Reference
Daniel Gordon’s A State of Mind (2006) chronicles the lives of two North Korean girls, Kim Song Yun (age 11) and Pak Hyon Sun (age 13) as they prepare for the 2003 Mass Games, an enormous synchronized performance of gymnastics, music, and national pride. According to the DVD’s back cover, the Mass Games is “the largest choreographed spectacle on earth.” Beginning in April 2003, the documentary follows these two typical North Korean girls as they go about their daily lives: attending school, singing karaoke at home, celebrating national holidays, watching television, and, of course, practicing gymnastics. And, it is through these mundane events that the mind-boggling complexities of North Korea’s culture and communist philosophy emerge. Gordon’s frank examination of the cultivation of the North Korean citizen is relevant, insightful, and compelling. His film would work well in a variety of secondary classroom contexts.
By the time students are finished with this film, they will have learned the history of the Korean conflict, the significance of a plethora of North Korean national holidays, the policies of the country’s military dictatorship, the ins and outs of daily life, and the tenants of civic duty. While a film laden with so much weighty information could easily become dry and cumbersome, Gordon’s expert pacing and balance of information, characterization, and visual attractions make the film riveting. Opening with stunning shots of the Mass Games, the documentary then transitions into regiments of young girls practicing flips and round offs on bare concrete, and then delves into the lives of the citizens of Pyongyang. A gymnastics practice scene ends with a girl leading an impromptu song of praise to Kim Jong Il. Hyon Sun interrupts her studying to watch a children’s television show in which traitors to the leader are loathsome villains; all the while the official government-sponsored radio station, which residents cannot turn off, plays in the background. “Damn American imperialists” are blamed for the not-too-uncommon blackout that occurs during family dinner time. While a third-person narrator occasionally provides necessary explanation and background, Gordon primarily allows the story of North Korea to tell itself.
I showed A State of Mind to my Grade 12 Rhetoric and Composition students during their last few days of class, pitching its content as “the ultimate form of rhetoric.” I previewed the film with a brief discussion on recent North Korea-related current events—conflicts over missile testing, the recent labor camp sentencing of American citizen Daniel Bae—and then played the DVD. My students had fallen prey to senioritis months ago, but I do not exaggerate when I say that every student’s eyes were fixed to the screen. Gordon’s film had generated so much interest that when we finished the documentary on the last day of class, my seniors asked if we could take some time to discuss their questions.
While the connections to a history or world cultures class are more obvious, Gordon’s material is so rich and versatile that it offers so much even to a secondary English classroom (non-fiction and persuasive writing based, albeit). In the future, when I integrate this resource earlier in the school year, I plan to supplement the documentary viewing with a little bit more background on the Korean conflict, analysis of the media’s treatment of this conflict and North Korea’s role in it, and, if possible, a closer study of North Korean propaganda.
