Bronzed and Ready
My wife and I have been catching up on the latest in the world of Korean YouTube, and there’s one in particular that she dragged me into and I’ve been enjoying to no end. “Wassup Man” is a vlog-style touring show that follows former G.O.D. (90s-early 2000s Kpop group) leader Joon Park as he travels around Korea to find ‘hot’ places only known to the locals - cafes, restaurants, stores, events, and so on. The productions seem to be pretty ad-hoc, making impromptu moves to new places depending on who they talk to and meet.
Here’s a ‘taste’ -
And this show has become wildly popular with tens of millions of total views online. The series of short episodes has become all the craze with the young’ns and has renewed the almost 50 yr-old celebrity’s status in the country. It’s likely the first instance of a Korean American maintaining a solo presence on a major broadcast, and Park is the most bodaciously beautiful example ever. There are some really compelling qualities of Park that young Koreans are really beginning to appreciate but has some trouble digesting in past decades -
Park speaks exclusively in ‘informal’ speech to young people. Korean has two grammatical modes of speech - a formal version for elders, higher-ups, and strangers, and an informal one for friends and younger acquaintances. It is unheard of to for people meeting for the first time to speak informally to one another, even with an obvious age difference. Park destroys that initial barrier and while some would typically interpret this as a sign of disrespect, young people see this is a sign of a very friendly person with little air of superiority.
His broken ‘Konglish’ is hilarious. Despite having lived in Korea for decades, Park owns the Korean American vibe and makes no attempt to hide it. He adds “s’s” to end of random words and directly translates English phrases. He owns it and it’s great.
Park maintains a simple broadcast. Most Korean shows are drawn out, heavily edited, and stuffed with random sound effects and emojis. There’s none of that here, allowing Park’s personality to be put on center stage.
You can probably tell by now, I’m pretty pumped with the popularity of Joon Park. Korean American culture hasn’t always been highly appreciated on the peninsula. It’s often seen as brutish, unrefined, too casual, loud, and overall American. Dozens of American-born celebrities rise quickly in Korean television due to outstanding dance or singing ability, then quickly fall when real cultural tensions take hold and cause frustrating friction between the two demographics. Park decimates those precedents and has really captured the emotions of a new generation of Koreans who appreciate the freer lifestyle.
Btw, Wassup Man videos are fully subbed in English as well and worth watching for more English or Konglish-inclined viewers. The scenarios, the timing, and the guests are all worth the watch, especially with such short installments.
That’s my golden find for the week, enjoy!
