Video Mondays: She said what now?

Welcome to the second installment of Video Mondays, brought to you today by your humble blogger.

First is a clip from a Korean drama I’ve been watching called “Romance Town.” Yup, I’m guilty of being another one of those K-drama addicts, and nope, I don’t mind if you judge me for it

I hadn’t intended to watch this drama–the title “Romance Town” rubs me the wrong way–but I stumbled upon this particular clip and became interested. In it, Korea actress Kim Ye Won plays the role of a Vietnamese maid named Thu Zar Lin, and I’m guessing “Zar Lin” is a Vietnamese to Korean to English transliteration of “Nguyen.”  Having been in Korea for a few years, Thu Zar Lin one day grows nostalgic for Vietnam and decides to put on her ao dai to go to work.  She flaunts her pretty dress and figure to a fellow maid, but the maid pays her no mind and goes off to do her own maid things.  Feeling slighted and belittled, Thu Zar Lin then launches into a monologue in Vietnamese, asking how Koreans can be so condescending and dismissive of others.

I couldn’t actually understand anything Thu Zar Lin was saying and had to rely on translations I found at another blog, but see if you can understand.  Her Vietnamese monologue starts at about 1:09 in the clip.

Catch any of that? No? Like I said, me neither. Here’s the translation I found from Ironic Creature:

Thu Zar Lin: ‘Hello everyone!’

Uhm Soo-Jung: ‘You’re all dressed up?’

Thu Zar Lin: ‘Is it pretty?’

Uhm Soo-Jung: ‘Why are you wearing this?’

Thu Zar Lin: ‘I just want to go to Vietnam. I was thinking of Vietnam… That’s why.’

Uhm Soo-Jung: ‘Always talking about going. Now it’s already been a long time.’

Thu Zar Lin: ‘One time when I was going to school… Riding the bicycle, and putting my arms like this in the wind… Children said that I was like a fairy.’

Uhm Soo-Jung: ‘Fairy? Really talking nonsense.’

Thu Zar Lin: ‘It’s true!’

Uhm Soo-Jung: ‘Psh. Really…’

Thu Zar Lin: Why do you not believe me? You’ve always been cheated, haven’t you? Before I came here to earn money, in our village, I was always that person with the fairest and most attractive face. I was also supposed to be the first to get married. If not for my younger brothers… I would not be here, living alone like this. Also, I would not be despised like this. What is so good about South Koreans? Why do you treat fellow human beings unequally? Take water for example. There’s mineral water and distilled water. Water is water. People are people. Must we treat them differently? Did your brain get clogged Always doodling on something. If it wasn’t for money… I wouldn’t be staying in this place. I want to be like my friends, too. To love, get married, give birth to a child…

Uhm Soo-Jung: ‘Is this because I said she’s not like a fairy?’

Da Jarue Rin: ‘Mom, I really miss you. Dad, I miss you too. I want to go back home.’

This is not the first time Korean media has featured a Vietnamese topic or character: In 2007, there was  drama called “Golden Bride” about a half Korean, half Vietnamese girl looking for her father; and in 2005, there was a special short drama called “Hanoi Bride” about a Korean doctor and the Vietnamese woman he loved.  On the silver screen, 2007 also saw the first Vietnamese-South Korean cinema production in the horror movie Muoi.  Nevertheless, the timing of Romance Town and the introduction of a Vietnamese character as a daily presence in Korean life is intriguing to me.  Just last week, Jennie posted about the silencing and abuse of Vietnamese women in South Korea, and now we have a Vietnamese character who actually voices her discontent about discriminatory behavior–albeit in the fictional realm of the dramaverse, where everything is much more beautiful and nothing is quite as stark as reality.

What do you think?  Is it a bold move of the drama writers and producers to give representation to a shifting demographic within Korea?  Or is it tricky marketing way of expanding the Hallyu wave’s influence?  After all, Vietnam is a growing market for Korea, and the inclusion of something Vietnamese in mainstream Korean media can create more market appeal.  That’s how they hooked me.

Next is a clip almost on the polar end of the previous one.  Watch and see:

The singer, Dalena Morton, is a woman who can make no pretentions of being ethnically Vietnamese. She looks Caucasian through and through, and in the past she confessed to neither liking Vietnamese food nor knowing much about Vietnam’s culture or history. Yet she is well-loved by many in the Vietnamese community for capturing the spirit of the Vietnamese soul in her voice in spite of not understanding the language.  She’s sung in numerous Paris by Night productions and has at times reached pop star status within Vietnamese diaspora communities.

Kind of weird but fascinating, right?  I used to think of Dalena as an anomaly.  In more cynical times, I wondered if Dalena tried to carve a niche for herself in the Vietnamese music industry, turning the White woman into an exotic product for a foreign audience, because she couldn’t make it in the American market.  I don’t doubt her agency has once used that as a marketing angle, but if she sings well and resonates emotionally, then brava to her.

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Bonus clip!  Here’s the trailer to the aforementioned Muoi for those interested.