우리는 무한한 선택 속에서 살아간다. 지금 내가 글을 쓰고 누군가가 이 글을 읽는 순간조차도 많은 선택과 갈등이 나타날 것이다. 그러나 우리가 미처 쉽게 깨닫지 못하는 것은 때때로 그 선택이 어떠한 과정 속에서 이루어지고 있는가에 관한것이다. 뿐만 아니라, 이 선택의 순간은 절대 간과해서는 안되는데, 그 이유중의 하나는 선택이 곧 권력의 이동과 연결될 수 있다는 사실때문이다. 따라서 권력이 이동되는 이 선택의 순간이 공정해야만 하지만, 실제로 공정하다는 생각은 헛될 수 밖에 없다. 영화 Election은 이러한 선택의 순간을 조정하는 권력자들을 잘 비꼬고 있다. 이 영화는 탐욕스럽고 이기적인 정치권력의 탄생의 순간을 학교 회장선거에 빗대어 조롱한다.

Tracy, Paul 그리고 Tammy는 정치인의 모습을 극단적으로 묘사하고 있다. Tracy는 유능하지만 독단적이고 독재적인 정치인의 모습으로 그려진다. 그러나 이 영화가 갖고 있는 힘은 Tracy를 그저 열심히 노력해 자수성가한 여성으로 그리지 않는다는 것이다. 적절한 능력과 사회적 배경 그리고 그녀가 갖고 있는 교활함이 그녀가 성공한 열쇠라는 점에서 다른 헐리우드 영화와는 매우 다르다. Tracy는 헐리우드 영화에서의 전통적인 성의 역할을 깨뜨리려는 시도를 하고 있으며, 다소 그녀는 전투적인 이미지를 갖고 있다. 비록 그녀가 매우 코믹하게 그려지고 있지만… 따라서 대부분의 남성에 의해서 움직이는 Carver High School에서 그녀가 지나치게 나대는 것과 그 학교를 통제하려는 Tracy의 시도는 McAllister 교사에게 위협의 대상으로 여겨지는 것은 당연하다. 따라서, 사뭇 멍청하기는 하지만, Paul은 McAllister 교사에게 탁월한 선택이 될 수가 있었고, 전통적인 성역할 - 영화에서나 현실에서나 - 을 고수하려는 남성지배집단의 시도는 완패하게 된다. 뿐만 아니라, 그들에게 있어서 Tammy의 경우는 더욱 위험스러울 수 밖에 없다. 특히 그녀의 성적 정체성이나, 그녀의 연설에서 나타난 것과 같은 선동적인 좌파적 성향은 사회의 위협으로 나타나고 있다. 그러나 Tracy가 당선을 위해 고군분투하는 모습을 생각하면, Tammy의 행동이 사회전체의 위협이라기보다는 남성집단에 대한 위협, 혹은 도전이라는 느낌이 더욱 강하게 든다. 우리가 처한 정치적 현실에 비추어 볼때, 이들은 정치세계의 극단적인 묘사임에 틀림없다.

그러나 이것이 단지 정치판을 비판하는 것이였더라면 얼마나 좋았을까? 이것은 우리가 속해 있는 사회, 어느 곳에서도 쉽게 나타날 수 있는 가능성을 지니고 있다. 뿐만 아니라, 이러한 현상이 영화 Election에서 나타난 것처럼 교육의 현장에서도 일어난다는 것이 애석하다. 그럼에도 불구하고, 주변부로 내몰린, 특히 선택받지 못한 마이너리티들에게 이 영화가 주는 힘은 100%의 노력만으로 성공할 수 없다는 진실의 규명에 있다. 따라서 공정하지 못하고, 다소 교활하기까지 한 Tracy의 행동에 누구도 비난을 할 자격이 없다고 생각한다. 이것이 바로 사회가 혹은 교육이 생산해 낸 문화안에서 성공할 수 있는 유일한 방법이기 때문이다. 그러므로, 교사 스스로가 저지르는 무수한 symbolic violence를 반성하고 비난하기 전에, 학생들의 잘못을 혹은 그들이 지나치게 나대거나 게으른 행동을 탓하는 것은 권력의 남용으로 밖에 이해될 수 밖에 없기 때문이다.

