Around 2:50pm we headed over to the front of M department store to see what we thought would be something with fire hoses . . . earlier we had seen fire fighters and other workers setting up stuff. When we arrived we saw this big crowd . . .
And then a Korean came over some loud speakers and said the festival wanted to honour the memory of President Roh . . . and Guns N Roses came over the speaker playing "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" . . . I'm not kidding.Here's the video,
Another foreign guy standing next to me snickered, and I have to admit I did too . . . seriously, Guns N Roses for a tribute to a dead president?
When the music started this guy began to do something that looks like a ritual dance--or is it just some kind of modern dance with white furry things? Not sure . . .
You can see in the background a bunch of press guys with cameras going nuts taking pics . . .
The whole atmosphere of a rock concert seemed surreal and I couldn't believe my eyes when the paper confetti began falling from the cranes . . .
Seeing as this was my first ever attendance at a public event/festival paying its respects to a dead president I'm not sure what is 'normal' and what isn't for Korea--but is it really that hard to figure out that playing a ROCK SONG might not be appropriate for this kind of situation?
Maybe this is just a case of me 'not understanding Korean culture' . . . I don't know.
What do you think? Appropriate? Inappropriate? To each culture their own?J
I guess one should measure "appropriateness' buy asking "What authority permitted this event?" If it's just the festival organizers doing this, I'd say it's legit..even if weird. I give these guys props for the effort, and hope they never become "polite"!
ReplyDeleteAt least it wasn't "Welcome to the Jungle"!
My response is that I wonder who chose the song.
ReplyDeleteI am guessing since this was an unplanned part of the event's schedule that someone or a team of people quickly put together this routine. Therefore the wisest of decisions were hindered in the creative process of this performance.
The use of this rock song certainly makes it all more surreal. But I think a mime festival would be somewhat of a surreal experience anyways.
The "fuzzy things" are part of tradtional funeral rites. Here's a photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/antipeople/2556740803/in/set-72157605785943618/
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