Kitschy pop culture in vogue

B-class acts ridicule authority  Before rapper Psy became an international sensation with “Gangnam Style” last year, he was considered a “geek artist” relying on a gimmick. Noted for eccentric performances and cheesy raps, Psy has since been synonymous with so-called “B-class” culture that is dominantly pervading the Korean cultural scene. The kitsch code, previously shared by small groups of fans, is now a majority taste for the young ― in particular, among those in their 20s and 30s that are influenced by the Internet culture. The term B-class culture is taken from the term B-movie, referring to low-budget motion pictures that became a genre after successful productions in 1930s but more commonly used to describe a movie of noticeably poor quality. The term B-class culture is widely used in Korean cultural scene particularly after Psy proclaimed he is an icon of the B-class music. There is no clear definition of B-class culture and it deviates from the mainstream culture but receives support from fans. The common connotations include cheesy elements mixed with cult fashion, violence and sex. But the core code of B-class culture is laughter, at least in the Korean cultural scene. More people are fervently responding to cultural content based on self-mocking humor and parodies sometimes mixed with sexual elements and meaningless foolery. K-pop rookie Crayon Pop “Saturday Night Live Korea” (SNL Korea), a sketch comedy and variety show on tvN, which was adapted from the American TV show on NBC, is garnering the enormous popularity with its B-class humors mixing sexual connotations. When the show was first aired in 2011, it received mixed reactions toward its satires and parodies on politicians and sexual jokes which have rarely been seen on Korean television comedy shows. The program hit the spotlight when it broadcast the skit titled “Yeouido Teletubbies Return” last year. The skit transformed the main characters of the popular children’s show into presidential candidates and satirized them as the election neared. It received rave reviews among social networking services and online bulletin boards and became popular on YouTube. The skit recorded the highest ratings among the skits in the show. Since then, the show has been supported by young people who are familiar with the Internet culture where social and political parodies and sexual jokes are relatively freely expressed. It has broken taboos for major broadcasters, becoming bolder and more aggressive in mocking politicians and adopting sexual codes. Comedian Kim Gu-ra gained popularity after spending years on his Internet-based talk show which reveals straightforward remarks, including sometimes blunt hate-talk toward certain politicians and celebrities. Kim was recently featured as a special guest in the SNL Korea, stealing the limelight on the same time slot on Friday night with his trademark “hate speeches” and parodies. The B-class code is also often found in other comedy shows such as “Gag Concert” on KBS which features straightforward parodies and humor in the prime time slot on Sunday, building up its own strong viewership. “Infinite Challenge,” the most popular entertainment show on MBC, also highlights comedians such as Noh Hong-chul and Park Myung-soo who are self-proclaimed “B-class” entertainers. They are willing to reveal their cheesy, quirky comical performances such as “cringe-worthy dances” which are drawing enormous popularity from the viewers. After Psy’s global phenomenon, girl band Crayon Pop, who has been in trouble over its inappropriate comments which are widely used in “Ilbe” (www.ilbe.com), an online message board dominated by supporters of ultra right-wing politics, is one of the hottest K-pop rookies. The group’s single “Bar Bar Bar” has created much buzz with its eccentric choreography so-called “straight-five engine dance.” The girls wear bicycle helmets, polo shirts and sweatpants beneath their miniskirts, which are far from the stereotyped images of the K-pop girl groups. Breaking the common sexy codes in the showbiz industry, the group’s dorky experiment is being evaluated as the next major player following Psy in the B-class cultural phenomenon. A famous web-based cartoon “The Sound of the Heart” by Cho Suk has generated a strong fan base. It is based on the artist’s mundane events which can draw much empathy from the audience such as common mistakes in school days or military service mixed with his quirky humor, irony and unexpected twists in the end. The cartoon has been published into a printed version, selling more than 60,000 copies. A recent book titled “B-class Culture Raids Korea” written by Lee Hyung-suk states that such cultural phenomenon has been created by the generations in their 30-40s who couldn’t join the A-class social mainstream and is enjoyed by the young generation in their 20s. The author analyzes the current trend that reflects social anxiety from those in their 40s who experienced the hard times under the threats of the high unemployment rate and early retirements while going through the financial crisis in the late 1990s. “They have been estranged from the economic mainstream but have anti-authoritarian tendency as they grew up amid the democratic movement in 1980s. At the same time, they represent hedonism and consumerism as they were influenced by dramatic development of the mass pop culture in 1990s,” the book states. The book says that the B-class culture expresses the desires of people who feel a sense of depravity and their yearnings for change and reform deeply ingrained in their minds, bringing an end to grand narratives and stoicism.