IF ANYONE WHO'S READING THIS COMMENT IS WRITING A HISTORICAL FUSION GENRE, THIS IS A SIGN FROM GOD TO ALTER YOUR CHARACTER'S NAMES IF THEY'RE BASED ON REAL LIFE FIGURES! YOU'LL NEVER KNOW WHO CAN GET OFFENDED WITH YOUR WORK EVEN IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT'S NOTHING SERIOUS!
So you are saying that alternate history works wherein Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan won World War II is "different"…
With Joseon Exorcist, they're altering it the opposite way from the works you mentioned. They made good guys seemed bad. I read about the royals used in this drama. They really did Prince Yangnyeong dirty. In reality, he has no ambition to become king. He protected the gates way better than the drama portrayed him to be that the crime rates in Hanyang dropped. He also cherished his younger brother Chungnyung, not resenting him or seeing him as a rival like the drama wanted us to see. Honestly the more I think about it, the more problematic it gets. Especially when you realize that he literally still have living descendants who are proud of the fact that they are a part of a great man's lineage.
So you are saying that alternate history works wherein Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan won World War II is "different"…
AUs are different than retelling a based-on-real-life story in a completely different way. If the writer wrote about Nazi or Japan winning WW2 but not let out all the war crimes they committed, there is no problem. It's just a what-if study case. But when you write them as the good guys and glamorizing the hideous things they did such as saying that they're "part of an attempt to civilize the barbarians" (Like what the USA did with Native American "integration" boarding schools. They create their own version of the story which of course to make them seem like the good guy when in reality they're committing a cultural genocide. The natives are obviously enraged at this false narration. If someone make a movie / wrote a novel about how the USA did a noble thing by doing so to the natives, it will spark controversies and will be banned everywhere. It's literally a misleading and offensive propaganda.), people will be angry and everyone will call you a delusional Nazi/imperial Japan sympathizer maniac. And they have all the right to.
Do not compare western works with this drama. Free speech, free media, and views towards historical figures work differently in the east and west, especially when we're talking about Korea. They are very patriotic and have a very high respect on their important figures. For them they're not just "another people", but a part of their identity as a nation and they took pride in it. Maybe they'll be okay if the work portrays the figure in a better way compared to their real life figures such as what Mr Queen did with Cheoljong, but with JE it's the exact opposite. Moreover, they're using Prince Chungnyung, who will grew up to be King Sejong, one of the greatest Korean monarch. I too used to be confused about Knetz's fuss about this drama, but I came to the conclusion that if someone put my culture in similar situation, I'd be pissed off too. I'm not even a very patriotic person. Can you imagine how Koreans must be feeling?
That's what I am worried about too. Korean Cancel Culture is crazy. Not just JE actors, even Mr. Queen actors…
Mr. Queen also sparked some controversies (JE and MRQ have the same writer). When JBH said "So The Annals of Joseon Dynasty is nothing more than a mere tabloid". The Annals of Joseon Dynasty is very important to Korean history and Knetz took that line as an offense. They also made a petition for it, but people brushed it off. Now that JE controversy become trending, people used it to bring MRQ's past issue back up. MRQ actors and actresses are also impacted. SHS just lost an ad for a mask brand.
Why would they get blacklist from the industry? The whole controversy isn’t exactly their fault, no?
They also put the blame on the actors and actresses because they agreed to star in the show. Before signing the contract, actors and actresses must read the script first so they can decide if they want to take the role or not. Knetz think if that the actors know well about the potentially misleading and offensive storyline, why would they agree to do it? They even seem very happy to do it as seen on the press conference and interviews(I don't exactly get this part because wtf are they supposed to do then, put an angry face? But nevertheless they're also complaining about it)The power of Knetz over someone's life is surreal I'm honestly scared.
