Nun Song I

I do not think she has anything to do with it, but she rips them to inflict pain/scare. She is anti-social and sadistic. She did the same thing with the girl of episode 1 that wanted an autograph. Instead, she offered her a photo, but at the same time scared the hell out of her. Also, with the crazy guy, where she wanted to hurt his face with the knife, but not kill him. She gets a rush from seeing scar(r)ed people.

According to the official descriptions (Korean age):
JCW: 29 years
KYJ: 22 years
JCW's girlfriend: 31 years
JCW's pervert friend: 29 years
The two friends of KYJ: 22 years

They are iljins, probably they are such awful students that they cannot finish high school. I do not how it is in Korea, but in my country there were always 2 boys or girls that were like two or three years older than the rest, because they kept failing the classes

I think the drama has the potential to become one of the best kdramas ever, but do not be surprised if the ratings do not recover. The ratings for the second episode are actually very low. Since Memories of the Alhambra (Dec-2018), only three dramas scored lower:

- Romance is a Bonus Book (4.420%)
- When My Love Blooms (4.400%)
- Melting Me Softly (3.177%)

Even "Confession" and "Hi Bye Mama" did significantly better. I think Korea really did not like the first episode. I was reading some comments and the majority were quite negative. "Boring" was a word that was dropped quite a few times. It is always a big red flag whenever the drop off from the first episode is so huge (even the star power of KSH could not save it). My opinion is that we should stop actively following the ratings in the hopes that it will break records (such as people did with IC, CLOY and TWOTM), because the viewership will most likely be a shit show. There is a good chance that KSH is completing the triple crown of post-army failures. But it is nothing we can do about, so just enjoy the show

I think the critics will have a field day with this drama. In episode 1, there were references to Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle and Shoalin Soccer. In episode 2, I also noticed a reference to the dance scene of Pulp Fiction including the same background music. If the director is using inspiration from HK cinema, Quentin Tarantino etc.,there is bound to be more non-PC behavior... Uh oh...

Hey, it is me again. For someone that has a very strict definition of sexual harassment. Have you ever considered this story in your choice for Mystic Pop-Up Bar: https://www.soompi.com/article/1402761wpp/jtbc-responds-to-rumors-linking-mystic-pop-up-bar-pd-to-jang-ja-yeons-list-says-he-was-cleared-of-suspicions

Sure he was acquitted, but there is a saying "when there is smoke, there is fire". I mean, your name will not be mentioned out of nowhere in someone's suicide note... I think he might have done something inappropriate to Jang Ja Yeons (even if it is only cat-calling). Since you are adhering to the UN-definitions. Why did you still decide to watch the show? This is a serious question. Please do not waive it away as a nitpicky or silly question to trick you.

I try to keep an open mind as much as possible. Before I actually received your source, I had the feeling that others were on a continuous search to be offended. I still think that most people do not know the background story of dreads, but feel that they are socially obliged to hate it. That is why no one actually has provided me with a good enough answer.

However, you provided a source that explained its painful and delicate background on this topic. Other arguments were more akin to the "you cannot have it, because it is ours". But that is like saying to Chris Hemsworth that he cannot have small eyes, because it is an Asian thing... That is possessive behavior. But if it is part of a dark page in their history that formed them, then I am willing to consider other people's feelings and adjust my behavior

It is actually the opposite of TKEM. With TKEM, the fans did not really use arguments. Here, both sides are using arguments. Some are good, some are bad, but there is still some substance to the debate. This makes it actually interesting, because there is a dialogue between different people adhering to different convictions. You learn from this more than TKEM's comment sections, where the best arguments were: your IQ is too low/high to understand this drama or the Netflix/Nielsen rankings say...

Thanks, if your source is reliable you have a point that it is racist. Because of this passage:

"Later on, when Africans were being enslaved, their captors would shave the hair off of black women’s heads to deny and rid them of their culture."

This is a valid argument. The other arguments by others about that black people claimed the hairstyle first and therefore it is theirs is not good enough in my book. Yours is.

I am not trying to diss you. I am only trying to explain to you that even the silliest scenes can be interpreted wrongly.

Bill Kellogg once said: "If you are on a continuous search to be offended, you will always find what you are looking for; even when it isn't there"

I think your sexual harassment case is perhaps not a good example to prove my point, because it is valid. But calling her a "homewrecker" goes a bit far... It is not that JCW is married or have kids, which are the condition(s) you need to fulfil in order to wreck a home. Now she is just a seducer. In fact, Son Ye Jin is more of a homewrecker, because she caused Hyun Bin to break off his wedding.

How about these scenes:

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq2JCpMBmAo
By your UN standards, Son Ye Jin is also sexual harasser. She called Hyun Bin totally her type when she ran away from him. Is this not cat-calling?

