Analysis of Oldboy in Sociological Point of View

In Oldboy, suicide, rumors, incest and family love are worth to discuss in a sociological point of view.

Incest taboo is a cultural rule or norm that prohibits sexual relationship between people who are closely related according to Cambridge Dictionary. In the film, Dae-su feels miserable when he discovers he has sex with his daughter Mi-do. It is clear that courtship is not just a matter of individual preference. He feels all right when he is Mi-do’s lover. However, when his role has changed into father of Mi-do, he is challenging the social norm. The assumptions behind this norm are there is conflict between different roles, father and lover in this case, and the role is attached with social expectations. For example, the responsibility of a father is taking care of his child instead of having sex with child. Therefore, at the end of the film he smiles but than replaced by a look of pain which suggests that he is still struggling with his identity.

Apart from the incest of father and daughter, in the film, there is another one, brother and sister, who are both teenagers. They have consent to do sexual activities based on the exploration of sex in puberty. It is not uncommon among teenagers that they are curious in sex, which is new to them. Masturbation and dating are cases in point. When I was a secondary school student, I started to feel interested in how sex works in biology lesson. It is understandable that they respond to sexual need, however, they express it in an immoral and deviant way. They regard sex as instrument to satisfy their sexual desire, which is degrading human dignity (moral status) because they become merely objects. Thus, from the value-rationality, it is clear that their means cannot justify their ends.

In the film, it demonstrates the father’s unconditional love to daughter. Father-daughter relationship is made sense by the construction of social reality. We interpret this is a meaningful relationship by kinship. In the ending of the film, Dae-su begs Woo-jin not to reveal the truth to his daughter. He does not blame Woo-jin for 15 years imprisonment, killing his wife and planning the incest. Instead, he tries what he can do, barking like a dog and cutting tongue as penance to protect his daughter. Without this meaningful relationship, there would be no love. People will not say “you are important to me” then go to sacrifice. Thus, socialization constructs social reality and it helps us to define what is love, which creates harmony in family and in other relationship.

Suicide is also the other point that is worth to discuss. According to Durkheim’s view, suicide is caused by social factors. People in society participate in others’ suicides directly or indirectly. Suicide is defined as the act of killing yourself intentionally according to Cambridge Dictionary. Socializing agents such as school shape norms and culture. We learn that it is deviance in society and it is wrong to kill ourselves in most circumstances based on the assumption that we should treasure and protect lives. However, in Oldboy, a girl, Soo-ah jumps off the dam because she wants to escape from the reality, which is her personal end. She cannot bear rumors in school spread by Dae-Su that she is pregnant and a slut. As we can see, rumors are knife that it attacks one’s heart and forms misunderstandings towards the victims. In particular, through social exchanges, the influence of rumors becomes greater, leading to a situation that is irreversible. No matter what the members in society do including staying silence, they are making decision in which it is directly or indirectly killing the girl.

In conclusion, this paper has examined the sociological concpets in Oldboy in terms of suicide, rumors, incest and family love.