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I guess the bit news in expat-in-Korea land today is this: youtube.com/watch?v=mh49Spbu4YcPermalink On twitter.com
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If you don't live in Korea, that probably means nothing to you. I'm struggling to find an analogy. He was the most famous white person in Korea. Was on TV a lot. Kind of created people's perceptions of what "acceptable foreigners" should be like. Humanized us, but...Permalink On twitter.com
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He also sort of, I don't know, dehumanized us, by creating a whole fantasy of an aspirational foreigner who truly wanted to "go native" in Korea. Spoke fluently. Used Kyeongsang dialect to ingratiate himself. Was happy to be safe, inoffensive, "good clean fun" white man.Permalink On twitter.com
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To me, it's a bit like the "surprise" people feel when a virulently homophobic pastor turns out to be secretly gay and doing drugs with male hookers and hanging out at the gay sauna the next city over. I'm more surprised when the hateful pastor *isn't* secretly gay or closeted.Permalink On twitter.com
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So personally, I don't find the Holley news all that shocking. Between the fact he was a professional TV schmuck for decades, and his "squeaky clean 'n' wholesome" image, I feel way less surprised than if it were, I dunno, any scrubby but competent, burnt-out expat I know.Permalink On twitter.com
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I'll be honest: I probably feel less sympathy because he was, when I first got to Korea, THE archetype for the "inoffensive, clownish foreigner" that people expected the rest of us to imitate. When we didn't, we got labeled "aggressive" and "scary." It was natural to resent him.Permalink On twitter.com
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We were compared to him constantly, too, especially if we made an effort to speak Korean. I sometimes used North Jeolla dialect. Everyone always assumed I was stepping into the "white clown" role when I did speak with dialect, and compared me to him. I learned to despise him.Permalink On twitter.com
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I suppose those other people's actions aren't his fault, but... he gave them the TEFLclown archetype, and in exchange for mere *money*. I saw him as a sell-out, not as in, "No artistic principles" but as in "no principles, period." And he did make money. Plenty of it. *shrug*Permalink On twitter.com
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That said, spending decades playing an inoffensive, unthreatening, emasculated doofus on TV must take its toll on one's psyche. It seems like the worst kind of celebrity. You can't even shout at someone for stealing your parking spot or, I don't know, cutting you off in traffic.Permalink On twitter.com
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One can only get costumed in a giant red bowtie or a puffy sweater and suspenders (or something else you'd dress a 1950s toddler in) so many times before something snaps. Really, seriously. I can totally see how that leads one to a very dark place over decades.Permalink On twitter.com
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But I did pause and imagine what would have followed if this had happened back in 2002, or 2006, or 2010. I mean, after the Apollo Anton Ono thing? People mentioned "short track speed skating" anytime they saw a white person. They'd see a westerner and start talking about it.Permalink On twitter.com
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Or the two girls who were killed by that US military vehicle in 2002. Or how people bring up English in resentful, grumbling tones *every* time they notice me having walked into a coffee shop or restaurant. Okay, not every time. Probably about 60-70% of the time, though.Permalink On twitter.com
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(And yeah, I'm not really exaggerating. And yeah, it's pretty tiriesome being the emblem of everything people hate, resent, and regret about their educational experience.)Permalink On twitter.com
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Anyway, if this had happened in 2002, I think most "grown-up expats"* would've been kinda concerned that people would suddenly bring up meth anytime we walked into a cafe. That schools would start insisting on blood testing us for meth. That it'd be a new xenophobic stereotype.Permalink On twitter.com
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(*"grown up expats" meaning "not living their whole lives in a constant haze of drunkenness or dissociated from reality; not abusing prescription medication; not morons, stalkers, weirdos who could never pass for normal back home" and so on.)Permalink On twitter.com
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These days? I kinda think "meth-head expat" won't become a new stereotype. I am pretty sure most grown-up expats aren't that worried about it. The young ones aren't, from what I can tell: all I see them asking is, "Who is this guy? Why is he famous here?"Permalink On twitter.com
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That said, it wouldn't surprise me if lots of people take the wrong lesson from this: not, "Wow, so people who have a publicly unimpeachable image can have dark secrets, or struggle with addiction," but, "We need to be more careful about weeding out the drug-addled foreigners!"Permalink On twitter.com
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Sadly, even a lesson like, "Appearances can be deceiving" seems like too arcane for a lot of people to learn.Permalink On twitter.com
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I don't really expect a witch hunt, though at the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if employers started insisting on blood testing us for meth (and opioids and who knows what else), the way they do for pot & syphilis.On twitter.com