The attractiveness of modernity in YMCA Baseball Team

While Epitaph and Blue Swallow showed a lot of the “darker” side of modernity and colonization of Korea, YMCA Baseball Team approaches the subject on a much lighter note, representing this era of rapid change as something almost cheerful, with many attractive qualities. Of course, there is tension in the film between the Japanese and Koreans, with examples of rebellion against the Eulsa treaty and resentment over the Japanese military presence, but there are also many things that suggest the “Westernization” of Korea as something appealing. The most obvious example is that it is foreign American missionaries who teach baseball to the Korean characters, helped along by the well-travelled, English-speaking Min Jong-rim. Somewhat ironically, some the Korean baseball players actively fight Japanese imperialism while at the same time dedicating themselves to celebrating and playing an American sport, the first in the country to do so.

Min Jong-rim herself embodies some of the attractiveness of modernity in her knowledge of the world, which dazzles her admirer, Lee Ho-Chang. She studied in America and has traveled places like Paris, which make her enticing to Ho-Chang, whose ignorance of such global experience makes him look ignorant and childish. Having Min Jong-rim as Ho-Chang’s love interest symbolizes his interest and intrigue of the Westernization that Japanese imperialism is in the process of bringing to Korea, and emphasizes his transition from traditional scholar-figure to symbol of a new type of Korea that has room for Western influences like baseball. Like the colonizer-colonized relationship, Jong-rim is there to teach Ho-Chang and the others, the one with the power and knowledge that they require.  In a way, Jong-rim symbolizes the already-transformed Korean woman, one who has kicked off the dust of pre-colonial Korea and has made something of herself. Ho-Chang, among others, must also learn to occupy such a space in order to flourish as members of a country that is in the midst of rapid change.

Comedy...? And National Pride

Kim Hyun-Syeok's 2002 film YMCA Baseball Team stands in stark contrast to the films we've watched previously in class--particularly because of its genre; it is technically considered a comedy. The film features American-inspired slapstick comedy, but also gets much of its humor from another source: In the beginning, Lee Ho-chang discovers baseball in a very comedic sequence of events, picking up the ball with an overly-animated face, snooping around someone's yard in a dramatic and elongated shot, etc. However goofy, the scenes are also uncomfortable; we are making a spectacle of a person who is "discovering modernity" and "western life" in a way so over-the-top that it is almost satirical. The style of filming and the humor lead us to feel as if we are watching someone from another planet discover earth and ultimately become 'civilized.' Something about it felt unfair and uncomfortable.

Secondly, it is interesting to notice the ways in which the film could be considered a meeting point of the "traditional" Korean life and values and the "modern," globalized world. Lee Ho-chang himself perhaps best epitomizes this intersection: he is destined to take over his father's academic life as a school owner (traditional job), but loses interest when he discovers baseball--a sport introduced to him by new American neighbors. Here, Ho-chang's two very different life path options are a clear analogy to "resisting" modernization and "accepting" it.

Something that interested me in particular was a sort of watchmaker role on the part of the American baseball players. They introduce the sport, invite the native Koreans to participate, and then step back--watching it all unfold from a distance. After the Americans' first interactions with the Koreans, there was little interference from them. The baseball team excels on their own, ultimately using their skill to battle the neighboring Japan in a dramatic game. Here, baseball has transitioned from a symbol of foreign modernity to a means of expressing national pride.

[YMCA Baseball Team]

       

       The film YMCA Baseball Team, directed by Kim Hyun-seok in 2002, introduces Choseon’s first baseball team in the early 1900s (based on a real story). It is also the period when Japan was colonizing Korea; more specifically, 1905 is the year the Japan-Korea Treaty (Eulsa Treaty) was signed. (“The treaty deprived Korea of its diplomatic sovereignty and made Korea a protectorate of Japan” Wikipedia)

 

Although it is mentioned in H.H.Em’s work that the concept of “the collective ‘self’” (336) existed before the term minjok was introduced in Korea, “the Kingdom of “unified” Silla, Koryo, and Choson” did not put much effort in nationalizing its people (338). In fact, the reading explains the importance of nationalizing the subjects was emphasized with the start of Japanese colonialism period (339). During the colonial period, divisions among people existed: pro-Japanese collaborators who welcomed Japanese power and those who fought against the colonial power, and the division that existed from social hierarchy. This can be seen in the movie, where Kwang-tae’s father is described as a “traitor of the country” for being a pro-Japanese collaborator. Tension exists between the people who mourn death of Jeong-rim’s father and pro-Japanese group (Kwang-tae’s father, the Japanese general and Japanese soldiers). Moreover, even if the official acknowledgement of social hierarchy was gone by 1905, the idea lingered within people’s mind. For instance, Byeong-hwan (yangban) looks down on Seong-han (chonmin) who once worked as a servant of his house. At first, Seong-han also treats him as his superior, calling him “young master” (doryeunnim). However, through the YMCA baseball team, the two become unified and work together for the team’s victory.

