Seems like 16000 was nationwide, which should count as pretty disappointing turnout even though protests are supposed to be banned.
In any case, I get the impression this article is mostly about influencing US domestic politics rather than accurately describe what happens in Korea...
Wanted to comment with a snide "QED", then got really sad, because jumping from poor reporting on boat rallies to "never trust the media" feels way too real right now.
I wonder if Squid Game has had an impact. Gi-Hun had a flashback to an auto factory strike that was pretty traumatic that led him down the path to sign his life away to the game.
So many of their recent films with worldwide acclaim are about rampant classism and economic inequality. Even as someone not super in touch with Korean social sentiment, I still get the feeling that Koreans are getting super fed up with their status quo. Might not be "having an effect" so much as "reflecting the way they feel".
Given most people are not super-wealthy, popular shows are much more likely to have been sympathetic to that view.
No one wants to watch a show that says "Actually things are pretty good compared to how they were, and still improving, and while there are a few really rich people in the world, it wouldn't change your life for the better if they didn't exist."
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions are known for their thuggish ways.
They frequently resort to violence, harassment and coerce all those that stand in their agenda.
within last year, they harassed a manager of delivery logistics company to commit suicide (specified and detailed harassment he faced on his will), cut off fuel valve of a delivery truck for not participating in their strike, and beat up a strike breaker.
The young worker demographic aren't keen to their ways, as exemplified by recent strike & protest of starbucks workers refusing help from KCTU when they volunteered to 'unite' in protest efforts.
Imagine anger when you live in poverty, you work 9 hours/day (minimum, from workweek in Korea) manual labor, some people at work die or get disabilities in work accidents. As a worker you know that everyone lives from surplus you produce, the food, etc, programmers do not make food. You can only do programming since they made food for you. So as a worker, you know you do something useful, right? So you deiced to talk with your boss, you told him all this and ask for better working conditions, little less working time, etc. He fires you. On the next job, you try to not make the same mistake, you organize collectively and strike. But this time, government use force to stop the strike and kills someone of your friends. Not surprising that some workers will be very angry.
I took a morning (4am-8am) paper delivery gig, and had to "serve" rich people in big mansion, complaining they couldn't have their journal on time for a sweet breakfast coffee because you didn't dare cross a boulevard due to high speed truck driving your ways.. you get angry super fast. I'm a french dude, left leaning.. beheading is big in our history books yet it's the first time I felt that rage against higher classes. Serious shocker.
The capitalist class on the other hand is famously innocent of thuggery. It's not like the established socioeconomic relations in Korea were incubated under a military dictatorship or anything.
So did the teamsters and Jimmy Hoffa back when Nixon debased the gold standard and unions needed a workaround for the Federal monopoly on violence. (see "I Heard You Paint Houses")
I vividly remember as a kid in the 1980s seeing coverage of strikes in Korea. They seemed absurdly violent. The image that stands out to me was a striker had fashioned some giant burner/flame thrower thing out of (I suppose) an Lpg tank and was driving the cops back with it. Hilarious and exciting to a 10yo boy.
Maybe all these snowpiercer, squid games, parasite narratives are having an effect? Its like all these dystopic, zombie, monster, battle royale movies and shows are just expressing the never ending exploitaion and helplessness around people.
I’d wager it’s the other way around. Income inequality and worker discontent has been growing worldwide for many years. New movies and shows being produced reflect that social sentiment and get popular because people can relate.
I can tell you from personal experience that pretty much every Kdrama show I can think of, has the same narrative of the "Elite" being corrupt and abusing it's power and influence to do what they want vs the middle and poorer classes. Maybe not always as the focus of the story, but it's a common element. And it's not just the popular shows that make it big internationally. I guess it's ingrained into their culture.
I'll name a few shows that come to mind (also recommend them):
Itaewon Class: About a young man fighting the CEO of a mega company after he ruined his life.
Vincenzo: An Italian mafia consigliere/lawyer finds himself fighting against a mega corporation who uses mafia like tactics.
Save Me: A girl who is trapped in a cult is saved by her former classmates. The cult is heavily involved with politicians and other powerful figures (including the police) who keep people who try to go against the cult in check.
The Uncanny Counter: A supernatural show with the main plot involving political corruption that spreads as far as the police, media...
