As abcdefg pointed out yesterday, it had to happen sooner or later. See also here. Now, can we see Beyonce in a hanbok? Please?
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As abcdefg pointed out yesterday, it had to happen sooner or later. See also here. Now, can we see Beyonce in a hanbok? Please?
45 Comments
why is it so many of you get so angry when western stars wear hanbok? i suppose it’s because you’re under the impression that they’re forced, right?
my thinking is that the little girl in paris, brit, and ms williams WANTED to wear that hanbok. no force needed. mere suggestion is enough.
“why is it so many of you get so angry when western stars wear hanbok?”
Who among us is “angry” about it?
But seriously, what really pisses me off is Koreans wearing jeans, Nikes, and baseball caps. Who do those bastards think they are?!
Bad news; those pictures show here in one of those variety shows my wife likes, which means I will most likely see her on my TV in the next few days.
#1,
I’d wear a woman’s hanbok on TV if they paid me as much as they paid her to show up in Korea.
I’m not sure if anyone is angry about it but I for one think the constant parade of foreign celebs that come to Korea and do the hanbok thing has gotten silly. I’m not talking about just Western celebs either but also ones from other Asian countries. You’d think the Koreans would tire of it also.
Imagine if every foreign celeb coming to America donned a Pilgrim costume and had a press conference. The first time might be intriguing but after the 20th time……..it gets a little stale and even demeaning.
I think it’s OK. They’re obviously not forced. Paris and Britney looked better in a hanbok then they do in their usual attire.
Tell me, pawi, why do so many Koreans get upset when Jang Nara wears Chinese-style clothing?
#5, hahahaha. I can imagine the photos.
I suppose hanbok to Koreans is more closely identified with nationalistic feelings and pride. Something that represents Korea to the world. They do look pretty too, in my opinion…unlike a cowboy or pilgrim costume.
The only beautiful indigenous wear we (as Americans) could propose is Native American dress. Too bad our country still fails to recognize them (seeing how we slaughtered most of them all, so I doubt that will happen.)
Never had sympathy for Ms. Hilton, then I saw she got stuck with the variety show
gag mengoons.@ Maekchu, spot on. It’s so compulsive I reckon it it isn’t about impressing the guest, rather it’s about impressing themselves.
From the Korean I gather this took place at the Hyatt. Why not the Hilton?
again, i’l say the ladies WANTED to wear the hanbok. some of you seem angry about it?
‘Tell me, pawi, why do so many Koreans get upset when Jang Nara wears Chinese-style clothing?’
i don’t know. why don’t you ask them? i myself couldn’t care less. who’s jang nara?
ps has anybody heard of a korean last name ‘chegal’? i’ve never heard this name before. i know hwangbo and sonu but chegal?
i’ll
The point, pawi, is that you say some expats make fun of Western stars wearing hanbok, while I point out that many Koreans criticized Jang Nara for wearing Chinese clothes. If you ask why expats have that reaction, I’m telling you to look to the similar reaction of Koreans toward their own stars. “Same-same”, as we say in Konglish.
You may well not have heard of Jang Nara, but she is far from obscure in Korea, being a well-known singer, actress, and CF model.
There are many two-syllable Korean surnames, of which 제갈 is one. I believe I read long ago it began as a combination of two separate surnames. You could look it up online, but I would guess 남궁 is the most popular two-syllable Korean surname, perhaps followed by 선우, 독고, and 황보.
#12,
Or remember the ‘damaging’ rumors of that actress (I forget her name) being ethnically Chinese?
One poster above asked, “Why is it so many of you get so angry when western stars wear hanbok? I suppose it’s because you’re under the impression that they’re forced, right?”
I get annoyed by it because I can imagine the smarmy way that the Korean Junior asks the visiting celebrity to wear the hanbok:
“Senior Mr. Kim is asking you to wear this hanbok. If you are okay, could you just wear it during 5 minute? Oh, you will look so beautiful. Oh my God. Wah.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.....n_surnames
The census results given as primary sources at the bottom are outdated.
I’ve had exactly one “제갈” and one “남궁” as students in ten years of teaching here. Neither wore hanbok to class, nor did they request that I do so.
I’ve had exactly one “제갈” and one “남궁” as students in ten years of teaching here. Neither wore hanbok to class, nor did they request that I do so.
Perhaps a universally accepted definition of “anger” and “angry” would help us avoid so many wasted posts and threads, and force those who fall back on the “angry expat” trope to actually address the issues at hand … or ignore them when they have nothing to say.
I’ve got nothing against seoyang celebs dressed in hanbok. My real beef is that the hanboks that are chosen for them tend to be a little fug and mismatched.
Paris would have looked good in a gisaeng outfit. *insert joke here*
I have a feeling Beyonce’s too b00tylicious for hanboks!
I’d like to see here get slammed on soju and pull a shift in a room salon. Dae-han-min-guk! Be the Pari…
“제갈” is an extremely rare surname in Korea.
I’ve never seen one during my almost 20 year stint here.
