[Madame Freedom] The relationship between Modernization, Westernization and freedom

Keeping in mind that “Madame Freedom” was published in 1956, I tried to understand women in their proper historical perspective, but I failed to do so. Madame Oh, the main character of this film, is a normal house-wife, who lives with her husband, Professor Jang, and their little son, Kyeoung-soo.   In the beginning of the film, she was depicted as an obedient wife who always needed to get her husband’s permission. Moreoever, she was always dressed in the korean traditional cloth, "hanbok", whereas her husband wore the western-suit even at home. This clearly conveyed a message that women were still treated unequally during the period and that they were striving for freedom. Other than that, Madame Oh's life was pretty good in the sense that she did not have any severe problem both emotionally or economically, while after the Korean Civil War, South Korean society was struggling economically.

Madame Oh was not forced to go to work, but she actually wanted to work and accepts a job as a cosmetic store manager. Meanwhile, she starts to meet up with other women who have been strongly influenced by the western cultures. According to them, the mordernized women are known to be all nterested in Western dancing, flaunting their expensive jewelry and making their own money. Interconnecting with one another like this, they lie to each other as they drink coffee, smoke cigarettes or go to the dance hall. Under these  conditions,  Madame Oh also becomes “westernized”, so she goes to spend hours in the dancing hall at night without telling her husband and abandons her little son. In the end, she eventually realizes her mistakes, but it's too late for her to regret. The film ends as she gets abandoned by her husband. However, I do not find her pitiful in this scene. Throughout the film, the women’s unfaithfulness is linked to not only the western culture, but also the western goods. These western products are portrayed as “the best",  since they represent “something very attractive yet must be resisted.” Thus, it is hard to believe that the westernized women in the film  are  the result of the well-advanced modernization. People are brave and independent when they are free, and they know how to express their desires. Being modernized is indeed one way to achieve freedom for those who suffer from unequal, unfair attention from society. At the same time, however, it does not mean that they can be selfish and immoral. Westernization and modernization,  depicted in the film,  threaten existing patriarchal values and cause social insecurity. Therefore, I want ask again what it means for a woman to be free.