In recent years, Kdramas have frequently encountered issues related to dialogue, inaccurate depictions of other countries and territories outside of Korea. Africa is one of the targets often portrayed negatively in Korean cinema. And the hit K-drama “The Queen of Tears” recently faced a similar situation.
In episode 3, the character Hong Soo Cheol (played by Kwak Dong Yeon) remembers his time in Africa. The heir to the Queens conglomerate boldly called Africa a place full of “wildness and wilderness”, while his father told the story of Soo Cheol hiding in the hotel all day for fear of mosquitoes. This dialogue has been criticized for its blatant distortion of the diversity and culture of the continent.
The audiences reposted this dialogue on Twitter with the mention “Save Africa from Korean screenwriters. » Under this mention, we find countless comments from international viewers expressing their dissatisfaction with the disrespectful attitude of the screenwriter of “Queen of Tears” towards Africa.
Here are the reactions from the public:
– “Another Kdrama that uses names of different countries and territories, please writers or producers understand the meaning and respect for other countries. »
– “Korean series give the impression to international audiences that Koreans did not study geography in school. »
– “Is the screenwriter really that bad at geography?” »
– “It is 2024, they cannot continue like this, they must recognize their mistake and change the way they talk about Africa. Apologize soon and leave Africa in peace! »
– “They always describe Africa as a place where aliens live, instead of a continent with normal living conditions like everywhere else. »
– ” For what ??? As if all the people in Africa were living in chaos. Don’t talk bad about us anymore!!! »
– “Luckily I wasn’t interested in this drama from the beginning, now I’m going to boycott it!” »
Before “Queen of Tears”, many Korean films also featured inaccurate dialogue about Africa. In “Kokdu: Season of Divinity”, there were jokes about the education system in Africa and the characters also incorrectly named countries there. “Sh**ting Stars” was criticized for depicting the male protagonist as a “white savior” appearing in Africa, as well as changing the film’s color to a yellowish tint in scenes set on that continent. The different film colors between scenes in Korea and Africa are supposed to imply that Africa is ” underdeveloped“
What do you think?