Sociology of Sport International Review For

International Review for the Sociology of Sport http://irs.sagepub.com

Sport Star Vs Rock Star in Globalizing Popular Culture: Similarities, Difference and Paradox in Discussion of Celebrities Heejoon Chung International Review for the Sociology of Sport 2003; 38; 99 DOI: 10.1177/10126902030381006

The online version of this article can be found at: http://irs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/38/1/99

Published by:

http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of: International Sociology of Sport Association

Additional services and information for International Review for the Sociology of Sport can be found at:

Email Alerts: http://irs.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts

Subscriptions: http://irs.sagepub.com/subscriptions

Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav

Permissions: http://www.sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav

Citations http://irs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/38/1/99

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 99

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 38/1(2003) 99–108 99 © Copyright ISSA and SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA, New Delhi) www.sagepublications.com [1012–6902 (200303) 38:1;99–108; 031731]

SHORT COMMUNICATION

SPORT STAR VS ROCK STAR IN GLOBALIZING POPULAR CULTURE Similarities, Difference and Paradox in Discussion of Celebrities

Heejoon Chung Dong-A University, South Korea

Abstract This paper investigates the multiplex and complex nature of popular culture in developing nations in the midst of globalization by comparatively analyzing two cultural icons of Korean society: a Texas Ranger pitcher, Chanho Park, and a rock musician, Taiji Seo. Being in two different areas of culture, they represent two extremes. While Park symbolizes conservatism and adaptation, Seo stands for deviation and progressiveness. They, however, share some similarities. They are similar not only in their sociocultural functions and influences, but also in their contradictions. In addition, if these two figures are put into the discussion of power relations at global level, dependent aspects of cultural process emerge. The ultimate similarity between Park and Seo is that they are essentially the ‘cultural products’ of post-industrial capitalistic society.

Key words • celebrity • commodity • globalization • ideology • Korea • popular culture

Permeating our daily lives, popular culture, allied with shrewd commercialism and the mass media, has become a dominating force in today’s society, ultimately manipulating the thoughts and behaviors of the masses. It is particularly interesting that popular culture, once regarded by the ruling elite as an opium for the taming of the barbarous, frivolous and vulgar (Storey, 1998), is now seen as contributing toward the achievement of a status quo, the supreme virtue that a ruling elite has long been pursuing. But in fact, the oppressed do resist. They boldly attack dominating ideologies and values, through various cultural forms. However, even those who resist, in the end, have to rely upon the capitalistic system for the successful impact and spread of their resistance and, therefore, inexorably compromise with the ideology of the system. This short communication focuses upon South Korea’s two best-known figures from two different areas of culture: Chanho Park, a Texas Ranger pitcher, and Taiji Seo, a rock musician. Park and Seo are young cultural icons in Korea, enjoying phenomenal success, and their sociopolitical influences and ramifications go beyond the cultural boundaries of their specific activities. Even though they seem to be in parallel spheres of popular culture, if they could be placed on an ideological continuum, they would be located at right and left extremes, as far away from each other as possible. However, while their political implications are

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 100

100 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 38(1)

mutually contradictory, their sociocultural functions show, at both domestic and global levels, striking similarities.

