Peirce Semiotic Analysis of the Representation Of Oligarchic Power in the Korean Drama Film the Healer

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Volume 12 Number 1 Article 4

April 2023

Peirce Semiotic Analysis of the Representation Of Oligarchic Peirce Semiotic Analysis of the Representation Of Oligarchic Power in the Korean Drama Film the Healer

Power in the Korean Drama Film the Healer

Rizka Septiana

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Peirce Semiotic Analysis of the Representation Of Oligarchic Power in the Korean Drama

Film the Healer

Rizka Septiana

Faculty of Communications, LSPR Communication & Business Institute, rizka.s@lspr.edu Article Information

Received (4/5/2022);

Received in revised form (04/01/2023);

Accepted (05/03/2023);

Available online (21/04/2023)

Keywords/Kata Kunci

Semiotics Peirce, Triadic Model, Oligarchy, Korean Drama Film The Healer.

Abstract/Abstrak

This study uses an interpretive/constructive paradigm and a qualitative approach using semiotic methods in its discussion. The purpose of this study is to show how a Ko- rean drama film becomes a medium of representation or picture of reality, especially regarding the oligarchic power in the democratic history of South Korea at that time. This study will focus more on signs that describe or show the activities of oligarchic power in the Korean drama film ‘The Healer’.

By using triadic analysis of Charles Oligarchy’s semiotics, namely objects, interpretants and representatives, the researchers found that the semiotics of oligarchic power in the Korean drama film ‘the Healer’ is illustrated by the use of the word ‘we’ in the dialogue and enters the type of oligarchic power of collective rulers. The researcher concludes that the scenes and dialogues that show the activities of the power holder in the form of scenes and dialogues are representations. The object in the Korean drama film ‘The Healer’ is shown through the activities of the oligarchic power, which is shown by expressions, dialogues and visible actions. Meanwhile, the interpretation of the meaning of oligarchic power appears in mind related to the object being referred to.

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INTRODUCTION

The Korean drama movie ‘The Healer’, heralded as one of the best movies of all time, is not just a figment of the imagination. The movie, released at the end of 2014, is still being discussed in the mass media until 2022. It is believed that the Korean drama film ‘The Healer’, with comedy, ro- mance, thriller and action genres, has succeeded in presenting various meanings, symbols and messages dramatically drawn as a storyline that reflects a reality that has occurred in the past. The movie

‘The Healer’ is one of the many products of the development of Hallyu or Korean Wave, which is increasingly globalized. Reported in the online media republika.co.id, The success of Korean films abroad began in the 1990s, after the last vestiges of the repressive military regime disappeared, and censorship laws began to be relaxed, and investment by large Korean companies began to flow into the film industry sector (Rap, March 2022).

Hallyu or Korean Wave, is a South Korean pop culture built with a strong foundation through popular cultures such as TV dramas and music that has pushed the limits of its influence since the 2010s and spread globally to various parts of the world, including Indonesia. The Korean Wave has indeed been prepared to be spread internationally with full government support since the reign of President Kim Dae Jung (1993-1998), whose political slogan was “Creation of the New Korea”.

The track record of the Korean Wave, especially related to films or TV dramas, was released by the official channel of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Cultural Information Service, namely, according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in 2018 the value of South Korean cinema was USD 1.6 billion from the global film market of USD 41.1 billion, which placed the value of South Korean cinema in the fifth largest in the world after North America, China, Japan and the UK (Korean.net).

The results of a survey conducted by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI/ Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia) in April 2020 related to Korean Wave products released by the online news site parapuan.com showed a 3.3 percent increase in the number of K-Drama (Korean drama) viewers, using 924 respondents found 73 respondents who were new Korean drama viewers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Several other findings are believed to be why this is growing massively, namely the ease of access, the varied movie genres and even storylines that are sometimes difficult to guess, and the discussion of simple issues that touch the audience (Langit, August 2021).

