[Kaleidoscope] Korea`s image on the silver screen

Luc Besson did it again. In his famous 1998 movie, "Taxi," the well-known, anti-Korean French movie director/producer/writer deliberately derided Korea by painting a sad picture of two Korean taxi drivers leading a miserable life in Marseille. In the movie, the two Koreans take turns driving one taxi, 24 hours a day. As one drives, the other sleeps in the trunk. While watching the two, Daniel, another taxi driver, whispers to Emilien, a police detective on duty: "They`re Koreans. They work around the clock." "But he has to sleep. He`s human," says Emilien. "One taxi, one plate, one license and two drivers!" mutters the French taxi driver. "Unbelievable!" exclaims the detective. Then Daniel chuckles and says: "I have a Korean near my house, but he`s into cooking. Fancy that?"

In "Taxi 4," which was released in 2007, Luc Besson once again affronted Korea by portraying Koreans as smugglers. Suspiciously eyeballing an African French soccer player, Gilbert, the police commissioner, brags about his career to Emilien: "I once spent two years working in Customs. No illegal aliens got past me. I once busted Korean smugglers in 1992." "But that guy is not Korean. How can you be so sure?" says the detective, pointing at the athlete. "Look at his slant eyes," answers the police commissioner.

Rumors say that Luc Besson began to abhor Korea when he visited this country a few years ago in order to promote his movie, "The Fifth Element." Besson attended a screening to greet the audience in person and watch his movie, which was a smashing hit. Unfortunately, he became enraged when he found his film censors. He hurriedly left Korea and began retaliating by portraying Koreans negatively in his next box office hit series, "Taxi."

Luc Besson`s "Taxi" is so popular that many people around the world have seen it. Perhaps Koreans gravely underestimate the impact of the silver screen, but "Taxi" has devastated the image of Korea. In the famous French movie, Korea is portrayed as nothing but a destitute Third World country of poverty and smuggling, which is far from the truth. Compared with "Die Another Day," also criticized for its misrepresentation of Korea, "Taxi" is far worse, for it maliciously damages the image of Korea.

Strangely, the Korean people remain silent about the French director`s unabashed distortion of Korea. Where are those who once vehemently demonstrated against "Die Another Day"? Where are those who passionately called for the boycott of "Falling Down," in which a jobless American smashes a Korean grocery store in L.A.? Why do the anti-American activists keep silent about the French movie that seriously mocks Korea?

Fortunately, there are movies which significantly upgrade the image of Korea. In the box office smash "Ocean`s 13," for example, a billionaire mogul desperately wants to buy a gold-plated Samsung cell phone -- a rare, expensive beauty in the electronics market. Another character boasts that he once played a round of golf with the chairman of the Samsung Corporation. Thanks to "Ocean`s 13," the image of Samsung has been vastly improved as a prestigious, state-of-the-art electronics manufacturer.

However, it is too soon to rejoice. According to a recent report in Kukmin Ilbo, few foreigners know that Samsung is a Korean company. The newspaper, quoting a survey by Anderson Analytics, an American marketing consulting agency, reported that 57% of American students polled think Samsung is a Japanese company. Only 9.8% know that Samsung is a Korean trademark. As for LG, whose advertising phrase is "Life is Good," 41.9% of those polled assume LG is an American company, while 26% believe it to be a Japanese logo. Only 8.9% answered that LG is a Korean company. If the polls accurately reflect the general American perception of Samsung and LG, "Ocean`s 13" has boosted the image of Japan, not Korea, after all.

As for Luc Besson, he is likely to keep ridiculing Korea. Perhaps he has ineradicable prejudice against Asians. In "Taxi 3," for example, Daniel and Emilien pursue Chinese bank robbers in Marseille. In "Transporter," also written by Besson, Asians are, once again, portrayed as illegal alien smugglers and destitute people who desperately want to immigrate to France.

Perhaps the censorship of Luc Besson`s SF movie was not right. Nevertheless, it does not justify, to any extent, the French producer`s plain contempt for Korea. We should protest the French movies` racist portrayal of the Korean people, and demand that Luc Besson stop it. Henceforth, we should be more careful not to offend foreigners, and yet there are those who are just flat-out racist and malicious, no matter what we do.

A good way to upgrade the image of Korea is, as Michael Alexander suggests, by persuading Hollywood to use Korea as a filming location, and encouraging the production of movies based on Korean culture. Or, we ourselves can make fine movies and have them be distributed by major Hollywood movie companies to international audiences. Either way, we can use such methods to enhance the image of Korea in the world arena.

By Kim Seong-kon