Whitening Sauce

Well, in truth, it's "Whitening Source," but the word for "sauce" and "source" in Korean characters is apparently the same (소스). "Whitening Sauce" is funnier to me, so that's what I call it. Anyway, the stuff bothers me, as do the commercials for it. It's this goo that Koreans, both men and women, spread over their faces to make themselves whiter. The commercials, and there are quite a few of them, are awful. They generally consist of a younger woman staring at herself in the mirror with a look of vapid self-satisfaction or an older women in luxurious surroundings babbling on about how great her life is because she makes herself whiter (ok, I actually have no clue what she is saying, but that's the feeling I get from her tone and body language). The commercials for men are fewer, but they are just as bad. Usually it's just some overly pretty guy wandering around through a sanitized and heavily manicured "wilderness."

At this point you may say to yourself (or to me), "You are watching too much TV. Get a life." That is beside the point. Try to focus on the blog, please.

As irritating as the commercials are, the thing that bothers me most is this obsession with being white. Now, I know this is just TV advertising and not necessarily an example of the thinking of the average Korean person, but there is something to this and it's not just in Korea. I saw the same thing while in Mexico where ads were filled with people that looked more American than Mexican. I just don't understand the lust to be pale and pasty. Likely it's just due to that disease of affectation that everyone gets now and then; the desire to have/be what you have/are not. Ask almost anyone with naturally curly hair and they'll tell you they wish their hair were straight. So maybe this wanting to be white is just that, seeing the greener (whiter?) side of the hill. It's true in Canada and the U.S., as well (tanning salon, anyone?).

At times here, though, it appears that this desire to be more like America is, pardon the horrible pun, more than skin deep. For example, this is a country of extremely narrow roads, high gasoline prices, and no real deep wilderness to speak of, yet the sheer number of SUV's on the road is astounding. As well, this is a country with an interesting musical tradition and history, yet all one hears on the radio is American-style pop crap. It bothers me that a country with such national pride appears to be selling themselves so eagerly into the "American Dream."

I realize this isn't the case for the entire population. In fact, it seems to be restricted to people under 40, but that's a huge demographic. Again, though, not everyone is buying into it. Korea has its share of environmentalists, anti-Americans, recluses, minimalists, etc. That said, I defy you to find a Korean between the ages of 16 and 35 who doesn't have a cell phone.

In truth, I'm not really sure where this rant is going. I don't feel any anger or bitterness towards Korea. I just sometimes wonder whether the country has any sort of direction. I think Korea needs to start concentrating on just being Korea and stop looking at other countries and attempting to emulate them. Maybe I'm reading this all wrong and this desire to be something else isn't really there, but it's certainly the impression I will come away from here with.

Guy