Nationalism in The Host

In “Localized Globalization and a Monster National: The Host and the South Korean Film Industry” Lee comments on the lack of nationalism portrayed in The Host but I disagree with this on the basis of the film using foreign, intervening forces as the main enemy of the film rather than the monster. "In contrast to the other Korean blockbusters discussed so far The Host does not appear to draw overtly on nationalism or the concept of the Korean nation….while playing down overtly nationalist sentiments and not directly tackling any particular national issues, the film offers multi-layered points of entry for viewers of different national and social backgrounds.” (53) The first, most obvious, intervening force is the United States. The American doctor in the military base morgue is the cause of the mutations in the Han River, ordering the Korean doctor to pour, what looked to be hundreds of bottles of, formaldehyde down the drain in a direct violation of environmental codes that both doctors were aware of. It’s ironic in a way that the American doctor is complaining about the dust in the morgue, the dust on the bottles of chemicals, and in order to clean it, demands the contamination of the entire river. In the first attack it is also an American who goes after the monster along with Gang-du, yes he is fighting against the monster but there was a choice to use an American rather than a Korean for the scene which could have some symbolic reference to his intervention ending badly for him and only angering the monster rather than defeating it. The U.S. base also proves to be an obstacle for the Park family in finding Hyun-Seo rather than a helping force, because of its forcible quarantine of them and creation of the fear of a non-existent virus.

As well as the US, there is also reference to the International Monetary Fund as an intervening force in South Korea. In 1997, only a few years before The Host was released, South Korea was plunged into economic crises because of failed efforts by the IMF across East, and South East, Asia. Though the crisis is not directly mentioned, as far as I noticed at least, it definitely holds a significant presence in the background of the film. During the crisis, the currency was drastically devalued and many South Korean industries went bankrupt and there actually was trend of suicides by high-ranking business men, just like the suicide shown in the film. There was also a lot of domestic unrest, as is common during economic crisis, and I saw this represented in Nam-il’s frustration against the state, and the public’s anti-government protests. So, although the film might not be as nationalistic as some war films, the use of these intervening forces acting as obstacles to the South Korean populations do make it somewhat nationalistic and perhaps not as open to different viewers as Lee thinks.

P.S. Sorry about the formatting, tried to copy and paste from my word document and have no idea what happened.