Think before you act
- Wendy W.
- Oct 12, 2018
- 3 min read
The definition of shame is: a self-conscious emotion that can arise when people negatively evaluate themselves due to their wrongdoings (Welten et al. 2012: 836). However, in Korea, the term “shame” is referred as a physiological mechanism that suppresses the violation of social norms, and is often seen in the news (Park 2017: 1). People are often exposed on the news when they have been shamed. Shaming starts when people do not follow social and moral codes consisting of accepted norms and instead, break those codes (Park 2017: 1). In order to not experience shame, people have no choice but to follow the rules; shame pressures people into accepting the norms of society. Therefore, shame is used as a punishment for breaking rules or what is normal, which can result in suicide.
In this episode on Chief Kim, we can see that Gim Seongyong is sent to the waiting area for disrespecting the prosecutor. The waiting area serves as a place where workers are sent to reflect on their actions as well as a place where workers are shamed; isolate the wrongdoers from the group (Park 2017: 4). The waiting area determines how long you can stand being shamed before giving into the pressure of the company wanting you to leave. We can see that the news is broadcasted on the big screen in TQ headquarters where everybody is able to see who is sent to the waiting room. This represents exposure on the news, where the company news channel is showcasing Gim Seongyong being sent to the waiting area.
Shame is very important to Koreans, especially when one has shamed on their family or their company they have worked for for years. The episode shows Gim Seongyong meeting a companion in the waiting area, a man who has devoted his life at TQ group. After a few more days in the waiting area, Gim Seongyong finds him missing one day, leaving his belongings and a suicide note. As much as the companion has given the company everything, spending almost all his life working there, in the end, he does not benefit from anything. He feels as if he has not lived his life to its full potential and he feels shame for not being able to provide much for his family. With Korea being the country with one of the highest suicide rates, shame is one of the big reasons for that.
However, instead, we see Gim Seongyong take in all the shame from his coworkers and waiting it out in the waiting room. As much as this drama depicts contemporary Korean norms, this is not an accurate representation of what ideally happens when a person is shamed.
In conclusion, shaming in Korea is very different than shaming in other parts of the world. The victim is usually exposed to the news media as well as isolated from the rest of their works, as seen in Chief Kim. It also causes a lot of stress and may lead to suicide.
Word Count: 498
Questions:
1. How is shaming different in the drama compared to real life contemporary Korea? As well, how is it different from the past compared to the present?
2. What do you think is the purpose of using shame to pressure people to follow rules/ customs etc? Why does Korea, TQ group, go into such extremes to use shame in such a way?
Bibliography:
Heo, Mansup, and Jaeyung Park. "Shame and vicarious shame in the news: A case study of the Sewol ferry disaster." Journalism (2017): 1-19.
Welten, Stephanie CM, Marcel Zeelenberg, and Seger M. Breugelmans. "Vicarious shame." Cognition & emotion 26, no. 5 (2012): 836-846.
(All images/screenshots were taken from DramaFever and no copyright or infringement intended)
Hey everyone,
The first few responses made some good points about public shame being used as a strategy to protect the interests of the group - a very natural choice from a collectivist perspective. Ashley and Tori point out that the kind of impunity Chief Kim has would be implausible in real life. That level of unreality puts a critical distance between the viewer and the situation they see, especially when compared to the fate of the other man: the former can make light of the situation, while the latter might be closer or an extreme example of what happens in real life. How does that make the viewer evaluate the phenomenon of shame in their own work life? I…
Thank you for the correction!
Oyyyy! And the first author is Heo, so if you had only one author it would say (Heo et al) and never (Park et al). The correct notation would be (Heo and Park)
You need to include BOTH author's names in your citation, if there were three authors you can write (Park et al). But there are only two... so you have to include both names.
I think TQ used shame to punish employees because they knew it would be effective and relatively efficient. I believe in the episode it was mentioned that nobody actually lasted in the “waiting area” and if you survived a few days they would make something up to fire you anyway. This makes it a very powerful tool as the fear of being shamed is synonymous with losing your job and livelihood. I would hope that no real company in Korea would have a “waiting room” for employees but I’m sure the elements of shame can be very present and felt. South Korea’s collectivist society also adds to the shame of sticking out by being in the waiting room. As Will…