BREAKING: The drama is officially cancelled. Audiences will not see the continuation after the 2nd episode so the drama ended there. PD Shin Kyung-soo is contacting the actors and actresses to tell them the unfortunate news. SBS decided that with all the controversies and since there are no sponsors, they cannot continue to air the drama. (Source: Ilgan Sports)
Apparently Knetz wants the actors and actresses involved to "Sit back and reconsider their decision to join this drama" I think the one who should sit back and reconsider their decision is the writer... The actors and actresses are only following orders because it's their job. They worked super hard for it. I truly feel bad for them, they don't deserve any of this.
Also, following this drama's controversy they are also bringing up the Mr. Queen issue because they have the same writer even though the drama ended last month with high ratings.... Shin Hye-sun was also removed from a recent mask advertisement because of it... Arrrghh I don't know what to say :(
Those who haven't watched yet, don't watch cause royal family already called SBS to cancel it. Don't watch cause…
Even the literal royal family is speaking up.... only a grand divine miracle can save this drama right now. I feel so bad for the actors and actresses involved :((
1) The characters. Koreans are really proud of their history and they don't like how the writer portrays their historical figures. The first scene that they have a trouble with is when King Taejong was hallucinated by the evil spirit and killed many of his people. Audiences, especially non-Koreans, who have no proper knowledge of Korean history would think that he's one evil king, which will give a bad image on their history and mislead many people. The second scene is when Prince Chungnyung was in the courtesan's house with the priest and interpreter. He just stood there in the corner of the room and he even poured drink to the priest when he's literally the king's son. Well yeah he's just a third prince but he's still a core member of the royal family. During that time period aristocrats have so much power and respect even a mere local governor or mayor (watch 100 days my prince to understand what I'm talking about) so the scene seems illogical.
2) The historical accuracy. Of course there was no Christianity in Korea at that time. Christianity was introduced to the country in the 16th century (This drama is set 200 years before that) and they do it in secret because of the heavy persecution. So it's very illogical to have king Taejong asking for the help of European catholic priests. Even after being labeled as fiction, I think I too would squint my eyes and raised an eyebrow in confusion if I'm Korean. Like can you imagine if there's a show where George Washington asked for the help of Buddhist monks from Tibet to help him on the American revolution? Yeah think about it. You too would go "WTF". That's how Koreans are feeling. (I'm not American btw I'm just using it as an example)
3) The properties. Knetz thinks that the properties of this drama are too influenced by Chinese culture. For example: The mooncake, the sword, the war armour, and the clothes. (I notice it as well, they're kind of different from other historical dramas) There's a tension between Chinese and Koreans because of cultural debates over some things (hanbok and kimchi among others, it appears that China claim those as theirs. China also have good relation with North Korea, which added more fuel to the fire) so (South) Koreans literally will reject everything Chinese such as the bibimbap controversy in Vincenzo.
4) The production team. There's a rumor that the writer (Park Gye-ok) is Korean-Chinese. There's also another rumor that the funding of this drama is coming from Chinese company(ies) and that this drama is aimed towards Chinese audiences. SBS denied everything I just wrote.
I hope this helps to explain the situation. I tried to be as neutral as possible. I think the best way out is to: 1) Change the character names like Kingdom 2) Air it on Netflix or something rather than national TV. Mr Queen also sparked some controversies (they have the same writer) but it's not as bad as this because it airs on cable tv which has smaller audiences than national tv. You can only watch cable tv contents if you subscribe to it but if it airs on national tv the whole country can access it. EDIT: I really hope they go on this route because I read that they're losing sponsors and no ads. If they sold it to Netflix they can cover the production cost because that's what matters the most right now. If I were the showrunners I wouldn't even think of the profit anymore I just don't want to go bankrupt lol. EDIT 2: Wow seriously, not WeTV saying that this drama is based on DPRK history in the description. box. WeTV as a Chinese broadcasting platform itself caused controversy already, now this? Are they trying to anger Knetz on purpose or something? Netflix / Viu please save this drama. Even though it's unlikely. 3) The government to issue a terms and conditions (do's and don'ts) on making historical dramas. Since historical fusion drama (like Mr Queen, Scarlett Heart, Love in The Moonlight, etc) are getting even more popular, there needs to be some boundaries on how far can a writer twist history in the name of fiction, or should they be twisted at all.
