Madame Freedom

In Soyoung Kim’s reading, it is mentioned that Madame Freedom was a big hit in 1956 (Kim, 193). I was quite shocked, but at the same time understood why this scandalous story of a professor’s wife, Sun-young Oh, grabbed the attention of many at during that period.

Although some may argue that the film is not as dramatic as the ones one would see today, Sun-young’s behavior after having contact with the ‘Americanized or modernized world’, seemed too drastic for 1950s. From what I know, the government had curfews for everyone and had expectations of how women should behave. How was this film able to pass all censorship? Why was this depiction of a shameful housewife so popular? Wouldn’t there have been demand from conservative people (especially during the period of neo-Confucian patriarchy (Kim, 190)) to let down the curtain?

                  But again, ‘mak-jang’ has always received full attention, especially by Korean audience. Farfetched, provocative stories are popular to this day. Perhaps, by badmouthing the ‘indecent characters’, women found a way to release their han? (Kim, 190) Or maybe, many women might have gotten vicarious satisfaction by watching Sun-young’s life? Plus, going to the movies itself provided the women the opportunity to extend their scope of movement (Kim, 186).

One thing that came up in my mind was, why do people only focus on the ‘freedom’ that Sun-young gets? How about Professor Jang? Couldn’t it be that he is also enjoying his ‘freedom’ by having indefinable sensations with Eun-mi? In fact, if he really wanted his wife to behave ‘accordingly (as a wife of a professor or a housewife), he might have shown some action other than just telling Sun-young to quit her job. He could have literally pulled her out of the store (although this may be a dishonorable thing for a professor to do if he absolutely could not tolerate Sun-young’s behavior. Instead, he chooses to have ‘flirty moments’ with one of his students. To some extent, it seemed as if the director was legitimizing Prof. Jang’s affair by constantly showing Sun-young’s scandal.

Han sa-jang was always being watched or followed by his wife, but what about Prof. Jang? Wouldn’t he have been the one with most freedom?

Another question that I had regarding Sun-young was the symbolization her clothes (Hanbok vs. Western style clothing) had with freedom. At the beginning, when she wasn’t influenced by Westernization (did her role as an obedient housewife), she was wearing Hanbok. However, her engagement to the westernized world altered not only her way of thinking, behavior but also her looks. So when she returned to wearing Hanbok (after being dumped by Chun-ho) I was expecting to see the obedient housewife again, but she remained the same. In that case, what would have been the purpose of her re-wearing Hanbok?

Kim Soyoung, "Questions of Women's Film: The Maid, Madame Freedom and Women," in South Korean Golden Age Melodrama, 185-200.