Bang Bang With Han Ji-hye?
Maybe it’s a sign that I need to take a break from the blog this weekend, for the instant I saw the picture of actress and model Han Ji-hye (한지혜) on the left (source), this advertisement on the right with American singer Mark McGraph came to mind, a pretty reliable find if one types in “sexist advertisement” in an image search (as one does).
The picture comes from a news report about Han Ji-hye’s new year-long modeling contract with the Korean clothes company Bang Bang (뱅뱅), a name which also never fails to bring certain images to mind, but ones which I’d wager the company is completely unaware of given the absence of any tounge-in-cheek references to the double-entendre in any of their advertisements or commercials so far (most recently with Ha Ji-won {하지원} and Kwon Sang-woo {권상우}, the former of whom I guess Han Ji-hye is replacing). Meanwhile, the advertisement with Mark McGrath you can read about on this Univeristy of Minnesota “Feminist Film and Media Studies” course blog here, and while many of the students’ interpretations of sexism in various advertisements are entirely in their own heads (this one is so far off the mark, it’s almost a satire), I concur with their basic (if somewhat unoriginal) take on this one. Pretty asinine of Candies to post the same ad in men’s and women’s magazines though!
Ugh, I used to love Ha Ji-won in those Bang Bang commercials.
I understand. Being a Kiwi and all, I confess that *cough* I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for her with her choosing to go to New Zealand to study English and later becoming a “New Zealand Cultural Ambassador” too, and I often see her in the English-language newspapers attending any New-Zealand related events. True, seeing her in Wax’s (왁스) music videos like this one probably had more to do with my initial interest in her at least, but then it’s not like Korea has a deficit of attractive singers and actresses.
But can anyone recommend a good movie of hers? I’ve only seen Love So Divine (신주수업) and Love is Zero (색즉시공), both eminently forgettable, but I’ve heard that Phone (폰) was actually quite good (much better, non give-away-entire-story review available here). Can anyone confirm?
Anyway, perhaps that was somewhat of an overanalysis of your comment, and with rather too much gushing enthusiasm for her on a blog about Korean feminism too! Probably a sign I need to go have my morning coffee(s)…