Film constitutes a mass media acting as a means of communication to present stories, events, music, drama and other technical offerings that contain messages to be conveyed to the public. A message is a product and a community that has exchange value, the relationship between sender and receiver is more one-way (McQuail, 2010:391).

Meanwhile, Sobur (2017:127) quotes Graema Turner, who reveals that film is not just a reflec- tion of reality, it should be a representation or picture of reality and films also “re-present” reality based on the codes, conventions, and ideologies of its culture.

According to Antaranews.com, at the end of 2021, Twitter released monitoring results collected from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020 regarding the twenty countries with the highest number of K-Pop on Twitter and the result was within one year Indonesia occupied the fourth rank after United States, Japan and South Korea (Kaban, 2021). It is an illustration of the influence of a cultural wave which is also called the Korean Culture Invasion (expansion of Korean culture).

The above phenomenon has become research topics for many academics and produced diverse findings, proving that Korean popular culture products are seen as a mass communication medium that is increasingly in demand and be considered an effective medium. Especially with the development of technology now, mass communication can be distributed through various channels such as newspapers, movies, radio and television. And this dissemination aims at an abstract one-way crowd (Hamdani, 2016: 321).

The same thought is said by Nurudin in Sukendro (2012: 9), that modern media or mass media are communication tools that can spread messages simultaneously in a short time to a wide and het- erogeneous audience. One platform that can affect people’s mindsets and behaviors or even change is the mass media, according to the information contained and the social system of people who have a relationship in the media.

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Researchers want to examine the Korean drama film “The Healer” because researchers are in- terested in the presentation of this drama story, the storyline and the discussion of issues that look simple but have a real story recorded in the history of South Korea. This research focuses on how a Korean drama film becomes a medium of representation or a picture of reality, especially related to oligarchic power in the history of South Korean democracy.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Several previous studies are proposed to understand mass communication media research, especially about movies. First, Pardede, et.al (2021), with the title Semiotics Analysis of Moral Messages in Korean Drama “Itaewon Class”, revealed by understanding a semiotic analysis to feel something strange and something that needs to be ques- tioned further when helping certain texts or narratives. The semiotics used is Roland Barthes’ semiotics which believes that everything that is fixed, established, and stable is a myth. This study aims to analyze the construction of communication messages in this Korean drama and the semiotic aspects of its moral messages. The results of this study show that a moral message is a good that is adjusted to the measures of action that are generally accepted, covering a particular social unit or environment.

Second, Murfianti (2020), with the title Sexy Killers: Film and Environmental Movement, tries to examine the reading of text by the audience as an active producer of meaning using content analysis and can categorize it into anthropocentrism, biocen- trism and ecocentrism. Differences influence this difference in reading in educational background, profession, and interests. The results of this study show that a movie as a text is not a unit, but a kind of battlefield to compete to accept, reject, or negotiate about certain ideas.

Third, Wulandari and Siregar (2020), in a study entitled Charles Sanders Peirce Semiotics Study:

Trichotomy Relationship (Icon, Index and Symbol) in the Short Story of Lighthouse Children by Mashdar Zainal shows the elements of icons, indexes and symbols and also the relationship between the signs in this short story using the Trichotomy relationship (Icon, Index, and Symbol). The result is four signs in the form of icons, six in the form of indexes, and three signs in the form of symbols.

Fourth, without understanding, the movie will only be a mere spectacle (Sudarto, et al., 2015).

Sudarto and colleagues’ research carries the title Semiotics Analysis of the Film “Alangkah Lucunya Negeri Ini” showing the meaning of symbols regarding the moral message of a film is important to study so that people can find out educational films. And through the object of research, the public can be inspired to build a better nation in the future and the hope is that this research provides a new understanding between ordinary comedy or absurd comedy and satirical comedy (satire), which is full of positive messages for the government, so that filmmakers can be more creative in providing the public with films that contain great hopes for the future, especially in improving the education and character of the nation and state of Indonesia.