Ideology and Celebrity

In a celebrity-saturated world everyone seems to be involved in either producing or consuming celebrities (Rein et al., 1997; quoted in Andrews and Jackson, 2001). The investigation of celebrities therefore offers much to critical cultural studies. Even though the celebrity, in fact, is a complete stranger whom we are never likely to meet, he or she can have significant effects on how individuals negotiate the experience of their daily lives (Andrews and Jackson, 2001). A close focus, therefore, upon particular incidents and celebrities makes possible the exploration of complex power relations, through analysing the ways in which ability, class, gender and nationality are inherent in the celebrity phenomenon (McDonald and Birrell, 1999; Rojek, 2001; Whannel, 2002). Popular culture has adjusted to dominant/ruling ideology and adapted commercial capitalism for its survival. Sport especially, among all types of popular culture, has exerted efforts to exhibit such traditional values as hierarchy, patri- archy, male supremacy, heterosexuality and nationalism. Looking at sport stars, or celebrities, its system becomes clearer. The dominant culture, and ruling factions therein, awards wealth and fame to athletes who have proven their ath- letic ability. However, maintaining their awarded status is another matter. One crucial factor is whether or not those athletes are able to maintain behavioral patterns consistently on and off the field or court of play, patterns corresponding to the social values favored by the dominant culture. Where such patterns are sustained, the dominant values are reaffirmed or verified, and the ruling elite selects those athletes to be awarded with celebrity status, and with corresponding forms of wealth and fortune. Selected sporting celebrities therefore display values and norms seen as models for the masses, and the mass has to follow, a process whereby the ruling elite is able to control the mass (Chung, 2001a). After all, in order to maintain their status, sport celebrities have to thoroughly adjust themselves to and exhibit dominant ideological practices and beliefs, and, in con- sequence, repay their obligation. Thus the relationship between the ruling and sport celebrity is supported by the cycle, or interaction, of award and recompense (Chung, 2001b). The relationship between ideology and celebrity in cultural spheres seems quite complex and, at the same time, intriguing. Michael Jordan, the black American basketball superstar, might be the idol of young sports fans but he is also a champion of late capitalism who not only wonderfully adapted to its ideology, but also cleverly exploited his mediated identity as American, male, family man in corporate America in the global market. Another obvious example of celebrity contrasting to Jordan could be his former teammate, Denis Rodman. In fact, Jordan was able to position himself as an American by distancing him from the stereotypical, negative image of Afro-Americans, and, thus, in that process, a more subversive Rodman was an interesting counterpoint to Jordan. However, although Rodman is considered to be the anti-Jordan, it is interesting

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 101

CHUNG: SPORT STAR VS ROCK STAR IN GLOBALIZING POPULAR CULTURE 101

too that he has shown some similarities with Jordan. A common factor they share is the black body, though it is represented in quite contrasting manners. While Rodman effectively reinforces existing dominant racial discourses on the patho- logical black family, and the deviant, hyper-sexual, and animalistic black male, his body and transgressive behavior contradictorily ‘legitimates mainstream (white, masculinist, heterosexist) American fears’ (Andrews and Jackson, 2001: 11). While comparisons could be made between Jordan’s and Rodman’s similar ideological functions, despite their contradictory images, Madonna, all by herself, has provided multiple and contradictory effects and meanings. In his book, Kellner (1995) pointed out that she gives premier importance to identity which, she believes, starts from fashion and a look. In analyzing her identity as expressed in her music videos, stage performances and lyrics, fashion becomes the focal point. Radicals collide with conservatives in battlefields of fashion and youth culture in an attempt to overturn not only fashion codes but also traditional gender roles, and values and behaviors. While she seems to challenge head on the ruling ideology in a radical manner, her acts, as Kellner correctly observes, have produced complex and multiple implications. Since she builds her identity upon fashion and image, Madonna is inextricably tied to the fashion industry and consumer culture: ‘She profits from her contradictions, appealing both to feminists and to male viewers’, since many of her songs could be read ‘either as a feminist text, or as just another objectification of women’s bodies for male pleasure’ (Kellner, 1995: 279). Madonna’s body and identity constitute a site for multiple contradictions: she promotes feminism while damaging feminist critiques, challenges a hierarchy of power while presenting herself as another power, and sanctions revolts and subversion while becoming a top commodity in fashion and the consumer industry. An intriguing aspect of late capitalism is, then, its ability not only to tame resistance but also to turn it into a whole new commodity. Such musicians as Jefferson Airplane (the 1970s American rock band whose songs spoke for anti- war protest, peace and freedom), Bob Marley (Jamaican reggae-superstar denouncing material civilization), and Nirvana (sensational alternative-rock band attacking the values of capitalistic industrial society) were never able to escape from the core contradiction of becoming extremely rich while singing resistance. Blue jeans, once symbolizing hard work, have now become a mere fashion merchandise for younger generations. In the case of sport, snowboarding, origi- nally designed to be a source of a more intimate harmony with mountains in winter, and street basketball, played by younger, angry Afro-Americans from the lower class, have been altered to become leisure activities for Korean youth from wealthier backgrounds in Korea. Initial, successful resistance becomes widely compromised, as the cultural forms and practices become commodities in the marketplace. As Beal (1995) argued, ideology and everyday life are not separated from each other but interact. Understanding the cultural significance of Park and Seo requires a multi- dimensional theoretical perspective. Hegemony, the concept of cultural and political analysis of Italian Marxist, Antonio Gramsci (1983), is valuable here. The notion of hegemony argues that the subordinated actively agree to the con-

