Yongho's Masculinity

Aimless Bullet takes a look at the lives of a family now living in South Korea after the war. It follows the struggles of this previously North Korean family as they cope with financial issues. The movie also delves into deeper issues regarding masculinity after the war.

As Cho describes, their masculinity is in “crisis,” and, “in this way the normative male can no longer fully identify with his socially sanctioned position” (Cho, 102). This “crisis” is extremely evident in the movie by, as Cho mentions, all the physical damage done to the men (102). I think it’s also important to note the attempts of trying to compensate for their loss of masculinity. Unlike Kyungsik who presumably committed suicide after seeing his ex-fiancée prostituting herself to American soldiers because he felt too emasculated to take care of her, and Chulho who spent most of the film in a daze, Yongho put his life on the line to make a man out of himself.

Yongho used to be a high ranking member of the army, but since having left two years before, he has yet to move on from that life, and even says that he can’t imagine his life without his army buddies. Yongho is holding onto the life where he still considered himself a man.

The director and writer of the film took the time to develop his relationships with Miri and Sulhee, that which was not done with Chulho’s relationship. It showed a more dominant position, him sweeping girls off their feet and showing attraction. They also emasculated him in a sense; Sulhee was the person with the gun, or power, money and stable life in their relationship, and Miri offered him employment. Yongho tried to reaffirm his value and place in society by aggressively declining Miri’s offer, but it also could be a chance to show her and anyone else that he believes that he is able to create a stable life for himself without the help of others. He later uses Sulhee’s gun to rob a bank, which is his final attempt to prove his masculinity and reaffirm his position in society. However, he is not able to give the money to his family, and hopes of dying a hero. I believe that masculinity in this sense is also the pride of the nation, and that the director is trying to show that they as a nation are trying hard to pull out of this disaster, and no matter how much they try, like the men of this film, be it the legal way, like Chulho, or illegal, like Yongho, are stuck.