Fifth, Rorong’s research (2019) with the title Representation of Humanitarian Values Web Se- ries Carlo’s Story (Semiotic Analysis in the Perspective of Charles Sanders Peirce) shows symbols, meaning, and representation are very important in the formation of meaning, every aspect related to the formation of symbols reflects problems that are so complex to interpret. The use of Charles Sanders Peirce’s semiotics in this research becomes a device to see signs and markers in interpreting social reality that reflects human values found in the phenomenon of web series featured in the Carlo series, the meaning and representation of human values as the highest level in the level of meaning in the Carlo story web series.

Semiotics

According to Fiske (2012: 5), semiotics views messages as the transmission of the communication process and the construction of signs. The message in question is a construction of signs, which will produce meaning through the construction of these signs. A communicator (sender), defined

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as the transmitter of a message, has a decreased role/level of importance. Furthermore, it is explained that the emphasis moves to the text and how the text is ‘read’, and reading is the process of discovering meanings that occurs when the reader interacts or negotiates with the text so that negotiation occurs when the reader brings aspects of his cultural experience to explore the signs and codes that construct the text (Fiske, 2012:5).

Piliang (2003: 45) quotes Ferdinand de Saussure’s statement in Course in General Linguistics, which defines that “semiotics is the study of the structure, type, typology, and relations of signs in their use in society”, and according to Peirce’s view is “...something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capability”. It is clear in Pierce’s explanation that the role of the subject (somebody) as an integral part of the sign, which is the foundation of semiotic communication and “Signs and meanings are the keywords that connect semiotics and communication, and in the communication process there are elements of messages in the form of signs (Piliang, 2003: 45). And these signs have a certain structure that is motivated by sociological or cultural conditions.

Atkin (2010) in his review entitled Peirce’s Theory of Sign writes that the basic structure of signs, according to Peirce is that a sign is a signifier, such as the written word, speech, and smoke as a sign of fire. While the object is whatever is signified, such as objects attached to written or spoken words or fire symbolized by smoke. Meanwhile, the interpretant is the researcher’s understanding of the object relationship. The importance of the interpretant for Peirce is that signification is not a simple dyadic relationship between sign and object: a sign is only meaningful when interpreted.

Peirce sees the subject as an integral part of the process of significance. Peirce’s triadic model (sign or representamen, object, and interpretant ~ the same as the sign) shows the great role of the subject in the process of language transformation. Peirce views signs have meanings that undergo endless changes or unlimited semiosis, which is the process of creating an endless series of interpretants (Piliang, 2003: 266).

Oligarchy

James Payne (1968) in Winters (2011, p.1) calls the concept of oligarchy “chaotic”. Sedang Leach (2005), on the other hand, gave it a new label of “lacking specificity”. The International En- cyclopedia of Social Sciences defines oligarchy as “a form of government in which political power is vested in the hands of a small minority,” and adds that the term “derives from the Greek word oligarkhia (rule by the few), composed of oligoi (few) and arkhein (to rule)” (Indridason 2008, 36).

Four types of oligarchy typologies have been dominant throughout time; First, the warring oligarchy is power obtained through warfare and is centered on individuals, defending power using co- ercion with weapons. Second, collective ruling oligarchy (ruling) shows the power obtained through the political process in an institution with norms and rules of the game, the defense of wealth using physical and non-physical violence. Third, the sultanic oligarchy, where power is obtained through a monopoly of power in one individual, defending wealth using patron-client relationships with the ruler. Fourth, civil oligarchy, is obtained through the accumulation of material wealth, utilizing the state as a base for maintaining income.

Oligarchy theory predicts that strong safeguards in property rights and contracts, including rules that protect oligarchs from each other, can and do exist alongside democratic freedoms (Winters, 2011: xx).

Representation of Oligarchic Power

In the context of media, linguistics and communication, representation means using language to express something meaningfully or to represent it to others, this can take the form of words, images, sequences, stories or anything else that represents ideas, emotions, facts and so on (Hartley, 2010:

265). Harley (2010: 265) explains that representation depends on signs and images that already exist and are culturally understood in learning language and various signaling or textual systems reciprocally.