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 102

102 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 38(1)

tinuation of their subordinated status. Active agreement is not only to accept dominant thoughts and values but to live with those, and what it eventually means is the ideology being realized and materialized in our daily lives. It includes especially the process in which popular culture often becomes contested terrain where the ruling and the ruled struggle against each other and where values and practices are compromised and, sometimes, turned into brand-new cultural entities. In this process, culture functions to foster compromise and so to maintain equilibrium (Storey, 1998).

Power and Geographical Considerations

In discussing Park and Seo, the globalization context, in which the two individuals are inextricably tied, must be introduced. In fact, there has been a great amount of debate on whether this cultural phenomenon could be labeled as globalization resulting from the global modernization process (Guttman, 1991; Harvey and Houle, 1994; McKay and Miller, 1991; Wagner, 1990) or as cultural imperialism employing culture, and its products, for the purpose of exploiting periphery nations by the core (Kidd, 1991; Klein, 1991; Stoddart, 1990; Tomlinson, 1991). Both theories seem to be convincing and persuasive. However, in explaining the sociocultural functions and ramifications of Park and Seo at the level of global exchange, the cultural imperialism perspective is the more compelling, particularly as the power relations of giver and recipient have often been overlooked. Indeed, the main concern of the globalization discussion in most literature seems to be the nature of cultural flows between industrialized nations, especially those between Europe, Japan and the United States, omitting the meaning and effects of cultural exchange between the developed and the developing. Here, the tendency of the unilateral and dependent phase of an imperialism serving the interests of the developed becomes increasingly evident, and Americanization has been a most conspicuous process (Kidd, 1991; Klein, 1991; Maguire, 1990; Stoddart, 1990). This imperialistic expansion through intended diffusion of culture, in alliance with capitalism that is based upon exploitation and ideological manipulation (Houlihan, 1994), has been described as the latest version of neo-colonialism (Klein, 1991). Considering the fact that interdependency between nations even in the new concept of a global world is still uneven, asymmetrical (Gereffi, 1984), a dependency perspective also needs to be held onto in understanding the multiplex nature of Park and Seo in Korean society, which despite its spurt towards advanced industrial economy status, remains located on the periphery. This analysis of the popular was started here, because there is little substantial output regarding the sociocultural functions and meanings of celebrity in the periphery, and its relation to the global context. Dependency theory argues that persistent interaction and exchange have created an asymmetry of center and periphery, and the periphery located in the distance is the recipient rather than the giver (Hannerz, 1990, quoted in Houlihan, 1994). Thus, even in culture, a nation on the periphery has to depend upon the core for its development, and this relationship often results in the core exploiting the periphery (Kidd, 1991).

