Thoughts on Iris
By Kim Heung-sook
The shooting of ``Iris," a Korean television drama, in the vast traffic lanes in the heart of Seoul last Sunday brought great joy to fans, was an inconvenience to people and automobiles, and provided much food for thought for observers like me.
First, the episode was a reminder of the uncomfortable fact that South and North Korea are still at war. The Korean War, which broke out on June 25, 1950, saw fighting cease on July 27, 1953, with an armistice signed by the commanders of the allied U.N. Forces, and North Korean and Chinese forces, though a peace treaty has yet to be signed. In the drama, agents from the two Koreas exchange gunfire over nuclear arms hidden in the Gwanghwamun area amid rocking explosions.
Second, it shows how times have changed. It was unthinkable to block such an area for non-governmental activities for 12 long hours for whatever reason in the past. It was doubly unimaginable to hear gunshots there, given its proximity to the presidential residence of Cheong Wa Dae, the nearby Government Office Complex and the U.S. Embassy, a facility always under heavy protection.
The Seoul City administration said it had decided to ``positively support" the drama shoot to promote the capital to overseas viewers. In a press release, it said the drama would be aired in Japan early next year and talks were underway for sales to other Asian and European countries.
While reactions varied as to the unprecedented use of the city center for private business, approval came mostly from the government-friendly media, while criticism was louder among the progressive organizations.
Oh Tae-jin, a senior editorial writer of the conservative daily, Chosun Ilbo, justified the filming in an article on Monday, saying it vindicated the power of popular culture and changing mindset of the city administrators. He said nations and cities were all trying to lure movie productions for the publicity. He noted that Alcatraz, the island off San Francisco, has become an international attraction with 1 million annual visitors after ``The Rock" was filmed there in 1995.
However, ``The Rock" is not the only movie filmed on the former prison and efforts to turn it into an important tourism venue began much earlier. As for Oh's claim that ``Film New Zealand" has offered 30 billion won in support for Hollywood film ``Avartar," shot on the island country, I wish I could confirm it.
Critics say that the Seoul city administration has been unfair in the course of determining access to the Gwanghwamun area. Park Sang-gyu, a reporter for the Internet newspaper, Ohmynews, said in his article on Sunday that the shooting of ``Iris" betrayed the city's double standard in granting use of Gwanghwamun Plaza and its vicinity.
``The government has banned citizens' demonstrations in the area, whether they are one-man protests or massive rallies. On Aug. 3, 10 activists were arrested for demanding freedom of expression in a press conference on Gwanghwamun Plaza," he wrote. He said city officials seemed to understand that the shooting of ``Iris" would inevitably increase the civic organizations' call for greater access to the Gwanghwamun Plaza.
Ahn Jin-gull, a team leader for the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, said it was acceptable for the city administration and the central government to open the city center for the drama as long as they grant equal rights to all citizens.
Some Internet users suggested the city allowed ``Iris" to be filmed in Gwanghwamun for such long hours because the drama appealed to the conservative minds in the city administration. ``The drama talks about North Korea's nuclear terrorism. The city officials may have thought that such content was crucial to break people's indifference to security matters," a netizen wrote.
I like movies and am often enchanted by the exotic scenes in foreign films and dramas, but places of gunfire were shot won't be on my travel itinerary. President Lee Myung-bak is said to be a great fan of the drama ``Iris." For me, there are other irises that are more pleasing, including the flower and the 2001 film biography of the Irish-born British writer Iris Murdoch, who once said, ``Almost anything that consoles us is a fake."