THE RISE OF K-POP AND K-CINEMA

•South Korea as a country has emerged significantly over the years, whether it's the music industry, the cinema, the cosmetics or the cuisine, korean culture has taken over the world and it's influence on the youth is unimaginable.

From the catchy tunes of kpop to the masterful storytelling of korean films and dramas, Korea definitely has a unique way of blending art and entertainment together.

•HALLYU: The korean wave (Hallyu) refers to the global expansion of korean culture via music, Television dramas, fashion and other factors. It has turned South Korea into a cultural superpower, greatly influencing modern pop culture worldwide.

Boosting south Korea’s image worldwide, it has also greatly contributed in building the country's economy and tourism. It has also led to an increased interest of people in the korean language as well as it's culture and history.

•Now let's dig deep into the history of how korean cinema and music has evolved in the past years~

•Talking about kpop, which began with the debut of Seo Taji and boys in 1992, it has been giving us some dope hits since ages but do you know about it's golden era? It started in the late 2000s and continued into the 2010s. The 2nd and 3rd generation of kpop not only made it to the top in music charts but also in people's hearts. The craze for korean pop hasn't gone down since then. While the older kpop songs were more focused on cultural themes, the 3rd and 4th gen idols have been exploring more diverse and sensitive topics like self love, healing, youth struggles and anxiety.

When it comes to korean music there is one song that cannot be overlooked. Of course "Gangnam style" by PSY. It broke several world records, including becoming the first youtube video to surpass a billion views and becoming the first kpop song to peak at #1 on the UK chart. From chris gayle to our own King Kohli, Gangnam Style has made it's way onto everybody's playlist.

Speaking of smashing records, we can't neglect groups like BTS, Blackpink, exo, twice, and so on. From Bangtan boys being the most streamed group on spotify to Blackpink being the most subscribed group on youtube. Because of amazing talents like these, korean pop has been growing more and more and it's success is undeniable.

Language is no barrier when it comes to music and korean music industry has actually proven it. To the stans, the idols are more than just mere celebrities and honestly it's all justified by their music, lyrics and efforts. K-pop idols undergo years of training to enhance their skills and this excellence is represented not only in their music, but also in their choreography and fashion. PS: They don't go easy on anything.

For stans, kpop is not just limited to music but it's a way to get through various phases of life. Speaking from personal experience songs like "Life goes on" and "magic shop" helped me alot during difficult times. Specially during the lockdown, Messages like "Self love" not only helped me but many others. There is a reason why Korean singers are referred to as "idols": we idolize them, learn from them, and, most importantly, respect them. From RM's speech in the United Nations to V's words in the "Winter bear", our idols understand the thought process of the youth more than their own peers do.

•Now coming to the korean cinema~

The hallyuwood or what we call the korean industry began to build around the 1960s. However, it reached its peak in the late 1990s. Directors like Park Chan-wook and Bong joon-ho made great contributions towards the global recognition of the industry. From movies like "old boy" to "train to busan", the korean cinema really puts ahead various genres in the best ways possible. The oscar winning film "Parasite" which was released in 2019 was a huge success and one of the greatest achievements for hallyuwood. It became the first non english film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, grossing around $262 million worldwide. Other movies like "Haeundae", "Train to busan", "The witch" and many more are the ultimate proof of how koreans showcase such outstanding plots with such unique way of storytelling.

•When it comes to cinema, Korea is not only famous for it's movies but also for it's TV shows commonly known as K-dramas. And when it comes to kdramas people might think romance is all that they contain. However, They are alot more than that. From the incredible heart racing Rom-coms to the heart stopping thrillers, kdramas cover it all. Dramas such as "Business proposal", "Descendants of the sun", "Goblin" which were a worldwide hit whereas Dramas like "Save me" and "Angel's last mission" which are still underrated, all of them give us some amazing stories and plots. Korean dramas convey a wide range of emotions and explore a variety of deep and complex themes such as loss, social and mental health issues.

And talking about cinema we can't forget the contribution of the actors. The skills of the korean actors are not something you can neglect. They really put their heart out and their versatility across genres are no joke.

I personally enjoy kdramas more than anything else and i believe they're one of my biggest sources of entertainment. From the romantic ones making us delusional to the psychological ones forcing us back into reality, kdramas really do magic and leave us with floods of different feelings and emotions.

•Thus we can hereby conclude that, With groups like BTS continuing to break records and the Korean film industry producing such quality content, South Korea’s influence on global entertainment shows no signs of slowing down. So one thing is clear, the korean pop culture has captured people's heart and will continue to do so in the upcoming years. Kpop and k-cinema is likely to keep evolving and hence the korean influence on the world is far from over.

Comments

WILL YOU BE THERE ?