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 103

CHUNG: SPORT STAR VS ROCK STAR IN GLOBALIZING POPULAR CULTURE 103

Park vs Seo: Heroes, with Extreme Differences

Park and Seo appear to share many similarities: their ages (30 and 31), sex (both male), wealth, the time they began to receive national attention, and even the fact that both were exempted from military duty. Apart from these personal characteristics, however, it is difficult to find similarities between them. The popularity of Park, arguably the most high-profile human commodity in the nation’s history, goes beyond sexes, ages and social strata. After becoming an LA Dodger in 1994, Park created a stir in Korea with his 14 wins in 1997. In 2000, he was not only a first starter but also the top Dodger pitcher with 18 wins. Becoming a free agent in 2002, he moved on to become a Texas Ranger with an annual salary of $14.2 million. Since attaining such a level of stardom, he has maintained a scandal-free lifestyle, while showing such values as courtesy, respect, devotion, intimacy, patience, and the tenacity to overcome difficulties. Also he has impressively displayed his masculinity by openly squaring off against other major leaguers, usually much bigger in size. Not only his superb performance but also his aggres- sive attitude (in, say, a willingness to throw inside, and not being afraid of confrontation with hitters on the mound) made him a leader in the Dodger locker- room and clubhouse in just a few years.1 He is rich and has shown and proven all the essential values that a Confucian- based Korean society has long respected and even worshipped. He has frequently donated large sums of money to various charity, scholarship and relief funds. There is little wonder at him being called ‘the best bachelor’ in the nation. In addition, playing for the Korean team in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games was clearly special for him. Defeating the Japanese team in the final for the gold was meaningful for him and his legion of fans, since that was probably the first and last opportunity for him to be on the national team, and was even more significant for him since the gold medal exempted him from his military duty for 26 months. There is a paradox. His gold-medal performance allowed him on the winner’s podium, with the national flag rising up to the sound of the national anthem, and so certified him as Korea’s proud son. However, while he built his new image upon patriotism, the ultimate value of Korean society, he paradoxic- ally was able to evade the duty every Korean man has to face, that of preparing for the defence of his nation. Unlike Park, Seo is a rebel resisting the social order. When he made a sensational debut with his dancing duo in 1992, his music, mixing rap, heavy metal and hip-hop, provoked bitter criticism, his popular art castigated as ‘not music’. It was loud and noisy, and lyrics were almost impossible to recognize. His music was unfamiliar even to the younger generation. However, his music and style received a huge response from the teenage youth, and his albums sold 5 million copies in five years, enough for it to be selected as ‘Korea’s all-time best hit commodity’ (Kim, 1997). After retirement in 1996, he came back as a solo musician in 2000 with an even more violent form of hard-core rock music. Though this even more unfamiliar and violent music genre obviously lacked comparable commercial value, 1.3 million copies were nevertheless sold. In the end, Seo has introduced ‘all the music parents hate’, such as rap, heavy metal, alternative rock, punk,

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 104

104 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 38(1)

gangster rap, hardcore and pimp rock (Lim, 2000). He became a spokesman and a liberator of the teens, and was deified by a younger generation disgusted with both traditional values and the specific mores of the older generation (Chang, 1992). Many teens seemed to live day by day waiting for his next revelation. While he was receiving full support from the new generation, response from the older generation was negative, and some exhibited extreme disgust.2 There were many reasons for this. First of all, there is his noise-like music and hard-to- hear lyrics. His style and appearance was another problem. His ambiguous appearance in terms of sex delivered a unisex fashion mode to the teens. In addition, he was spreading not only Afro-American music, but also their dance, fashion and hairstyles. His dance was not pretty for parents, and he subverted every conventional dress code, appearing on TV wearing a hat with the price tag still hanging on it. Dreadlocked hair, which banned him from TV appearance for some time, was that of Jamaican gangsters. He introduced Korean youth to the intimidating street life of Afro-Americans. There were further factors causing deeper hatred from Korean parents. One of the more important reasons why parents, especially those from the middle and upper class background, hated Seo was the fact that he is a high school dropout and was challenging a society whose hierarchy had been structured mainly upon educational background and achievement. Since Korea is a society putting undue emphasis on educational background, more specifically entrance exams, his educational history was bothersome, uncomfortable and embarrassing to parents. Probably the foremost reason fueling these controversies was his lyrics. In ‘Classroom idea’, ‘On my own’, ‘Era of regret’, he explicitly attacked tradition, the older generation, school, teachers, and even parents. He also ignored and resisted the notice from the Korean Ethics Committee of Public Performance, which asked him to revise his lyrics. He ignored the committee by recording ‘Comeback home’ with different lyrics from the ones he actually submitted, and resisted by recording ‘Era of regret’ with lyrics removed. Although it appeared to be a conflict between Seo and the committee, it was, in fact, a power struggle between forces of the new and old (Hah, 1995). All the controversies caused by Seo implied confrontation between conservatives and progressives (Shin, 1996).

