Popular Culture Review
Violence Repurposed
A third component of Korean hegemonic masculinity is overt militarization.
Moon (2002) asserted that through the mandatory two-year service in the
South Korean military for men, Korean men are exposed to and are socialized
to be overtly violent. This notion of violence as a form of masculinity becomes
redirected in Boys Over Flowers in terms of the reasons for using violence
rather than its requirement as an inherent aspect of masculinity. Here, this
aspect of masculinity is reformed from men using violence to get what they
want and to show off their might to using violence to protect women’s rights.
Rather than part of the masculine identity within a patriarchy that maintains
gender inequality and the lower status of women, violence as used by the new
Korean man becomes symbolic of the need for men to help women, and—
taken to its logical conclusion—become participants in the transformation of a
traditionally male-dominated society to one that promotes egalitarianism.
This transformation is seen through the narrative of F4 member Jun
Pyo. Since Jun Pyo is the main male character throughout the whole series,
Jun Pyo is the aggressor who has been chasing and bullying the male student
of aggression and violence that Jun Pyo exerts on Jan Di herself is in the last
scenes of Episode 1. As Jan Di and her new friend are hanging out and eating
ice cream outside, the F4 walk by and Jan Di’s friend accidentally spills her ice
cream on Jun Pyo’s shoe. Even though she apologizes, Jun Pyo tells her to
lick the ice cream off of his shoes. Jan Di then stands up for her friend, but Jun
Pyo just tells her that if she really was her friend then she should lick off the ice
cream for her. Instead, Jan Di grabs her ice cream and shoves it in Jun Pyo’s
face. Ironically, the rivalry between the aggressive bully Jun Pyo and strongwilled Jan Di—who refuses to accept poor treatment from Jun Pyo—results in
Jun Pyo’s less violent yet continued and immature ill-treatment of her. As the
series progresses, their relationship turns from a rivalry to a romance.
Jun Pyo himself reforms from a man who uses violence to display his
power to a man who uses violence to protect Jan Di. For example, Jan Di and
Jun Pyo go ice skating on a double date with Ga Eul and her older boyfriend.
Ga Eul’s boyfriend and Jun Pyo go to get coffee, when Ga Eul’s boyfriend
gets a phone call. He then tells Jun Pyo that he was going to the club later
that night, and that they should go to the club together to get “better” girls.
Ga Eul’s boyfriend then indirectly insults Jan Di by telling Jun Pyo that he
could do better than her. Jun Pyo then beats him up. Though Jun Pyo still
uses violence, he uses it to essentially teach the cheating boyfriend—and,
by default, the viewer—a lesson about the consequences of treating women
badly.
10