Dong-Young's Love Story (Sad Version)

NOTIFICATION: THE FOLLOWING STORY IS COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. THE CONTENT OF THE STORY ISN'T CONNECTED TO REALISTIC CHARACTERS, STORIES, OR SETTINGS WHATSOEVER. EVEN IF YOU DO FIND ANY RESEMBLANCE, IT'S MERELY YOUR IMAGINATION.

It was raining. A beautiful couple did not even think of escaping from the rain. Wherever they went, whatever happened to them, nothing really mattered because they had each other. They walked all the way to the 'Han-River'…….



‘Sigh. Stupid book. What was I thinking-am I really going to follow the stupid scenario of this low rated romance fiction?’


Dong-Young thought to himself as he was waiting for his girlfriend near the han-river. He couldn’t believe the absurd plan he’d decided to carry out, all because his overtly dramatic friend, Hyung-Seok had advised him to do so. “The Midnight Drama by the Riverside of Han”. That was the name of the book Dong-Young was holding in his hands, and that was also the name of a top bestseller that’s been the “hot potato” among teenagers recently-the dramatic settings, characters, and mostly the plot attracted people who were wearisome over their mundane lives. And it was only two days before when Hyung-Seok had given Dong-Young this book and recommended him to “refer” to the content when going out with his girlfriend. Since poor Dong-Young had no prior experience of dating a girl-in fact, he’d never spoken to a creature of the other sex throughout the 17 years of his life (of course, his mom and sister being exceptions)-he had no other choice but to rely on the intelligence of the bestseller writer to guide him. (That being said, Hyung-Seok never meant that he should “literally trace” the story when he told him to refer, but sometimes Dong-Young just couldn’t catch the implied intentions of advices.)

Anyways, luckily, like in the book, it was raining near Han River. Everything was perfectly identical with the book’s story except for the presence of the boy’s lover.


‘Why is she so late? Have I just been dumped on my first date? Christ, she was the only girl who’d accepted me after 17 asking-outs; she’s the only chance I’ve got left to experience something that at least something that resembles “a romantic relationship”! No, that won’t happen. She’s probably just caught up with something. Maybe…… in a car accident? Oh hell, what am I thinking? She’s going to be here soon enough.’


And fortunately, Dong-Young’s hopes did not let him down. To his surprise, his girlfriend had actually showed up, dressed magnificently in a silk laced Y shirt and a black mini skirt. Her black glasses matched the color of her dark brown eyes and hair, and her sheer white skin created a vivid contrast that almost made her naturally glow in the dim and humid weather.

‘Wow. Is she real? Can this really be? She must be an angel, or I must be dreaming. I’d have been satisfied if I could hang out with someone who’s covered herself up with a skirt; she’s way too gorgeous!’


And it was true. Dong-Young’s girlfriend-let’s just say she’s K-was quite good looking for a high school girl. When she’d approached Dong-Young, our timid protagonist felt as if he was going to faint because of the overwhelming ecstasy K was making him experience.



“Hi! Sorry, am I late?”
“H..Hey! No…no…not at all! Wel..welcome!”



Dong-Young couldn’t believe the unbelievably awkward response he’d just made to the most casual greetings of his first girlfriend. “Shoot, darn it! Welcome? What do I mean by welcome? She’d think I was a waiter serving at a restaurant! I’m a total washout. I’ve got to take a look at my guidebook.” And so he did, only to find something even more preposterous than his situation right now.




The boy sang a song to the girl. Time passed so fast when they were together. An hour would pass when they thought only ten minutes have passed. They were afraid if they cannot hold this happiness forever.

“Nothing better…… Nothing better…..than youuuuuuuu oh oh owwhhhh…”

Dong-Young started to sing instantly as it was described in the book. He made his best effort to impress his girl, performing his repeatedly practiced favorite song, “Nothing Better” However, unexpectedly, an hour didn’t pass like ten minutes as it did in the story, and apparently nobody was happy at the weird silence he’d suddenly created.

“W…wow! Tha…That’s very impressive! Haha…”

K reluctantly complimented with a nervous smile. It was obvious she was startled and confused at her boyfriend’s eccentricity. Dong-Young had to do something, and he had to do it quickly.

‘Oh my god, stupid book! Why isn’t it making time fly? I got to follow the instructions in the next chapter.’



After staring deeply into each other's eyes and whispering to each other how one had missed the other for minutes did the boy realize that the girl's shirt was soaked, water dripping in a steady rhythm. "We'd better find somewhere to hide from the rain for now." The girl blushed at the thought of her dear boyfriend caring for her and agreed. The two,standing so close to each other that the 40 year old man at the convenience store a bit faraway regarded them as one, bulky person standing in the rain.



Dong-Young slowly approached his girlfriend and gently whispered in her ears,

“K…I’ve missed you so much… You wouldn’t be able to imagine how deeply I’m in love with you…”

Speaking in his excessively buttery tone, he fiercely gazed into her eyes as if he was going to assault her.

“Um… Dong-Young… It’s only the 2nd time you’ve met with me… Remember? I’m sorry, but could you back off a little?”

Now, K was conspicuously uncomfortable, or even a little afraid, with her date's idiosyncrasy.

‘What? What’s wrong? This is exactly the same as what’s happening in the story so far! Damn, why isn’t she happy? Oh well, whatever-I’m sticking to the plan.’

Because K’s shirt wasn’t soaked because of her umbrella, Dong-Young took her blue umbrella and threw it out of the way. Now, finally, the rain could make his partner wet and then turn everything back onto the romantic pace he’d originally planned.



“K! We’d better find somewhere to hide from the rain for now!”
“ARE YOU CRAZY? WHAT ARE YOU, TOTAL NUTS? Just give me the umbrella back!”
“Umm….No! I can’t! I’m not supposed to.”
“What do you mean, you’re not supposed to, you duschbag? For heaven’s sake, you’re the worst date I’ve ever met in my life! GIVE ME MY UMBRELLA BACK!”
“What? No, gosh, I shouldn’t, please understand! You’re not supposed to have an umbrella right now!”
“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN? Oh my god, you’re completely insane, aren’t you? You psychopath! Never mind the umbrella, I’m going home!”



