Co-mmodifying the Gay Body - Globalization, the Film Industry, and Female Prosumers in the Contemporary Korean Mediascape

Aug 28, 2026

Upload by Eliana

The article examines how Korean mainstream media increasingly represents gay sexuality, focusing on why such commodification occurs despite negative public sentiment. It analyzes the liberalization and Hollywoodization of the Korean film industry and the co-optation of young female fandom for gay media commodities. The study argues that commodification is an ongoing cultural process, requiring reconceptualizing consumption as prosumption and mapping how targeted consumers participate. Using the film King and the Clown as a turning point, it connects industrial strategies, social risk-taking, and media-market restructuring.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research questions and target consumers

Prosumption and industry restructuring

Retheorizing the Commodification of Culture

Marx’s commodity concept and limits

Expanding commodification across social relations

Co-mmodifying the Gay Body: Globalization, the Film Industry, and Female Prosumers in the Contemporary Korean Mediascape JUNGMIN KWON 1 University of Portland, USA Gay people are now easy to find in Korean popular culture. Although increased representation of the gay body in media is encouraging, the current version ofcommodification raises questions. Why did Korean mainstream media decide to commodify gay sexuality despite the unfavorable public sentiment toward gay people in Korea? Who does the industry aim to reach, and what are the roles of the target audience in the commodification process of gay bodies? This article points to the liberalization and Hollywoodization of the Korean film industry and its active co-optation of local young female fandom for gay media commodities. Furthermore, it underlineshow the commodification of the gay identity in Korean media is an ongoing process and cultural phenomenon in which female fans continue to participate. Keywords: commodification, globalization, Korean film, film industry, young women, fanfic In this era of global trade, the commodification process is pervasive. Even sexual orientation isnot immune to this process: Flourishing markets for LGBT commodities are establishing themselves in some regions of the world. This is true of the media market in South Korea (hereafter Korea), a society where sexual minorities have long been ignored. Previously, Korean mainstream media representation reflected this culture-wide heterosexism: LGBT populations were rarely portrayed in Korean popular culture before the mid-2000s. However, the release of King and the Clown (Wangui Namja) in 2005, a historical fiction about a complicated relationship among three men, marked a turning point for LGBT media commodities in the Korean mainstream market. A megahit, King and the Clown contributed to lessening concerns about including gay characters in film production. The movie was followed by other media genres, including television dramas, reality shows, and stage musicals. Since then, gay media commodities have become much easier to find in Korean mainstream media, even though reality remains harsh for the minority citizens in Korea. Jungmin Kwon: [kwon@up.edu](kwon@up.edu) [Date submitted](Date submitted: 2014)[:](Date submitted: 2014)[ 2014](Date submitted: 2014)–[08](08)–[07](07) 1 This article is a revised version of one chapter from the author’s doctoral dissertation. The book manuscript based on the dissertation, tentatively titled FANtasy Changes the World: Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Imagination, is currently under contract with the University of Iowa Press. The author would like to thank the International Journal of Communication and the University of Iowa Press for allowing cross-publication. The increased representation of the gay body in Korean mainstream media is encouraging; however, the current version of commodification of the gay identity and culture raises questions from the perspective of critical/cultural media and communication studies. First, how did King and the Clown achieve market success and influence other media to commodify homosexuality despite the unfavorable public sentiment toward LGBT people? In what social context did the film industry decide to take a risk? Second, we need to identify the de facto targeted consumers of gay commodities in the mainstream media. It is unlikely to be gay spectators, who typically prefer not to consume gay-themed media in public for fear of being publicly outed. Who does the industry aim to reach, and what are these consumers’ roles in the commodification process? This article suggests that untangling these issues should start by replacing our classic understanding of consumption with prosumption. Second, it examines the transformation and restructuring of the Korean film industry since the late 1980s. More specifically, I point to the liberalization and Hollywoodization of the Korean film industry and its act

FAQs

Why does Korean mainstream media commodify gay sexuality despite unfavorable public sentiment?

The article links this choice to industry transformation, including liberalization and Hollywoodization, which supports the co-optation of young female fandom for gay erotic media commodities.

Who are the targeted consumers of gay media commodities in mainstream Korean media?

The piece argues the intended audience is unlikely to be gay spectators, who often avoid public consumption for fear of being publicly outed, and instead emphasizes other targeted consumers’ roles in commodification.

How does the article frame commodification in relation to consumption?

It proposes replacing classic consumption with prosumption, emphasizing that commodification of gay identity is not a predetermined outcome of industrial interests but an ongoing cultural phenomenon sustained by audience participation.

Aug 28, 2026

Upload by Eliana