In line with Marcel Danesi’s statement in Wibowo (2013), he argues that representation is a process of recording information, ideas, or knowledge in various physical ways so that it has a function as a sign that aims to, imitate, connect, describe something that is imagined in physical form. Hu- mans have different perspectives and mindsets, which will produce different meanings.

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RESEARCH METHODS

In this study, the paradigm used is the interpretive/constructivist paradigm, as written in the book Social Science Research Paradigm (Liliweri 2018: 48), citing experts’ understanding of the interpretive/constructivist approach aims to understand the “world of human experience” (Cohen & Manian, 1994), which shows that “reality is socially constructed” (Mertens, 2005). And based on the achievements to be met in this research, this research approach is a descriptive qualitative approach using semiotic methods in its discussion.

This type of research is a media text analysis using Charles Sanders Peirce’s triadic model of semiotic analysis, namely object, interpretant and representamen. The focus of this research is to answer how a Korean drama fi lm becomes a medium of representation or a picture of reality, especially related to oligarchic power in the history of South Korean democracy at its time so that researchers will focus more on signs that describe or show oligarchic power activities in the Korean drama fi lm ‘the Healer’.

The object of this research is the signs of oligarchic power activities based on Peirce’s triadic meaning triangle, especially in the Korean drama fi lm ‘The Healer’. Researchers try to fi nd the existence of signs of oligarchic power represented in expressions, symbols, gestures and sounds in this movie.

The data sources of this research are two categories, namely primary data and secondary data. Pri- mary data was obtained from the Korean drama movie ‘The Healer’. Researchers watched the Korean drama fi lm ‘the Healer’ repeatedly to conduct an initial analysis regarding the meaning of oligarchic power depicted in this fi lm. While secondary data is the search for documentation (supporting literature) containing information related to this fi lm, such as online sites, news articles, scientifi c journals, and books. Not only that, researchers also conducted literature reviews related to historical documentation related to South Korean history, which is implied in the storyline or background of this Korean drama fi lm. This is done to strengthen the theory related to the object of research.

Furthermore, all data will be collected in the form of selected visuals according to the signs of oligarchic power messages, then analyzed from the signs found from all episodes of the Korean drama fi lm ‘the Healer as the object of research. This research data analysis technique uses Peirce’s triadic model, namely the sign (representamen) stage; observation of text and images in the Korean drama fi lm ‘The Healer’. The representamen stage is the text and visuals contained in the Korean drama fi lm

‘The Healer’, the object is to contain elements or messages of oligarchic power signs and the interpretant is the stage of giving meaning followed by interpreting the data into narrative form.

RESEARCH RESULTS

Object: The Healer Movie Description

Korean drama fi lm ‘the Healer’ directed by Lee Jung Sub and Kim Jin Woo, written by Song Ji Na. The movie with the genre of romantic comedy, thriller and action, has 20 episodes occupying the most popular series since its airing in 2014 until now in South Korea. The three main actors in this Korean drama series are Ji Chan Wook as Seo Jung Hoo, Park Min Young as Chae Young Sin and Yoo Ji Tae as Kim Munho (editorial CNN Indonesia,2021).

Figure 1: the Healer Poster

Korean drama fi lm ‘The Healer’ was fi rst released on December 8, 2014 until Feb-

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ruary 10, 2015 with airtime on Tuesdays at 22.00 KST on KBS2 TV channel. Its international distribution includes NETFLIX, VIKI, AppleTV, Kocowa, VIU, Video, iQI- YI. Achieved various nominations and awards including, in 2014 KBS Drama Drama Awards: Excellence Award for Mid-Length Drama, Actress (Park Min Young), Most Popular Actor (Ji Chang Wook) and Best Couple Award (Ji Chang Wook and Park Min Young). While in 2016 4th Annual DramaFever Awards Korean drama ‘the Healer’

again won awards in the Best Couple category (Ji Chang Wook and Park Min Young) and the Best Korean Drama - Melodrama category (editorial Kepoper.com, 2022).