Then K angrily stomped off, heading for the subway station. Now, Dong-Young was totally perplexed and didn’t know what to do.

‘HELL, WHAT IS HER PROBLEM? No, I can’t let her go….. I need to get her back! My first date! I need to retrieve her!’



So Dong-Young started racing after his frustrated partner, yelling her to stop. K began to run, but Dong-Young was chasing her closer and closer by the moment.

“AARRGH! What the hell! He’s completely crazy! Help, someone help!”


Hearing her desperate call for rescue, a policeman who was patrolling nearby hurriedly raced over. Apparently, the policeman in his forties had been taking a break at a nearby convenience store.
‘And that’s supposed to be the man who was to watch us emerge as one? Get out of my way-I need to get my girl.’

Then Dong-Young punched the intruder’s jaw, which made him faint in pain. In case you didn’t know yet, Dong-Young had mastered Kung-Fu at the age of 5, being praised as a martial arts genius but further alienating females from him with his barbarism.

“Help! Help! A mad person is chasing me!”
“Oh, would you please shut up, K! Why wouldn’t you recognize my love?”
“Help! HELP! MOMMY, DADDY, PLEASE SAVE ME!!”
“Arrrgh… Sorry, K!”


In a desperate attempt to silence his shrieking lover and to adjust the situation as similar as possible to the book’s plot, he knocked her out with a blow.

‘Oh, oh, K! What have I done? Why did this all happen? I have no other option to keep up with the book’s instructions…. I’ll kill the author if this story isn’t a happy ending!’


The boy looked at the clock and it was already 3am. Both bus and subway were not available at that time. It would take too long for them to walk back to home. Afraid that the girl might catch a cold, the boy covered her with his body. The boy led the girl to a place with a ceiling, which could cover the rain. The girl leaned against the boy. Strangely enough, the girl fell asleep quite fast in such harsh environment. The boy looked at the girl's face and thought that nothing could be as pretty and innocent as her sleeping face.


Dong-Young looked at his watch. It was only half past midnight. So our patient protagonist waited a full two and a half hour until it was finally 3 AM. No means of transportation were available. He’d already put his coat over K’s body. She was already leaning against his shoulder, unconscious. And since she was unconscious, she surely was fast asleep even in her harsh environment. Finally, he already thought she was pretty and innocent as hell-dead serious. There was no question.



‘So…… What’s it going to be? What’s next? Do I finally get to kiss the bride and live happily ever after? What’s does it say in the next chapter?’

What the heck is the boy thinking! Is he a pervert? Well, what he was doing did make him a pervert. To become a normal person, he decided to wake her up and take her back “to her home, which was too far. So the boy decided to take her to a nearby inn. He rented two rooms and gave one to the girl. They said good night and slept. The boy was dreaming. In his dream, he was with his girlfriend again beside Han River. She was hiding her face deeply in between her knees. She was crying harshly, and trying her best not to show her face to her boyfriend. The boy asked, "What happened to you, sugar? Show me your face. Everything's fine." The girlfriend had the face of Mr. Garrioch. "What the...!" The girl said, "I'm so ugly.... So I went through plastic surgery to below! Do you hate me too if I'm Ugly?" He woke up, and thought about the dream again. Then, he decided he should love her, no matter how she looked like. We would be a loving couple forever! But she was so ugly can't nobody wants to love her just like one she wanted to be pretty, she wanted to be pretty....all alone all alone~

‘……………………………………’

The book’s title wasn’t “The Midnight Drama by the Riverside of Han” for nothing. The sudden twist in the story-the drastic shift from a romantic love story to comedies and farces-was what the bestseller “drama” was so renowned for. The author had magical talents at distorting serious stories into hilarious-or even ridiculous-comedies, and everyone enjoyed his satire towards incorrigible lovers. Of course, unfortunately, Dong-Young did not.


‘WHAT IS THIS? What just happened? Who’s Mr. Garrioch, and how am I supposed to make K look like him, whoever that is? Am I a pervert if I take her to the inn? AHHHH! Hyung-Seok, I am so going to slaughter youuuuuu!’

So poor Dong-Young’s first, and probably also the last, date ended in a complete devastation. All thanks to Hyung-Seok and the author of “The Midnight Drama by the Riverside of Han”, Dong-Young’s life had been completely ruined. He would very much likely live the rest of his life “all alone~ all alone~”. After all, life isn’t so “dramatic” as it can be in stories.


And what happened to Dong-Young afterwards? Well, to tell you the truth, nobody exactly knows. However, there are people who claim that they saw him heading towards a nearby inn, his unconscious girlfriend in his arms, desperately hoping he’d still be able to make a happy family with his angel.






Too bad.

NOTIFICATION: THE FOLLOWING STORY IS COMPLETELY FICTIONAL. THE CONTENT OF THE STORY ISN'T CONNECTED TO REALISTIC CHARACTERS, STORIES, OR SETTINGS WHATSOEVER. EVEN IF YOU DO FIND ANY RESEMBLANCE, IT'S MERELY YOUR IMAGINATION.





