Crazy Boy and Potential Capitalist Analyses

crazy girl fashions

shin eun-jeong
min bok-gi
kim mi-hyeon
oh deok
hee-yeon
kim hyon seok-the guy they like
Seung-mi: goes out with the guy


Crazy Boy is a 1985 film about a girl band and their struggle with men, fame and money. Of course, Nelson's Measured Excess piece becomes immediately relevant; we see the evil seductive and wealthy men and the band members "exchanging goods" in a sense--the girls' sexuality for the promises of fame and money and power. It is interesting to consider a transaction whose components are so abstract.

If Japanese colonialism put a strain on Korean economic development like Nelson says, the film could offer us revenge dream. Crazy Boy would be South Korea--the good Samaritan, always stealing back what was taken from the poor, and (of course) saving the women from being raped--and nearly all other men in the film as Japan--violating, scheming, and never having the best intentions in mind.

The men in the film lure the bandmates into their wealthy resort hotel room, where they drug them and attempt to violate them. In this case, what does the luring represent? Perhaps it is the temptation to surrender to Japanese power. It is also interesting that the women have a strong role in the capital of the film--they produce the goods (the music) which becomes available for consumption. Their struggle to fame and fortune is relatable; if the 1980s revealed a heavy consuming boom which emphasized the gap between rich and poor in SK as Nelson says, we can see the women in the band as both producers of goods (music) and simultaneously as everyday consumers who are trying to fight their way to fortune. They play both vital roles in capitalism.

Of course, the men are repeatedly referred to as thieves, while rape is referred to as 'being cheated.' This economizes the movie as a whole, but this also presents an alternative to the sex-for-money transaction discussed above. This suggests that the band members are loyal and functioning capitalist citizens, while the bad guys are cheating this system. This shines a positive light on capitalism and portrays those who cheat the system as violators. It seems sadly impossible for the girls to have a functioning relationship with any man. This presents Capitalism as a gentle and feminine sphere, and those who betray it as cold and harsh.