Park vs Seo: Similarities of the Differences

Whereas Seo is the symbol of progressiveness, resistance and deviation, Park is that of conservatism, adaptation and normality. They seem mutually contradictory. However, it is possible to identify revealing parallels between the two. For they share critical similarities in their socioeconomic functions and influences when placed in the context of cultural interaction at global level.

Collapse of Domestic Culture Since Park proved his baseball talent in the States, many Korean baseball players have become ambitious and aspired to play abroad someday. Everybody wants to ‘be like Chanho’. Changes are found at various levels. The best pitchers in the

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 105

CHUNG: SPORT STAR VS ROCK STAR IN GLOBALIZING POPULAR CULTURE 105

Korean professional league left for the Japanese professional league as soon as they earned the status of free agency, after seven years of service. Thus the Korean league was turned into a trial field for the Japanese league. The situation of young amateur players became not too different from that of the adult pro- fessionals. A young high school talent, rather than signing a contract with the team in the Korean league and being tied up for seven years, wants now to go straight to a Major League team, receiving a large signing-on fee, usually around two million US dollars. Considering top players in the Korean league earn an annual salary equivalent of 300,000 US dollars, this is a wholly understandable position. Almost every year from the late 1990s, the best high school pitching talents in the nation left for the US. The American MLB now searches for young hitters too. Korean baseball has therefore become subordinated to the core: the professional league to the Japanese, the amateur game to the US. Preparing a comeback, Seo claimed to be a patron of underground indie bands which were facing adverse circumstances. He was going to go on tour as a missionary, disseminating the relatively unknown music genre of hard core which was the main repertoire of indie bands. His problem, however, was that he hired hard-core musicians who were already members of indie bands since there was only a handful of capable hard-core musicians in the country. This resulted in wild resistance from the indie music circle since those bands that lost their members to Seo’s were the representatives of indie music and just starting to receive public attention for their musical talents. Rage from those and other musicians in indie music, led finally to the forming of the ‘Anti-Seo Taiji Group’, attacking him on a concert tour in which he was burnt in effigy. He was criticized by people whom he thought he was supporting, accused of being hypocritical, and of commercializing resistance.

Inflow of Foreign Culture Park’s success in Major League Baseball (MLB) allowed MLB to find its way to Korea. Koreans now have become familiar with the league, teams and players, and, with its increasing popularity, MLB finally opened souvenir shops in Korea. The Korean Baseball Organization does not have such shops, even in its own land. Another incident symbolizing MLB’s invasion of Korea is the rapidly increasing amount of fees for the broadcasting right for MLB games. In 1997, it was 300,000 US dollars. However, it had jumped to 1 million in 1998, 1.5 million in 1999, 3 million in 2000. Finally, in 2001, when the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation got the MLB broadcasting rights for a four-year contract, the worth of this contract was alleged to be anything from 32 million to 48 million US dollars (Kim, 2001). The broadcasting fee for the Korean Professional Baseball League costs, in US dollars, about 5.5 million a year. Thus, Park is contributing not only to decline of the domestic league by making both Korean players and fans more interested in the MLB, but also to outflow of foreign currency, in this case, US dollars, in the midst of national economic crisis. Now we are able to sense another reason why MLB has so enthusiastically sought players in foreign nations. The more players such as Hideo, Park and Ichiro, the

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 106

106 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 38(1)

higher the broadcasting fees from the nations they are from. The individual cosmopolitan superstar expands the global market for the sport’s most powerful influences. Seo is not different from Park. While he was successfully delivering cultural representations of the violent street culture of Afro-Americans to his nation’s younger generation, he became closely connected with the consumer culture. He influenced almost all dimensions of youth image, in the outfits and appearance of younger Koreans, including hairstyles, hats, clothes, bags and sunglasses. His commercial power was proven in 2000 when he got endorsements equivalent to 700,000 US dollars from NIX, a clothing company, for just wearing its clothes for three months, and 1,200,000 dollars from Pro Specs, a sports gear company, for a year. He became the most expensive person in the Korean commercial market. When Seo came back, he pronounced that he would be a missionary of hard core and square off the vicious broadcasting company, management agencies and recording companies exploiting pop musicians. However, while he was trying to diversify the music scene and was struggling against ruthless commercialism, nothing in the end was changed except that he made himself even richer, and more foreign music influences were introduced. Though it is true that he successfully spread the genre of hard core, only those bands from the West that Seo said he tried to emulate, especially Limph Bizket and Korn of the US, eventually enjoyed any high increase in their record sales in Korea. Thus, while Korean hard-core musicians were left floundering, it was foreign recording companies that reaped the benefits of his interventions. It is truly difficult to decide whether Seo is a liberator of Korean teens, or a cat’s paw of the forces of globalization. On the other hand, however, we should not neglect obvious changes that his influence has generated. The teens in Korea became more interested in American rock bands due to his efforts. Korean teens’ new favorite styles became those of western teens. Also, though Seo sought to be a missionary of a new music genre, the latter was essentially a western import.