How to live fall in love in 90 seconds: http://pann.nate.com/video/213033879

Creative Writing Type-Up

Dozing in class should be tolerated. Furthermore, sleeping in class when the person is unable to resist the tyrannical snooze should be allowed, or even encouraged, to some degree. Because, you know, when you're sleepy, it's extremely difficult to shake off the drowsiness by yourself. It just has to go away, naturally. And until the unwanted guest leaves on his/her own, there is no way the host is going to return to his sober condition. Not only that, in the meantime that the person tries to break free from "sleep's control", he struggles without any progress, dissipating his time longer than he would have if only he had just taken a short 5-10 minutes of nap. So, like in times when it's simply impossible for you to not sleep, like in 8:30 in the morning or right after lunch, why not just take a short break to recover? A short break for every student is needed, especially to students who are engulfed from severe waves of homework, assignments, and responsibilities. The unfortunate part is that the adults even do not allow the tired students to rest "a bit". Reprimanding them for not paying attention to the class, the teachers close their hearts toward their students, forgetting their own experience of dozing off frequently in sleepy and silent libraries. Well, maybe the teachers do realize the fact that the students are under extreme stress and several tasks. However, they only care their students to "pay focus" to their "elaborately designed" classes. For students, rather than pleading students to stay awake, giving them 5-10 minutes of sleep and making them engage effectively in classes will be much beneficial for both students and teachers. Not only the teachers do not want the students to doze in their classes but also the students themselves do not like to sleep in classes. They regard sleeping in class as a clear evidence of being a bad student. Moreover, in a competitive atmospheres of school students cannot let themselves to lose their mind in class and lose the opportunity to take good notes that will help in their examinations. Take KMLA for example. Some classes in KMLA are extremely soporific to an extent in which most students faint. No one in his right mind would say that fainting in class is healthy. Limiting a nearly-fainting student from sleeping in class is an inhumane crime. It should most certainly be legally penalized and severely monitored. Apart from arguing whether or not dozing off in classes should be justified or allowed, we have to first consider whether dozing off in classes is student's fault. From recent research in Harvard Medical school, it is revealed that in certain environment, a bacteria named "Jol-Ryeu" can prosper, which is actually the cause of dozing off. Yes, you are not misheard, it is now revealed that bacteria is responsible for students' dozing off. This is totally a paradigm shift! Therefore, to repel the effect of the bacteria and increase productivity for students, we should sleep when we want to in class.

JESUS! Camp (Real Ver.)

The film “Jesus Camp” was quite an appalling film for me. Now, this was quite surprising, since I was usually unmoved with materials that chose “religion” as the theme of its content. Although I might provoke some pious believers, I must admit: I personally think religion is ridiculous. Because of their inherent irrationality and the mesmerization that they practice to their followers, religions-every single one of them-have always been my favorites to criticize about and my least favorites to advocate on. Just to go over a few quick points: the most representative teachings that many religions deploy to their followers include claims like “only the ones who believe in thou God shall be rescued” or “do not dare doubt or question the Creator, since he (or she) is always right, and it is best for us mortals to abide by his (or her) teachings and practice only benevolence”. My instant question: if the gods who are “supposedly in charge” of taking care of the poor mankind were so benevolent and magnanimous, why do they discriminate the people who follow them and who don’t? It seems pretty narrow-minded and mean for such “great beings” to only care for the ones who swore the pledge of allegiance to their rule. Furthermore, how are we supposed to know “what’s good” and “what’s bad”, since the vague concepts were never cleared up in the “sacred” Bible or in the “absolute” Koran? Is stealing a loaf of bread to feed the people who are starving a “good” act? Or not? What about killing a dictator who had the clear potential for slaughtering millions in the recent future? Is there a clear answer? Who’s to decide? And even if God (Jehovah, Allah, Buddha, or whoever)

were to evaluate somebody’s action, how are we supposed to know of his standards? What if what we had done with a good intention actually turned out to be something bad for many others? Are we guilty or not? And how can we know if we “don’t question or doubt” God’s thoughts? It all makes no sense. Absolutely no sense at all. And since the “perfect God” is supposed to make sense to us at all times, the contradiction that exists within religion (especially within Christianity) inevitably proves, ironically, that it is flawed. All forms of religions, without exceptions, are created by the people for the purpose to seek relaxation or even salvation by depending on some hypothetical, but ultimately superior, existence.
Well, that’s about it for my personal viewpoints on religion. And this disbelief was precisely the reason I was uninterested in materials that dealt with religion. However, “Jesus Camp” was an exception; despite my efforts to remain indifferent, the video startled me nonetheless. There were mainly two reasons that the documentary was so shocking: the “content” and the “director’s illustration of content”.
First and foremost, the most sensational factor of the video was, of course, its content. At first, when Mr. Garrioch had introduced the film as a nonfictional documentary demonstrating a camp for evangelist children, I’d thought it would be pretty interesting. I never knew that “Jesus Camp” was about to greatly surpass my expectations; what the video had contained was far more interesting than what I’d imagined-even horrible, to some extent. In the video, I saw the images of Becky Fischer, a woman around her fifties who was in charge of “Kids on Fire School Ministry Camp” (Jesus Camp), preaching in front of hundreds people, most of them children.

(Becky Fischer)

I witnessed her fervent speeches in which she commanded her audience to completely dedicate their lives to God, to fight against and repel whatever might be “influenced by the devil”, to sacrifice whatever they have for the “supposed will of God”, and finally, for heaven’s sake, to become “obedient soldiers” who comply with God’s orders; or, practically speaking, Becky’s orders. And this “stringent orders” were directly delivered to children-to 15, 10, and 7 year olds! During the interview she had done with the filmmakers, she commented that “I believe it is critical to properly educate our children to worship God and to devote themselves to the Christian cause. It’s what our loathe enemies, Islams do as well. Do I think that this is brainwashing? No, I think my children are ready for it. Others express their concerns on preaching to youngsters, but my youngsters can handle it.”

And the youngsters really could. They responded to Becky’s demands with absolute subordination and voluntary enthusiasm. When their teacher asked them to pray, the children held their hands up in the air, violently swirling them around along with passionate prayers to be connected with the “spirits”. When they were asked to give sermons in front of their peers, they transformed themselves into masterminds of Christianity, just like their teacher, and argued that “they are the selected generation of God and they have the duty to spread their beliefs to “sinful” others”. The kids in the Jesus Camp weren’t “kids”. They were zealots. Mentally armed, ardent, fanatic, and blindfolded zealots. Becky’s “education” to “train God’s potential army” was clearly successful; she had institutionalized brainwashing.

What was particularly so “remarkably terrifying” were the “techniques” Becky employed to achieve her goals. Yes, the realistic depictions of the camp were quite disgusting as well, but the most appealing substance was Becky’s genius. Her ingenious tactics to persuade the children was distinguishable from any plain sermon; she effectively addressed the ethos, pathos, and logos of the innocent minds.

