Dolai Action Film & 1980s South Korea/Seoul

Set in 1980s Seoul, Suk-ah, nicknamed “Dolai” for being foolish, is a nice shy manager who not only takes care of his female members of "Thrillers", but also protects them from danger. Even though the girls treat him as an errand boy, Dolai constantly guards them from thugs, pickpockets, perverts, robbers, burglars, bar owners, rapists, and drug dealers who try to enslave girls as prostitutes. He also risks his own life for anyone who is in trouble. Dolai becomes this “superhero figure” every time he witnesses injustice, defeating evil characters by performing Jackie Chan-like martial arts.

In this film, one could see Dolai as this “handicapped action hero” (Kim 99) who shows some peculiar traits such as being silly and submissive in front of girls and bar managers respectively, which are quite the opposite characters from the typical heroes that he or she is familiar with. Even though the film has its influence from Hollywood (Kim 104), it still retains some characters from Hong Kong action movies. For example, Dolai shows some decent fighting skills similar to those of Jackie Chan in the scene where he fights against thugs who are trying to steal a drunk man’s wallet. Also Dolai reveals “hwal-ryok”, vitality which means “the form of energy directed against authority” (Kim 110) every time he faces crooks such as Jin-ho and bar owners and managers who symbolize evil and corrupted power and dominance in South Korean society.

The film does an excellent job of portraying South Korean society of 1980s in which

“consumer opportunities blossomed and South Korean economy sky-rocketed” (Nelson 114-115). South Korea or at least Seoul is seen as a developed and modernized country/city where people wear western-styled clothes, drive imported cars such as Cadillac, and drink coffee at fancy cafes. Food is abundant as one sees too many restaurants, and goods such as expansive bags are stacked in department stores. Young people seem to spend their leisure time by dining at American restaurants and going to ski resorts and cottages. People do not hesitate to take money from their wallets every time they buy goods. Taxis are everywhere on the street dropping and waiting for customers; neon signs are brightly lit during nighttime.  By seeing all this, foreigners would forget 1950s Korea which was one of the world’s poorest nations. The living standard in South Korea has definitely improved by these visible signs.

However, things are not so bright and glamorous as viewers find out hidden aspects of South Korean society shown through characters in the film.  Burglary and robbery are common. Crooks are everywhere to exploit girls. There is not only an increasing gap between the rich and the poor, but the poor are not benefitting from those trickles from the South Korean economic boom. For example, Shin-ae reveals her impoverished childhood life by telling her friends about how her mother sold seeds at the market to raise her after her father ran way with his new wife, how she did not have enough to eat or wear and enough money to buy lunch so instead she would satisfy her hunger by drinking water from faucet, and how she tried to make a living by working as a waitress and a factory girl.

In addition, the philosophy of frugality as a public moral value (Nelson 107) is mentioned throughout the film indicating that this thought is still within people's minds even though consumerism is on the rise.  In one scene, Dolai tells girls they should not buy lots of clothes at a department store suggesting that these girls are committing an action of “Kwasobi” meaning excessive consumption (Nelson 107). Also in the taxi scene, when a member complains about not taking two cabs, her fellow member responds right away “It is a way of saving money."

Gender Reversal and Masculinity

Crazy Boy is South Korean film with traditional Honk Kong-like martial arts camera works and tropes.  Seok, the protagonist of the film, is portrayed to be meek and somewhat of a “little brother” figure to the girls in thriller despite him being the manager.  Though as the film progresses, it is revealed that Seok is a man burning with justice and he turns out to be a great fighter who is able to stand his ground.  This is something similar to the superman trope or other works of fiction that is akin to nerd romanticism.  On the surface, Seok’s masculinity seems to be denied or being made a target of comedy, when the girls of the Thriller gets themselves into danger, Seok manages to re-establish his masculinity by saving them or solving the problems they have. 

