My Sassy Girl

My Sassy Girl (2001) by Kwak Jae Young was distinctive from the other movies that were shown throughout the course. The two main characters in the film Kyunwoo (role played by Cha Tae Hyun) and ‘the girl (geunyeuh)’ (role played by Jun Ji Hyeon). From what I remember, this movie was such a big hit in South Korea when it was released, and its popularity spread to other countries in Asia as well. Jun Ji Hyeon was called the ‘national ideal girl (kyukmin isanghyung)’ for years and she gained much popularity. One might think that it is no wonder why My Sassy Girl would be so popular when its main actor/actress was so popular. (Well that’s what I thought when I first saw the movie). However, there are more interesting aspects to this movie, other than the ‘good looks’ of the actor/actress.

Having a Confucian cultural heritage (Lee, 141), women in traditional South Korean society who went through “‘patriarchal marriage’, where a husband legally possesse[d] and dominate[d] a wife’s human rights through sexuality” (Lee, 145) did not have much say in both at their homes or outside of their homes. They were mainly expected to fulfill their roles as ‘wise mother, good wife’ (hyun mo, yang chuh). Women in films that were shown earlier in the course behaves quite differently from ‘the girl (geunyeuh)’. For instance, Songwha in Seopyunjae was described as a passive character that does not fight against Yu Bong (he wanted Songwha to become a soriggun, and in doing so purposely blinded her). However, in ‘the girl’, it is hard to find her feminine side (other than her looks).

Even in the poster, it is shown that ‘the girl’ is superior to Kyunwoo. Kyunwoo also is far from being ‘masculine’. Especially in the ‘First half’ and ‘Second half’ of the film, Kyunwoo is under the control of ‘the girl’. He is unable to resist her and ends up agreeing to whatever she wants to do. Perhaps it is this difference in gender roles that attracted so many viewers. Women viewers may have been fed up with the overly masculine figures, which led the kind/gentle Kyunwoo to be appealing while male audiences were fascinated by ‘the girl’ (unprecedented character).

However, to me, it felt as if ‘the girl’ was becoming more ‘feminine’ while Kyunwoo was becoming more ‘masculine’ towards the end (in ‘Over run’). Kyunwoo’s work becomes filimized, and he is no longer the dopy/clumsy guy. On the other hand, ‘the girl’ seems more vulnerable (she calls him, but after realizing his number has been changed, breaks into tears). Well in this sense, could it be said that there was switching of the gender roles?