Everybody could see that her dramatic preaching was directly appealing to the pathos of the children; the impressionable emotions of the little ones easily sympathized with Becky’s impassion. Furthermore, her entire campaign attracted the kids’ unsteadfast “ethos”. By “defining” everything related to the evangelist faith to be “good” and everything else to be “bad”, the camp manipulated its participants into thinking that whatever it tells them to do is “ethical”. And this method was extremely effective, especially since children in their puberty always try to behave and be “good boys and girls”. Since the youngsters desired to become nice and likable (which most children want to), guiding them to believe that upholding religious morality was the correct way to do so worked magically, showing critical effect. Lastly, Becky even employed tactics to logically persuade her students to conform to Christianity. In her lectures, she explained the reasons why “they must believe in Christ”, why “they’re so important to Christ”, and why “they must be ardent in doing so”. Using devils and hellfire as vivid imageries of the consequences that would penalize sinners in the end, Becky utilized her dexterous linguistic abilities to exaggerate the “logic” behind religious zealousness. So, in summary, Becky used her skillful tongue to seduce the young, by appealing to their emotions, ethics, and reasoning. And as it is clearly shown in the film, her strategies worked superbly.
However, it wasn’t only the “content” itself that made this documentary so sensational; it was also the way the director of this film so craftily led its viewers to obtain a negative impression about this camp, and moreover, evangelicalism and Christianity as a whole. Most of the people who watched the film would have been fully absorbed to the loathsome features of “Jesus Camp”, (like what I had done) and thus they wouldn’t have realized the bigger scheme that lay behind the shocking images. That was the filmmaker’s intention, which was to deliberately portray religion as something to be afraid and disgusted of.

(Rachel Grady)

The director of this documentary, Rachel Grady, purposefully chose “one of the most extreme cases that illustrates the distorted form of religious fervor”, chose the most “extremely malicious images” of the camp (Becky screaming her heads off, children crying insanely because of religious enlightenment, and other chaotic pictures overall), and intermittently inserted gruesome music and interviews that satirized the distorted versions of Christianity. Although I was personally against all the concepts Becky had proposed, (which was the reason why I was almost absorbed by the director’s message, like many others) I barely noticed in the end that my “ideas” despising religion were being strengthened and encouraged. That is when I realized this film was crafted and designed by Rachel’s strategies; her splendid strategies that produced the intended and maximized results. Of course, the response from the public was immense. The audience, including even the most renowned film critics, was enraged and flabbergasted at the malice of Becky and her camp. Some even left comments like “I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing”. Well, for me, that kind of made sense, since what Rachel disclosed to the public was the very extreme and perverted images of the truth, not authentic ones. I’m sure Becky was crazy to some degree, but I can say with almost absolute certainty that she wouldn’t have been THAT crazy as shown in the film. Same goes for the camp: I’m sure it was ludicrous, but not “sincerely terrible” as the director wanted her audience to believe. Of course many people couldn’t believe what they were seeing; it wasn’t the genuine version of the truth. The true mastermind in “The Jesus Camp” wasn’t Becky; it was Rachel, who edited the film to emphasize Becky as a mastermind. She adopted the exact same techniques to influence her viewers that Becky adopted to influence her students: by emotionally, morally, and logically demonstrating that “RELIGION IS BAD.”
All in all, I thought I had seen the model examples of “great, eloquent persuaders” after watching the “Jesus Camp”, although they had utilized their fantastic skills of persuasion for distorted purposes. The way the film-Becky and Rachel-struck me, or struck my sentiments, ethics, and rationality, was greatly shocking; enough for me to scream out loud “JESUS!”

Some Videos to Watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGceAojHR6o&noredirect=1
-->America's political commentator and stand-up comedian, Bill Maher discusses Jesus Camp from three different perspectives


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LACyLTsH4ac
-->Highlights of "Jesus Camp"

JESUS! Camp

Disgusting. That was the word that came to my mind and the word that lingered there throughout the whole documentary. I've always been uncomfortable with religion-especially with zealots who believe in their religion so fervently that they don't respect anyone who isn't included in their little ideological congregation. The arrogant thought that they are the only "chosen ones" selected personally by God (or any other types of god) who will survive throughout the end irritated me; the camp founder's psychopatical demonstration on the reason why believers(evangelicals, in this video) should be targeting CHILDREN made me want to vomit. Because the wretched enemy, Islams are doing so, because the children are impressionable and vulnerable, and because God ordered her to do so(?)-we should be TRAINING the kids from their youth... That sounded pretty gruesome, if you ask me.
However, maybe this was the exact kind of sentiment that the video intended to stimulate. We don't know if the content of the documentary accurately and fairly depicted the truth of Jesus Camp, and my hostility towards the institution might have been aroused just because of the techniques the moviemakers utilized to manipulate my feelings. The movie was produced in a way addressing the 3 main aspects of persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos.
The short film first targeted the "ethos" of the audience: it illustrated the camp as a place where it tried to brainwash and mastermind its immature participants. The ethics of the people in their minds were deeply startled by this malicious image, and they were morally compelled to antagonize it. Secondly, it poignantly appealed to the "pathos" of the watchers as well: the extreme, vivid pictures of distorted examples of Christianity and the obsession over the religion spontaneously led people to feel "emotionally" enraged. Finally, the film also tried to appeal to the viewers' logos: by inserting factual statistics and the opinion of a renowned Christian radio DJ at the start and the end, it conspicuously showed the absurdity of the situation occuring in the camp.
Therefore, although I felt uneasy, or even, repugnant towards the "Jesus Camp" itself, I'd also say that the video may have portrayed the camp with some degree of prejudice-intention to generate a response (just like mine). We don't exactly know the "objective truth" of the "Jesus Camp"; the documentary applied techniques that appealed to the viewers' ethos, the pathos, and the logos-anyone would have yelled "JESUS!" after they had observed the camp through this documentary.

A Special Lunch with Gang-Poole (Real Ver.)

Today, I’m finally meeting one of Korea’s most famous cartoonists, Gang-Poole. He’s usually a very busy man, but just about a week ago when I called him to ask if I could interview him, he said that he luckily had the time for lunch on Choo-suk. He seemed like he wasn’t visiting his family on the holiday; I guess being a cartoonist wasn’t so easy after all. So anyways, he and I agreed to meet each other at a Korean restaurant near from the Media-Daum Corporation building.