There is also the way the film portrays masculinity as dangerous, dirty, and deceitful with the rest of the male cast who most turns out to be evil people taking advantage of the girls in Thriller.  Even the camera shots when these male characters are present usually are close shots on the female figure, mostly where sexual arousal is hinted, giving a sense again that men are dangerous.  There is also Seok and one of the girl’s mother constantly pointing out how men are dangerous creatures and how unsafe it is for women to be out at night.  What this manages to achieve in the long run is a character contrast between the male characters and Seok himself.  The contrast further emphasizes or justifies Seok’s presence and masculinity in the film.  Thus, it is hard to say that there is a reversal in gender roles taking place despite the social hierarchy between Seok and the girls during a peaceful time when the gender reversal is used as an instrument or a device to affirm Seok’s masculinity in the film.

Lenin Amaya 

Consumerism in Crazy Boy

Consumerism in Crazy Boy is personified through the women of Thriller, their bodies, their music and their appeal. The opening shot of the movie is of each of the band member’s legs and/or face stepping out of a cab, dressed in glamorous Westernized clothes and high heels. This one scene is telling of what continues through the rest of the movie, close ups of their bodies and faces. In each of their performances, the camera zooms in on hip shaking, legs moving, lips singing, creating an obvious sex appeal for these women that we haven’t seen yet in the films we’ve watched. The extent of this new style of movie can be looked at through the lense of new consumer patterns in South Korea in the 1980’s.

Laura Nelson lays out the consumerist environment during this period, “Consumer opportunities blossomed in the 1980’s. Many South Koreans welcomed the chance to fill their lives with new furniture and appliances, gadgets and automobiles, works of art, expensive hobbies, jewelry, music, and nights out on the town.” (115) The frivolity in Crazy Boy, which takes place in the 80’s, is not hard to miss, the women of Thriller are constantly going out, drinking, smoking, talking about men (rich men in particular). This also applies to the idea that economic development diminished people’s morals to “the worship of mammon” (119), the availability and sexuality of all of the women is exaggerated, as is the men’s reactions to this.

Nelson carries on to say that through these new consumer opportunities, “the conspicuousness of differences between rich and poor,” become much more exaggerated. I found that in the film, consumerism cuts across class boundaries rather than emphasizes them. Yes, the women are always referring to themselves as a “third class band” and are looking to be discovered by rich men, but they themselves are still part of the consumer lifestyle. There are contrasting scenes that display this unity through consumption – first the women are shown in their glamorous clothes and shoes, then they are shown washing their hair and faces squatting over buckets on the ground outside, then they are shown eating out at a restaurant. These contrasting images of their wealth levels makes it seem like they are able to be a part of the new consumer opportunities that Nelson speaks of, no matter what their status is. 

[Crazy Boy] Depiction of modern women

While the action scenes, heavily influenced by the fighting style of Jackie Chan, were interesting to view in the film, Crazy Boy, what attracted me the most was the way women in modern days were treated and represented by men. Released in 1985, Dolai, talks about this so-called crazy boy who works as a manager for the singing girlgroup called Thriller. At first, this main character is depicted as a quiet week boy since most of the members of the group treat him with very little respect, ordering him to carry things for them. But soon later, it seems obvious that the girls need Dolai’s protection since they constantly get into troubles. He not only protects his girlgroup, but he also risks his life for anyone who’s in danger. He fights against injustice no matter how dangerous it is. Although the film seems to focus on making him a superhero, what it actually draws our attention to are the dangerous situations that the girls are continuously put in.  The girls are the representative of Korean modern women in the sense that they don’t fit themselves in with the traditional society, but rather they are determined to achieve their goals and dreams of being big stars. Thus, it is shown in the film that back in the period, society gave more freedom and rights to those women who had always been discriminated. However, as the film emphasizes, women were still being objectified and exposed to danger threatened by men and authorities. In the film, there appear thugs at a bust stop, pickpockets, perverts, burgalars, the drug runners, rapists and the men who want to enslave the girls as prostitutes. The crimes they’ve made or were about to make were so upsetting that they reminded me of the suicide of actress Jang Ja-yeon. In the movie, the owner of the club proposes that if one of the members of Thriller sleeps with him, then then club will help promote the band and make them stars. What happened to Jang was pretty much the same except for the fact that her manager did not beat up the owner to protect her. Even though I knew those men from the film were just fictional characters, I felt disturbed because I was very aware of their existence in our real life now.

