Professor Kwak Sang-won, “The black comedy ‘Money Look Up’, which satirizes American society, is in line with the situation in Korea” < Local history interview < BBS interview < Text of article

■ Appearance: Sangwon Kwak, Adjunct Professor, Department of Theater and Film, Cheongju University
■ Host: Reporter Yeon Hyeon-cheol
■ Transmission: ‘Chungbuk Journal 967’, Thursday, April 25, 2024, 8:30 am
■ Frequency: Cheongju FM 96.7MHz / Chungju FM 106.7MHz
■ Corner name: Movie Talk

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate content.

(You can listen to past broadcasts again on the BBS Cheongju Buddhist Broadcasting website)

* When quoting the content of this interview in an article or using it in a broadcast, please clearly indicate the program name of Cheongju BBS ‘Chungbuk Journal 967’.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Today we will continue Professor Kwak Sang-won’s Movie Talk corner. I connected to Professor Kwak Sang-won of the Department of Theater and Film at Cheongju University. Professor, welcome.

▶ Kwak Sang-won: Hello? This is Kwak Sang-won from Movie Talk.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: What movie will you introduce today?

▶ Kwak Sang-won: While watching the movie, the characters in the movie looked so stupid that I laughed out loud at their actions. However, laughing after seeing something like that is not always fun. After watching the movie, the characters I laughed at may make me think, “Oh, isn’t that me?” And it makes me think that the world I saw while laughing is the world I live in. When you watch this movie, you will realize how ridiculous the world we live in is. It is a black comedy full of cynicism and satire from beginning to end. It’s an OTT movie. It was released in December 2021. The movie Don’t Look Up is directed by Adam McKay, who has a history in creating satire, and stars Leonard DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Ariana Grande, and Timothy Salameh.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I know it was popular. I didn’t see it. I think this movie was somewhat popular when it only had cast members. I think it attracted a lot of attention. How is it?

▶ Kwak Sang-won: That’s right. And this movie has a black comedy. What is a black comedy? It’s just a slapstick comedy where you step on a banana peel while walking down the street and fall, but when you ask, “What do politics and sundae have in common?”, if you don’t know, it looks good, but if you look at the process of making it, you say, “It’s so messy that you can’t eat it.” .” It’s funny, but the point where it becomes dull is that it’s a black comedy. Don Look Up is one of the comedy films that humorously creates satire by only drawing out extremely harsh situations or cruel scenes that can exist in reality. In other words, twisting serious evil into something funny. However, I think a comedy that gives you a chill down your spine after watching it can be called a black comedy, and the movie that claims to be that kind of movie is Don Look Up, which I’m introducing to you right now.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: You said that black comedy is a way to not accept tragedy as a tragedy, but to twist it one more time and make people accept it with laughter.

▶ Sangwon Kwak: Yes, that’s right. This movie, Don’t Look Up, is a movie that twists a tragic situation and delivers it to the audience with laughter, from the start of the movie until the end, just 3 minutes later. The movie says this. “Hey, isn’t this really funny?”, “Isn’t this ridiculous?”, “But this is the world you live in.” are spoken in the movie. You may not notice it when you watch it, but after watching it, you will feel a chill running down your spine. It satirizes the whole world we know and the world we see. Politics, society, economy, culture, media, power, the haves, the have-nots, intellectuals, and the general public are all twisted into stories. But this movie is clearly an American movie. The movie harshly criticizes American society, but I keep thinking that there are aspects that are similar to the current Republic of Korea in 2024.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Oh, I see. It is introduced as a movie full of satire. What is the plot of Don’t Look Up?

▶ Sangwon Kwak: A meteorite with a diameter of 10 km is heading toward Earth. And as we all know, when we watch disaster movies about Earth colliding, nameless college professors and their students discover something together. So Professor Randall and Kate make a discovery. Randall was played by Leonard DiCaprio and Kate was played by Jennifer Lawrence. And if you find a star or meteorite like this, you can give it your own name. So, in a good mood, let’s calculate the orbit. I calculated the orbit and found out that it will crash into the Earth in 6 months and destroy the Earth. The size of the star is so large that, if it collides, it could wipe out all living things on Earth.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: If you made a discovery, you have to tell people about it anyway, right?

▶ Kwak Sang-won: Yes. So I went into the White House to announce that. And it proceeds the same way as any other meteorite crash disaster movie. So what happens next?

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Since you went to the White House, wouldn’t you hold a meeting and inform the public? Professor, how do you feel?

