Money Heist: Korea has seen its share of bad reviews.
This time, however, a particular scene in the drama is being criticized by fans for unnecessarily stroking flames of anti-Japanese sentiment.
The scene causing controversy involves the show’s character Tokyo.
Tokyo is a North Korean who leaves the country for its southern neighbor.
Tokyo is then subject to sexual assault but kills her assaulters to protect another woman.
At her lowest point, she is then recruited by the professor.
The professor asks her and the other recruits to pick an alias based on any city in the world.
The problematic scene appears when the character explains why she chose Tokyo.
Because we’re going to do something bad…
— Tokyo
The line refers to an older joke that was prevalent in the early 2000s.
At the time, Koreans would tell one another that if they were ever caught doing something bad in a foreign country, to state they were Japanese so they don’t bring shame to Korea.
It seems the newer generation of Koreans does not share that type of humor.
In an online community, a post asks, “Why Is This Scene So Controversial?”
In the post is a picture of the scene where Tokyo explains why she chose her name.
Because we’re going to do something bad
— Tokyo
The post has since been viewed over 170K times, and netizens wrote why they felt the scene was problematic.
Some netizens felt the scene was just tacky, with one comparing the scene to a cellular commercial.
Because you can’t be low on data! Whenever you need it, KT.
— Netizen
The tone is just tacky, and it felt like a commercial.
— Netizen
The vast majority of Korean netizens, however, felt that the scene was unnecessarily bashing Japan.
- “Honestly, it was a tacky way to bash Japan out of nowhere.”
- “I swear I am Korean, and I don’t like Japan either, but the anti-Japanese sentiment in the scene is totally unwarranted. If I was watching a Vietnamese movie and a character’s name is Seoul, and he goes killing people, I would honestly hate it. I understand Vietnam and Korea don’t have the history Korea has with Japan but still…”
- “Destroyed the original version. Also, get with the times. Why would you unnecessarily attack Japan? The actors, acting, and bad reviews are all reasons for the controversy.”
- Unwarranted anti-Japanese sentiment.
- ‘Let’s reunite the two Koreas, and Japan is bad!’ Can’t you see the director’s political beliefs? Lol His political beliefs should be kept to himself.
Money Heist: Korean has been plagued with bad reviews since the series’ release on Netflix. Domestic audiences have decried the lack of creativity and unbelievable plots in the remake.
Have you watched both? Which of the two do you prefer?
