I see it as mockery. its called "half thai half savage" and as we know thailand's entertainment is built on the image of mixed actors instead of regular southeast asians who don't have the privilege to see themselves in their own media.
there are two sides to every story. More info needs to be released from the april member's side, not just Hyunjoo's. All the facts need to be laid out before judgement should be made.
[Rusameekae, who has Senegalese and Thai ancestry, is a TV talk show host and actor who was born in Chiang Rai and grew up in both Thailand and Sweden.
Rusameekae recalls that most of the people who bullied him growing up were older Thais. Relatives on his Thai side would purposely compare and favor his white Swedish sister over him, while teachers would make up nicknames for him that the entire class would use.
One memorable insult he’s been called is “cottonseed” (สำลีเม็ดใน), a Thai saying refers to having black skin, especially among lighter skinned people – just like a cottonseed in a ball of cotton.
“These words all come from adults. There’s no way children know them on their own. Children play with each other and love each other,” Rusameekae said. “It’s the adults that teach them these words.”
Once on set, he said one a five-year-old child accidentally bumped into his leg and said, “Ew, you’re black.”
Thai soap operas and advertisements are long known for their constant use of black face. Rusameekae said it’s a symptom of the kind of society he is in – that it’s so wrong to be black that blackface has to be used.
“In the end, use of blackface didn’t make Thais more understanding towards black people. It made them tease black people more,” Rusameekae said. “In a society where we can’t ask for sympathy, [the use of blackface] prepared us for a reality where we know we need to try to survive.” ]
posting this because all of the positive comments trying to justify this show's existence disgust me. Its just proof that the asian community are antiblack and colorist!
What? Where is this coming from? I’m genuinely curious !
Just a bunch of various dramas where they paint people brown and act like clowns for people to LAUGH AT. Its a toxic trope and the sad thing is they don't even hire dark skin people to do it.
I miss him. i feel like he got the short end of the stick cause tharntype got popular, so now he gets dragged by people who weren't even there when things got controversial (plus both Mew and Art have already made up). Love you Art.
I don't got to act above anyone if they're being ratchet and racist.
I have thai in my blood, do you???? Should that mean you should shut up and not have an opinion? Exactly so stop your faulty logic. Just say you support colorism and antiblack casting, and step out my face.
It just proves racism is normalized. Yup yup.
i have never read a comment so out of touch with race issues. OMG. Like really? Stop making false equivalences!
Rusameekae recalls that most of the people who bullied him growing up were older Thais. Relatives on his Thai side would purposely compare and favor his white Swedish sister over him, while teachers would make up nicknames for him that the entire class would use.
One memorable insult he’s been called is “cottonseed” (สำลีเม็ดใน), a Thai saying refers to having black skin, especially among lighter skinned people – just like a cottonseed in a ball of cotton.
“These words all come from adults. There’s no way children know them on their own. Children play with each other and love each other,” Rusameekae said. “It’s the adults that teach them these words.”
Once on set, he said one a five-year-old child accidentally bumped into his leg and said, “Ew, you’re black.”
Thai soap operas and advertisements are long known for their constant use of black face. Rusameekae said it’s a symptom of the kind of society he is in – that it’s so wrong to be black that blackface has to be used.
“In the end, use of blackface didn’t make Thais more understanding towards black people. It made them tease black people more,” Rusameekae said. “In a society where we can’t ask for sympathy, [the use of blackface] prepared us for a reality where we know we need to try to survive.” ]
posting this because all of the positive comments trying to justify this show's existence disgust me. Its just proof that the asian community are antiblack and colorist!
but also there are plenty of Viet people in Northeast Thailand and Laos because its a neighboring country.
I have thai in my blood, do you???? Should that mean you should shut up and not have an opinion? Exactly so stop your faulty logic. Just say you support colorism and antiblack casting, and step out my face.