Sweet Home and the capitalistic desire

Desire. 

During the last decade, Korean comics gained more and more popularity not only in their original market but also in the international context.
Launched in 1998, the giant Naver kept expanding its services, that now include Webtoon. It is a huge platform with thousands of comics strips, mostly from Korean artists and screenwriters.  Two of these are Kim Carnby and Hwang Youngchan, who, from October 2017 to July 2020, created the series of Sweet Home (스위트 홈), their new thriller after Bastard. It has been adapted to a ten episodes Netflix series, released in late 2020.

The monsters of Sweet Home

The story is set in a world where humans suddenly start transforming into monsters, after having various symptoms such as nose bleeds and hallucinations for a period of time (1 to 15 days).

Discovered by the characters during the story, another self will tempt the poor victim to reveal their greatest desire and offer them to place their conscience in a pleasant simulation, while their body will change in a grotesque fashion to look like their needs and their grudges.
For example, we’ll read about a father unable to save his son, who will mutate his arms to grip every human in his sight; a woman who lost her child in a car accident and will replace it becoming a giant fetus; a teen that has forced herself almost to starve to become a model who turns into a terrifying cannibal.

Cover of Sweet Home, volume 1. 

Even in the real world, humans are unable to resist their desires. For example, they’re easily controlled by the need to purchase new items. This is due to an apparently insatiable necessity of novelty they need to satisfy. Exactly as the monsters of Sweet Home, they mindlessly give in; some services are studied and guided by complex algorithms to create in the consumers a sense of engagement towards irrelevant items.

Is buying online sustainable?

Amazon Prime is the perfect tool to get access to the infinite supply of items. Users literally get hooked to it, with a high consumer’s fidelization and way more frequent orders from the platform compared to non-members.
The mass production of these items, mainly in plastic materials and shifted towards developing countries, has a huge impact on land and water pollution. The absence of environment’ sustainability quickly hits back the communities living close to factories.

Pollution . 

Moreover, another kind of addiction to desires is the one involving food.

Apart from destroying the body and the minds of those who experience this form of eating disorder, it brings a need to produce great amounts, for example, of meat. Thus, it puts a strain on the environment, with the already observed consequences on locals.

The phenomenon of binge-consuming doesn’t seem to be stopping or, at least, receding any time soon.

In the first months of 2021, there was a significant economic growth for the most important online markets compared to the same period of 2020.

Surely, the pandemic and the consequent lockdowns all over the world pushed the expansion of this business model. And many may have overused these services to distract themselves from loneliness, despair and grief.

Amazon packaging. 

The MC of Sweet Home

The major character of Sweet Home is Hyun (full name is Cha Hyun-soo). He is a high school student whose family died in a car accident. After remaining alone, he moves to a different residential area. He decides to end his life in the near future, after the release of the new animation movie to which he particularly cares about.

Obviously, things won’t go as he expected. As the young adult will find himself resisting and suppressing the temptations of his internal demon, promises of a fake happiness with his lost parents and sister, in favor of the real relationships with other survivors. Hyun is able to understand and control his desires.

The same reasoning should be made by everyone. Above all, happiness should’nt be searched in consuming but in interactions and experiences. In other words, not only a moderate fulfilment of desires gives a new importance to what an individual owns, but at the same time is more sustainable for people and environment.

A green hope

Thankfully, the world seems to be on the right path. Various movements committed to promote this vision are acquiring influence in the western countries. Their mission is to oblige the big corporations to respect strict quality standards in the production of household appliances, smartphones, vehicles and others. So that they can be repaired and their parts recycled more effectively.

Some voices underline eventual security problems that would emerge regarding items connected to the Web, such as cars, that would be made more vulnerable to hacking attacks.
However, others push the project, noting that in the medical field it would cut the costs and make the healthcare system more efficient, resulting in a better experience for the patients: a matter particularly felt by citizens of every country after the limits highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

So, while some states in USA, like Massachusetts, are starting to address the issue, the UK passed in 2021 a right to repair law and the European Parliament proposed to legislate guidelines. These latter define not only the ways of productions but also the marketing campaign. So that the advertisement can help Europeans to make sustainable choices.

In conclusion, as time passes the young generations grow and replace the older ones, the future looks greener.

Sources:

•  Espiner, T. & Wearn R. (1 July 2021). Right to repair rules will extend lifespan of products,
  government says. BBC.
  https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57665593
•  EU consumers should enjoy a “right to repair” and enhanced product safety.
  https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20201024IPR90101/eu-consumersshould-enjoy-a-right-to-repair-and-enhanced-product-safety
•  Kline, D., B. (October 20, 2017).Amazon Prime Has Nearly as Many Subscribers as Cable.
  The Motley Fool.
  https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/20/amazon-prime-has-nearly-as-many-subscribersas-cab.aspx?&utm_campaign=article&utm_medium=feed&referring_guid=cffdc18c-fbd1-
  11e7-bdc8-0050569d32b9&utm_source=usa-today
•  Lewin-Eytan, L.(January 14, 2020). Why do customers buy seemingly irrelevant products?.
  Amazon|Science. www.amazon.science/blog/why-do-customers-buy-seeminglyirrelevant-products
•  Mcgee M. (November 11, 2016) Survey: 30% of Prime members order from Amazon every
  week. Martech. https://martech.org/survey-30-prime-members-order-amazon-every-week/
•  Reimer, R. (Sep 20, 2020) Right To Repair Or An Automotive Safety Threat?. Forbes.
  https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanreimer/2020/09/20/right-to-repair-or-an-automotivesafety-threat/?sh=4645faa27f94
•  Ritchie, H., Roser, M. Environmental impacts of food production. Our World in Data.
  https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food
• SAJN, N. (21 October 2020). Sustainable consumption: Helping consumers make ecofriendly choices.
• www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document.html?reference=EPRS_BRI(2020)659295
• Sakara, A. (September 2014). The effects of manufacturing industry on the environment:
  Atonsu-Kaase-Ahinsan in the Ashante region of Ghana. Adrri journal of Physical and
  Natural Sciences, Vol. 1, No.1(1).
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  THE_EFFECTS_OF_MANUFACTURING_INDUSTRY_ON_THE_ENVIRONMENT_AT
  ONSU-KAASE-AHINSAN_IN_THE_ASHANTE_REGION_OF_GHANA
• Sweet Home. Wikipedia.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Home_(webtoon)
• uspirg.com
  https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/right-repair
• Unknown. Food Addiction. PsychGuides.com.
  https://www.psychguides.com/eating-disorder/
•  Unknown. (Jun 2, 2015). Korean webtoon market expanding rapidly. The Korean Herald.
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• Unknown. (April 29 2021). Amazon Q1 2021 Earnings Release. Amazon.
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• What we want. Stand up for your Right to Repair!
  https://repair.eu/what-we-want

Image sources:

•  Carnby K., and Young-chan, H. (2020). Sweet Home. Vol. 1. Wisdom House. Book cover.
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kim_Carnby_and_Hwang_Young-chan_-
  _Sweet_Home_vol._1_(2020,_Wisdom_House)_book_cover.jpg
• “High Ratings” by cogdogblog.
  https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/e8af4fe9-23f3-4985-a7f8-ad9bafbeddb6
• “10/2/2013 Pollution” by barbourians.
  https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/4d2b39e5-a56d-40fe-9ff7-1b42b33f800d
• “The old man`s desire puzzle game 3D print” by Lyn Lim.
  https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/7080299c-cd6d-4d06-be89-a0eee40d3c34