Not C-netizens too... online war is inevitable...
Also, following this drama's controversy they are also bringing up the Mr. Queen issue because they have the same writer even though the drama ended last month with high ratings.... Shin Hye-sun was also removed from a recent mask advertisement because of it... Arrrghh I don't know what to say :(
1) The characters.
Koreans are really proud of their history and they don't like how the writer portrays their historical figures. The first scene that they have a trouble with is when King Taejong was hallucinated by the evil spirit and killed many of his people. Audiences, especially non-Koreans, who have no proper knowledge of Korean history would think that he's one evil king, which will give a bad image on their history and mislead many people. The second scene is when Prince Chungnyung was in the courtesan's house with the priest and interpreter. He just stood there in the corner of the room and he even poured drink to the priest when he's literally the king's son. Well yeah he's just a third prince but he's still a core member of the royal family. During that time period aristocrats have so much power and respect even a mere local governor or mayor (watch 100 days my prince to understand what I'm talking about) so the scene seems illogical.
2) The historical accuracy.
Of course there was no Christianity in Korea at that time. Christianity was introduced to the country in the 16th century (This drama is set 200 years before that) and they do it in secret because of the heavy persecution. So it's very illogical to have king Taejong asking for the help of European catholic priests. Even after being labeled as fiction, I think I too would squint my eyes and raised an eyebrow in confusion if I'm Korean. Like can you imagine if there's a show where George Washington asked for the help of Buddhist monks from Tibet to help him on the American revolution? Yeah think about it. You too would go "WTF". That's how Koreans are feeling. (I'm not American btw I'm just using it as an example)
3) The properties.
Knetz thinks that the properties of this drama are too influenced by Chinese culture. For example: The mooncake, the sword, the war armour, and the clothes. (I notice it as well, they're kind of different from other historical dramas) There's a tension between Chinese and Koreans because of cultural debates over some things (hanbok and kimchi among others, it appears that China claim those as theirs. China also have good relation with North Korea, which added more fuel to the fire) so (South) Koreans literally will reject everything Chinese such as the bibimbap controversy in Vincenzo.
4) The production team.
There's a rumor that the writer (Park Gye-ok) is Korean-Chinese. There's also another rumor that the funding of this drama is coming from Chinese company(ies) and that this drama is aimed towards Chinese audiences. SBS denied everything I just wrote.
I hope this helps to explain the situation. I tried to be as neutral as possible. I think the best way out is to:
1) Change the character names like Kingdom
2) Air it on Netflix or something rather than national TV. Mr Queen also sparked some controversies (they have the same writer) but it's not as bad as this because it airs on cable tv which has smaller audiences than national tv. You can only watch cable tv contents if you subscribe to it but if it airs on national tv the whole country can access it.
EDIT: I really hope they go on this route because I read that they're losing sponsors and no ads. If they sold it to Netflix they can cover the production cost because that's what matters the most right now. If I were the showrunners I wouldn't even think of the profit anymore I just don't want to go bankrupt lol.
EDIT 2: Wow seriously, not WeTV saying that this drama is based on DPRK history in the description. box. WeTV as a Chinese broadcasting platform itself caused controversy already, now this? Are they trying to anger Knetz on purpose or something? Netflix / Viu please save this drama. Even though it's unlikely.
3) The government to issue a terms and conditions (do's and don'ts) on making historical dramas. Since historical fusion drama (like Mr Queen, Scarlett Heart, Love in The Moonlight, etc) are getting even more popular, there needs to be some boundaries on how far can a writer twist history in the name of fiction, or should they be twisted at all.