Through a narrative analysis of three of Bong Joon-ho’s films: The Host (2006), Snowpiercer (2013), and Okja (2017), this thesis explores the impact of global media flow of transnational cinema, foregrounding its potential to convey broader (but more effective) social and ecological political messages through its wider reach to audiences. Each film selected highlights a specific aspect of transnational cinema – postcolonial transnationalism (Shohat and Stam, 1994), transnational odor (Koichi Iwabuchi, 2002), and ecocinema transnationalism (Kääpä Pietari, 2013) - illustrating the fluidity of cinema in the 21st century and further, the unique position Netflix holds in our contemporary mediascape as a global producer and distributor. Netflix is disrupting the traditional cinema system, offering its users worldwide the possibility to watch films and series on demand from home.
Using Homi. L. Bhabha, Stuart Hall, and Ella Shohat and Robert Stam’s theories this thesis will show how Bong Joon-ho’s films destabilize the Eurocentric perspective of traditional cinema. Moreover, it will become clear how the transnational character of Bong Joon-ho’s films and their form of distribution has the potential to engender deconstructive viewing positions, and by doing so, challenge Eurocentric perspectives.
","abstract_html":"<p>Through a narrative analysis of three of Bong Joon-ho’s films: <em>The Host </em>(2006), <em>Snowpiercer</em> (2013), and <em>Okja</em> (2017), this thesis explores the impact of global media flow of transnational cinema, foregrounding its potential to convey broader (but more effective) social and ecological political messages through its wider reach to audiences. Each film selected highlights a specific aspect of transnational cinema – postcolonial transnationalism (Shohat and Stam, 1994), transnational odor (Koichi Iwabuchi, 2002), and ecocinema transnationalism (Kääpä Pietari, 2013) - illustrating the fluidity of cinema in the 21st century and further, the unique position Netflix holds in our contemporary mediascape as a global producer and distributor. Netflix is disrupting the traditional cinema system, offering its users worldwide the possibility to watch films and series on demand from home.</p> <p>Using Homi. L. Bhabha, Stuart Hall, and Ella Shohat and Robert Stam’s theories this thesis will show how Bong Joon-ho’s films destabilize the Eurocentric perspective of traditional cinema. Moreover, it will become clear how the transnational character of Bong Joon-ho’s films and their form of distribution has the potential to engender deconstructive viewing positions, and by doing so, challenge Eurocentric perspectives.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Spaethen, Lisa - Marie"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Film Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Kelli Fuery","Dr. Nam Lee","Dr. Erica Aguero"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:09Z","subjects":["transnational","South Korean Film","Okja","Snowpiercer","The Host","Netflix","Film and Media Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/12","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Kelli Fuery","Dr. Nam Lee","Dr. Erica Aguero"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Spaethen, Lisa - Marie"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Film Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["transnational","South Korean Film","Okja","Snowpiercer","The Host","Netflix","Film and Media Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/12"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Through a narrative analysis of three of Bong Joon-ho’s films: The Host (2006), Snowpiercer (2013), and Okja (2017), this thesis explores the impact of global media flow of transnational cinema, foregrounding its potential to convey broader (but more effective) social and ecological political messages through its wider reach to audiences. Each film selected highlights a specific aspect of transnational cinema – postcolonial transnationalism (Shohat and Stam, 1994), transnational odor (Koichi Iwabuchi, 2002), and ecocinema transnationalism (Kääpä Pietari, 2013) - illustrating the fluidity of cinema in the 21st century and further, the unique position Netflix holds in our contemporary mediascape as a global producer and distributor. Netflix is disrupting the traditional cinema system, offering its users worldwide the possibility to watch films and series on demand from home.
Using Homi. L. Bhabha, Stuart Hall, and Ella Shohat and Robert Stam’s theories this thesis will show how Bong Joon-ho’s films destabilize the Eurocentric perspective of traditional cinema. Moreover, it will become clear how the transnational character of Bong Joon-ho’s films and their form of distribution has the potential to engender deconstructive viewing positions, and by doing so, challenge Eurocentric perspectives.
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Using Homi. L. Bhabha, Stuart Hall, and Ella Shohat and Robert Stam’s theories this thesis will show how Bong Joon-ho’s films destabilize the Eurocentric perspective of traditional cinema. Moreover, it will become clear how the transnational character of Bong Joon-ho’s films and their form of distribution has the potential to engender deconstructive viewing positions, and by doing so, challenge Eurocentric perspectives.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/12"],"dc:source":["Spaethen, Lisa - Marie. \"Bong Joon-Ho’s Transnational Challenge To Eurocentrism.\" Master's thesis, Chapman University, 2020. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000165"],"dc:subject":["transnational","South Korean Film","Okja","Snowpiercer","The Host","Netflix","Film and Media Studies"],"dc:title":["Bong Joon-Ho’s Transnational Challenge To Eurocentrism"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Film Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:09Z"}