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A Study on Distinct Movement of Film Characters in Different Economic Classes – from the Perspective of Habitus and Affect

  • Journal of Popular Narrative
  • 2025, 31(2), pp.205~242
  • Publisher : The Association of Popular Narrative
  • Research Area : Interdisciplinary Studies > Interdisciplinary Research
  • Received : April 28, 2025
  • Accepted : June 16, 2025
  • Published : June 30, 2025

SUN HYUNG KIM 1

1중앙대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

In In Time, time serves as currency, replacing traditional money and structuring all facets of economic activity through a temporal mechanism. The film juxtaposes the economic elite, endowed with or granted infinite time and living as the eternally privileged, against the impoverished, who must survive through daily labor. Interestingly, the film repeatedly questions the divide between these two classes by depicting their contrasting locomotor patterns and modes of physical responses. Characters in The Talented Mr. Ripley and Parasite likewise expose social disparity through the body. Focusing on this aspect, this paper examines the correlation between the economic disparities produced by the system and bodily movements, interpreting these movements as signs that reveal the symptom of contemporary society: the intensification of class division. The contrast exists not only between “running and not running,” but also between “exaggerated and indifferent bodily reactions in particular contexts.” These reactions serve as class markers, differentiated by economic standing. This study conceptualizes such bodily responses not as the result of conscious judgment or calculated actions, but as habitus — deeply ingrained through long-standing habits and enacted unconsciously and instantaneously. Furthermore, by associating the upper class’s refraining from running and indifferent demeanor with the Renaissance courtly ideal of sprezzatura, this research extends the framework of habitus. The conversion of economic capital into cultural capital, and the habitus that reveals this capital — acquired within specific environments and manifested at an unconscious level as collective schemes — resonates with affect. Differentiated bodily practices expose ‘the structure of feeling’ characterizing the lower and upper classes. In this regard, this paper elucidates how transmitted and embodied habitus operates as a mechanism of ‘distinction’ between social groups, thereby rendering visible the entrenched stratification of contemporary class society. By encompassing the economic system of contemporary society, the habitus of bodily movement, sprezzatura, and affect, this research explores the organic relationship between economy and culture through the micro-level bodily practices of different social groups. This, in turn, sheds light on the macro-level social structure. Moreover, the study contributes to expanding the theoretical scope of habitus and has significance in aligning with recent scholarly developments emphasizing the interaction between the body and society.

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This paper was written with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea.
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