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Oscars Vs. Grammys: Why are filmmakers Bong Joon Ho & Lee Issac Chung lauded, while BTS is ignored?
In a bitter-sweet week for South Korea, Lee Issac Chung's Minari landed six Oscar nominations, while BTS' lose out on the coveted Grammys! Are western award shows biased? Read on to find out.
This week is a bitter-sweet one for South Korea, isn't it! On one hand, Lee Issac Chung's Minari landed six nominations at the 93rd Academy Awards with actors Steven Yeun and Youn Yuh Jung earning nominations in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively, making Oscars history as the first Korean-American and Korean origin actors getting Oscar nods. On the other hand, Korea's pride, BTS lost out on the coveted Grammy award in the Best Pop/Duo category for Dynamite. It makes me wonder why are film-makers like Bong Joon Ho and Lee Issac Chung lauded and appreciated, while BTS is dismissed! Are western award shows biased? Well, take a look.
It is no denying that BTS, Lee Issac Chung and Bong Joon Ho are game-changers in the field of arts, cinema and music. They have single-handedly paved the way for South Korean entertainment and put them on the global map. Parasite is considered to be one of the finest films of the 21st century and won four awards at the 92nd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film, becoming the first non-English language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Now, Koreans and Asians are pinning their hopes on Minari and director Lee Issac Chung to take Korean and Asian cinema forward. But what is it that the Academy Awards are doing right, which the Recording Academy isn't? Let us try and analyse.
Bong Joon Ho, Lee Issac Chung and BTS, have one more thing in common besides their Korean heritage, the fact that they are supremely adept in their respective fields and constantly challenge the socio-political status quo. Denying the influence either of them has on the arts, is well, absurd and arrogant. Western Awards shows are no paragons of virtue and have their share of corruption, but Oscars seem to have learnt from their past mistakes and are more inclusive versus The Recording Academy, which seems to be tone-deaf, ironically!
The answer lies in the exterior perception the western media has of them. Director Bong Joon Ho and Lee Issac Chung dress smart and traditional, with little to no appearance on late-night TV/variety shows, not making social media content for their fans and sticking solely to their work at hand. BTS' on the other hand dress fashionably in fancy clothes and hair colour, participate in self-created content and entertain audiences outside their work. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with either of their methods, but it creates an image of them.
Of course, it isn't fair to compare BTS to filmmakers Lee Issac Chung and Bong Joon Ho, who have been making cinema for years now, versus BTS who have been around for a relatively shorter time, but it is an open secret that The Recording Academy is allergic to boy-bands and the fact that BTS members are also Asians, adds fuel to the racist fire. This also comes from a sexist mindset that boybands equal hysterical fangirls versus a respected filmmaker equals to well-educated (male audience). This perception has to go.
There is also a nasty perception that youth have it a lot easier versus the older generation who had to struggle a lot. Director Bong and Lee have been around for decades and their filmography speaks for them, but BTS aren't an overnight sensation either. A boy-band emerging literally from bankruptcy, achieving heights of global stardom is no mean feat either. The perception people have that only formally dressed, middle-aged men can make art versus pretty looking, flower-boys make trash is alarming, to say the least.
At the 77th Golden Globe Awards on January 5, Bong praised BTS for the phenomenal impact they’ve had on an international level. “Although I’m here at the Golden Globes, BTS has 3,000 times the amount of power and influence that I have. I think Korea inevitably produces a lot of great artists ‘cause we’re very emotionally dynamic people,” he shared via a translator during a red carpet interview.
Well, as director Bong Joon Ho was quoted saying that, one must overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles to watch some amazing cinema if only, sigh, if only.
Do you agree with my views? Share your thoughts with Pinkvilla in the comments below.
