Shis young filmography already has a lot of success at the box office. At 28, the Franco-American actor Timothée Chalamet brings back his Greek statue face in Dune, part two by Denis Villeneuve. At the same time, the charm of his French colleague Swann Arlaud, whose features are as sweet as his first name, explodes on TikTok thanks to videos of him portraying a devoted lawyer in Anatomy of a fall (2023) by Justine Triet – film for which he won the César for Best Supporting Actor. To the point of being designated a sex symbol in the United States. The roles of men considered as flower boys There’s no shortage of them on screens these days!
Originally, this term comes from the Korean word “kkothminam” and designates “a man with the beauty of a flower”. Not a recent invention, according to Rolling Stone Indian. It was, in fact, preceded by the “hwarang”this poetic “flourishing knight”, warrior hero of the ancient kingdom of Silla (until the VIIe century).
Nowadays, the flower boy defines a young man with a feminine and delicate appearance, having a pleasant face, dressed elegantly and with refined manners. A gentleman, he is respectful in his emotional relationships.
In the land of Morning Calm, we find this big daddy with a thin figure, who has never been to a weight room, sensitive, careful and vulnerable, in all K-drama series and in K-pop groups . Cultural products that have largely contributed to spreading Korean male stereotypes. This gentle romantic nevertheless knows how to be firm, even harsh (what we would call a “pretty tough”). He can perfectly endorse the codes of male domination. For example, in K-dramas, it is not uncommon to see a boss harassing his subordinate for the hope of dating her, even if it is presented in a glamorized way.
Since the 1990s, the “hallyu” (literally “Korean wave”) exports the soft power of South Korea around the world and influences global pop culture. The Korean expression then internationalized to become THE flower boy that we know, a very improving qualifier. From there, we move away from Korean standards, which are nevertheless correlated with gender norms, to respond to Western considerations.
Gender fluidity
With us, the flower boy frees himself from the injunctions to virility. It claims gender fluidity, a right to draw from the women’s wardrobe to adorn oneself with a bare back highlighted by a flamboyant red ensemble, for example, as did Timothée Chalamet revealing his skinny body on the carpet of the Venice Film Festival in 2022.
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