한국전쟁 포로영화의 변주

Abstract

Hollywood POW films about the Korean War are reminiscent of Puritan captivity narratives; Puritan documents initially endeavored to record honestly their traumatic experience and its effects on their faith. However, as the interests of the popular audience toward which the narratives are directed became predominant, the propagandist value of the captivity became more apparent in the record. These accounts are surely an expression of the Puritans’ anxiety over acculturation by the American Indians. They also confirm their community ideology even though they betray self-doubt toward their moral superiority and exceptionalism. Likewise, Hollywood films depict the contemporary audience's response to the POW issue during and after the Korean War. They scrutinize POW’s cross- cultural encounter, and in particular those ‘unredeemed’ captives who chose to remain the ‘heathen’ land. These films undergo variations according to the public's changing views on these American “turncoats.” Both Prisoner of War (1954)and Bamboo Prison (1954) deny the soldiers' betrayal and their brainwashing. They focus on the prisoners' resistance and condemn the brutality of communists. These films emphasize that any collaboration is simply part of undercover activity and the reason for the prisoners’ refusal of repatriation is to continue their mission. However, Hollywood’s later POW cinema such as The Rack (1956)and Time Limit (1957) begin to reflect the society’s vulnerability and its anxiety and fear of the “Reds.” The films reveal more of the self than the other. They acknowledge the “turncoats’” collaboration and delve into the causes of their submission. They question their dysfunctional families and seemingly weakened masculinity. At the same time, the films reassert American “manifest destiny” and exceptionalism. These, and in particular Toward the Unknown (1956), attempt to heal the wounds of the American people who failed to win the war against the Asian ‘savage.’ Further, they try to restore and reaffirm cultural self-confidence and sense of superiority. Indeed, the Hollywood representation is “propaganda by Americans, about Americans, directed to Americans.”