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.

[Crazy Boy: the Hwalkuk of 80s]

The film Crazy Boy (1985), directed by Lee Doo-yong, which is a comedy, action movie of the 80s. Unlike the previous films watched in class, the film’s integration of the colonial period is not evident. The main characters of the film are the members of quintet vocal team Thriller, and their manager Seok, also kwon as Dol-I. The film illustrates Seok as a devoted manager and a man who cannot tolerate injustice. There were many action scenes shown throughout the movie whenever Seok was fighting against the “bad people” (hooligans, rapists, etc.)

One of the interesting points of the film was the description of the 80s in Korea. The hairstyle, clothing, music all depicted the setting of 80s, and the café, clubs, pool and resorts showed the consuming pattern of the people during that period. (Jeon Yong Rok, who plays the main character Dol-I, was also one of the most popular idols of the time)

             As Kim writes that Korean action movie “was born into this contact zone of transculturation” (101, Kim) I was able to sense the Hong-Kong style action in the film (how Seok fights with his bare hands reminded me of Jackie Chan as well).

Furthermore, as “hwal” in Hwalkuk refers to the “energetic bodily movement” (110, Kim) all the action scenes in the movie could point towards the genre of the film. Moreover, it is mentioned in Kim’s reading that “In contrast with power (kwon-ryok), hwal-ryok signifies vitality. Vitality is the form of energy directed against authority: It is not

non-violence that fights against power, but vitality” (110, Kim). This form of vitality is described by Seok; while the “power” can be seen as the men who are able to take advantage of the women with their wealth and strength, Seok decides to fight against them with vitality, not non-violence (in fact, he uses a lot of violence towards them). In addition, Kim also mentions that “The movies with impaired action starts contact zones where alleged East Asian modernity presents itself as marred but as possessing, nonetheless, a hint of promise for a new start” (110, Kim). Although Seok is not physically impaired, he lost his father; therefore his family could be seen as “incomplete” within the society. Regardless of the fact that he is incomplete, he grows up as an upright citizen, and uses his power/strength to help the weak. 

crazy dolai

The movie begins with a setting that depicts the hectic and crowded Seoul of the 1980s.  

As weird as the movie was, I found it interesting and hilarious to watch.

With the economical development in Korea, citizens gradually focused more on materialism, instead of frugality, one of the core values of confucianism, which prevailed in traditional Korea. The extravagant hairstyles and outfits in the film justifies the era in which “society’s consume trend [was] developing toward extravagance and an all-out dedication to pleasure because the general recognition of the value of abstinence has been erased” (116).

The rapid zooming in and out camera technique used to capture the girls on stage, and the sweeping movement of the camera as it captured them exercising in the swimming pool, as well as many other filmic techniques, shows the male gaze, which is quite disturbing and highly sexualized in the film. 

Although the film tricks us into believing that the director intends to critique the gender issue in Korean society of the 1980s, the plot and the camera techniques show the opposite. The film seems to imply that women who financially support themselves and are not reliant on men will be the ones who would not get ‘hurt’ and be considered as ‘modern'. However, dolai’s presence implies that in order to save and protect women, the presence of a ‘good man’ who knows ‘justice’(like hk movies) is necessary. If you spell dolai(crazy boy) other way around in Korean, it’s spelled as idol. Maybe.. that implies something? Now as we are entering the second decade of the 21st century, 30 years after the film was released, i hope and believe that no such ‘idols’ nor ‘crazy boys’ should exist to protect women, but that women who are equal to men, are independent and that they can protect themselves.(why does protecting herself need to exist in the first place..:( ) In short, we as viewers shouldn't idolize dolai.