I am a bit of a North Korea fiend, so I was quite happy that Discovery had two shows back to back about North Korea.
The first show was about Kim Jong-Il - nothing much that was new there. A South Korean official claimed Kim Jong Il repeatedly said he did want nukes and that a guarantee by the USA would put him at ease. Then again, the defecting bodyguards, cooks, and others said K.I.J.'s only concern was his own security and power. Not mutually exclusive actually. Except that if I were an evil dictator (and yes, I think I'd enjoy that job) I'd want nukes, period. You'd have to have tons of serious pressure on me before I changed my mind. Now, I don't know K.I.J. and we don't know what kind of pressure he is under, so it is quite possible he would be willing to get rid of his nukes. We'll see. Thank God that's not my job!
The second show was about the Mass Games and followed several girls through their lives. This was actually more interesting in that you could see the normal part of North Korean lives. Yes, Moms worry about what you eat and if your backpack is packed correctly no matter what political system is used. But the video shot of the radio mounted on the wall of the kitchen that could not be turned off was AWESOME. There it was. A grey box with a single dial - volume can be turned down but never off.
It was telling that these families had a lot of food. And in one scene one Mom scolds her daughter for eating too little. I bet she was thinking "Your dad works his ass off keeping us politically connected to put rice on the table, and you eat three bites and are off to Mass Games practice!" They did have a power outage though.
Mass Games are supposed to make you a better "communist person" which make sense to me - not that it would succeed, but more as a theory tossed around during late night plenary meetings. The first documentary of course discussed the special "dance" teams that entertain K.I.J. - (Only he can touch them.) Membership has its privileges.
Other Notes:
I hope they can preserve the Mass Games and some of the environment after the regime falls. Maybe as a UNESCO park?
I did see a Mickey Mouse clock in the girl's room. Even the Hermit Kingdom has to deal with the Magic Kingdom.
They had a Chinese dub over the North Korean girl's words...they managed to get a really cheesy teenager, half-bored, half-excited feeling to it. It seemed like she had a crush on the Dear Leader. Nicely done.
The second show was about the Mass Games and followed several girls through their lives. This was actually more interesting in that you could see the normal part of North Korean lives. Yes, Moms worry about what you eat and if your backpack is packed correctly no matter what political system is used. But the video shot of the radio mounted on the wall of the kitchen that could not be turned off was AWESOME. There it was. A grey box with a single dial - volume can be turned down but never off.
It was telling that these families had a lot of food. And in one scene one Mom scolds her daughter for eating too little. I bet she was thinking "Your dad works his ass off keeping us politically connected to put rice on the table, and you eat three bites and are off to Mass Games practice!" They did have a power outage though.
Mass Games are supposed to make you a better "communist person" which make sense to me - not that it would succeed, but more as a theory tossed around during late night plenary meetings. The first documentary of course discussed the special "dance" teams that entertain K.I.J. - (Only he can touch them.) Membership has its privileges.
Other Notes:
I hope they can preserve the Mass Games and some of the environment after the regime falls. Maybe as a UNESCO park?
I did see a Mickey Mouse clock in the girl's room. Even the Hermit Kingdom has to deal with the Magic Kingdom.
They had a Chinese dub over the North Korean girl's words...they managed to get a really cheesy teenager, half-bored, half-excited feeling to it. It seemed like she had a crush on the Dear Leader. Nicely done.
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