Fish Out of Water
ABSTRACT
Garilao, R.L. (2016). Fish Out of Water, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.
Fish Out of Water tells the story of Minjae, a Korean-Filipino teenager, who is often discriminated against for being mixed-blood. His utmost desire to belong to the homogeneous and hierarchical Korean society is tested when his single Filipina mother decides to send him to the Philippines one winter day.
Grounded by Post-colonial theory, the film tackles the plight of the multicultural youths residing in South Korea particularly the challenges faced by Korean-Filipino (Kopino) children. The film follows an impressionistic style of storytelling focusing more with the mood rather than the formal structure of the narrative. Fish Out of Water questions the concept of identity in a postcolonial nation in which one must define him/herself in the context of a rapidly changing society.
Keywords: Multiculturalism, Acculturation, Discrimination, Korean-Filipino