Aside from the main cast of ‘The Healer’ that made the movie the talk of the town, the movie’s soundtrack song ‘Eternal Love’ was also of particular interest, as the world music group sang it, Michael Learns to Rock. Korean drama fi lm ‘The Healer’ is the second Korean drama to be adapted in webtoon form in 2021, six years after its airing ended. The fi rst Korean drama was, Fight for My Way (2017). This is a new phenomenon considering that webtoons are usually made into shows fi rst. The Healer’s movie received the highest rating of 10 percent when it aired on KBS2 television station.

(editorial voi.id, 2021).

Citing the Brilio.net online media article with the title ‘the best action Korean drama of all time’, the movie ‘The Healer’ (2014) is one of the fi ve Korean dramas that, since its broadcast until now, is still a series that is of interest to the public, and the other four are Vincenzo and Taxi Driver released in 2021, Save Me which aired in 2017 and Signal in 2016. The movie is still in the spotlight of the mass media, for the movie

‘The Healer’ itself IMDb rated this Korean drama 8.4/10 while MyDramaList gave a rating of 9/10 (Suhairi, 2022).

Figure 2: Best Action Drama Infographic

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Interpretant

The official IMDb page released the synopsis of ‘The Healer’ starting from a past murder incident involving a group that runs an illegal broadcasting station and brings together different people - a mysterious errand boy ‘Healer’, a reporter from a second-rate tabloid mass media, and a well-known journalist. They must face the cruel conflict of truth vs faith (imdb.com, 2014).

While other synopses, such as in the online media Kompas.com (2020), refer to efforts to reveal the dark facts of the past of the three main actors. Meanwhile, the title ‘Healer’ itself is a code name for a secret messenger named Seo Jung Hoo. He is very reliable and never shows his true identity.

In his work, ‘Healer’ is assisted by his hacker partner, who works for elite customers who can afford to pay high prices (Wihayanti, 2020).

The results of the researcher’s observations, the storyline of this film involves two eras, the difference between two decades which is deliberately made as a link, namely 1980 and 2014. The scenes representing the two periods are complementary and well-stitched together to become a uni- fied story. Among these years is a year used as the center of the problem, namely 1992, the year of the split of the five friends and other significant events.

The choice of 1980 as the setting for this story is not just a fabrication but is related to the history of South Korea itself. The storyline of five students who become friends and build a radio station that aims to report original cases without interference from any party. The film ‘the Healer’ is set during a time of tyrannical rule, leading to a movement of people demanding information transparency and democratization.

The description of the desire of the community, especially students, to have the ability to speak out and question things that are considered taboo to the government through this radio broadcast seems to want to show the history of the democratic movement, namely the events of the democratic movement that occurred in Gwanju, South Korea in 1980.

According to Koreajoongangdaily.joins.com in 1980, this movement was also marked by the death of a pro-democratic student who participated in a demonstration against the authoritarian government of former president Chun Doo Hwan. The student named Park Jong Chul, at the time the leader of Seoul National University’s Linguistics department, was tortured to death by police while being interrogated about the whereabouts of a radical campus leader (Sungeun, 2017).

The Gwangju democracy movement, reported by id.wikipedia was a democratic movement event in Gwanju, South Korea in 1980. When President Park Chung Hee was assassinated in 1979, generals Chun Doo Whan and Roh Tae Woo took over the seat of power and resulted in the disap- pointment of the South Korean people who wanted a democratic transition.

In the Korean drama film ‘The Healer’ the representation of oligarchic power is depicted in the storyline. For example, in one of the scenes where officials gather to lobby someone who is considered worthy of being part of them. This scene shows how easily the power holders plan, and decide something important easily and at dinner.

