[Current & Culture]Bruce Willis and Our Future

Racing Toward a Super-Aged Society in Korea
Shortage of Medical Care for Elderly Diseases Like Dementia
Poverty Among the Elderly Remains an Unresolved Issue

Despite the crisis in the film industry, the golden age of Marvel has lasted quite a long time. Including its competitor DC, superhero movies dominate Hollywood with overwhelming market share. This phenomenon has been ongoing since Iron Man appeared in 2008. Nowadays, beings with superpowers mainly star as protagonists in 'hero movies,' but there was also an era when human heroes reigned. Looking back to the old days, protagonists like Rambo and Commando, who boasted tremendous muscles, were representative. The Top Gun series, which has continued from then until now, created heroes with exceptional skills rather than physical strength. An extreme example is the setting where the President of the United States is portrayed as a hero, but at this point, the excessive 'American heroism' provokes a sense of rejection that interferes with appreciation.

Among human heroes, the most human-like hero would be John McClane from Die Hard. He is far from having overwhelming physique or abilities. Far from being a president, he is merely a detective on the brink of divorce. However, he has an indomitable spirit. Despite suffering terribly, he never gives up. You’d think he’d be dead by now? He’s not! Bruce Willis, who played Detective John McClane, became a representative action star in Hollywood through this film. Over the next 25 years, he starred in five Die Hard series films. The setup of getting beaten up repeatedly but narrowly winning in the end remains the same. Perhaps no other protagonist in film history has taken as many hits as this one.

Besides the Die Hard series, Bruce Willis has explored various genres, including action films. He showed deep and broad acting range in horror films like The Sixth Sense, sci-fi like The Fifth Element, Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, and the experimental-like 12 Monkeys. No matter how many times he was beaten and knocked down in movies, Bruce Willis faced his worst enemy in real life: dementia. He lost not only his memory but also his language abilities. Unfortunately, these symptoms began when he was only in his late 50s. The only consolation is that he has enough money to receive adequate medical care and a family to take care of him.

South Korea is racing full speed toward a super-aged society. Soon, 20% of the total population will be aged 65 or older. That ratio will continue to rise, and the shadow of age-related diseases will increasingly and heavily cover our society in proportion to the number of elderly people. This is not a pessimistic prediction but a predetermined future. Even now, there is an outcry over the shortage of doctors, so can our medical system withstand a super-aged society? Various social pensions are already financially strained to the point of exhaustion, so how many elderly people will have the economic capacity to receive sufficient medical services 10 or 20 years from now? The relative poverty rate among South Korea’s elderly is the highest among OECD countries. Along with poverty, loneliness is also a serious issue; the proportion of single-person households without family has already exceeded 30%, making it the most common household type for a long time. The likelihood that elderly people with age-related diseases like dementia will receive a certain level of treatment and family care is gradually decreasing.

Having shared many gloomy stories, let’s return to Bruce Willis. He loved singing and even pursued a singing career. Among his songs, I recommend “Save the Last Dance for Me.” Listening to his rendition of the Drifters’ original brings to mind the cheeky expression of Detective McClane. To my persistent hero, may you rise again like a miracle.

Lee Jae-ik, Novelist