The themes are always very similar, political corruption, corrupted law enforcement and judicial bodies, mega corps getting away with severe crimes by using money, the little people being unable to go after the rich unless they have irrefutable proof and even then... classism and economic inequality.
sky castle - how even the most privileged people need to cheat to get admittance to elite universities (which are assumed to determine the life of a person).
That could make so much work and so many industries just impossible... If that wasn't possible, i could never be a programmer and i could never build my business later. None of my world would exist. I have no idea what i'd even do.
It's a bit like asking if Easy Rider or Apocalypse Now "had an effect" on 60s and 70s counterculture - they were children of their times and they reinforced their narratives.
I did not found parasite to be exploitative, dystopic, zombie, monster, battle royalle movie? It was cross between comedy and something serious, but the rich family did not stricken me as all that horribly exploiting them.
That's because it wasn't about rich and poor and their roles in society. It was about rich and poor and how each one differs significantly.
So many people read the wrong way into that movie and it's disappointing.
It has absolutely nothing to do with "class clashing or class struggling against each other" no matter how much the media wants to make you think that.
It is because major media described it as sorta analogy to class conflict. And I think it is such analogy. But then, people who did not seen movie and assume class war means "good poor people against cartoon bad rich" started to talk about movie and use movie as example.
The movie is not "dystopic, zombie, monster, battle royale". It is not about how poor are angelic. It is not about how rich are evil. It is not about how poor are lazy and deserve to be poor either. And that confuses people.
> Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.
Readit News
[1] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/south-korea-squid-game-labor-un...
In any case, I get the impression this article is mostly about influencing US domestic politics rather than accurately describe what happens in Korea...
Went to some boat rallies that had many thousands of people and hundreds of boat. Highly impressive turnout.
Media reports made it out that barely anyone showed up.
https://labornotes.org/blogs/2021/10/real-life-auto-strike-b...
No one wants to watch a show that says "Actually things are pretty good compared to how they were, and still improving, and while there are a few really rich people in the world, it wouldn't change your life for the better if they didn't exist."
Ultimately the movie industry in Korea is made of very wealthy people parading like friends of the poor. very amusing.
[1]: (korean) https://m.hani.co.kr/arti/society/labor/1008768.html#cb
They frequently resort to violence, harassment and coerce all those that stand in their agenda.
within last year, they harassed a manager of delivery logistics company to commit suicide (specified and detailed harassment he faced on his will), cut off fuel valve of a delivery truck for not participating in their strike, and beat up a strike breaker.
The young worker demographic aren't keen to their ways, as exemplified by recent strike & protest of starbucks workers refusing help from KCTU when they volunteered to 'unite' in protest efforts.
https://news.v.daum.net/v/20210923195947254
https://www.edunctn.com/mobile/article.html?no=16927
https://www.chosun.com/national/labor/2021/09/17/ORHL7BDIABD...
https://m.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/20211...
I’m trying to understand the point you are making?
I'll name a few shows that come to mind (also recommend them):
Itaewon Class: About a young man fighting the CEO of a mega company after he ruined his life.
Vincenzo: An Italian mafia consigliere/lawyer finds himself fighting against a mega corporation who uses mafia like tactics.Save Me: A girl who is trapped in a cult is saved by her former classmates. The cult is heavily involved with politicians and other powerful figures (including the police) who keep people who try to go against the cult in check.
The Uncanny Counter: A supernatural show with the main plot involving political corruption that spreads as far as the police, media...The themes are always very similar, political corruption, corrupted law enforcement and judicial bodies, mega corps getting away with severe crimes by using money, the little people being unable to go after the rich unless they have irrefutable proof and even then... classism and economic inequality.
As far as I can recall, that one also has a rich guy, almost a member of the team, who has been of much help to the cause.
>Abolish “irregular work” (part-time, temporary or contract labor with little or no benefits) and extend labor protections to all workers
Or maybe a fucking tv show told them to do it...
art imitates life which imitates art. It's a cycle.
So many people read the wrong way into that movie and it's disappointing.
It has absolutely nothing to do with "class clashing or class struggling against each other" no matter how much the media wants to make you think that.
and in the end it was 16K instead 500K, I can't even count that low - 0.06% of active population ??
Dead Comment
The movie is not "dystopic, zombie, monster, battle royale". It is not about how poor are angelic. It is not about how rich are evil. It is not about how poor are lazy and deserve to be poor either. And that confuses people.
> Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break in pieces.
https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/kurz-the-discourse-of-volu...