I arrived at the meeting place 10 minutes earlier than the originally set time, which was 1’o clock. I kind of knew that he was going to be late anyways, but just in case (he might be on time, haha). However, as expected, he showed up near the building nearly 20 minutes passed one.

Gang-Poole: Hey, are you Hyung-Seok?
Me: Yes, and you must be Mr. Gang. I recognize you from your profile photos.
Gang-Poole: Haha, yeah. Sorry that I’m late. So, let’s go, shall we?

So we hurriedly entered the restaurant that served Korean beef-soup (육개장) and ordered after settling down. And our short, but forever-memorable and everlasting, conversation soon began.

Me: You know, Mr. Gang, I’m a huge fan of all your comics.
Gang-Poole (abbreviated as G below): Oh, really? What pieces have you read?
Me: EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, of course! Probably more than three times each! I liked all of your toons, but my favorite was “Timing” and “26 years”.

G: Ah, I see! Haha, well, it’s nice to hear that I have an enthusiastic fan. Thank goodness that you’ve enjoyed them. However, seems like you tend to favor my comics that I drew a long time ago, not the ones I’ve finished recently.
Me (Guiltily) : Ha…haha…that so? No, o..of course not! I still like all the comics you’ve finished. You wouldn’t imagine how many readers online wait so desperately for the volume of your series to be uploaded. “Light Shop”-was it? The series that you’re working on right now?
G: Haha, yes. At least I can be sure that you’re still interested in me.
Me: You bet! Are you kidding? I bet like, a thousand people don’t go to sleep before midnight on Sundays and Wednesdays just to see your uploaded cartoons. You’ll know, too, since you’ve seen the 500 comments that are instantly made to your post as soon as you’ve sent the file to Daum.
G: That’s true. And I’m really grateful for the love and support my readers provide me with. Actually, that’s the pure motivation that energizes me; even in the most difficult times when I wanted to give up.

-The food is being served. The beef soup has some time left to come, but the side dishes are all placed on the table.

Me: Haha, ok, so let’s start the main interview, if that’s alright with you.
G: Sure, anytime.
Me: Would you briefly introduce yourself?
G: I knew that one was coming. Ok, I’m 38 years old right now, born in year 1974, and I’ve graduated Sang-Ji University as a Korean literature major. I’m married to my beautiful wife who’s 7 years younger than me, (we used to be 선배-후배 in our university), and I’m a cartoonist at Media Daum. Well…. I guess that’s about it? Haha.
Me: Sure. Mr. Kang, a lot of people are curious about your marriage, since it was so abruptly announced. Could you chip me in with a little bit of background, if that’s possible?

(Gang-Poole's Wife)

G: Gee, is that so? Well, I didn’t think it would be such a big issue. Alright, so, where do I start? My wife and I met each other when I was a graduate student and she was a freshman. I didn’t stay in touch with a lot of people around that period but she was an exception.
Me: And why was that?
G: Hahaha. Because she was pretty, of course! Gosh, this is embarrassing. Anyways, we soon found out that we had a lot in common, including our family background and financial status: our families both weren’t wealthy enough to pay for our tuitions, so we had to work day and night-living in poverty-to support ourselves. I guess that similarity really bonded us. And being intimate for more than about 3 years or so, we made it to our honeymoon!
Me: Aww, sounds really nice and romantic, too.
G (Blushing): Haha, well that’s how marriages are usually like.
Me: Ok, then, next question. When did you first decide to become a cartoonist? And especially, how did you come up with the idea of starting cartoons online?
G: Well, apart from what a lot of people assume, the motivation for me starting as a cartoonist wasn’t THAT special. Do you happen to know who 박용재 is?

(Park, Young Jae)

Me: Me? Oh, no, sorry. I’ve never heard of him.
G: Haha, that’s a shame! He used to be a really famous cartoonist and a political satirist around our time. When I was the member of the student council in Sang-Ji University, I was drawing simple, short cartoons for billings. At first, I was kind of embarrassed and amused with what I had done. Surprisingly, many people liked my comics and approved them. I was recognized as a skillful cartoonist back then.
Me: Haha, that’s surely interesting.
G: Yes, but during my brief “incumbency” as a college cartoonist, I coincidentally had the chance to see one of Mr. Park’s cartoons. They were-literally speaking,-an immense shock. His cartoons were symbolic, commemorating, and collective; the message Mr. Park had intended to deliver was resonating within my mind. Right then, I realized how arrogant and narrow-minded I had been. I felt the boiling urge inside me to become a professional cartoonist. I was truly stimulated at that time. So I came back home. Drew tons of cartoons, and applied to 400 different publishing companies to become a cartoonist.
Me: Whoa, that sounds like a lot. So, what happened?
G: I didn’t get into a single one. Haha, turns out that I really sucked and illustration, which I had partly realized. Even now, after years of drawing, I still have to invest 3~4 times the amount of time other cartoonists do on illustration to make something “comprehensible” to the readers. That’s the reason why I’m tardy a lot of the times when it comes to uploading. Although I hate to admit, I’m not a very talented illustrator to be qualified as a cartoonist.
Me: Oh, but still, there’s a unique attraction in your cartoons; that’s why readers tolerate your tardiness, most of the times!
G: Haha, thank you.
Me: Well, then what happened next?
G: So, in spite of my grand failure, I couldn’t give up drawing cartoons since I liked the job so much. So I thought, “Why not just make a publisher myself?” But since I didn’t have the proper funding to “establish” a real publisher, I chose to use my blog as the first online webtoon publisher in Korea.
Me: Aha, so that’s when you began to draw webtoons, and that’s why you’re called the father of webtoons?
G: Haha, well, I guess that’s partially true. I started off as unnoticed cartoonist who would draw cartoons on eccentric topics-short, but impactful. However, as soon as I became slightly famous, I jumped in for a new challenge.
Me: That must be the “Love Cartoon!”
G: Exactly. That was the first long-piece cartoon that would be uploaded in series. And that was when I started working with Media Daum. It was a whole new attempt, but recollecting now, that was the challenge that changed my life and brought this gigantic success.
Me: Certainly. You’re one of the most well-paid, renowned, and wealthy cartoonists in this country!
G: Haha, and now I even personally know Mr. Park. That’s the best part. Well anyway, I’m fully aware of the excessive popularity and love I’ve received, and I always think I’m very lucky. Always thankful to the readers, too, especially when I’m tardy.
Me: Does that mean you’re thankful to me, as well?
G: Haha, of course, why not!
Me: Well, the greatest favor you could do for me is to stay a webtoonist as long as you can.
G: Well, I surely want to. I keep drawing new cartoons because I don’t want people to say: “He’s finished.” I and some of my close colleagues have started an independent publishing corporation, too. I want to draw as long as I could.
Me: Does that mean you’re leaving Daum?
G: Oh, no. I’m planning to stay there forever. In fact, there were few places that offered me a lot more money than what Daum is giving me right now. But I refused all of their offers.
Me: Why?
G: Mainly because Daum is the most rational place you could wish for. They’re tolerant, understanding, and supportive. It’s already been awhile since I’ve worked with them without a contract.
Me: Haha, well, I’ve heard that you’re a very exceptional case.
G: Yes, I’m aware that many of my 후배’s don’t get paid properly. It’s pretty depressing. Once, I’ve tried to pressure Daum to increase the cartoonist fees by demanding an increase in mine (thought that would generate an overall increase). But it didn’t work. Only mine went up, ironically. I’m still pondering about what I can and should do.

