Or, Getting Karen to Care about Sexual Harassment
I get it: everyone is into “Tiger King” right now, and from the description I heard from my spouse, it’s a pretty crazy experience. As this extreme form of… depravity? Insanity? Absurdity? plays out, it’s pretty easy for us to pass it off. It’s such a spectacle that we don’t really think about what it means for us. So instead I’ve been watching this:
This is my first and only foray (so far) into Korean drama. Why did I get into it? I don’t know, I think I was just looking for something that could be potentially light and positive in the midst of COVID-19. At 16 episodes, each over one hour long, I had imagined a slow, happy tale with some drama thrown in to keep everyone interested. Disclaimer: I didn’t realize each episode was over an hour, and had thought I’d be in and out in less than 8 hours; silly me. But this isn’t a review of the show. That’s on my personal blog www.please-go-watch-something-in-the-rain-it-made-me-an-emotional-wreck-and-I-cried-for-an-hour-at-the-end-but-I-was-also-really-happy.geocities.com.
In brief, there are two plots running throughout the show: 1. Jun Hui and Jin-a’s relationship; 2. Jin-a confrontation with sexual harassment at work. What happens in one subtly impacts the other; Jin-a’s growing confidence in her relationship with Jun Hui inspires her to confront her supervisors’ inappropriate behaviour. Jin-a begins as a very submissive and passive person towards any authority figure, and by the end sets off on her own to live her own life. But enough of a plot overview, and on to the reason a 35 year old white dad is talking about a Korean drama: because Karen watches it. Well, maybe not Karen, because there is too much reading, but it shouldn’t be absurd to claim it is meant for popular consumption. I want to talk about that aspect of popular consumption.
I, probably like many others, can be pretty critical of popular media. “It’s meant for plebeians,” is a joke I’ve made before, yet somewhat half serious. It’s not entirely untrue; some forms of media are meant to grab the largest amount of people possible, and so it might steer away from sensitive topics like confronting sexual harassment at work, or oppressive systems in society (or potentially give them a passing comment). Eg. “The Big Bang Theory” or “Friends”. Adversely, a show that is overly explicit in its message of social critique can limit the amount of viewers, even if it is really good, insightful, relevant. Eg. “Fleabag” or “The Handmaid’s Tale”. Which is why I find it interesting when there are places where a piece of entertainment manages to bridge this gap, and we’re not entirely aware of it.
Now don’t get me wrong, it is not an easy task, and I’m not sure there are a plethora of examples to draw from. Yet, watching “Something in the Rain” made me think of another romantic story, the novel Jane Eyre, which I read recently for a graduate level history class on sex and gender. When you read a book like Jane Eyre or Pride and Prejudice against their historical backdrop, you can see the authors making pointed critiques of their social context, but it is also hidden behind a love story that draws people in and keeps them interested. “Something in the Rain,” I think, is doing something similar. While you’re caught up in the story of the two main characters, you’re also confronting sexual harassment in a workplace. Jin-a stares down a corporate lawyer and names the injustice she is suffering. In Jane Eyre, you’re hoping Jane finally finds a happy ending, while also watching her deny suitors that wish her to be subservient to them. “I do this for me,” she proclaims at one point in the story.
This is a way of instilling complex and sensitive topics to everyday people (like me), and to make them feel for a person, rather than an abstract argument. It pushes people to empathize with the characters so they may then empathize with the people in their own life. And I think it is something under utilized by those of us trained and brought up in academia. We argue on logic, data, reason, rational, etc. We think more information or debunking another’s point of view will get our point across.
But maybe instead we need to start writing romantic dramas. We need to become conversant in creating empathetic characters that suffer injustice when all they want is to be loved. We need to be better at hiding sensitive topics in the midst of positive stories about friendship. Maybe they aren’t full of footnotes and references to philosophical journals, but who among us ever empathized with an argument? Who finishes Plato’s Republic and cries for the characters? Maybe the fact that Pride and Prejudice is still read by people today speaks to its ability to draw people in, and also maintain that connection while critiquing society at large without us being wholly aware of it. And that is a powerful tool in shaping our world.
And it might be good to remember this powerful tool is being used, potentially to non-constructive ends. Think about how many people may have their expectations of relationships influenced by “Twilight.” Imagine how subtly unhealthy relationships are encouraged because the only people writing at the popular level are pushing a certain perspective that the more “elite” consider below themselves to engage with.
Disclaimer: I’m not saying “Something in the Rain” is perfect. There are obviously larger issues to talk about, but oh Lord did I like it. I’ve watched it twice now.
I Might Have Set Myself On Fire 