Cinefantastique Online

Apopos of THE DARK KNIGHT’s opening in Korea, the Chosun Ilbo offers a look at How America’s Superheroes Fare in Korea. Apparently, Korean audiences have a tendancy to prefer more upbeat characters like Spider-Man and Superman and the recent Iron Man, as opposed to darker anti-heroes like Batman. However, that could be changing: BATMAN BEGINS did well a few years ago, and THE DARK KNIGHT has been tops at the box office since it opened on August 6.

Realism and romantic candor were the two keywords defining Korean pop culture up until the 1990s. But realism sharply lost its appeal in 21st-century Korean society, where the life patterns of the older and younger generations sharply diverge. Fantastic and flawed heroes are more popular than plain Mr. Right. [...]

Some see in the change a shift from humanism to post-humanism. Cultural critic and Inha University professor Kim Dong-shik says, “The change shows that the generation who is open to notions of biological variants and cyborgs and who can merrily enjoy fantasy films is now a force to be reckoned with.”