Sometimes we just crave for someone's presence When a thousand thoughts cross the mind, The time passes just to rewind, Will you be there ? When the night is dark And the day is darker, When the words are sharp But the thoughts are sharper, Will you be there ? When in the best of situations Nothing seems right, When the days are scarier than the night, Being my twilight, Will you be there ? When in cloudy skies I can't see the moon, I'll have my own When you will be here, Will the time come soon ? And when the stars align The moments are rare, When we both have time Will you be there ? ~ Akshita

Life Bled, Death Whispered, God Watched — Point-Blank

Today was rather cold. It's not uncommon for January mornings to be bone-chilling and windy, but today, I could feel the wind pass through my sweater, hit me point-blank, and extinguish the remnants of heat that my skin and bones radiated. Hitting at point-blank, being hit at point-blank—both are mutually exclusive events, but there's a contradiction; both are cohesive too. When a bullet leaves a gun and pierces the flesh of a living entity, it not only splatters the blood of its victim but also ravages the innocence of the perpetrator. When a lion tears the flesh of a dying deer, it not only eats parts of its prey but preys on parts of itself, too. When I am long lost in this smoke, when this nicotine roll burns in my hand, it's not the only thing burning. Death always occurs in pairs, but neither entity ends the same way as the other, and it's rarely instantaneous. It's more of a slow, gruesome, tragic, yet cinematic event. Death is always violent. Sometimes, it a...

Dying with Borderline

The face I see in the mirror of the woman looking at me feels foreign. I look at her while I dissociate. Are we the same? Do I live inside of her, or does she control me? Every waking moment, a thought creeps up: Is she sane? Am I ruining her life? What if I merge with her? Is that even possible? We look the same, yet we have no sense of familiarity. I fail to recognise her on most days. The picture she took a week ago seems so different; is that her real smile? Does her nose crinkle up? The ghost of me walks through the hallways of the college, smiling at people, sometimes strangers. I have lost all control over her. We are two different beings now. The third one who recognises her shows up some days, but we don't let her stay. She dared to call me a monster while all I did was protect her. She knows she doesn't deserve love. We know it's never going to come our way. Her trying to look pretty only gets her looked at, stared at, and objectified. But we know that's the ...

approximation errors of life

I just woke up from a fever dream and it dawned on me that the dream lasted too long and hasn’t been that long since I arrived. Does time move differently in dreams, with different experiences, does it relapse, can it not be stuck in a loop of my favorite childhood memory? I wake up with these questions, and I don’t quite know when is the right time to ask questions and when is the right time to answer them. The timing is important you see, when you choose to change the curve and when you accept the flow, it makes all the difference. Also, pardon my casual language, I just woke up from a fever dream. I think about existentialism and how the originality of human experiences causes self-alienation and how lonely the suffering can be ( yet I never wished any suffering on you ). I’m not a philosopher, educator, or a liberal arts student wandering and wondering about the technicalities of life ( i don’t know who the addressee is ), however, I still believe the originality of human e...

Flesh

It’s a spring day today. It’s summer in the sun and winter in the shade. My body does not know which season to belong to, so it lingers in the in-between, splitting itself apart. Half burning, half frozen. Half alive, half rotting. You understand this, don’t you? That feeling of being suspended between two selves, two states of being, neither of them quite yours. The warmth touches you, but it does not sink in. The cold nips at your skin, but you do not shiver. You are not here, not really. You are only the shadow you cast. Just like you, The enormity of my desires disgusts me. I want to be called beautiful. I want to be told I am loved—not once, not twice, but over and over again, until the words sink through my flesh, until they take root in my bones, until I become something soft, something sacred, something worth keeping. But I am made of spoiled meat, swollen with things that should not be here. I hold too much filth inside me—blackened regrets, sickness curdling beneath my ribs, ...

A bliss and surge in D

I happened to be alive. I happened to be aware and hoped to be conscious and in control of myself when I decided to visit D2. What is D2? Where is D2? It’s nowhere. Nowhere can be anywhere; anywhere with no name attached to it, anywhere that’s not anticipating to be noticed, anywhere which is desperate for your attention, anywhere may be beyond within or within beyond, or it may just be no where. What I did was – give a stage to my imagination and let it create a figment. Then I included it in my thoughts, provided it my flesh and soul. It started to get a structure as it found shelter against reality within me. I call it D. But my imagination, showcasing its dominance and control of my thought and eventually my reality made me believe, and I still do believe that D is not complete yet. It is enough the way it is. It is content being a part of me. Still it’s awaiting to embrace something that’s not me and yet it is nowhere. I am really sanguine about finding that. I would like D to fee...

The Silent Takeover

The air tonight is thick, darkness stretching out like a lie too polished, too staged. The city below glows in dim yellow light, but it is a deceptive kind of glow, shuddering like a breath too weak to hold on to. Somewhere, laughter spills from a distant window, but it is hollow, floating into the night like a shadow of what once lived. They say the night is beautiful. That it is a whispered promise, a fleeting touch, a sky too vast to hold. But beauty is often just a mask stretched thin over something ugly. The moon shines down, with a smile that does not reach my hollow heart, basking in radiance that was never truly its own. The stars blink like knowing eyes, but they are nothing but remnants of dead things, whispering from too far for us to listen. But the night does not love you. It does not listen to your secrets; it swallows them whole. It watches, as footsteps echo in deserted alleys, as shadows stretch under flickering streetlights. Somewhere, a deal is sealed with a quiet ha...

THY ELOQUENCE

Search This Blog