K-drama ‘Big Mouth’ under fire for dialogue that allegedly perpetuates racial insensitivity
nme.comBig Mouth has come under fire for dialogue that allegedly perpetuates racial insensitivity.In the second episode of Big Mouth, which first aired on July 30, the series’ main character Park Chang-ho (played by Lee Jong-suk) provokes a fellow inmate on death row, asking if his mother had seaweed soup after giving birth to him.In South Korea, it is custom for Korean mothers to have seaweed soup after giving birth.
However, Chang-ho continued to rile the inmate up by asking what his mother had eaten after his birth for him to grow into a psychopath.“Did your mother eat seaweed soup after giving birth to you?
I am really curious as to what she ate to have given birth to a psycho like you. Did she eat Tom Yum Kung? Or seonji soup?” Chang-ho asked the inmate, which takes place at around the one-hour mark of the episode.
Tom Yum Kung is a hot and sour soup, widely known as a Thai delicacy.After the episode had gone live, the scene had gone viral amongst Thai viewers, which led to a number of Thai netizens began criticising the drama for its alleged insensitivity towards Thai culture.In one viral tweet, a Thai viewer posted screenshots of the subtitles from that specific scene and writing in the caption, “I’m not sure, but was the K-drama Big Mouth intending to be racist to Thailand?
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