Finally, the beef soup is served. We begin to eat our dishes.

G (Eating): Whew! I’m glad to see that. I was starting to get hungry.
Me: Me, too! Haha, so now that the main dish is served, can I ask you some main questions?
G: I didn’t know there was more, but sure, go for it.
Me: I want to talk a little about your pieces. You seem to comprise the two genres of “Horror” and “Mellow” at the same time. How’s that possible?
G: Well, that’s a mystery to me, too. Guess I’m just too talented for one…? Haha, just joking. Well, as you know, I have three seasons published right now for both realms – “미스테리심리썰렁물” and “순정만화”. The latter one was kind of obvious for me that I continue being devoted on it, since my first piece was “Love Cartoon”, but horror was a new tryout for me.
Me: Turned out as a humongous success.
G: Haha. Well, I guess a lot of people like suspense.
Me: You bet! I want to talk specifically about every single piece, but since we’re running out of time, I just want to bring up two of my favorites: Timing and 26 years.
G: Knew those would come up. They’re my personal favorites, as well. Timing was an innovative piece, a story about spirits and supernaturals that can control time; seems fun just to hear, isn’t it? Well, I’m glad that it gained so much popularity, and I’m planning to continue with its series until I can.
Me: Why do you think it gained so much fame?
G: Well, as I do for most of my webtoons, I think the most critical appealing characteristic is “familiarity”. My characters are always “ordinary” people that you’ll be able to discover in any “ordinary” background. Even the time-supernaturals? They’re exceedingly normal, just like one of us. The only thing that is a bit peculiar is, well, that they can stop, rewind, or see ahead of time. No big deal.
Me: Haha, I get it. So it’s the proximity the readers can feel.
G: Precisely.
Me: Okay, then what about the other piece?
G: As you know, that piece is about the tragic historical event that can never be erased from our memories-the 5.18 Gwangju Revolt.

Me: Yes, my parents are also from Gwangju. One of the reasons that made me so focused as I was reading it.
G: Yes, I wanted to express the ineffaceable wounds and the inexpugnable hatred of those who are left from the 5.18. Well, actually, the descendents of that incident. The sons and daughters who were wrongfully sacrificed-or slaughtered-by the ruthless violence under Jun-Doo-Hwan’s dictatorship. I wanted to point out that even though the autocratic regime had dissolved, the leaders who constructed the regime for their own purpose are still alive, unharmed and unscathed. Who granted them their impunity? Who was to forgive those unforgivable monsters? I wanted them-although I was explicitly indicating at one main character (전두환)-to remember that the wrath of the perished still lives on, and that they should always be sorry.

(Jun Doo-Hwan)

Me: Do you realize that some of your cartoons, including 26 years, has given you the nickname “좌빨 (left extremist)”?
G: I think that’s ridiculous. Although I am politically active and I won’t withstand something that’s unjust-something that I can make a point about-I’ve never been biased towards any political agenda. It’s that just this damned country is too dogmatically conservative that although I choose neutral, I’m labeled as a communist. I’ve been threatened and pressured a lot, too, through phone-calls and e-mails. Once, somebody just called me up and summoned me to 석촌 Lake. And I was like, “The hell I’m gonna go there!” LOL.
Me: Well, still, you’re undeniably a enormous success, bout all your toons published into books, made into musicals and plays, starred as movies! Say, I’ve heard that “Timing” was made into a mobile game and is going to be made into an animation movie?

(The Advertising image for Timing Animation)

G: Haha. Well, I don’t think I should say a lot about it, since once the publication right is sold of my piece, it becomes a totally new form of art. Though, I’ve received a lot of complaints from movie directors, frustrated, “Why the hell is your synopsis so complicated?”
Me: Hahaha, really? Oh, well. Hey, but since you’re rich, you won’t say that you won’t buy this lunch, would you?
G (Grinning): You impudent kid! Alright, I’ll pay for this. Just make sure you live up to your dreams.
Me: I sure will. I hope you do too. Thank you!

And that was the end of the special lunch I had with Gang-Poole, although my special tale is just about to begin.

A Special Lunch with Gang Poole

Who: A renowned and skillful cartoonist in Daum (webtoonist) Gang-Poole

Why: I adore his cartoons, which are not only insightful but entertaining as well. As far as I know, he is the best cartoonist in Korea right now, almost all of his pieces made into movies and all of his toons always being in the center of the focus whenever he starts a new series. He has finished 8 series that can currently be viewed at “Media Daum”, and he has won 5 national awards given to the most famous/popular cartoonists in three consecutive years 2004, 2005, and 2006. I respect him as a person, as a cartoonist, and as a social activist. Plus, I love his comics, too.

