1970년대 청년영화, 저항과 ‘공모’의 균열

Abstract

This study reviewed the double strategy and rupture between resistance and conspiracy of youth films produced under the formation of the ‘youth’ and restriction on the popular culture in the 1970s. The youth, with culture and educational background based on economic growth of the time, were designated as cultural subjects and regarded as the object of vigilance at the same time. Their behaviors in enjoying the cultural trends of the time were defined as ‘decadence’ by the State, which meant that the ‘youth’ or the popular youth culture was the target of crackdown. The State tried to form a new generation through the ‘youth’ mainstream. Meanwhile, in filmdom, youth rapidly appeared as the cultural subject and was regarded as film material and significant consumers. The film industry was recovering from depression and so the focus was directed towards the youth, while the film policy of the socio-political situation called Yusin System accelerated the depression in film business through their control over general film production. Given the circumstances, film-makers came to produce ‘youth films’ as a way to pander to the young consumer market. The niche market of youth films under the strict control of double-censorship implies that there was a certain ‘conspiracy’ between the State and stake-holders. That is, it can be said that youth films were the result of a rupture in which the desires of numerous interest groups competed under the double strategy of social criticism and acceptance of governmental demands. The young people depicted in youth films were the subject of not only deviant behavior, but also the ‘gaiety and soundness’ correspondent to governmental standards. That is, the gaiety of the young in youth films was to indirectly show their resistance against the restriction, connected with the intention of ‘conspiracy’.