Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World

16 Han Suk-kyu and the Gendered Cultural Economy of Stardom and Fandom

16 Han Suk-kyu and the Gendered Cultural Economy of Stardom and Fandom Anne Ciecko and Hunju Lee Examining the chronological development of star performance within a body of films, together with concomitant extradiegetic incarnations, provides critical access to the meaning-making work of fandom and star construction within particular cultural moments. Composite constellations of star texts can guide fan behaviors and interpretive processes, and encourage dialogic engagement with societal attitudes and consumer practices. Therefore, grafting the career of a film star such as Han Suk-kyu—until recently, the biggest box-office draw and highest-paid actor in South Korean cinema—onto a grid of national vicissitudes and socioeconomic changes offers a very intriguing cultural case study of contemporary Korean cinema, celebrity, and audiences—and of popular discourses of masculinity. Focusing mainly on Han Suk-kyu’s career on and off the movie screen from 1997 onwards, the narrative of Han’s stardom that we reconstruct and analyze is a story about industry shifts and gendered cultural trends, and, most critically, fan/audience expectations and frustrations : Korea’s top male star decided, at the pinnacle moment of his screen appeal in 1999–2000, to take a prolonged movie-acting hiatus. When he returned to the big screen, cultural tastes of the movie-going public (especially the desired demographic of younger audience members) had shifted enough to radically diminish Han’s star currency. In this chapter, we investigate the understudied Korean star/audience dynamic through the following cultural phenomena: movie-screen absence coupled with media presence, the regulation of affect in Korean male star performances, popular Korean perceptions of ideal masculinity and their relationships to 220 domestic film genres, and the rise of consumer nationalism and cinematic spectacle. Han Suk-kyu’s filmic career growth corresponds with economic recovery in South Korea. After a start as a voice and TV-drama actor, he became a huge movie star during the period of the Asian financial crisis, bringing box-office magic/industry clout to his leading-man roles. Until recently, his films have likewise been associated with the creative reinvention of genre conventions and the rising surge of commercially viable contemporary Korean cinema. Ultimately, Han’s career trajectory sheds some light on the complexly entangled workings of industry trends and consumer behavior. Han’s Absent Presence During the highest point in Han’s stardom, his film texts actively directed fandom. However, Han Suk-kyu’s “comeback” film, Double Agent (2003, dir. Kim Hyeon-jeong), the first movie produced by a company he formed with his brother, Him Pictures, was largely rejected by audiences. The rationale Han had offered for leaving the movie screen at the height of his star currency was to recharge his creative batteries and reemerge a better actor (see Choi 2000; Cine 21 2002).1 However, his entrepreneurial foray into movie making apparently left his fans feeling betrayed, as one aborted “home” production after another led to a much-longer-than-expected delay. Meanwhile Han continued to appear as a fixture in commercial advertisements on television and in print. He and his brother also at that time launched a website and a script-development service. Instead of providing the necessary Contact with his fans (to quote the title of one of his successful romance films, ironically about a cyber-relationship ), this website and the one for Double Agent failed to provide the necessary interactivity (indeed, the whole marketing campaign for Double Agent seems to have been the result of major miscalculation). According to figures from the Korean Film Commission, Double Agent ended up ranking only a very disappointing #19 for the year (2003).2 Other rankings during the time of Han’s hiatus and return to the big screen also showed ominous signs of discontent. The results of a survey of 124 directors and producers published in Daily Hankook actually found Han Suk-kyu in the #1 position—as most overrated actor (Park 2001). The reason given for this choice was Han’s overattachment to money and a lack of diversity in Han Suk-kyu and the Gendered Cultural Economy of Stardom and Fandom 221 his roles and performances after 1998’s Christmas in August (dir. Hur Jinho ). Another survey published in the Daily Chosun ranked Han the #13 Korean star in terms of audience appeal (D. Lee 2003)—although he had held the #1 spot just one year before. In...