Sixth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

Korean dramas have been a popular media product among Filipino viewers for more than a decade now. In 2016, two of the most popular K-dramas broadcast in the Philippines included the series Descendants of the Sun and Goblin. These two K-dramas were set in South Korea, one of the East Asian countries whose society has been greatly influenced by Confucianism. In this study, these contemporary K-dramas were analyzed using Stuart Hall’s concept of ‘encoding’ to see how they coincided with or departed from Confucian values on women as shown in the film elements ‘dialogues’, ‘actions’, and ‘mise-en-scène’. The Confucian values on women are captured by the phrase ‘wise mother, good wife’. These Confucian values on women pertain to the women’s place in the domestic realm, women’s ultimate goal to find love, women having to maintain proper behavior, and women being good mothers. In K-dramas, women were portrayed as inferior to men in terms of social status, rank, and capabilities despite some of them being capable individuals who excelled in their profession. Most female characters were also actively in pursuit of love. The study found out that the portrayal of women in K-dramas coincided with the Confucian values on women, specifically the women’s place in the domestic realm, women’s ultimate goal to find love, and women being good mothers. K-dramas portray women to deviate from the Confucian value on women maintaining proper behavior.