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The thing is that the director has the bad habit to use racial stereotypes. In his previous work, The Fiery Priest, he used a Korean to portray a Thai that spoke broken Korean for comedic relief (no one cared about him back then). Since he cannot re-use this character, he went for a random other nationality. He chose Jamaican, but that is of course very sensitive. I am not going to say that it is not bad taste. It definitely is, but it is not racism specifically targeted at Black people. Rather he randomly picked "a victim" for comedic relief. Could have also been a Samoan or a Filipino for that matter.

There is also a clear motive for him to settle for Jamaican though, because one of the most famous Jamaican artists is "Inner Circle" that used to have megahits with "Bad Boys (whatcha gonna do when they come for you)" and "Sweat". That last song was pervy on a whole other level. Inner Circle literally sang:

"Girl I want to make you sweat
Sweat 'til you can't sweat no more
And if you cry out I'm gonna push it some more"

The reason I know that the director is taking inspiration from Inner Circle is because the Rastaguy hums the chorus of "Sweat" the whole time ("A la la la la long A la la la la long long li long long long"). The director wanted a stereotype pervert and went with an Inner Circle-lookalike, but it would be less cultural sensitive if he went with a Ron Jeremy- or Hugh Hefner-lookalike instead.

You can listen to the song by Inner Circle here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc2UEfWjvo8. It is watched almost 100mln times.

No, you are confusing two things. If Dal Shik straight up said something racist such as "black people are thieves", then it is not okay. Now it is a matter of interpretation. It is up to the Jamaicans to determine whether it is racist or not, because he is not stealing African-American or White culture. But I have not heard a lot of criticism from Jamaicans, but I did hear a lot of "I as a African-American woman"-kind of comments. This is not wrong per say, but realize that he is not ripping African-American culture. He is not mocking their culture, but Jamaica's. That is why I referred to "Crazy Rich Asians" - a bunch of Western-born Asian people thinking that they understand the nuances of China/Japan/Korea or any Asian country, but actually do not...

Also, with your rationale, anyone with frizzy hair can wear dreads. Kim Soo Hyun for example has naturally frizzy hair. If he wears dreads, would that be okay then? According to your explanation, it is. But I am pretty sure if he actually wears dreads, he would receive the same criticism.

Furthermore, straight hair is an East-Asian thing. Almost no other culture has that straight hair. Must East-Asians feel disgusted by all those people that are straightening their hair? If they are, would you also pay attention to their feelings or call it ridiculous? In my humble opinion, I think your current explanation is not good enough.

To get this straight (no pun intended), I am not saying that Dal Shik is not racist. I am only saying that we as outsiders do not know the exact answer and are not the person to judge. If they will have a poll in Jamaica tomorrow and the majority deems it not racist, would you think that MDL or BLM will accept his character? Probably not, because an outside group such as BLM determines for us how we should feel. That is ignorant and wrong...

Just my .02 cents.

Sort of... But if Inner Circle (a Jamaican reggae singer) is Dal Shik's inspiration, then it sort of makes sense. Inner Circle is the real life version of Dal Shik, the original pervert. Dal Shik always hums "A la la la la long A la la la la long long li long long long". That is the chorus of Inner Circle's song and is supposedly a metaphor for his penis. Inner Circle is pretty famous and also made the hit "Bad Boys". So is it still racism when you copy one of Jamaica's most famous export products that has popularized pervy songs?

Mmm... Love your passion to defend MY, but you do realize that you do not always have to act, right? Why not try to make it clear to GT first in words? If he treats his Hyung still as a kid, then you can take action. But even then, I would let the professionals handle it (such as the doctor), not her...

To say that his Hyung is mature enough to make such an important decision as moving out, is ridiculous. This guy wants to buy a camper van, because he thinks that it would solve all his brother's problems... He clearly lacks the sensitivity to understand the root of GT's problems. Also, he cannot read people's emotions. He does not know whether MY is a good person or not. He interprets all cues point blank, so she can come away with everything if she smiles enough. Putting someone who has autism together with someone that has a personality disorder without supervision is highly dangerous... Finally, if she did not drive a wedge between the two, why did ST attack his brother then?

