Strong female characters take over TV shows

Comedian Kim Sook says “Such money, that I can make,” on the TV show “Radio Star.” / Courtesy of MBC

By Park Jin-hai

Kim Sook, a 40-year-old comedienne, isn’t afraid of making sexist remarks on the small screen.

Typical lines familiar to anyone in Korea’s patriarchal society are repeated ― but this time the pronouns are swapped from “he” to “she.”

Strong female personalities ― Kim, Park Na-rae and Hwang Seok-jeong ― are part of a small-screen phenomenon these days.

In Korea’s deep rooted male-dominant society, where women have largely remained peripheral as complementary co-hosts and supporting characters, they charter a new chapter in the entertainment industry with characters that have never been seen before.

Kim Sook, right, and her virtual husband Yoon Jung-soo are featured on the TV show “With You.” Courtesy of JTBC

Kim, without doubt, is a pioneer.

Looking at her fictional husband Yoon Jung-soo in JTBC’s virtual marriage program “With You,” Kim says “How dare a man frown at a woman early in the morning” or “Men should dress properly,” as opposed to “Women should dress like a lady,” looking at Yoon’s deeply V-necked T-shirt.

Yoon, who is bankrupt for real, receives an allowance from Kim, the breadwinner, who picks up an electric saw, saying, “A man should not play with an electric saw. You could get hurt.”

Viewers, male and female alike, respond to her almost fervently, fondly calling her “Breadwinner Sook,” “Sook Crush,” combining her name with girl crush, or “Furiosook,” named after female warrior character Furiosa in the Mad Max movie.

“I try to watch the show with my husband because the couple is really fun to watch. It relieves the stockpiled complaints a woman has against society,” said Jung Eun-kyung, a culture critic. “I laugh out loud, seeing the couple’s changed roles, breaking the old customs that have long been taken for granted.”

As for male viewers, they also have a positive reaction. Culture critic Kim Kyo-seop said Kim gained popularity because she didn’t intend to correct Korea’s male-dominant culture, but capsize it from the beginning, raising recognition in female viewers and yet coming across as fresh to male viewers. “Kim is rewriting the grammar of a variety show, turning the gender roles and standards upside-down,” he said.

Park Na-rae

Park Na-rae, 30, is another rising comedian.

This hilarious woman has earned fame for her “dirty” talk but not in an offensive way.

In a talk show, she openly says her ideal boyfriend is as white as snow so she can make it dirty, while on the JTBC show “Please Take Care of My Refrigerator” she tells others that when a male friend visits her home she serves tomato juice because it is good for the prostate.

Viewers say that her rated-R jokes provide vicarious satisfaction to female viewers.

Kim Heon-sik, a culture critic, said, “In patriarchal society it has been a taboo for a woman to make sexual jokes,” he said. “By breaking the practice, Park gives vicarious satisfaction to female viewers.”

“When a sexy-looking girl makes a joke with sexual connotations, the listener could feel uneasy,” said Shim Young-seop, another culture critic. “But Park is small and cute and when she makes those jokes, they are relatively regarded as safe and easy to just laugh off.”

Hwang Seok-jeong, a scene-stealing actress portraying comic characters in many movies, is a woman living in her own world.

Often dressed colorfully and making unique gestures, Hwang featured as a picky spinster senior who has a striking body shape from behind in the webtoon-based tvN drama “Misaeng” and an editor going on and off in the MBC drama “She Was Pretty,” spicing up the dramas she has appeared in.

She started to gain media fame through the reality TV series “I Live Alone” last year, where she showed her life honestly and shared various episodes of her own past.

Instead of being conscious of what others would think of her, she is deemed a free spirit.

Her strong character could be glimpsed through episodes in which she talked about going to a graveyard to practice the piri, a Korean double-reed instrument, or receiving admission to Korea’s most prestigious Seoul National University, or her everyday ritual of taking deep bows, or her hobby of traditional Korean painting.

“Hwang makes a good model of a woman in today’s world with a strong character,” said critic Kim.