The use of sport as a means of unifying the people also reminded me of the 3S policy implemented by Chun Doo-hwan. By arousing interest in 3S fields (screen, sport, sex/speed), Chun was able to continue his dictatorship as a result of people’s ignorance in politics. Furthermore, the unification of Koreans brought on by the World Cup in 2002 was amazing. In the case of the film, the Koreans become integrated by forming the YMCA baseball team, and their victory against the Japanese team brings hope to all Koreans. 

Minjok in YMCA Baseball Team

I know I probably shouldn't be comparing the two, but YMCA Baseball Team was a breath of fresh compared to Blue Swallow air in terms of technical quality and overall plot. Personally the movie had a stronger sense of nationalism. There wasn't the same ambiguity that I associated with Blue Swallow. The sense of nationalism is stronger and more apparent, especially because of the final match between the Japanese troops and the beloved YMCA Koreans.
Considering Henry Em's article, there are many moments where Koreans stood as a united nation. Moments that were more 'new', that which was not done before, as was the case for 'minjok'. Minjok, as describe by Em, is a modern concept that did not emerge until around the time of Japanese occupation of Korea. Therefore, one of the first times that the Korean team stood up as a unified nation was when they came together as a force to be reckoned with, when they were an undefeated baseball team with people that came from a variety of backgrounds. Another moment was when the literate character chose to accept the baseball bat from the teammate of whom the literate teammate thought was of lower class, and with whom he tried to eliminate any associations. By letting down his guard about class and social rankings, the team was able to move on and continue to fight in their match against the Japanese. A third moment that demonstrated a unified Korea was when Kwangtae chose to move beyond what Daehyun did to his father, in order to help Daehyun and Jungrim escape for 'the greater good' for lack of better words. Not only that, it was a team effort. The escape was something put together elaborately by the whole team. The team managed not only to defeat the Japanese baseball team, but also helped the two escape. It goes to show how important minjok is to Koreans. Though it is a modern concept, minjok is a feeling that resonates deeply with Koreans. Unified Koreans, not only in terms of the Koreas, but also in terms of history, is something that drives Koreans to make sure that they aren't just known an people who were occupied by the Japanese. I think what is important to get out of this film is that through minjok Koreans fought to make themselves known.

YMCA bba-ssuball team

Not only was the movie YMCA baseball team one of the first Korean movies to discuss about baseball, but the YMCA baseball team itself was also an actual first ever baseball team in Korea, when baseball was first introduced to Korea as a tool to spread Christianity by American missionaries. At first, the sport was only an extremely foreign game that entertained the Koreans, however, soon this bba-ssuball game became another representation of patriotism where the Koreans, originally from different social classes(status distinction was abolished around this time) became unified and strove to win every game against the Japanese. Although winning in the games would not bring their country back, it was a form of speech where they indirectly yelled for and wanted freedom. While Shinjint’ae argues “minjok” may have did exist due to Korea’s quintessential character of court-centred, aristocratic states, the term minjok is a fairly modern term in which the concept of national identity was less intensified until the colonization of Japan. Thus, these social events such as baseball games allowed to strengthen “minjok” or the concept of national identity. Although baseball was first introduced to Japan in 1872 and to Korea in 1905, more than thirty years after Japan, and the Koreans lacked the equipments and skills in order to play well, the Korean baseball players did an exceptional job at the games, perhaps due to their desire for freedom(as well as their talent in the sport). While the Japanese imperial power was portrayed in a pejorative way, the western modernization and influence was depicted rather positively in the film. They had introduced a game, which eventually served as a form to represent patriotism of the people. Furthermore, instead of wearing hanbok, which Korean women have been wearing for eons until the introduction of westernization, Jeong lim wears western female dress attire, which implies her representation as a new woman. Thus, the coexistence of hanbok (traditional Korean attire) and western attire depicts the era in which westernization was occurring. The movie YMCA baseball was an entertaining movie in which it discerned a robust historical verification, and depicted the actual historical occurrence with the use of comic genre.

Ps. I found it quite interesting how SongKangho stares at the camera in both the endings in the movies “Memories of Murder” and “YMCA baseball team”. Actors rarely look into cameras in movies. What were the directors trying to imply? Did they have the same intentions?