You know what is actually more bothersome than all the scenes? No one realizes that the dreadsguy is humming "Sweat" by "Inner Circle". A very popular hit in the past, but the lyrics are so wrong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc2UEfWjvo8. He is not trying to be Bob Marley, but the Rastaguy from Inner Circle...

If you do not mind. I can give you another example of the ignorant behavior of Western Society.

For example, the movie "Crazy Rich Asians". A prime example of Asian representation at its finest in Hollywood. They sort of right.. Check out the cast... An Indigenous-Malaysian hapa, a Tawainese-American, a British-Chinese, a Korean-Chinese American, a Malaysian-Australian, a Hong Konger, a British-Japanese, a Malaysian-Singaporean and so on, and so on... With so much "Asianness", this movie must be a superhit in Asia. Guess what... Tanked hard in China. Why? Because the Chinese could not identify with these people... Just because you are Asian, does not mean that you understand the Chinese/Korean/Japanese culture. Same here... Just because you are African-American, Nigerian etc. does not mean that you can say something about different black cultures such as the Jamaican one. But we are so forgiving to this type of cultural insensitivity, because they "kinda look the same" and therefore have the right to speak...

Tl;dr: Everyone that is not Jamaican cannot shout racism, because it is an opinion littered with our own biases and not a common-shared fact...

Just my .02 cents

SB is 22 now. She kissed DH three years ago... You do the math... Minor? Definitely not in the show

Initially I was more impressed with Seo Ye Ji and Oh Jung Se, but they have a peculiar character trait to make them shine more. KSH is in my opinion the real star. His acting all comes through the way he emotes. It is more raw, the other can benefit from having quirky character traits (ASPD, autism) or even their wardrobe. He does not...

It is a very difficult topic and we are not the ones to judge. Only the Rastafarians or Jamaicans can decide whether it is racism or not.

What I hate the most is this ignorant behavior from the Western Society, in particular that of Americans. Because they are grouping all kinds of black people together with no regards of differences in culture between them. For example, African-Americans think it is okay to wear dreads, because they are black. But Jeremy Lin cannot wear dreads, because he is not black. What a crock of shit. African-Americans are not Jamaicans...

The Nigerian guy in Backstreet Rookie raised my eyebrows even more than the side character. He was mocking the Jamaicans. But no one will forbid him from wearing dreads... Why? Because he has the right skin tone... Do you understand what I am trying to say? If we adhere to the strict definitions that the BLM-movement forced upon us, dreads only belong to Jamaicans/Rastafarians and no one else. However, if African-Americans or Nigerians are allowed to wear it, then a Korean must also be allowed to wear it because none of them are Jamaicans. IMO outsiders should not dictate what we can and what we cannot wear. The Jamaicans or the Rastafarians themselves should be the judges.

Just my .02 Cents.

I applaud you for writing an essay that is very long and has zero added value. Please try an executive summary or give us a conclusion. What are you trying to say? Is the age gap "okay"? Is the age gap "problematic"? You only explained why age gaps are more common in society... Thanks for bringing us yesterday's news.

No, no she said... WAY younger... I interpret it as quite a bit younger...

I have also been thinking that YJ's mom might also be SB's mom, but it is quite difficult to write in such a story as YJ is much older than SB. This means that YJ's mom cheated with SB's dad.

On the other hand, it is very confusing. If you look at the order of the scenes. First scene, DH's dad is looking for his old crush with his old friends. Second scene, an assistant shows YJ's mom the resume of DH. Third scene, DH's dad is looking at the old picture of the singer on his phone and then YJ's mom walks in into the convenience story. It is some sort of foreshadowing...

There is some intertwined plot between the three moms.

