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| Wall Street, 1987, Gordon Gekko: "Greed is good" |
Back in the day our youth, energy and cynical irreverence powered us with the confidence, and sometimes the arrogance, of an immortal. The media encouraged us to shun convention, embrace hedonism, side-step fidelity. Gekko preached 'Greed is good', Frankie told us to Relax; sex and money are the new gods.
Meanwhile two gorgeous pin-ups warned us of death by matrimony 3 decades before one of them checked out on a drugs binge, lost and alone in the world despite, ironically, winning the genuine love and respect of hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
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| Wham, Young Guns, 1983, Death by Matrimony |
It may have taken centuries for the opium of the massess to shift from the bible to literature. However in just three generations it swiftly became radio then tv and now the internet.
People were originally measured by what they gave back; the workhouses and hospitals they built for the poor or the missions they established in godless corners of the world. Now people are measured by the image they project with their wealth, beauty and audacity. How popular is the video of a has-been sitcom star fellating a rapper compared with the video of a never-was hotel heiress yawning while she's being ravished from behind ?
In Korea more than ever, Image is King.
It begins in school where pressure to conform to new trends is intense. This year's absolute must-have is the knee length 'caterpillar coat'; stuffed with pure duck-down starting at $800 for an unrecognised brand in Costco to $2,500 for a known label. Last year's waist length duck-down coats simply won't do. To try to wear one of these to school this year would be an invitation to ridicule. This year only knee length is in.
In Korea more than ever, Image is King.
It begins in school where pressure to conform to new trends is intense. This year's absolute must-have is the knee length 'caterpillar coat'; stuffed with pure duck-down starting at $800 for an unrecognised brand in Costco to $2,500 for a known label. Last year's waist length duck-down coats simply won't do. To try to wear one of these to school this year would be an invitation to ridicule. This year only knee length is in.
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| Caterpillar jackets, the latest spine breaker |
The parents who pick up the tab for kids who refuse to go to school without one refer to the coats as the latest 'spine breaker' reflecting the burden of earning the money to meet their kids demands. When special caterpillar coats were released to commemorate the forthcoming Pyeongchang winter olympics, the demand was predictably insatiable.
Sadly, identical but unbranded coats made with synthetic fibres are simply not selling at all on account of their embarrassingly affordable price tag of only US$40
Projecting the right image in the job market is similarly crucial. Prevailing Confucian values still make it very awkward for an older person to work under a younger manager. So if a graduate takes a year or two after college to find a job, travel, learn a language or gain practical experience, it soon becomes impossible to place them as a new recruit in a team with a younger boss who graduated later and started employment directly after graduation. Therefore if a graduate cannot secure a job within 5 years of graduation, then there is a very real possibility they will be unemployable forever.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/05/19/2017051901362.html
People go to superhuman efforts to compete for a job but analysis shows that candidates typically spend more on improving their image than improving their employee skills.
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/07/02/2016070200438.html
For those who do get the job, projecting the right image remains essential. Watches must be Swiss, not Japanese, golf clubs must be American while cars must be German or at least Swedish. Of course handbags must be Burberry, Coach or similar, despite the US$1,500 plus required for the real thing or US$ 500 for an indistinguishable copy.
Meanwhile if the employer deigns to issue corporate phones, laptops or monitors which are not made by Apple, then these will be 'spontaneously re-branded' by the embarrassed employee who will immediately fix Apple stickers over all the offending equipment.
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| Which brand of IT equipment was this before it was re-branded 'Apple' ? |
Koreans are beautiful people. Due to a very healthy diet recent generations are strikingly tall and appealingly svelte. However this is apparently not enough based on the pre-occupation with eyelid surgery, dental re-alignment, nose enlargement, breast augmentation, etc, etc.
The prevailing belief that an ideal face has the ovoid shape of an upturned egg spurs some to part with upwards of US$ 3,500 to have their lower jaw shaved to achieve the right curves. In 2014 one doctor in Gangnam became infamous for erecting a towering display of the jawbone shavings.
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| Jaws: towers of bone shaved from patients wanting more ovoid faces |
In the fuss which ensued the display was quickly removed with the explanation that the patient's names remained visible on the bones, which breached confidentiality agreements.
Advertising authorities have at last started to question the fixation with cosmetic surgery and the ethics of promoting it avidly to largely impressionable, increasingly younger and much less affluent audiences.
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| Plastic surgery ads - to be banned on the subway from 2022 |
Recently the subway authority decided to ban the advertising of cosmetic surgery stations on all the major commuting lines - but only from 2022. This is a classic Korean solution, paying lip service to the advertising authority while appeasing what is clearly a very profitable client base.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2017/11/281_240074.html
As Frankie said, we may have made a world where sex and money are the new gods. Movie stars with divine countenances can instantly have the life we would all choose, often despite drug addiction, alcoholism or sexual excesses which would disqualify them from the jobs of mere mortals. It is arguable that fake dimples, a cleft chin, a Breitling can help us to catch the job, promotion, club membership, partner, friends we feel are beyond us. But while the perception remains, we will undoubtedly strive less to develop the wit, charm, intellect, tolerance, compassion and understanding which are more important for the longevity of our relationships. At the same time, being measured by the image we project makes it increasingly unlikely that anyone will ever know us or appreciate us for who we really are.
As Frankie said, we may have made a world where sex and money are the new gods. Movie stars with divine countenances can instantly have the life we would all choose, often despite drug addiction, alcoholism or sexual excesses which would disqualify them from the jobs of mere mortals. It is arguable that fake dimples, a cleft chin, a Breitling can help us to catch the job, promotion, club membership, partner, friends we feel are beyond us. But while the perception remains, we will undoubtedly strive less to develop the wit, charm, intellect, tolerance, compassion and understanding which are more important for the longevity of our relationships. At the same time, being measured by the image we project makes it increasingly unlikely that anyone will ever know us or appreciate us for who we really are.
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| Oscar Wilde: "He has nothing, but he looks everything. What more can one desire ?" |
