Oh Ji Ho - An Evolution of Loyalty

I want to express my attitude here on the individuals who spend unrealistic numbers of hours on the internet spreading hatred.

They do it on the basis of race. They do it on the basis of religion. They do it on the basis of social standing. They do it on the basis of financial success, or lack of it. They do it on the basis of gender, sexual preferences, physical appearance, nationality…you name it, there is always someone who will hate you for it. That’s just the way it is.

This site, in English, was started for the purpose of bringing Oh Ji Ho to the attention of the western world. While he was well known in his own country, a relatively small number of people were aware of him in western countries.

There's always been a nucleus of individuals who were followers of “foreign” entertainments and cultures. They are a small group per capita in terms of an entire population, and often specialized in their pursuits. For example, persons who are interested in Japanese literature, or film, may have no interest in British or Russian efforts.

In this day of mass communication, the narrow focus becomes broadened. When I lived in New York, I went to a theater that specialized in foreign film. There were certain countries whose works bored me, and others that I loved. I tended to spend my time only on that which had become familiar and dependable. I missed out on a lot of very excellent work because of it.

Today, I love Asian movies. Korea has turned out some fine works, many done by independents, over the years. But I love pre 1997 Hong Kong movies more than I can say. And now I’m gearing myself to start checking out Taiwan works.

Are you seeing what happens? Because a means of easy discovery has become so readily available to me, I can explore the whole world. Something triggered it for me.

In putting this site up, my intention was to trigger awareness. It was that simple.

But the event that catapulted him into the spotlight was not his rise to fame as an entertainer in his own country, and the fallout because of the attention of K-Drama fans all over the world, it was because of one specific very prejudicial sounding article that broke the news about the suicide of a woman linked to him.

Later it was discovered that he had not been truthful at first, about his relationship with her. It was then that the netcretin crowd went wild, smelling blood like the sharks they are, and the feeding frenzy was on.

I have reached a certain point in my thinking about the entire situation. I do not care if Oh Ji Ho didn’t tell all immediately. I do not care if he callously “dumped” a woman because he got more famous suddenly. If someone commits suicide because of a break-up in a relationship, it has more to do with an unstable mental state, and a lack of self esteem and confidence, than it does the break-up.

I don’t care if he is not a nice man. I don’t care if he has warts on his rear end.

I do care that someone has had his means of livelihood taken away from him in his own country, because of his private life.

And if you wonder why I care, it’s this: He is not a head of state, he’s not a priest, he’s not a serial killer, he’s not a lunatic poisoning the water supply, he’s not a fanatic flying planes into buildings.

He’s just an actor. He’s not important anywhere in this world for any reason larger than that he is an entertainer.

Oh Ji Ho doesn’t hold the lives of millions in his hands as do heads of state that declare wars, killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people. He’s just a person who wants to work as an actor.

Every human being in the world has the right to work at what they want to work at without being judged and denied employment on the basis of his or her personal life.

There have been remarks made about me that I am an overzealous fan. That’s as insulting as telling me I’m fat.

I am defending this man’s right to work in his chosen field. In doing so, I am calling attention to a condition that is all too common in Korea where celebrities are concerned. I am, by proxy, defending the workers of an industry. It didn’t start out that way, but that’s what it has evolved into.

If I come out swinging a baseball bat at the heads of netcretins, I consider my self to be leveling the playing field. The achievement of balance is a beautiful thing.