Perhaps you are right, but she left DH's mom way earlier than high school though. DH's mom said that she left her 40 years ago and when she was way younger than SB is now. On the other hand, she did mention that she met her husband through this friend. So DH's dad must recognize her.

Her behavior did not bother me too much initially, but episode 6 started to test my tolerance for her personality. Especially, because she caused a wedge between the two brothers. This not acceptable to me as GT dedicated his whole life to his brother. Seeing ST hitting his doting brother was painful to watch from an emotional point of view.

Just my .02 cents

Can't really remember... But the judges said to SB's little sister that she had an interesting choice by picking such an old song. The judges asked her how she knew about this song, to which SB's sister said that her older sister (SB) always sang it to her. I inferred SB learnt it from the mom or the dad. Most likely the mom.

Still I think YJ's mother is the old friend of DH's mother. I find it interesting that YJ's mother met DH's dad in the convenience store. His dad never works in the convenience store. It is always DH, SB, the dreads-guy or the mother. Something tells me that the writer/director did not want to put YJ's and DH's mother in one scene as they would recognize each other.

I always enjoy dramas where the main leads do not get together. Something is more fulfilling when they become friends and support/heal each other through thick and thin.

Thus, I hope SB can help DH and his girlfriend grow closer (more open communication etc.). SB with Puppy-guy is also a better match.

To me, it is more meaningful in that way, with SB entering DH's life as a lighthouse that provide him with light and solace to guide him through his crappy relationship. Also, I think it would also be more interesting to see the two sisters accepted into the family of DH where they are giving a warm home and "parents" than seeing her become a daughter-in-law. Otherwise, we have our stereotypical your-my-destiny-kind of rom-com.

Just my .02 cents

I see slowly hints that they are glamorizing/normalizing the behavior of the FL though. MY is having GT in an emotional hostage by exploiting the autism of his brother. I cannot believe that she gets away with it. In a normal society, people would call the police and report the FL of kidnapping. Even if ST wants to move in with MY, they will find a way to get him out of the hands of MY and back with his guardian GT. By giving in to MY's demands, it shows that they are okay with this kind of behavior...

Just my .02 cents

I think that SB's mother is the singer that was the crush of DH's dad. That is pretty obvious after the audition of SB's sister where she picked an old song (a song that was most likely passed on from the mother to SB to her sister).

I think the best friend of DH's mother is probably YJ's mother (the chaebol). The reason I think so, is because DH's mother described her best friend as a person that left her behind with no regrets from one day to another. In that sense, it is very similar to the character of both YJ (and her mother) and their treatment of DH.

Just my .02 cents

I feel honored. Let me pour you a glass of the finest wine spirit from the country where the sun rises first. Pour me a glass as well. Let us celebrate this day where we both found a Sensei in each other.

I feel I am worthy now to speak the words of the most educated:

Just my .02 cents

That is what I meant. We cannot pick our Sensei as students as we do not master the subject yet. By doing so, we are setting ourselves with a life full of biases. Suppose the theory that the earth is round is true, but if we are so unlucky to find a Sensei that believes the opposite, then we have a problem - a conundrum. Thus, I propose to follow the teaching of Master Bruce Lee: Be like water, my friend. Go with the flow. Live a free spirited, animalistic life such as a tiger, a sheep or even an ant. If our path is wrong and we make a grave mistake, we will be severely punished paid with our deaths. If we manage to avoid the mistake, then we live yet another day to see the sun rise.

Why does a person of your standing, decided to become a Catholic - albeit a lax one. Isn't religion also one of the culprits in preventing us from self-discovery? Religion does not offer full freedom to explore and limits us with their own rules that they forced upon us in the name of a higher being. A good example is the prohibition of condoms, which has led to a significant increase in people contracting incurable STDs. Or the ban on genetic modifications and stem cell research, which prevented science from making a leap forward. Religion and self-discovery are paradoxical in nature.