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What a Man Wants
Movie

What a Man Wants

2018 • Unknown

Woke Score
2
out of 10

Plot

Set on Jeju Island, Seok-Geun is a middle-aged man and he works as a taxi driver. He is married to Dam-Deok. Seok-Geun constantly cheats on his wife, but it doesn't mean he does not love his wife.

Overall Series Review

The film "What a Man Wants" is a South Korean romantic comedy centered on two heterosexual married couples dealing with infidelity on Jeju Island. The narrative conflict is entirely domestic and relational, driven by the personal failings of the characters, specifically the serial womanizing of one man and his influence on his brother-in-law. The movie explores themes of temptation, marital stagnation, and the consequences of cheating through a blend of humor and drama. The themes and cultural setting—a local Korean story and a remake of a Czech film—are divorced from the core tenets of Western woke ideology. Identity is not viewed through an intersectional lens, there is no anti-Western sentiment, and the conflict is contained within the normative structure of the family unit. The only element that moves a category score above the absolute lowest is the focus on male moral failure (infidelity) as the central driver of the plot, which provides a critique of masculinity, though this critique does not push into "emasculation" or "Girl Boss" territory.

Categorical Breakdown

Identity Politics1/10

The movie is a South Korean comedy focused on the internal dramas of two Korean couples on Jeju Island. The central narrative conflict revolves entirely around personal moral failings like infidelity and relational dynamics. Race, intersectional hierarchy, or anti-Western political themes are not present in the plot.

Oikophobia1/10

The film’s setting is a regional area of South Korea, and the narrative centers on a comedy of errors regarding infidelity in two marriages. The plot does not engage in hostility toward Western civilization, its institutions, or its ancestors. The commentary is local and social, not civilizational.

Feminism3/10

The story's core conflict is driven by male infidelity and its corrosive effect on two marriages, portraying the male characters as morally compromised. However, the women are not presented as flawless 'Mary Sues,' and one female character's desire for a child is an active plot element, contradicting 'anti-natalism.' The men are flawed, but not strictly 'emasculated' to serve a feminist lecture.

LGBTQ+1/10

The entire plot is strictly confined to heterosexual marital and extramarital relationships. The nuclear family structure, while under internal threat from infidelity, serves as the normative structure. There is no centering of alternative sexualities, deconstruction of the family unit via queer theory, or discussion of gender ideology.

Anti-Theism1/10

The movie is a romantic comedy about marital and social transgression. The plot contains no discussion of or hostility toward religion, specifically Christianity. The narrative implicitly acknowledges a moral standard (fidelity) by exploring the negative consequences of cheating, which counters moral relativism.