Conclusion

Even though Park and Seo have operated in cultural areas very distinctive from each other, they possess similarities in their functions and influences as well as their fortune. First, both introduced foreign culture to their motherland, and this allowed foreign capital to further infiltrate the consumer economy. Second, they have functioned as a threat to the growth of indigenous, local culture, lowering the chances of independent development of each area. Because they emerged too early and too strong (considering the fact that the cultural areas they were from were not yet stable or well-established), and because both actors and audience in each area of culture turn their eyes to foreign products, it is truly difficult for any indigenous group to raise the level of competitiveness and autonomy. Third, both received benefits from the core, and there seemed to be a dependent development of the periphery. In conclusion, each cultural area has its own distinctive norms and atmos-

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 107

CHUNG: SPORT STAR VS ROCK STAR IN GLOBALIZING POPULAR CULTURE 107

phere, and its members adjust to those. Park has continuously met the require- ments of dominant values, and, in doing so, he was able to be bestowed with a favor from the dominant culture. Seo has successfully resisted that culture, while cleverly managing to market that resistance. Processes were different, but the out- come was not that different. Here, we see the quintessential factor. Though sport shows its inherently conservative nature in the profile of Park, and popular music shows its capacity for resistance in the early career of Seo, they are in the end both the ‘cultural product’ of this post-industrial capitalistic society.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant (KRF-2002–003 G00053).

Notes

A shorter version of this work was presented at the 1st World Congress of Sociology of Sport held at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea, 20–4 July 2001. I would like to express appreciation to Alan Tomlinson for helpful suggestions for this revision, and to other, anonymous, readers whose responses were incorporated into the IRSS editor’s suggestions.

1. Sport Illustrated explained how Park unified the team and became a leader: Park, a pitcher whose heart had been questioned by some veteran Dodgers, brushed back the Angels’ Tony Phillips with a pitch and did not back down when Phillips stepped toward the mound. A brawl was averted, but afterward Park continued to throw inside, and Los Angeles swept the two-game series. After the incident, in a interview with Sport Illustrated, when asked which of the LA pitchers he would choose if he had to win one game, Dodgers’ veteran first baseman Eric Carros answered ‘I’d have to throw Chan Ho’, who was third starter then (Callahan, 1997). Two years later, Park publicly proved his manliness by giving another Angels’ player Tim Belcher a Tae-kwondo kick upon hearing F-words. He was ejected, but Dodgers made a come-from-behind victory from 0:6. Whenever he exhibited deviant behavior on the ground, his team won, and he was backed by teammates and fans. 2. A reaction from a parent in their 30s explains the hatred of the older generation well; ‘it is nothing but a group hypnotism or frenzy. Who would say it is a song. I’m really worried about those kids listening to Seo’s music. What are they going to be?’ (Chang, 1992).

References

Andrews, D.L. and Jackson, S.J. (2001) Sport Stars: The Cultural Politics of Sporting Celebrity. New York: Routledge. Beal, B. (1995) ‘Disqualifying the Offical: An Exploration of Social Resistance through the Subculture of Skateboarding’, Sociology of Sport Journal 12: 252–67. Callahan. G. (1997) ‘Flying into First’, Sports Illustrated (8 Sept.). http://cnnsi.com/features/1997/ weekly/970908/marindod.html. Chang, Pil-Sun (1992) ‘Teens’ Instant Liberated Zone: Taiji Seo and Boys’, Mal 75. Chung, H. (2001a) ‘What Defines Sport Hero: Reading Ideological Conditions through its Emergence and Demise’, Journal of Korean Sociology of Sport 14: 257–72. Chung, H. (2001b) ‘World of Ideology and Professional Sport: Area of Selection and Control’, Culture–Critique–Society 3: 112–30.

