Suicide doesn't have quite the stigma in South Korea that it carries in the US. In the US, we're comfortable describing suicide as "the coward's way out" of a situation, and truth be told, I'm still fairly sympathetic to that view. But in South Korea, where there's a group-first mentality, you never want to find yourself (or perceive yourself) ejected from the hive mind: ejection from the hive is basically death.* Commenter John from Daejeon first alerted me to the suicide of yet another young Korean actress, Kim Sae-ron, who starred in "Ajeossi" ("The Man from Nowhere") as a little tyke. In her 20s, Kim had been involved in a 2022 drunk-driving incident that didn't exactly kill her career but sent her into a kind of self-imposed exile away from the spotlight. This isolation is probably what led to her suicide. I see now that ROK Drop has also highlighted Kim's suicide.
It's hard to know which is the better route. American actors and actresses often thrive on a bad-boy or bad-girl reputation (think of people like Madonna or Kim Kardashian), shamelessly flaunting their misdeeds and reveling in the negative attention because, as the saying goes, bad publicity is good publicity. So is it better to be a shameless garbage person, or to be a neurotic hive-mind drone vulnerable to societal rejection? Who's to say? We can only judge these things from our own perspectives. I think it's sad that Kim Sae-ron took her own life when she had so many good years ahead of her. But maybe the Korean Netizenry isn't the forgive-and-forget type. Maybe the Korean public would have hounded and excoriated Kim for years and years. I wouldn't know; I know nothing about that entire subculture.
__________
*This isn't to say there aren't Korean individualists (I've met quite a few in my time, many of whom had lived overseas), nor is it to imply that the culture moves in rigid lockstep. When the first "Frozen" movie came out, many tearful Koreans latched on to that song, "Let It Go," because they saw their own society as hellishly constraining and suffocating, and they yearned for liberation, "the soul's room to breathe."
I can't begin to imagine the isolation and shame she must have endured while being surrounded by so many. I also don't understand why South Korea makes it so difficult for people to re-invent themselves or atone. She was young, beautiful, and talented, but this pressure cooker of a country somehow left her with no other options. Sadly, she isn't the first and won't be the last. I can only hope she is at peace.
ReplyDeleteSuch a waste. Suicide is the ultimate selfish act--you transfer your pain to those you leave behind, but I've been in those dark places and can sympathize. When I look back on all I would have missed had I taken that step, I am so thankful that I chose life.
ReplyDelete