Mentioning “제갈” more likely conjures up in people’s mind a Chinese historical figure of the name “제갈량”, aka “제갈공명”
He appears in the “Romance of Three Kingdoms”, a Chinese historical novel written half a millennium ago that has the geek appeal of Starwars + Startrek + Starcraft… Well maybe not quite. But virtually all Korean males come across it during middle/high school years. The novel was used as a basis for a popular video game called “Three Dynasty Warriors” for those of you who are into gaming.
Portrayed as a slim and pale but a genius of a military strategist, his name has come to be synonymous with intelligence in general. Not just here, but in China and Japan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhuge_Liang
I’m guessing that “제갈” is a surname that’s come from China. That happens a lot. I’ve read that there was a celebration in a small village in China when Ban came UN’s head. Apparently the Chinese character he uses for his surname is identical to everyone in the village. They were saying that the surname has its historical roots there and that he had to be related. I’m not sure how much of this is true, but I’ve read of instances where an emperor would literally make a new character to bestow as a new surname to his worthy subjects so that generations would revel in the honor.
Nothing pisses me off more than people feeding Paris Hilton attention. Seriously she’s not talented in anything, she’s just a nobody who inherited a shitload of money and went to any length to gain publicity (such as flashing her flat chest and her loose vagina). SNORE.
Why would western celebrities wearing hanboks bother expats? Maybe because it’s superficial - an example of someone pretending to be Korean “hey look at me, I look so exotic and Korean” without any understanding of what Korea really is. Honestly, I could care less what Paris Hilton does, and it’s a pretty outfit, so understandably some women want to try it on. But, I remember one western guy, been here a month or two, decided one day he’d wear a hanbok everyday - even though Koreans haven’t done that for several decades or so. Haven’t been to Thailand for a while, but I remember how some back packers there would dress up kind of like pirates. I never understood that - there’s nothing particularly Thai about it. Maybe some people put on new clothes in a new place to adopt a new identity. It’s really says more about their own psychology than anything to do with the location.
This is a non-issue about a non-entity.
Celebs putting on a hanbok when visiting Korea for PR work is like celebs or heads of state ringing the closing bell when they tour Wall Street.
Like Richardson, I have a vision for an appropriately garbed Paris Hilton in Seoul, but mine puts her in one of those cheap 588 red light district hanboks and shouting oppa to passing drunks.
‘남궁 is the most popular two-syllable Korean surname, perhaps followed by 선우, 독고, and 황보.’
yeah, i’ve heard all these names but never chegal. you learn something everyday.
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i don’t need to look at similar reactions from koreans since i can ask the expat directly. it’s funny what pisses you all off. i mean, a dress? going nuts because of a dress? man!
it’s hard being a minority, isn’t it, guys?
‘You may well not have heard of Jang Nara, but she is far from obscure in Korea, being a well-known singer, actress, and CF model.’ dogbert
yeah, i only know the old stuff unless you’re talking about k movies or sa guk. i don’t know the current stars here either unless they’re tabloid fodder, then i see their faces at checkout.
Native Americans have organized themselves into wealthy and politically autonomous tribal organizations, one of which recently kicked out their black members. The majority of Native Americans who died prematurely weren’t slaughtered by the US Army or white settlers; rather, they died of contagious diseases like small pox, introduced by European colonists.
I have a feeling Beyonce’s too b00tylicious for hanboks!
Maybe so, but just to be sure let her give it a shot.
@13 - The actress who was rumored to be ethnically Chinese was Jeon Ji-hyun.
Just for the record, this is one expat who has absolutely no qualms with western celebrities wearing hanboks. Non-issue.
“Native Americans have organized themselves into wealthy and politically autonomous tribal organizations, one of which recently kicked out their black members.”
Ironically, some of the elders, if not many, who signed treaties with the French and the English were Metis.
I certainly hope they dry clean Ms Hilton’s hanbok before letting the next white monkey climb into it. Wouldn’t want to run the risk of catching herpes off of it.
Pawi. The reason the put the whitey in a hanbok routine gets such a rise from expats is that it’s a symbol of the cultural inferiority complex that reigns here. As another astute poster pointed out, you don’t see visitors to the US shoe-horned into hokey, folksy costumes, do you? It’s the same routine, the questions designed to essentially fish for compliments “do you like Korean food, do you know the hanbok?” that remind us of the constant pushing-down-our-necks of Korean culture that we get here every day. The media here have an agenda to use these stories as promotional tools for Korea inc. rather than treating them as the trivial human interest stories they are. And while I have nothing against the wearing of hanboks by anyone, when it is done to satiate the collective nationalist wet dream of an insecure few, I’m not buying into it.
Paris Hilton is up for anything that stands a chance of increasing her media exposure. Hell, she’ll wear FILA if you pay her to do it. I’m sure she’s agreed to wearing hanbok (and absolutely anything/nothing else) as part of her contract.
Most Koreans I’ve asked don’t particularly find Paris Hilton attractive - some really dislike her. Beyonce, on the other hand, has huge appeal with Koreans who know who she is. Even though her mom usually designs her outfits, I’d love to see Beyonce in hanbok (and another wardrobe malfunction like she had in Toronto wouldn’t be bad either).
