Do you know why The Handmaiden (아가씨) was such a huge hit in SK even though the theme is considered a taboo by the Korean society?
Because apparently if it’s film, and supposedly if only adults are watching, it’s all okay. Heaven forbid two girls sharing a peck on the lips in a drama miniseries… but yo, length scenes of a girl going down on another girl, and scissoring like their lives depend on it? ART! ART, I TELL YOU!
Korea is weird, but if this helps to normalize reception somewhat, maybe it works. Unfortunately, I think we’re moving into just fetishising homosexuality and using it as a shock thing to generate money. Hopefully, if this is true, we can power through it into a new generation where society can accept it as normal behaviour, (instead of the behaviour of a twisted, mental state of vulnerable people, as it usually is for Korean cinema)
Funnily enough, gay stuff seems to sell really well in Korea. King’s Man/King’s Clown had gay relations between a King and a cross-dressing traveling minstrel actor, and that is like the sixth highest grossing film in the Korean market.
It’s also been hilarious talking to other businessmen about the movie. For a lot of them, it’s the first time that they’ve seen lesbian erotica in any form. Imagine the reaction of 40~50 year old men discovering that genre for the first time, who have been vehemently against homosexuality and then being confused by the site of two beautiful people of the same gender going at it.