[비즈한국] At the 98th Academy Awards, to be held on March 15th, Director Maggie Kang's animation 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' was nominated in two categories: Best Original Song and Best Animated Feature. Unfortunately, Director Park Chan-wook's 'Can't Help It' did not receive a nomination. While some call this a mixed bag of fortunes, others suggest that the Academy has given the cold shoulder to Director Park Chan-wook.
However, there is a work that was not even mentioned here: Director Bong Joon-ho's 'Mickey 17'. This is a stark contrast to the high expectations that followed since pre-production as the next project from Bong Joon-ho, who won four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for 'Parasite' in 2020. Some critics felt it might aim for an award in Visual Effects, but it failed to even reach the shortlist.
It makes one realize that high production costs do not guarantee artistic quality, popularity, or visual excellence. The factor likely lies in 'cultural intersectionality.' Empathy and differentiation arise when a specific situation intersects with a universal worldview that can be shared with others; this was evidently lacking.
K-Pop Demon Hunters features the K-pop girl group Huntrix, active in Korea, but uses the universal musical animation genre and occult format as its foundation. By perfectly blending themes of self-discovery, reflection, pain, healing, overcoming, and growth with music, it resonates not only with K-pop fans but also with general viewers and audiences. The same can be said for Rosé's 'APT.' By adding the old-pop genre to a duet collaboration and incorporating Korea's drinking game culture, it specialized in a level of excitement not found in standard pop music. This can also be seen in the film 'Parasite'.
Some argue that the success of 'Parasite' was due to global interest in the wealth gap issues of a rapidly developed Korea. But are people around the world truly that interested in Korea? If 'K-Pop Demon Hunters' had focused solely on Korea, it would not have received such great attention. It drew more empathy and immersion because it did not artificially emphasize Korea—that is, it depicted Korean culture from a perspective of cultural universality without 'Koreanism.' The movie 'Parasite' gained attention because it bitingly and tragically satirized the wealth gap issue, which people all over the world are witnessing, within a Korean context. It had a Korean color but was accepted for its artistic quality and popularity because it possessed universality.
Then, what was the problem with 'Mickey 17'? It was like an American director making a trendy drama set in Korea—and a romantic comedy at that. Hollywood is home to the highest level of SF worldviews and know-how, and the Korean director took on a scale he could not fully handle. Instead, if it had dealt with the near future with a Korean background, like the musical 'Maybe Happy Ending,' it could have been more exotic and effective in terms of Korean cultural branding.
If 'Mickey 17' had combined the SF genre with multiculturalism in a Korean setting, the results might have been different. This is because Director Bong Joon-ho is excellent at using humor and satire while sharply digging into the contradictions and reality of Korean life. This is especially true for the way of reaching the world through Korea. However, the post-Korean nature shown in 'Mickey 17,' as well as the process of moving from the US to outer space and implementing the labor environment of clones through alien characters, lacked the reality and meticulous direction unique to Director Bong Joon-ho.
Director Park Chan-wook's 'Can't Help It' lacks a common denominator in terms of the worldview on labor, making it difficult to gain empathy. The plot of murdering new job applicants after being fired does not fit the labor environment of the English-speaking world. The English-speaking world values employment flexibility, and changing jobs is a daily routine. The concept of a 'job for life' is rare. Managing one's own career and finding another job at any time is taken for granted. Apart from Director Park Chan-wook's artistic aesthetics or directing skills, if one cannot empathize with the worldview of the movie, the evaluation is bound to be harsh. Adopting a black comedy format to seek popularity also became a secondary effort. If elements of multicultural labor had been combined, it might have been different. If it had combined the racial discrimination the protagonist faces with the resulting labor alienation, their reactions and evaluations might have been better.
Westerners do not consume K-Culture simply because it is Korean, nor do they consume it because we have actively embraced their culture. They choose it when universality and specificity are fused to fit modern interests—that is, when cultural worldviews intersect with trendy sensibilities. Of course, if we found 'Mickey 17' and 'Can't Help It' to be very good, we don't necessarily have to worry about their assessments.
The author, Kim Heon-sik, has been walking through or clearing the forest of pop culture phenomena since his 20s, with the expectation that there is a way to make the world a better place through culture. He continues on the same path with the same belief in the 21st century, where AI and quantum computers are active.