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxYMIIMSKJw
Sexual harassment? He did not ask for her consent. Sure, it was a life or death decision, but he had enough time to ask for her consent

I am not saying that you are wrong.

But I know a couple who was engaged, but then the guy fell in love with another person. He did not cheat on his fiancée, but felt a better chemistry with the new girl and he broke off the engagement. He even took a bullet for her.

Sounds familiar?

Yep, that's the plot of CLOY... The drama that you gave a 10 on MDL.

I am not saying that it okay to dress up as Rastafari.

But note that Korea is a very uniform country where everyone has the same hairstyle and tries to make themselves as white as possible, how can you successfully project a pervy guy on TV? Find the opposite of that type of person, right? Having another stereotypical Korean flower boy with all kinds of flies surrounding him does not really bring home the message that he is a pervert. For cultures that are more diverse such as America, it is much easier to cast different style of people.

It is still wrong of course to borrow elements from different cultures for comedic relief, but diversity and individuality in uniform countries is shown through clothes and hairstyle. And my view is that Backstreet Rookie made this mistake by accident, but a lot of people think that they did it on purpose to ridicule black people... That goes too far IMO

But the origin of dreads are not from the Blacks. It has been worn for centuries by other civilizations such as the Vikings. But Nordic people stopped wearing the style, but if they wore it again. Who is then the owner of the recipe? I mean, they will most likely say the Africans or the Rastafaris, but factually it is from their Nordic ancestors...

You sure about tattoos that they are not bounded by culture? Tattoos play an important role in the Polynesian culture, but you still see non-Polynesians wearing these type of tattoos... Yes, a tattoo of your boyfriend's head is not cultural heritage, but Polynesian-style tattoos performed by your local tattoo shop is. But why are people more lenient with this? New Zealand and Australia did not necessarily have the best reputation when it comes to treating the Polynesians. They basically committed genocide on these people...

Asia is a few years behind in terms of understanding cultural differences. In Thailand, for example, there are actually people dressing up as Mexicans cholos with lowriders, because they think it is cool. Check this video for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycCUkTBQTIY. It is really not fair to call them racists, whilst they are actually just ignorant. I think they really do not know better. Same here with Backstreet Rookie

Okay, but would you really not welcome the idea of more people wearing dreadlocks? I mean, tattoos used to be a taboo as well. But since more and more have them, it is getting socially more accepted. This could have the same effect. By disallowing people to wear that hairstyle, you are keeping the stigma in tact.

The flies are to show that he is a pervert. The Korean word for pervert is SSEULEGI (쓰레기), which actually means trash/garbage. That is why the flies are surrounding him. They also continue to make this joke in Knowing Bros where they talk to a plastic trash can and call him Min Kyung Hoon, because MKH is known as the pervert in the team.

I think that it wrong from the director to combine the dreads with the flies, but I do not think it was intention necessarily to say that dreads are dirty

I did not know what other word to use that is why I put it in parenthesis. I am a Westerner myself.

If black people are dissing the show, then it is warranted. But most people criticizing it are not people of color. It is just identity politcs.

Yes, but here is the thing. Even in the show, JCW explicitly tells KYJ that he is 100% Korean. So he is not black, Rastafari or whatsoever. But people do not buy this idea and call it cultural appropriation. That is fine, but explain to me why it is still cultural appropriation. What is the reason why only Africans/Jamaicans can wear this hairstyle. Is there any historical significance? I mean, I understand why people cannot wear a Yellow/Jewish badge on their clothes due to its painful history. Does dreadlocks happen to have the same significance? I could not find the answer online, but perhaps you know it better than I do? Unless I get a good answer to this question, I share the opinion that the current debate is a bit hypocritical.

An analogy: suppose I am Korean, but I have brown hair and blue eyes (very rare, but happens sometimes) and you ask me whether I am white. And I tell you that I am 100% Korean. Would you be the type of person to tell me that I am wrong? Even if I tell you, with a straight face, that I am Korean?

Look, if Backstreet Rookie kept it vague, then you can accuse them from racism. But if they made it clear he is not, why do people want to keep pushing the idea he is. That is the same as forcing the brown haired and blue eyed kid to say that he is white only based on his appearance, whilst he is not. That behavior is in my opinion even more dangerous. I would not call my attitude gaslighting.

Question, I have been posting a myriad of comments on how I do not think dreadlocks are racist. However, my view can be wrong... So I want to hear the reason why dreadlocks are cultural appropriation. I mean, I understand the sensitivity behind blackface (a way of white people to ridicule black people) and the Jewish/ Yellow badge (a way of the Nazis to recognize Jews), but what is the background behind dreadlocks? Why is it a typical Jamaican/African thing and should others not wear this hairstyle? Did someone force them to wear that hairstyle for example? I could not really find the answer on the internet, so I might as well drop my question here.