Two Decades of Disability Representation in South Korean Film: Media Exposure and Attitudes of Thai Disabled Audiences

Abstract

           This research explores the representation of disability in Korean films through a qualitative approach, systematically analyzing the content of 25 films released between 2002 and 2021-a period when South Korea focused on producing films for cultural export (Kim, 2019). The study employs a narrative paradigm, examines the notion of disability within the Korean social context, and analyzes media exposure and the attitudes of 30 Thai individuals with disabilities. These participants, selected through purposive sampling, had watched at least one of the selected films, and data were collected through semi-structured interviews.

The findings reveal that intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments, mobility impairments, and autism were the most frequently portrayed disabilities. Representations of disabled individuals in these films fall into 7 main types: 1) the socially disadvantaged, 2) the victim, 3) the innocent, 4) the insecure, 5) the angry, 6) the gifted, and 7) the independent. Notably, the study highlights a significant absence of narratives addressing disabilities among the elderly and issues of gender diversity.

          Despite the persistent stereotypical portrayal of disability as pitiable, victimized, or lacking self-assurance, Thai viewers with disabilities perceive Korean films as employing creative narrative techniques. These techniques humanize disabled characters by avoiding negative stereotypes and resisting the tendency to depict them solely as objects of pity or as inherently virtuous “angels.” The comparison of disability with other social vulnerabilities, along with the integration of multifaceted conflicts in films, has emerged as a powerful media tool that influences public perceptions of disabled individuals, rendering disability a universal concern.