The oligarchic power here is also seen when Kim MunHo responds and asks about the term “we”.

The term “we” often comes out in dialogue, and examined from the figures played, the moment of dialogue is present to show that the masters influence the rich and powerful in politics or in the government system. They are referred to as people who are the owners of power with pride and con- fidence in their abilities and are referred to negatively for the opposite party who feels the influence and pressure from the oligarchic power owners because they are against their wishes.

Oligarchy has never been used as an official term for a form of government and is only used as a criticism. Oligarchy is also often used to denote the influence of the rich and powerful in politics and government, which is usually used to benefit themselves.

Oligarchy can also refer to a class of people who wield power in the system. For example, a country is run by an oligarchy consisting of a few powerful industrialists.

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ANALYSIS OF RESEARCH FINDINGS

Table 1. Scene 1 Analysis - Episode 4 (09.21-11.50)

Peirce’s triadic Drama Elements and Analysis

Representamen

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Object Dialogue

Kim Munho: It was an honor to meet all of you working behind the scenes.

(Everyone smiles)

Kim Munho: This is scary. Great people like you invite a lowly reporter like me. And even feed me. May I ask what this is all about?

Media Officer I: We have chosen you, Reporter Kim Munho.

Kim Munsik: These people want you to go into politics.

Media Officer I: What do you think? Do you want to enter politics on behalf of us, the media?

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Kim Munho: I have a question. When you say

“we”, who do we really mean?

(everyone laughed out loud)

Media Official I: We’ll put you in an elite seat.

Let’s dream big.

All of us together.

Interpretant Set (location) in the VVIP meeting room of a media outlet.

This closed meeting is held in secret, with meeting participants who are invitees (selected people), all conversations that occur during the meeting are not allowed to go out or be spread in general.

High-ranking media companies, state officials and some industrialists invited a reporter (Kim MunHo) and invited him to join them, to be part of them. They wanted him to be the bridge between them and the general public in exchange for an assurance that MunHo would occupy an elite seat. This invitation is only to the selected individual to jointly hold the power structure.

The “We” here describes their immense power, that every decision they make will be achieved, and nothing will stand in their way. And “We”

here shows an invitation to join the super ex- clusive oligarchic power, with a systematic and unbreakable reach.

Representamen

Figure 7

Figure 8

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Figure 9

Figure 10

Object Dialogue

Elder: But, that’s just my theory. There is nothing more precise than knowing your taste.

Every step I take has an impact on the universe. Because I am the center of the universe. You agree, right?

Kim Munsik: I still have a long way to go to understand that belief.

(The elders seemed satisfied with Kim Munsik’s answer and laughed together) Elders: Councilor Kim, We can’t go through life alone. Shouldn’t there be certain limits that you should keep?

Do you believe that heroes can enjoy sex?

Elder: Including Mr. Kim, many people have worked hard to make you the can- didate for Seoul Mayor. You can’t let us down just because of a woman. Right?

Interpretant Set (Location): Café Lunar

Café is synonymous with a place for certain circles (elites) to do leisure activities.

This location, which is used to show the organization’s leaders who have oligarchic power, also depicts an unusual economic status.

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Supported by the depiction of the tight security adds to the impression of exclusivity, and only certain people (who are members or invited) can stop by there.

The clothing used shows more formality and power.

The gestures show power, especially to Mr.

Park, who is called the Elder. The conversation between them fully supports this.

Mr. Park has the ultimate power, as he says “All the steps I take have an impact on this universe. because I am the center of the universe”. The dialogue comes when the Elders severely reprimand the Kim Council for making mistakes and creating problems for themselves and their organization. The statement “We” here describes the number of personnel in the oligarchic power organization.

The number is not mentioned, but it must be more than one and each of them has contributed greatly to make its members (Kim’s council) to have the highest power in Seoul.

Table 3. Scene 3 Analysis – Episode 17 (30.39-30.57)

Peirce’s triadic Drama Elements and Analysis Representamen

Figure 11

Figure 12

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Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Object Dialogue

Myeonghui: Those people call themselves farmers.