YMCA Baseball Team

Firstly, I would like to start by saying how much I truly enjoyed this movie.  This is a movie at which I laughed out loud, and I love when movies have that power. The comedy of this film was also a refreshing tactic used to depict the colonial experience in Korea, especially in contrast with movies like Epitaph, which was anything but hilarious. In my opinion, the fact that the movie could be funny without detracting from the weight and seriousness of the issue at hand, the Japanese occupation, was impressive. 

Henry Em’s essay “Minjok as a Construct” approaches the matter of a Korean narrative, and raises questions like ‘when did Koreans become Korean?’ It is interesting to look at and interpret YMCA Baseball Team in these terms.  At the time of the movie (1905), did the Koreans feel like a nationalist unity was present? While it was clear by the end of the movie that Ho-chang and the rest of the team were united in baseball, were they united in a Korean national identity? Ho-chang was taught baseball, “America’s national pastime,” by American missionaries.

However, there were aspects of the movie in which Korean nationalism and resistance was evident. The scene(s) in which the Korean and Japanese baseball teams play each other are particular depictions of the coming together of the baseball team not just as teammates but as Koreans.  Also, there is reference to Ryu Kwang-Tae’s father as being one of the Five Eulsa Traitors, a group of officials who signed the Eulsa Treaty of 1905, making Korea a protectorate of Japan. This was a clear betrayal as seen by the other characters, specifically Min Jungrim and Oh Dae-Hyeok who were members of the Anti-Eulsa League, a group formed to object the Five Eulsa Traitors. In these aspects, there was a clear Korean identity. However, the unity of the baseball team overpowered the hatred of the Five Eulsa Traitors, which became evident when Oh Dae-Hyeok couldn’t bring himself to harm Ryu Kwang-Tae’s father and spared his life. 

The Emergence of Korean Unity

In Henry Em’s, “Minjok as a Modern and Democratic Construct: Sin Ch’aeho’s Historiography,” he talks about how the concept of Korean national identity is a fairly modern construct and that before the 19^th century, there was no sense of unity or loyalty among the people who lived in Korea regarding their state or each other. (338) It was not until Korea was conquered by Japan that the idea of nationalism was created because for:

Organizing movements for independence, self-strengthening-and people's rights, [...] intellectuals re-imagined Korea's collective identity in terms of a "deep, horizontal comradeship" - regardless of, or because of, the actual divisions and inequalities that prevailed in Korean society. (Em, 339)

This transition from identification by class to identification by national pride is exemplified in one of the last scenes of YMCA Baseball Team (2002).

Throughout the movie, the YCMA baseball team is considered the best in all of Korea and remain undefeated until they go against the Japanese soldiers. The key scene is in the two teams’ rematch. Jeong Byeong-Hwan (Kim Il-Woong) breaks his bat and goes to get another one from the bucket. He finds all of them unsuitable and eventually accepts the bat of his teammate, Ma Seong-Han (Lee Dae-Yeon). This in itself is a great show of teamwork, but there is so much more meaning in the gesture once one looks back at the rest of the movie. When all the members first gathered, Seong-Han ran up to Byeong-Hwan, his previous employer, to greet him. In response, Byeong-Hwan completely dismissed him because Seong-Han was but a lowly servant to him. This trend follows as Byeong-Hwan refuses to catch the ball that Seong-Han throws at him, saying that he could never work with someone who was of such low class. This came to a climax when the YCMA baseball team lost their first match against Japan, and Seong-Han finally yelled at Byeong-Hwan saying that class discrimination had ended long ago, so there was no reason for him to be so hostile. Then Byeong-Hwan asserted that he would always be above Seong-Han and walked off. The next time they see each other is that the rematch where Byeong-Hwan accepts the bat from Seong-Han despite having other choices, finally breaking the barrier between class status in order to be a truly unified team for one purpose—defeating the Japanese team. In the same way that a unified identity that is “Korea” was created in reaction to Japan, the unified identity of the YCMA baseball team was finally accomplished in reaction to the Japanese baseball team.

Even in the movie, it is recognized that the baseball rematch was much more than just a game. The Japanese official, Hidenori Nomura (Masato Ibu), who was so against his son, Hideo Nomura (Kazuma Suzuki), playing baseball instead of being a soldier, allowed him to play the game instead of arresting traitors-- his biggest job as a soldier. Hidenori explicitly stated that their team had to crush the YCMA baseball team because the audience of Koreans were looking at the team with a sense of hope and national pride that had to be destroyed. So clearly it is supported that the two baseball teams and their members are analogous to the countries they came from.