Disguising Hollywood

I really enjoyed the article by Lee focusing on The Host. From my understanding of the article, Lee was trying to demonstrate that the success of Korean blockbusters is due to the underlying national context in terms of the economic and the social, but it is presented through a Western system of distribution. For me, based off of everything I've read so far, the article seems to be presenting an idea that is already well-received in the Korean film industry (however I could be entirely mistaken, I am quite tired at the moment).

I think for most people they interpreted a very negative impression of the US through this film. First off, there is the American scientist right at the beginning who forces the Korean scientist to incorrectly dispose of toxic chemicals into the Han River. There is also the use of the American medical unit who comes in and pretends that there is something wrong. The deadly virus of which they are searching is not actually confirmed by scientists, which makes the decision to quarantine certain members of the public to feel all the more wrong, even if in a situation where there is an unknown animal attacking people and there is a possibility of something deadly to be transferred through contact.

Based off of this presentation, people do get a very negative impression of Americans. This reminded me of the way in which Americans are presented in Welcome to Dongmakdol. A conflict was created in by outside sources and is wreaking havoc on the Korean population. However, there is an empathetic American character presented in one of the first scenes with the monster. This character, like Smith in Welcome to Dongmakdol, helps the Korean population. The American in The Host, unlike Smith, is known to have died due to wounds inflicted upon him by the monster. I'm trying to think of why he would be presented positively. Even looking back upon the film, it seems like the camera is always shifting focus from Gang-du to Donald (the American) and back again, potentially creating some sort of parallel between the characters. This happens when Donald is arguing with his partner in the background, and the camera shifts to a similar argument between Gang-du and a different woman. Later on, when the monster is released from the trailer, Gang-du looks on from his position and Donald runs out from behind, and the camera shifts focus from Gang-du to Donald.

I remember from class, Professor Cho said quite frequently during any movie with Song Kang-ho that he was the ideal Korean citizen (forgive me, I forget the exact wording). Therefore, what is the director trying to say by creating the parallel between Donald and the parallel between Gang-du/Song Kang-ho?