They think they are the ones cultivating this country.

They grow barley and corn.

They will weed out the weeds that disturb their “farm”.

When the time comes, they will harvest it.

That’s what makes them believe that they cultivated this country.

Interpretant Set (Location): Kim Munsik’s house (Myeo- nghui’s bedroom)

In this scene, the explanation of the activities or representation of oligarchic power has been running since 20 years ago, or more.

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Myeonghui, a reporter then, could not do much about it. He and his colleagues were victims of oligarchic power, forcibly silenced in various anarchic ways.

Myeonghui tells the oligarchic rulers’ story using ‘they’ (third party).

Oligarchic power in this movie is illustrated in the term “farmers who plant and are ready to harvest at the right time” who have power and can do anything for their interests.

This oligarchic power is exercised in an unknown but highly systematic organization. In addition to having power, they have unlimited wealth and resources and can control the decisions of leaders or governments.

Representamen

Figure 16

Figure 17

Figure 18

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Figure 19

Figure 20

Object Dialogue

Elder: It has been a very long time since we last had a young man like you in this house.

Jeonghu: I don’t drink with the bastard who killed my father.

Elder: You misunderstand. We don’t kill people.

Jeonghu: You’re the one who ordered others to kill.

Elder: What we are doing is saving others.

How can I explain that?

Jeonghu: You keep saying, “we” do this and that. So how many assholes bastards like you are there?

Elders: There is “we” who protect the people, and there’s also “them” who receive our protection.

Young man, which one do you want to be?

Elder: I like young people like you.

Think about it. I won’t wait long.

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Interpretant Set (Location): Elders or Mr. Park’s house (workspace)

The representation of oligarchic power in this episode is more clearly seen in the content of the conversation between Elders and Jeonghu. The description given by the Elders that oligarchic power is “we”

as an organization or a collection of individuals who have oligarchic power carry out their activities to save others.

Elders also mentioned that there are “we”

who protect people and “they” who receive our protection.

The representation of oligarchic power here is described as powerful, organized, and can do impossible things to achieve its common goals.

This organization is covert, consisting only of a select group of people guaranteed total protection. This organization can do anything (impose its will or decide anything) with the basic purpose of its group interests only.

Representamen

Figure 21

Figure 22

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Figure 23

Figure 24

Figure 25

Object Dialogue

People are calling: The date for the general meeting has been set.

The topic of discussion at this general meeting is to determine the renewal of Mr. Park Jeong- dae’s position.

Mr. Park must attend and explain all his achievements and failures.

Elder: Who is trying to profit from this situation?

Does he have the intention to stage a coup?

Person on call: This is not a fight. Not only is your identity revealed, but the entire organization is about to be exposed.

Elder: Don’t you think your loyalties are too easily switched?

Person telephoned: See you at the general meeting.

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Interpretant Set (Location): Café Lunar

The systematic and organized representation of oligarchic power in this scene is shown by the content of the dialogue that says Mr. Park (Elder) must attend the general meeting and be accountable for his achievements and failures.

At the meeting, it will also be determined to re- new the position of leader to replace the Elders who are considered to have failed to maintain this organization’s security.

The statement Organization here describes the participation of the Elders in a covert ruling group with unlimited power. This organization is often expressed as ‘we’.

Oligarchic power that aims to benefit their members must be maintained, and if in the process it must sacrifice others who are deemed not to benefit the organization or even harm members of the power, then the removal of power is legitimate.

DISCUSSION

Korean drama movie ‘The Healer’ succeeds as one of the Korean dramas with comedy, romantic, thriller genres, with a storyline that remains easy to understand even though it often changes the past by showing past events to further clarify the rhythm of the real scenario. The involvement of the past and present is sewn to become a whole story. In each of these periods, a picture is given of the ruling oligarchy, a systematic and invincible organization. Each episode is a series that shows that the activities of oligarchic power in the past are oligarchic power that is still strong and unidentified today.

