the guts to open their lives to the public.
Here are a few major/minor gripes which are mostly about the oriental images evoked in the first half of the show.
First, the reporter (Jason Davis) is seated at a table at King's Restaurant, a Korean restaurant that also serves Japanese sushi. He talks about Korean dishes, such as kimchee, as the image fixates on sushi. Uh...hello? He said, Korean food! It must all taste and look the same to the cameraperson and producers. Later, he comments on the famed Korean barbecue meats, like bulgogi, as the camera focuses on a plate of kalbi (short ribs), not bulgogi.
Then, he narrates about Jae Ran and Kim's flight to South Korea. To depict this image, they show a plane flying over Europe, India, China, and finally Korea. Uh, hello? Have you ever taken a trip to South Korea? You fly westward over the Pacific to South Korea. No wonder our nation's children stink at geography. It also is telling that they show the plane flying over Europe and the rest of Asia. It is a bizarre homage to the great Western powers and the fact that Asians are all the same (India, China, Korea).
Later, it shows the two women in Seoul, South Korea. In the background is this traditional (I assume) Korean folk music which makes Seoul, a major cosmopolitan city, seem like some orientalist opium den. It is even more freaky to hear a White man's English narrate over this bad, bad choice in music.
Alas, KTSP needs some cultural consultants or they need to fire the ones that they have. I'm available for the right price....
Posted by richlee at June 20, 2006 06:47 AMHa. I had many of the same exact thoughts while viewing the video. The goofy flight path (Eurocentrism, anyone?), the SUSHI, the galbi, the "Oriental" soundtrack. It also bugged me that he said they had returned to "ASIA" to seek their roots. Ack! Ah well. I guess I was too busy focusing on Jae Ran and Kim to be too bothered, overall.
Posted by: Ji-in at June 20, 2006 07:40 AM*shaking head in agreement*
yes, and there were a number of small factual mistakes - but I guess it's just another example of corporate media exploitation.
how did i get myself into this anyway? that is another story all together. but thanks for the review and i will get you a copy of the original, so you can see how much *worse* it was in terms of orientalism. shheeesh.
Posted by: jae ran at June 20, 2006 09:31 AMmail pls.
Posted by: james at February 7, 2008 01:53 PM