Personally, I think it would really cool to see Wimbledon make the winners pose wearing a bowler hat with a copy of the Times tucked under the arm.
Sonagi,
I’m sure you’re familiar with the story of settlers giving small pox infected blankets to native Americans. And, the shameful history of the US government repeatedly making and breaking treaties with different tribes, reducing the size of reservations to the point where most of the tribes of the East were forced off their land and on a treck to Oklahoma (does the Trail of Tears ring a bell?) Allowing tribes to run casinos is small copensation for their nearly total decimation, and it’s a recent phenomenon.
“As another astute poster pointed out, you don’t see visitors to the US shoe-horned into hokey, folksy costumes, do you?”
Why do angy expats always make false analogies?
Yeah, we get it. It’s easy to see the reasoning behind the “criticism” here, the sort that comes along in spades on blogs like this. You guys are angry and cynical. But surely there’s no need to look at such a small thing in such a negative light and be so abrasive about it. Just move on. And notice how I put quotation marks around the word criticism above. On “better” days, that criticism is an all-out bashfest with anti-Korean epithets included.
And look on the brightside - at least we Koreans are not tatooing your asses with taegukki. — I’m joking here, btw. See, we can be humorous or we can be hateful and demeaning. I wouldn’t be criticizing the “critics” if the latter behavior weren’t so abundant. pawi wouldn’t be here either. I think. (Not to mention how Marmot’s Hole is tame, or moderate, compared to other places on the net.)
Feel free to respond. Yours will be the last word. I really am quite tired of this subject and wish to move on.
“And look on the brightside - at least we Koreans are not tatooing your asses with taegukki. — I’m joking here, btw.”
I’m sure there’s some guy somewhere who went drinking soju with his Korean friends and still doesn’t remember how he got the Korean flag tattooed on his ass.
Yes, I am, Dokdo. My comment simply makes the point that Native Americans are not forgotten, invisible, or powerless as Andru’s comment implies.
She’s famous for being famous, she’s had cosmetic surgery, she put out a CD that was trashed by any self-respecting music critic, she appears in the occasional B-movie, she usually plays herself doing embarrassing things when she appears on TV, and most of her income comes from public appearances and TV ads…She is a Korean ‘talent’.
Yes, Paris Hilton is the grand epitome and very essence of Korean materialism and pop culture, the symbol of what every little Korean girl wants to be; at the same time, Miss Hilton is the antithesis of Korea. Really. As the living embodiment of lush-life squalor and socialite snobism, there’s something paradoxical about her being in Korea. — And there’s no way that her being on Infiinity Challenge is not going to be very, very eo-saek-hae. Nonetheless, whatever. I’ve never seen an episode of that show, but I’m cracking up from the thought of it already.
I’m cracking up that she’s with the Korean equivalent of Carrot Top.
It’s also a bit telling of how little taste there is that Fila believes they can make at least $1M more in profit by attaching their brand with the world’s most famous skank.
Songnai, are you a member of The First Nations? Some bands are doing well that is true. However, they are not as powerful and visible as you think. Most families are not wealthy, at least the ones I personally know which includes some of my own family members that I keep in touch with. It doesn’t matter if most died from disease. The fact is, in many instances, they were literally hunted down and slaughtered. A good part of their culture was, for the most part, destroyed. I suggest you go to a place up in James Bay called Moosonee where I live for two years and see this for yourself.
I have no problems with Paris wearing any type of clothing as long as she keeps everything on.
‘pawi wouldn’t be here either. I think.’ abcdef
most reasonable koreans eventually decide to leave this place but to me, that is a mistake. this isn’t about winning or losing against the expat; this is about providing a korean perspective which is something you don’t find amongst those who contribute topics here. i don’t post too often anywhere else. i post here to ensure koreans have a voice in a blog read by many.
and yes, i’m strident and rude. but that’s how you get with a group of people who casually refer to korean women as whores while they tell us about their korean wives and girlfriends. there’s no need to be polite to people who paint koreans as monsters. there’s no need for respect other than the shallow when it comes to these folks.
as long as the marmot will allow me a voice, i’m not going anywhere.
ps i thought all the ladies in their hanbok looked nice.
sorry for postin but i want to see if my gravatar changed. ain’t hanbok nice?
“I’m cracking up that she’s with the Korean equivalent of Carrot Top.”
Have you seen Carrot Top recently?
“The fact is, in many instances, they were literally hunted down and slaughtered.”
http://www.google.com/search?q.....&hl=en
#41: I’m married, I post here often, and I do not “casually refer to korean women as whores”. Most of the guys who post here do not do this; however, you suggest that all or most do. Your use of the term “the expat” would be more effective if you wrote “some expats” or “certain expats” or even “most expats.” Combined with the fact that your posts are - and you admit this - impolite, any positive things you have to offer through your “korean perspective” are easily overlooked.
#42: Hanbok are alright. Not my favorite traditional clothing in Asia, but I think they can look pretty good on women. As far as guys are concerned, I think “new” hanbok jackets/shirts are a good match with jeans or Dockers.