‘Ajoomma Review: Korean Media As A Lifegiving Force
Spoilers ahead.
A few weeks before the 2020 lockdown, my mother retired after decades of working in the banking industry. The hours she spent counting bills, balance sheets, and customer service have been replaced by gardening, spring cleaning, and most importantly, Korean dramas. Whenever I woke up early in the morning, I would find him in the corner of our living room quietly watching Crash Landing on his iPad, his eyes narrowed the whole time. Even in the dark, I can see her smile, although she doesn't always know what she's looking at.
As a child, we did not travel much as a family. But just before my mom retired, she revealed a long list of her dream destinations, including South Korea, and joked that we would fund the trip as a gift; as a token of gratitude, he likes to walk around the city, take pictures in the clothes of the king of Joseon, or maybe even meet Gong Yoo at Ohi cafe.
Maybe the reason I was attracted to Ajoomma is that its main character, Tani Kim (Hong Huifang), reminds me of my mother. He is relentlessly stubborn, struggles with direction, and cares too much about the well-being of his gay (secret) son Sam (Shane Poe). When Sam suddenly talks them out of going to South Korea together, his aunt gets tired until she sees her favorite K-drama on the screen, the protagonist seems to be offering her a chance. Having received this sign from the gods, he gathered his things and decided to escape on his own.
Any journey requires knowledge of the unknown and a new knowledge of oneself. The aunt quickly came to terms with the fact that, despite her age and experience as a mother and housewife, she was just beginning to get a taste for her own life and independence. The idea of caring is stranger than the earth itself, and director and co-writer He Shumin treats his aunt almost like a child. He awkwardly assimilated with the tour group, struggled to make his samgyupsal , and even struggled to hold on to his drink. When she is accidentally dropped off a tour bus at one of their stops, she sits quietly at the gate like a lost little girl, waiting for her parents in the customer service department.
Ajoomma pretty much demonstrates the disorientation we feel when our loved ones leave us and the anxiety that comes with exploring new territory. Along with her aunt's journey beyond motherhood and the gender roles she has occupied for most of her life, she meets two more lost souls: a confused Kwon-woo (Kang Hyun-suk) who is trying to regain custody of his daughter. win by proving he is a guide and a father even when loan sharks threaten him with violence and death, and his trusted bodyguard turned carpenter Jung Soo (Jung Dong Hwan), whose mourning for his wife is complicated by the death of her husband. dog
Maybe the reason I was drawn to Ajoomma was because it challenged the way media works in our modern lives. In Emily Nussbaum's I Love to Watch: The TV Revolution Controversy, she talks about the double standards of television as second-rate entertainment portrayed as something that keeps us couch-bound. In particular, genres such as "soap operas, romantic comedies ... and, more recently, reality shows ... are dismissed as wastelands that represent our culture's view of art that makes life beautiful." woman". Many films continue this connection with popular art. The most famous of these, in Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream, Sarah Goldfarb is invited as a guest on her favorite game show, but somehow it ends in death, or worse than death.
What impresses me the most is how Ajumma presents the media, especially the Korean ones, as a life force. When her aunt goes astray and her broken English becomes an inadequate form of communication, she turns to Korean dramas for help, using the slang and gestures she's learned over the years of watching to mimic her own needs. As he was about to give up, he saw actor Yeo Jin Goo on screen cheering others on, allowing him to continue despite the uncertainty. In a moment of panic or confusion, he sees a place to rest on TV and looks for a moment to rest. In Ajoomma , these poignant moments become the common language of foreigners and locals alike, an extension of a comfort zone in a hostile environment.
Earlier this year, a friend admitted that consumption of Korean media seemed to reduce their anxiety and depression. We've spent the last few nights watching seduction (which doesn't work) work on Singles Inferno and criticizing the need to pander to the white and gourmet audience at Youn's Kitchen. But our conversation centered around one particular anthropological event in Korean reality shows: why, when someone does something good on Korean TV, does the voice actor confirm that kindness to the audience? After several hours of conversation, we came to the conclusion that, unlike American and Spanish television, which have anger and antagonism in their DNA, the Korean media often tries to portray their key players in a friendly way, even constantly claiming to be lagging behind. . the worst of them. action is a person trying to be nice.
It is this kindness and compassion that pervades all of Ajumma , even in its formal weakness, narrative subtlety, and tense, rushed conclusion. Like it or not, you must support your aunt to return to Singapore, or for Sam to reveal his homosexual relationship with his mother, or for Kwon-woo to reunite with his estranged family. In a world where realism is often seen as necessary to achieve a level of artistic appreciation and prestige, Ajuma says fiction and even illusion are the key to making our lives look better, or at least different, than before.
Maybe the reason I was attracted to Ajumma was because I finally realized that Korean dramas filled the moments in my mom's life when I couldn't be around her; when I don't answer my phone or I'm too tired to speak kindly. While we were gone and when her life was filled with routine and monotony, she, like her aunt in the film, relied on the media to learn about sensations and see the world in a new way. It becomes a conduit for experiences he may never have, invitations to places he may one day visit.
Maybe the reason I was attracted to Ajumma was because I missed my mom. – Rappler.com
Jason Tan Livag first saw Ajummu as part of the FIPRESCI jury at the 2022 Golden Horse Festival in Taipei. The film will hit FDCP theaters on March 31, April 1, 15 and 22.