Where: At a nearby restaurant from “Media Daum” company building (I’ve never been to a publisher-an INTERNET PUBLISHER before).

When: During Choo-suk, because that’s normally when cartoonists have the most amount of free time. (Of course, after his visit to his family)

What: At lunch, I would like to just ask about his personal background and life-his motivations of becoming a cartoonists, hardships he had experienced and the biggest successes, the happiest moments of his life, and all that-to know him better and find out where is inexhaustible energy and bottomless quantity of ideas. Then, I want to share my opinions and views about his cartoons, and maybe suggest some points that could improve his stories and innovate his style (although I’m not sure if I could help). I’m pretty sure that by this time that the time allowed for a short lunch would come to an end, but if I have the time left I want to know about his future plans, as a cartoonist or maybe as a totally different social member (I believe he has the sufficient capability to do exactly so). All in all, I think I would definitely have an enjoyable and memorable lunch with my favorite idol, and if he actually does with me as well, I believe he could pay for lunch since he has made a HELLA LOT OF MONEY from his masterpieces. 



His personal Fan-site: www.kangfull.com

Questions I might ask:
1. Are you planning to continue the series of "Timing"?
2. How did you start "26 years"?
3. How come you master both realms of "Romance" and "Horror"?
4. Do you like suspense better or mellow?
5. Until when are you planning to stay as a cartoonist?
6. When were your hardest moments, and when were your brightest?

Catfish-Can We Let It Go? Really?

First off, I apologize for my late CR response today. I think I was a bit excited after the SAT and lost track until today’s class. However, I do also think that the “lateness” of my essay certainly affected the content of what I would be talking about for the next few hundred words, due to the heated discussion we had in class together with the “Devil’s advocate” today. If you remember (hopefully….;;ㅠㅠ), I had vigorously argued in class that Catfish imposed more harms than good on every party that is involved with the production, release, and distribution of the film. I divided the parties mainly into three; the people who are actually starred in this film, the famous SNS Facebook, and our general society as a whole. And although we had a very fruitful and passionate discussion with the intense participation of both sides+the Devil’s Advocate, and even though the conversation has introduced to me some intriguing, fresh perspectives to think about, I am quite sure that my stance on this motion still stands firm; perhaps even more resolute because of the valuable ideas that were brought up by the Opposition which contributed on the elaboration of ideas of my own.
So, that’s it for the intro, and so let’s jump right into the issue why the creation and release of Catfish was a total disaster for everyone, starting with the individuals who were involved. There are several characters that come out in the film, including Yaniv, Angela, Yaniv’s friends, and so on. Well, even though there are issues that could be discussed with these people as well, since they say that it was OK to disclose the film and since this point was made very clear by the opposing house, let’s just forget about all the rest, and focus on the remaining two, Abby and Angela’s husband.
As for Abby, I think that there is no doubt that the distribution of this film will drastically affect her life, either directly or indirectly; positively or negatively. Yes, I do understand that “Abby” isn’t really the main character who gets the entire spotlight, and therefore it might be true that she won’t receive as much attention as she would receive if she were to be the protagonist. However, 1) still, she nevertheless took a vital role in connecting Yaniv with Angela, and 2) the main character may not be she, but IT’S HER MOTHER! And unfortunately, this is not some happy-high-teen movie where children who act take vigorous and enlightening roles; it’s a “Cyber Horror” documentary that eventually ferrets out the gigantic, creepy fraud of a woman who’s disguised her identity by creating 15 fake accounts in SNS, using multiple telephones and abusing the existence of her 7 or 8 year old daughter, all just to flirt with a man who’s 20 years younger than herself and establish a sexual attachment with him-to escape her miserable, boring life. Now, I recognize the fact that this movie could actually bring in the positive light-perhaps sympathy over Angela and her family. However, it is hard to deny that there will also be radical comments that come from the other side as well, obviously; what Angela did to the seemingly-sexy online partner is not what many people would do in ordinary life. Actually, if we just take out all the sympathy and the humane emotions that we might feel towards the subject family, and just examine the factual whereabouts, Angela’s actions are quite abnormal, insane, freaky, and even psychopathic! What she did was adultery, with a man who perhaps is half her age and even utilizing a fake identity of a woman she has never even met in her life (pretending to be her daughter.) This is, in common sense, beyond social taboos! Many of her actions could be considered illegal and worthy of being prosecuted, under the violation of several legal codes: cyber defamation, the misappropriation of identity, adultery, and maybe even fraud! She must have been deeply ashamed and profoundly embarrassed at the package of outrageous actions she had done, if she even had an ounce of moral dignity or social pride left. And my god, I’m sorry, but I do think she should be ashamed! But because, surprisingly, Angela seems to be ENJOYING the outcomes of this situation (ㅡㅡ; YUCK), I suppose we could let her be. It was her life, her decisions that she made, and the consequences are hers to bear.

BUT WHAT ABOUT ABBY. WHAT ABOUT THE POOR, INNOCENT LITTLE CHILD WHO SHOULDN’T BE HARMED BY THIS SERIES OF CRAZY EVENTS AT ALL. Perhaps right now, she’s not old enough to really grasp the meaning of being televised on an official film is, (and perhaps that’s how Angela cajoled her daughter to agree to the disclosure of the documentary), but undoubtedly and inevitably, the time will come when she understands what “Catfish” meant; about her mother and her family. And I think she will be pretty ashamed and embarrassed at what her mother has done, or even disgusted at such unusual deviations from normalcy of her mom. (I’m sorry, but if it was my mom who appeared and was completely mocked like that for two hours, I would have been undignified, infuriated, and deeply wounded) Furthermore, even if she manages to budge with the truth, what about the environment she would be exposed to in the future? Isn’t it kind of evident that there is a very high possibility of her being mocked, harassed, or even bullied by some irrational group of gossipers just for having Angela as her parent? If you’ve ever lived in a normal society existing in this world, at school, at neighborhoods, or at basically any place you could imagine, there are always those harassing bullies who love to pick on and meddle with the lives of the vulnerable. And often, children from families with “peculiar issues”, such as divorce, mental problems of parents, poverty, and etc. become the easy target for such “social violence”. I can say with 100% certainty, that once in Abby’s life, she will encounter an event where the film will be an issue, hurting her deeply; a person will come up to Abby, in the future, and say “Oh, you’re that kid from Catfish, the daughter of …….” And so on. My biggest problem with the film that makes me outraged is that the film of “Catfish” dug in, investigated, and revealed the very “private” issues that could have been dealt “privately” to millions of people. And because of that, the scars, the mental wounds and psychological stress of the poor little child which could have been minimized was on the contrary, exacerbated and expanded because of the greed of the filmmakers and the thoughtlessness of an immature woman. Abby had no say in this, although she would eventually be the one who would be most affected by this in various ways-probably negatively. They(the filmmakers and Angela), should be severely chastised for that, if nothing else.