Shark Tale is filled with a series of parodies of media. It is somewhat fun to listen to sharks’ humming of “Jaws” theme song. But the unpleasant thing in Reef City is that there isn’t anything about sarcasm of the society and the media. The attacks at Disney have suddenly disappeared behind tales of fishes. Look at Angie and Lora! Angie is the traditional image of woman in Disney animation, hollywood movies, or thousands of fairy tales, even though she does not love a black prince but poor Oscar who washes whales. Nevertheless, she is always ready to be loved. Also, Lora is described as the conventional bitch in TV shows who woos away other girl’s boyfriend. (Why do a girl always have to be the enemy of her own genders in order to belong to a man?) As always, in Shark Tale, the girls cause some troubles, which are settled by the boys. In addition, boys fight for the justice, peace, or something big, tremendous, while girls fight for the boys. I don’t know where all bitter sarcasm of Shrek has gone in Shark Tale. If DreamWorks’ strategy is to make only money, it is surely successful. But Shark Tale is a failure in that it distorts the real world under the sea, viewing it from eyes of human beings. I don’t believe that at least fishes discriminate their own species just like the world outside the sea.

I had believed that native Africans were the barbarous people, watching “Tarzan” before teen. And “The Gods Must Be Crazy” (also known as “부시맨” in Korea) has reminded me of the most uncivilized, foolish people in the world. In my consciousness, they are in the opposite side of the civilization all the time. This is the extremely disgusting ideology manufactured by the so-called western civilization, the ideology which has affected me in various ways till now. Moreover it also has incurred the absolute fantasy for westernization, which unconsciously leaded to have inferiority complex toward my own civilization.

I was so appalled after I saw the 30-second long television ads of Kyochon Chicken. Obviously the producer tries to tell people that Kyochon is the most delicious chicken maker. However, its racism was so uncomfortable and even horrible. In the ads, the young (Asian enlightenment) magician enlightens Africans, using just chicken and hoax just like old Europeans. Moreover they are depicted as “men-eater” in this ads. A few months ago, all Korean criticized China’s alleged attempts to distort the history of Goguryo. Yesterday, Winfrey is criticized for her announcement of Korean women’s plastic surgery fever. Do we deserve to criticize them, after some people such as Kyochon lead to distort people’s history in Africa, making politically, historically, and anthropologically wrong ads.

Their physiology manufactures culture. They would plant the virus in their products and people, the virus which can make people addictive physically or ideolgically. Ironically, funny, and kindly(?), they also produce the antibiotic, another virus, for people to get out of the addiction. But people usually are addicted to it, too. It circulates on and on, maintaining their status of hierarchial society.

The day after writing of Samsung’s culture, which alleged that they creates the ridiculous culture, I heard of some disgusting stories of Samsung. One says that they have been running of the biggest public bathhouse (Caribbean Bay) in the world, deceiving people into believeing that they are in the greatest swimming pool. The other says that they just purchased a village in 경상북도, paying big money to construct the private arboretum, a village where is immediately deserted. Now I surely understand what culture is produced for whom. They are exploiting people, wielding power, and finally manufacturing unethical business and economic ethics in order only to earn money and keep their hegemony. They do anything for their benefits to the extent that one culture is disappeared in a day. This is the “Crazy, Dangerous Thing called Culture” by the Big Corporation.

According to Chomsky, Jefferson clearly recognzed “the quite obvious contradiction between democracy and capitalism.” Chomsky also mentioned that “[t]his fundamental contradiction was enhanced as new corporation structures were granted increasing powers” in “Chomsky on Miseducation.” Democracy cannot be compatible with Capitalism. Nevertheless, what makes us not disdain and not criticize their culture - ideology, while political tyrants are easily denounced?

The National Academy of the Korea Language selects out “누리꾼” as a substitution of “netizen.” How many Korean will use “누리꾼” instead of “netizen”? I just believe that the verbal abuse and misuse of foreign language - especially English - would foment linguistic imperialism. Moreover, as I talked at school yesterday, mistranslation, which depends on mostly Chiness, for example, can sometimes annoy me by requiring it to be re-interpreted into real “우리말 (Korean).” That is why people would say that it’s sometimes easy to read academic texts written in English.

As the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which posits that language determines the way people think, language affects people’s ideology as well as their thought in above case. That is why people always try to find out the exact counterpart of target language in English learning. If not, I (as well as they) easily get nervous and bothered, and then cease to think. Ironically people ask, “What do you say “XXX” in Korean?” even though they know cultures are as different as languages and countries. Therefore I believe that it must be needed to substitute “우리말” for foreign words in order to enhance the way people think, even though all foreign words don’t have to have substitutions of Korean counterparts. It may be helpful to overcome cultural differences - more exactly speaking, differences of thinking.

Finally, in relation to above, I just wonder why there isn’t any Korean substitute for ‘bus’ and ‘taxi’, whereas we have one in case of bicycle, train, subway, or airplane. Nevertheless we, Korean, understand those words without any difficulties. What will happen, if such words as bus and taxi are extended suddenly and tremendously? Actually and unfortunately it happens.