[W Forum] The Show Called Tears

Professor Jeong Eungwi, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

There is a U.S. drama I watched because a student recommended it, even though I don’t have time for dramas. It’s called The Chair, and it deals with what happens when a Korean-American woman becomes the chair of a department at an American university. The struggling university and the English department, a symbol of the humanities, face many challenges. From university restructuring to politically correct demands from students, the administration and faculty pass difficult problems onto the chair.

There are old-fashioned, stubborn professors who cling to traditional methods, young professors who teach in ways hard to accept from a conventional standpoint, and clumsy genius-type professors who only cause trouble. The chair, a single mother raising an adopted child and living as a powerless woman and minority in American society, runs around every day. Is her effort properly recognized at work? Of course not! The process of stepping down is also quite bitter.

There is humor sprinkled throughout, so I watched it with some laughter, but many experiences I had as a department chair overlapped and made me uneasy. It’s not just an issue for the English department; the drama vividly reveals the inner workings of universities that members can relate to.

The drama is not fiction but an accurate reflection of reality. Many people empathize, and I realized the things I experienced were not unique to me.

There is something I consider important when working: attitude. As always, when an incident occurs, the responsible attitude of the members in handling it determines the outcome. Some fold their arms and watch passively, while others feel the pain as if it were their own.

I liked how the chair in The Chair tries to resolve issues without crying and perseveres until the end. Even I, who dislike showing tears at work, have shed tears a few times. When an unfortunate incident happened in the department and I suddenly became chair, running around frantically and requesting responsible resolution, I ended up tearing up and choking up.

I hated that it seemed like appealing from a weak heart, so I vowed never to cry again. Since then, even in situations so unfair that I want to cry, I struggle hard not to show tears.

Of course, I know tears are not a sin. But tears are often used as a fake strategy or seen as proof of victimhood. That’s why I try not to cry, but recently I’ve realized many people are especially vulnerable to tears. When trying to escape an embarrassing situation, the best tactic is to cry and claim victimhood. Many people squeeze out tears and use them strategically. To gain sympathy and compassion, to hide their faults and escape crises, to move others’ hearts.

Tears do have some effect. But what if the person responsible for explaining what happened in a position of responsibility cries? Politicians who put on tearful shows and the “good” people who forgive everything because of that.

We don’t know well how to distinguish sincere tears from a tearful show. The person crying may also be deceiving themselves?aren’t tears a kind of self-deception? In this cruel and fragile world where loud tantrums often override decent common sense, we are often deceived by tears. It’s a lesson for today as well.

Jeong Eun-gwi, Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.