The poster protesting unjustly high tuition fees hangs on the wall leading from the main gate to the Welch-Ryang Auditorium. What? different about this poster, though, is that the words on it seem to be straight from the lines of a popular Korean drama, ?he Sweetheart of Paris. The Student Government Association (SGA), producers of the poster, hoped to use students familiarity with the drama to call their attention the fact that tuition fees are too high. Last semester, the SGA also parodied the famous Korean historical drama, The Great Janggeum.
Neither is the SGA the only one to use parody art. The Ewha Weekly also has a taste for parodying famous lines in their headlines. Examples of such are ?o I still look like a doll to you? (from the original ?o I still look like your mother to you?, May 17, 2004), and ?s the ?erb planted in Ewha? (from the name of the SGA, HubHerb Ewha, May 24, 2004).
Then why are parodies put to so much use? To illustrate, as two students pass by the ?aris Love Story poster, one exclaims, ?ey have you seen this? It? really funny. They made it really well. Exactly. First, parodied messages gain attention. They are usually based on famous cultural themesin this case, a famous drama that over half of the Ewha population tunes in to every week. Second, the basic themes used in parodies are attractive to the public because they?e already seen the themes before. Usually parody strip artists select themes that the public like, so they are going to take at least a glimpse at what? posted. Third, the parody themes are amusing. It? fun to see a poster about a famous line in a drama you liked, or at least found interesting. It? even more fun to see it twisted in a way you?e never seen before. So parody has become a whole new brand of entertainmentwhile voicing a strong message at the same time.
When you look at the proliferation of parodies outside school, you can come to question, ?hy aren? there more parodies at Ewha? From a student? point of view, there are several limitations that prevent students from speaking out further through parodies. There are the mentalities of students themselvesthe ?on? cross the line way of thinking that prevents students from expressing personal views if they conflict with others opinions. Also there is a narrow range within which parody themes may be chosen and accepted; the famous Park Geun-hye political parody of last July would definitely be unacceptable within Ewha due to the sexually degrading content.
With parody-making on the rise in various spheres of society such as politics, commercialism, and advertising, one can wonder if they will play a more active role in voicing student opinion. Whatever method they use, we may hope that ?here there? a will, there? a way.
sooky13@ewha.ac.kr