Day 18- Clowns and Kings

So, today went reasonably well. This morning's history class was just a Korean movie titled "The King and the Clown" about a king from the Choson (about 1300s to late 1800s) era. It was not only about the king who was tyrannical and crazy to boot but also about two clowns/street performers who worked during the time, as the title would infer. The two clowns are both male and because I cannot remember their names and don't think that it'll help you all one way or another if I used them or not, I'll just give them random ones. There is one who is extremely effeminate which I'll go into later, that I'll call Femmy and another guy I will call Jack Sparrow due to his appearance. To the right here is the movie poster and the characters, from right to left are Jack Sparrow, the king and Femmy. Yes, Femmy *is* a guy. Just want to clear that up.

Basically the clowns are poor minstrels and in order to make money, to make fun of the king because no one else is doing it. Main reason being that it was considered extremely dangerous and horrible to do so. So, the clowns make fun of the king in a comedy show and are immediately captured by a local magistrate. Just before they are tortured, Jack Sparrow, in a desperate way out of pain asks that their show be played in front of the king. If the king will laugh, the clowns are off the hook. The magistrate finds the idea amusing and permits it.

So, the clowns do their mocking show, making fun of the King and his concubine (who acts for the duration of the movie as the de facto queen glares at the clowns) and much to everyone's surprise, the King finds it hilarious. So, the clowns are actually promoted to court jesters, much against the local consuls wishes, who find it horrible that common men are mocking the king. A power struggle between the king and nobles ensue, and many nobles end up dead, making the clowns VERY nervous.

Also, in a romantic subplot, a bit of a love quadrilateral of sorts unfolds. The king's concubine is very much attached to him (most likely for his power), however, the King while enjoying her advances and sex appeal (of which there is a deal) finds himself attracted to Femmy (while full well knowing that Femmy is male), while Femmy is torn between his loyalty to Jack Sparrow (who, is a rare HETEROsexual character in this film) and his draw to the king. Drama ensues between this love quadrilateral and also between the king's crumbling power and the seriously ticked off nobles.

It was a really cool film and while the overall story is sad, there are quite a few funny parts amidst the sorrow- there are clowns in the movie for crying out loud! And quite vulgar they are! Their level of humor (or so the subtitles alluded to) was perfectly aimed at the Sophomoric males of our class. The girls were laughing quite a bit as well. Though it may be incredibly awkward if one finds the subject of homosexuality/bisexuality really touchy. I'm not sure in the end if Femmy was attracted to Jack Sparrow as a friend and it was just a loyalty issue or a romantic one. I saw it more as the former than the latter, but...that's just me. After a bit of hasty research, it appears as though the critics themselves aren't even sure of the nature of J.Sparrow and Femmy's relationship. Huh. Anyways, either way, the story was well told and the subtitles were fantastic.

As for the language class, I'm doing alright in it. I had to buckle down this evening and study my butt off to keep my head above water (while neglecting my reading for history- I'll do some tomorrow morning, methinks), but it was worth it. Also worth it was that I was able to do some writing and got out the majority (for the time being) of the dialogue for a story that popped into my head as I was listening to the radio the night before I came to Korea.

I've been working on that Oh! song as well and I think at this point I've got the refrain down pat as well as most of the first verse. Having listened to it a good deal over a short period of time this evening, I think it'll be haunting my dreams for the next week. Actually, considering the music video, I'm not sure I'll mind it that much. Tee hee.

-Reven