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009 03_IRS 38/1 articles 24/2/03 10:32 am Page 108

108 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW FOR THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORT 38(1)

Gereffi, G. (1984) ‘Power and Dependency in an Interdependent World: A Guide to Understanding the Contemporary Global Crisis’, International Journal of Comparative Sociology 25: 509–28. Gramsci, A. (1983) Selections from the Prison Notebooks. London: Sage. Guttman, A. (1991) ‘Sport Diffusion: A Response to Maguire and the Americanization Com- mentaries’, Sociology of Sport Journal 8: 185–90. Hah, Jai-Bong (1995) ‘Reading TV: Who is Afraid of Taiji Seo?’, Chosun Ilbo (18 Nov.): 16. Harvey, J. and Houle, F. (1994) ‘Sport, World Economy, Global Culture, and New Social Move- ments’, Sociology of Sport Journal 11: 337–55. Houlihan, B. (1994) ‘Homogenization, Americanization, and Creolization of Sport: Varieties of Globalization’, Sociology of Sport Journal 11: 356–75. Kellner, D. (1995) Media Culture: Cultural Studies, Identity and Politics between the Modern and the Postmodern. New York: Routledge. Kidd, B. (1991) ‘How do we Find our Voice in the New World Order? A Commentary on Americanization’, Sociology of Sport Journal 8: 178–84. Klein, A. (1991) ‘Sport and Culture as Contested Terrain: Americanization in the Caribbean’, Sociology of Sport Journal 8: 79–85. Kim, Ki-Pyung (2001) ‘Over-Heated Competition for the Broadcasting Rights’, Chung-Ang Ilbo (25 May): 12. Kim, Yung-Soo (1997) ‘All-Time Best Commodity’, Seo Taiji album, Chosun Daily (21 Aug.): 12. Lim, Jin-Mo (2000) ‘After Watching Seo Taiji’s Comeback Concert’, Donga Ilbo 40. Maguire, J. (1990) ‘More than a Sporting Touchdown: The Making of American Football in England 1982–1990’, Sociology of Sport Journal 7: 213–37. McDonald, M.G. and Birrell, S. (1999) ‘Reading Sport Critically: A Methodology for Interrogating Power’, Sociology of Sport Journal 16: 283–300. McKay, J. and Miller, T. (1991) ‘From Old Boys to Men and Women of the Corporation: The Americanization and Commodification of Australian Sport’, Sociology of Sport Journal 8: 86–94. Rojek, C. (2001) Celebrity. London: Reaktion. Shin, Hyun-Joon (1996) ‘Taiji Seo and Boys and Power Game’, Mal 116: 208–12. Stoddart, B. (1990) ‘Wide World of Golf: A Research Note on the Interdependence of Sport, Culture, and Economy’, Sociology of Sport Journal 7: 378–88. Storey, J. (1998) An Introduction to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press. Tomlinson, J. (1991) Cultural Imperialism: A Critical Introduction. London: Pinter. Wagner, E. (1990) ‘Sport in Asia and Africa: Americanization or Mundialization?’, Sociology of Sport Journal 7: 399–402. Whannel, G. (2002) Media Sport Stars: Masculinities and Moralities. London: Routledge.

Heejoon Chung is an assistant professor of the Department of Physical Education at Dong-A University, Busan, South Korea. His research interests include cultural studies, journalism as well as sociocultural aspects of sport. Address: Department of Physical Education, Dong-A University, #840 Hadan- 2Dong Saha-Gu, Busan 604–714, South Korea. E-mail: [email protected]

Downloaded from http://irs.sagepub.com at GLASGOW CALEDONIAN UNIVERSITY on November 13, 2009