▶ Kwak Sang-won: Yes, that’s right. If you watch other movies, like in the movie Deep Impact, a spaceship is sent to destroy a meteorite, in Armageddon, oil drillers are sent on board, or in the movie 2012’s Noah’s Ark, the world unites and builds a big ship. But in this movie, the president does not meet us. There is one reason. Because it’s not Harvard, Yale, or MIT.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: Is that because he is a professor at an astronomical observatory at an unnamed university?

▶ Kwak Sang-won: Yes, that’s why I won’t meet you. So we met the next day and confirmed. I’m really conflicted. You’re in big trouble. But the President says this. “Oh really? But right now, the House of Representatives election that will be held in three weeks is important, so I need to manage approval ratings, so I hope we don’t talk about it for a while.”

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I understand what you’re talking about. It’s a black comedy. I think there might be a way to inform broadcasting stations or newspapers. Didn’t you say earlier that there was content that satirized the media?

▶ Kwak Sang-won: So I go to the broadcasting station. To announce, “The Earth will be destroyed in 6 months.” But among those corners, there is a very last corner. I’ll leave it to you there. The Earth will be destroyed in six months, and broadcasts will spend more time talking about politics, celebrities’ love stories, and gossip. And since viewers say that a meteorite will fall in 6 months and the Earth will be destroyed, they think it’s just a conspiracy theory floating around on the Internet. Those two doctors and graduate students talk hard and tell the truth. But no one wants to believe him. At the same time, the Earth understands that a meteorite will come in 6 months, but they are letting go and telling me what to do. What will be the fate of the Earth? You can find out by watching the movie.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I see.

▶ Kwak Sang-won: I feel something strange.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I don’t want to admit this. I feel like I’m looking at the crisis that’s before us right now, the climate issue, for example.

▶ Kwak Sang-won: That’s right. People always say that if the temperature rises just one more degree, the Earth will become uninhabitable for humans. We all know this, and we also know the solution. However, due to national economic development, environmental destruction continues and we can feel it as we watch the news that the climate is changing dramatically, but we are wasting resources carelessly. This is one of the points where I think there is no difference between the people in the movie and the people living today. And while watching the movie, their behavior is really funny. And when I see what they do, I don’t understand why they make that choice, but after watching the movie, I can’t help but laugh and think, “Hehe, I’m doing that.”

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: This is because I listened to the movie synopsis as the professor said. There’s something very ironic and funny about it, but what can I say? I got this feeling that it was very scary.

▶ Kwak Sang-won: That’s right. This film satirizes the social phenomena of the past 10 years in American society. As shown in the movie, those in power are only interested in approval ratings, and IT businessmen who control and shake up the economy worry about how to do business with a falling meteorite. They also talk nonsense about how 300,000 jobs will be created and that the resource problem will be solved. And because the government receives enormous political lobbying from companies, it follows what it companies say without criticism. And the media that only provides provocative news, the viewers who accept it, and SNS are filled with stories that cannot be held accountable. It’s definitely a bit exaggerated from reality and it’s a story about America, but what’s really interesting is that it’s a story about our country right now, and maybe it’s my story, so I feel like the movie touches my heart more deeply.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: After listening to the professor, I thought it was funny at first, but now I don’t think I can laugh anymore. I think this could be seen as a rather strange movie. What kind of director is Adam McKay, the director of this movie Don’t Look Up?

▶ Sangwon Kwak: When it comes to Adam McKay, in a way, I don’t throw a very slow curveball and throw it in directly like a fastball that talks about satirical laughter. It’s a very interesting story that tells a contradictory story. And they always say things like this. The Big Short, which deals with the subprime mortgage loan crisis in the United States, or the movie Vice show what kind of person the Vice President of the United States is and how the decisions he makes can lead to wrong trends in the world. And it shows in the form of a plot that that time cannot come back. So, the director of Adam McKay Don’t Look Up is the director who makes us laugh by satirizing the world in a comical way, but at the same time makes us feel how foolish the laugh is.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I see. I need to talk about the actors, but I think it will be difficult to talk about it due to time constraints. Lastly, Professor, please briefly summarize this movie.

▶ Kwak Sang-won: It was made by a good director. There is a Cheolchon murder in the movie. After watching the movie, you have the ability to see the world in a different way. And I feel like I’m one of the characters in that movie, and I get a sense of déjà vu that makes me wonder why the movie is no different from this world. A movie that you can watch with a smile, but you can never watch it with a smile, is the movie I’m introducing to you today, Don’t Look Up. I will recommend it.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: I understand. You recommended the movie Don’t Look Up directed by Adam McKay. Professor, thank you for your talk today.

▶ Sangwon Kwak: Yes, thank you.

▷ Yeon Hyeon-cheol: So far, we have met with Professor Kwak Sang-won of the Department of Theater and Film at Cheongju University.