North or South Korea?

        Hey everyone, so this is the meme that I mentioned in class that is supposed to be a representation of the differences between North and South Korea. What I find interesting about this representation is that it is actually pretty open to interpretation depending on the values of the viewer. For many viewers, South Korea definitely looks like more fun what with their trendy outfits and fashionable hair and make-up. However, I am sure there are those that would look at this image and think that South Korea is lacking morals and structure (those shorts are awfully short). They too might think that North Korea does not look too bad, sure they demonstrate a high attention to detail and uniformity, but the women are allowed to wear skirts (not too short, not too long) and since when is discipline a bad thing. I guess it depends on the observer but therein lies the problem... we are only observers. We lack the experience to make an informed judgment.

        The other night when we saw the film Homes Apart, for me at least, there seemed to be a switch. Visually speaking, North Korea was lookin' pretty good. The people are taken care of and openly celebrate and declare their appreciation for Communism (I realize that that was probably the intention of the government when they insisted on screening all footage shot within their boarders). South Korea, on the other hand, was kind of caught with their pants down, so to speak. Unfortunately for their country's image: a protest got out of hand, the police handled it poorly, and it was all caught on tape. Surely the government in South Korea did not insist on controlling what was filmed within their boarders especially considering the fact that there were people that openly criticized their government.

        So we are at an impasse... one thing I will say is that there was one thing that both North and South Korea share and that is the desire to get America to mind its own business. Perhaps that is exactly what we need to do. Should we not fix our own country before we go imposing our will on others? Why are we trying to get others to follow our example when our way does not always seem to work? Just some things for y'all to think about... (Though I'm sure you all have already thought about this).

See everyone in class,

Patty