Additionally, there doesn’t need to be an elaborate explanation on the emotional injuries Angela’s husband must have received; he witnessed his wife committing adultery, hitting on some guy who’s in the age of his son, and the whole process was televised internationally, worldwide (The movie was pretty popular, so a sufficient number of people must have seen it, I must say). It’s instigating enough to discover your wife to be disloyal to yourself, and SHARING that shocking and embarrassing revelation with millions of moviegoers (with some popcorn and soda, I suppose) seems extremely unnecessary. If I were in his position, I’d say things have gone out of control and beyond the line, and would want to hide myself to someplace isolated from any sort of interaction(of course, with a new wife).

Secondly, putting aside the emotional damages and scars the (ironically) popularity of the movie must have caused, even so, think of the unfair criticisms and biases Facebook would be subject to now. Now, as very intelligent students enrolling in KMLA, we all know that something always has its benefits and defects. This, of course, also applies for Facebook; we obviously notice that it has harms in the dark side, but that it also has beneficial functions that contribute on improving the welfare of the society. However, in Catfish, an extremely unusual, rare incident that radically illustrates the problems of Facebook was refined through the process of producing a documentary; dramatization, exaggeration, and the stirring-up-and-making-a-big-fuss-over-everything. I mean, healthy, constructive criticisms are always welcome, because they tend to be FAIR and OBJECTIVE. And it is always possibly through methods of education, reporting, and etc. However, “DOCUMENTARIES”-don’t you think what they do is a bit unfair? Very often, they usually try to pick out the most radical, extreme cases of the side they want to root for and demonstrate the events with magnificent details and specificity-to draw public attention with sensationalism. Because documentaries have to be shocking, entertaining, and stimulating in order to “sell”, and because many of the issues in reality aren’t that “dramatic” that can match a “fictional scenario”, they often “transform” the real life into something really fun, immediate, alert, and interesting. As for in this case, the Catfish, honestly, how many cases would there be in real life that a psychopath creates multiple accounts to hit on a guy using a fake identity of a model and disguising it as her daughters? Do you think events “THAT CRAZY” would occur on a daily basis? Well, perhaps, once in 2 or 3 years; certainly not very much. Just think of the notorious “Swine Flu” or other pandemics that swept through the nation as hot potatoes. Even before the objective information on the diseases was verified, the media, especially many “social documentaries”, were crazy on leading and claiming and assuming and warning everyone that an imminent, irresistible danger has neared. And the results are…? Less people died from all the infamous pandemics combined than people did from a normal flu. However, tragically, the numerous producers of livestock and restaurant owners who served the related animals experienced an unimaginable degree of decline in their sales, and they suffered greatly to the extent that they certainly did not deserve. What about Facebook? We can’t say he is completely innocent, but does he really deserve THAT PORTRAYAL? THAT IMAGE, THAT PERCEPTION OF USERS ASSUMING MANY ACCOUNTS ARE FABRICATED IN WHICH MANY CASES THEY ARE NOT? As the Opposition correctly pointed out, “Documentaries are all like that”, I think that criticisms through such sources are pointless and only damaging to parties involved (that usually don’t deserve that much of a criticism). They just like to make a big fuss about everything to make more profit.
Lastly and finally, the social impact of the film imposes the greatest threat and causes the largest problem of all. Since it is obvious that some extent of dramatization and exaggeration was included in making the film, the authenticity of the film is being questioned, as it rightfully should be. Taking in to account that the content of the documentary isn’t true so much, not enough to declare itself as non-fiction, we should also consider the detrimental consequences. If we let go of Catfish, this once, because it’s fresh and entertaining, because it’s popular, with the soul of tolerance and generosity, then what about next time? What about the next series of documentaries that would probably rely on the past records to seek for success? If we condone the dishonesty of Catfish this time, it might serve as a landmark that opens up the door for numerous future films to also be untruthful and earn the justification through popularity. And ultimately, if the social trend is directed towards accepting the fraud and lies that exist within films, then many more films that could have been frank with its viewers could choose to lie about events to make it more “exciting”, and that goes against not only the fundamental principle of documentaries-muckraking the problems of the society-but also the trust and the welfare of the massive numbers of viewers who depend on the filmmakers to actually dig on some realistic problems with realistic solutions to address.

So with all these detrimental problems evident, existing and clearly outweighing whatever minute benefits it might have, can we let go of Catfish? Really?
The answer has already been spoken.

THBT social documentaries do more harm than good
THW require all realistic films to attain full authenticity
THW prosecute Angela for misappropriation of identity
THBT Abby also has the right to prohibit the film from being starred (not her mother)
THBT Facebook should allow only one account to be made per person
THBT the media shouldn't portray the embarassing moments of life
THS federal censorship of movies generates unfair prejudice


Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVtIot3tpWE <--This is a video that demonstrates the reason why some children bully others. One of them, as clearly included in the clip, is because they judge the victim to be weaker than himself(perhaps because of family background) http://www.redorbit.com/news/video/health/4/flu_paranoia_sweeping_the_nation/29902/?src=mrss <--This is a video that effectively depicts the crazy paranoia over the swine flu, and shows how people were over-worried about just simply a disease because of the demagoguery of the media