The Korean drama movie ‘The Healer’ portrays in a straightforward manner that oligarchic power is real, they will be visible by combining data and facts in such a way. This is a challenge because oligarchic power holders can do anything to make it not happen. Oligarchy is a structure of activities controlled by a group of people with wealth, family ties, political interests, corporate interests or political power. This film provides an interesting narrative about the picture of oligarchic power that occurs and how multiplying members of that power then becomes a heavy burden for the implementation of democracy in a country because this organization prioritizes their interests by conglomerating media and privatization efforts.

In this Korean drama film, the depiction of oligarchic power organizations is the term ‘farmer’, a group of people described as having power in a country. This group can put someone at the helm of power and remove all obstacles that will interfere with their plans or goals. This is not given freely but is binding and waits for the right time for them to ask for their reward.

For additional information, the first president of the Republic of Indonesia also mentioned the word ‘farmer’ as an acronym for the support of the Indonesian state order, although with the intention of this Korean drama movie, there are similarities, namely the group of people called farmers has a significant function in a country. And according to Soemarsaid Moertono in his book entitled State and Statecraft in Old Java explained that farmers are supra-village props, which means that farmers are the ones who support life above the village. If placed in one discourse, the term farmer is a group of people who play an important role in life. And the word village describes the location or collection of dwellings, which represents the institutions and identity of a society.

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In the Korean drama movie ‘The Healer’, the oligarchic power holders are depicted as the number one people in their fields, such as media holders, CEOs of large companies (industrialists), and even active government officials. With unlimited power, oligarchic power holders join forces, working together to maintain their wealth and power even at the expense of the interests of the general public. This condition is one of the factors that led to the social upheaval depicted in the storyline of this movie, which is the 1980s storyline of the people’s movement demanding information transparency and democracy. This event is better known as the Gwangju democracy movement.

The term oligarchy does not refer to the form of government power but to the condition of government where the power structure is controlled by a small group of outsiders or a select few individuals who have full control over the leaders’ decisions. The term is used more as a criticism of the opposition (the weak party) that shows the influence of the rich and powerful in politics or government, which certainly use that power to benefit themselves, which harms society at large.

The word ‘we’ in this movie strongly illustrates oligarchic power, more precisely oligarchic power of the collective ruler type. People in this position collectively build an organization and have rules or norms, working together to maintain their wealth and power.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of research and discussion, the semiotics of oligarchic power in the Ko- rean drama film ‘The Healer’ is illustrated by the use of the word ‘we’ in the dialog and falls into the oligarchic power type of collective rulers. And overall, it can be concluded as follows: Scenes and dialogues that show the activities of the power holder in the form of scenes and dialogues are representations. The object in the Korean drama film ‘The Healer’ is shown through the activities of oligarchic power shown by expressions, dialog and also visible actions. While the interpretation of oligarchic power appears in mind related to the object referred to. In the Korean drama film “the Healer” most dominantly uses the form of the word ‘we’ to represent oligarchic power: (a) A small group of selected people who are members and hold the power structure. (b) Able to plan and do anything to achieve their goals or do anything to fight against those who oppose their goals. (c) Has the ability to impose its will on others to support and side with their group. (d) It holds unlimited, unbreakable power and moves systematically. (e) Collective interests are highly valued and guarded to ensure all actions are legalized. (f) Has the support of unlimited power and wealth. (g) The ability to do something to prioritize the group’s interests even over the interests of the public and the state.

There are many meanings and messages contained in the Korean drama film ‘the Healer’ but this research only focuses on the representation of oligarchic power so that the space to research this film or other films is wide open either with Peirce’s triadic model again or with others, the results obtained will provide important input to the academic world.

Hopefully, this research can contribute to communication studies and the world of film. In using semiotics, future researchers are expected to expand their thinking, read a lot to examine objects more deeply, and provide new colors in the world of communication.

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