A Study on the Discourse of Political Correctness: Depoliticization in the Little Mermaid, Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 and 1987

This study examines the depoliticization of “political correctness” (PC) in contemporary cultural content through the cases of Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023). Originally, a political practice aimed at addressing structural inequality, PC has shifted to a consumer-driven norm shaped by market strategies and audience preferences. As institutional censorship weakens, PC increasingly functions as a form of cultural regulation, branding, and identity signaling. Drawing on theories from Althusser, Barthes, Jenkins, Laclau, and Mouffe, the study explores how PC discourse is restructured through meme culture, transmedia convergence, and digital capitalism. It argues that PC today is political in form but depoliticized in function, operating as a tool for controversy and commodification rather than collective action. This paper calls for reengagement with PC as a political practice, not just a cultural preference.