Disability in Lee Han's Social Integration Films
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Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2021-08-05 Disability in Lee Han's Social Integration Films Dasom Han Brigham Young University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Han, Dasom, "Disability in Lee Han's Social Integration Films" (2021). Theses and Dissertations. 9245. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/9245 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Disability in Lee Han’s Social Integration Films Dasom Han A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Larry H. Peer, Chair Matthew Ancell Steven L. Riep Department of Comparative Arts and Letters Brigham Young University Copyright © 2021 Dasom Han All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT Disability in Lee Han’s Social Integration Films Dasom Han Department of Comparative Arts and Letters, BYU Master of Arts The thesis examines four films by Lee Han—Wandeugi (2011), Thread of Lies (2013), A Melody to Remember (2016) and Innocent Witness (2019)—that highlight disability problems in contemporary South Korea. While exposing the prejudice against and misunderstanding of people with disabilities embedded in society, these motion pictures promote social integration through development of trusted relationships and effective communication within familial structures. The representations of disability indicate that the cinematic images of exclusion can reinforce disabled character’s marginalized identity and promote inclusive efforts among the viewer at the same time. Through textual, cultural, theoretical analysis, it is argued that the films progressively decrease discriminative description of disability and gradually empower isolated individuals, making Innocent Witness an exemplary disability rights film. Keywords: Korean cinema, Lee Han, disability, social integration ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to gratefully acknowledge the important contributions of many individuals that enabled me to write thesis. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my committee, Larry H. Peer, Matthew Ancell, Steven L. Riep, who were most supportive and took time to read the drafts and make valuable suggestions. I also would like to recognize the assistance that I received from Julie Allen and Andrea Kristensen. I am extremely grateful to the emotional and spiritual support of my dear friends, especially Gaew Khaomuangnoi and Talia Abbott. No words can ever be strong enough to express my gratitude to my parents, Ki-Hyeon Han and Yeon-Ok Kim, for their unconditional love. I would not be who I am today without their unwavering support. Lastly, I thank God for being always there for me. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page ......................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 1 2 The Integration of the Marginalized in Wandeugi ....................................................................... 3 2.1 Breaking off the Isolated Family ........................................................................................... 4 2.2 Moving from the Margin to the Center ............................................................................... 10 2.3 Leaving No Margin for Disability ....................................................................................... 17 3 Destigmatizing Disability in Thread of Lies .............................................................................. 21 3.1 The Landscape of Affectiphobic Society ............................................................................ 22 3.2 The Parallels between Mental and Physical Disabilities ..................................................... 29 3.3 Forgiving but not Forgetting ............................................................................................... 34 4 Disability as Marks of the Traumatic War in A Melody to Remember ...................................... 37 4.1 Questioning the Masculinity of Military Veterans .............................................................. 38 4.2 Captain Hook and Stigma ................................................................................................... 42 4.3 Traumatic Representation of Korean War .......................................................................... 48 5 Establishing Social Justice of Equality in Innocent Witness ..................................................... 51 5.1 Thinking outside the Box .................................................................................................... 52 5.2 Trust of Communication ..................................................................................................... 59 5.3 Agents for Social Change .................................................................................................... 64 6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 68 Works Cited .................................................................................................................................. 69 iv I. Introduction South Korean filmmaker Lee Han had been known for romantic comedies that delicately portray pure love between men and women before his conversion to different genres that deal with conflicts between individuals and their environment. Since 2011, Lee has turned to the type of social problem films1 that illustrate different kinds of social integration typical of contemporary Korean culture. Lee’s later films present characters who confront social problems with the help and support of trusted familial structures. In addition, these works demonstrate how caring relationships and effective communication in the lives of marginalized people are expanded and strengthened by key characters outside the family. These so-called “social integration” films—완득이 (Wandeugi) [2011], 우아한 거짓말 (Thread of Lies) [2013], 오빠 생각 (A Melody to Remember) [2016], and 증인 (Innocent Witness) [2019]—all feature a main character with a disability who directly experiences exclusion but is eventually integrated into the community. Due to problem films’ didactic nature, it is necessary to closely investigate if the representations of disability in these motion pictures align with their empowering message for disabled people’s rights. To set a clear framework for the study, the topic must be understood in the context of the history of disability studies. The term “disability” has been dichotomously used with the word “impairment” in the social model of disability. The latter designates disease, illness, or deformity and the former denotes a social construct that oppresses people with impairments. The social model has weaknesses in that it rules out personal experiences of pain and limitation 1 According to MacCann, the (social) problem film is “a film concerned with contemporary human situations as they are affected by sociological or technological change” which refers to the problems caused by man-made environment rather than geographical, biological, or psychological elements (52). About its structure, Gans explains that the typical problem film shows the cause and consequence of the problems and ends with the protagonist solving the problem, at least for them, by taking appropriate action that involves a morally difficult choice (327). 1 (Shakespeare 200) and that it fails to draw a clear line “between the impact of impairment and the impact of social barriers” (201). In this thesis, however, disability refers to both a range of physical, emotional, sensory, and cognitive conditions and the physiological, psychological, social, and cultural experiences of impairments. Although this broad definition allows us to see disability as a universal and multi-sided experience of humanity (203), it does not pin down what is problematic either. While clinical medicine can help identify disabilities located in the body, disability experiences, such as prejudices against and misunderstanding of people with disabilities, are largely unnoticed without a critical eye. This thesis attempts to recognize the manifestation of isolation as intelligible evidence of disabling oppression.2 This thesis is a cultural studies investigation, the objective of which is to examine exactly how these filmic integration experiences in Lee’s later cinematic world might promote the social integration of persons with disabilities. Addressing this aspect of the films, this study explores how issues of exclusion and discrimination are cinematically depicted and how disabled characters play a central role in constructing and reconstructing familial