Koreans Voice Outrage At BL-Thriller Webtoon “Killing Stalking” Getting A K-Drama Adaptation
Content Warning
Korean webtoonist Koogi confirmed, with an official Twitter announcement, that her original, award-winning “BL” genre series Killing Stalking will be getting a live-action K-Drama adaptation.
KS will be made into a drama!
I’m sure you were surprised. I think it will be a good opportunity and a great challenge for me. I think it’s all thanks to KS fans’ continued interest and love.
We’ll come back with good news soon!
Thank you always and we’ll work hard!✊— 킬링스토킹_쿠기(Killing Stalking_Koogi_クギ) (@kooo_gi) February 24, 2022
Killing Stalking, a ₩100 million KRW (about $82,900 USD) grand prize winner of the 2nd Lehzin World Comics Contest, is a disturbing thriller about the abusive and manipulative relationship between two male characters: Yoon Bum, a traumatized stalker, and Oh Sang Woo, a misogynistic murderer.
Despite being R-rated, the webtoon has been a huge hit since its grand finale in 2019. Having been localized and published in multiple languages like English, Japanese, and Italian, Killing Stalking has readers from all over the world—who all shared great excitement at the news of the adaptation.
On the other hand, the news sparked a different kind of reaction from Koreans—especially from Korean women. They voiced outrage at the decision to turn Killing Stalking into a live-action K-Drama, more specifically pointing out “the dangers of portraying Oh Sang Woo’s femicide” on screen.
추격자 영화도 예쁘게 닦아다 소비하고, 여성이 시체1 2 3으로 출연하는 거에 혐오적이라 했더니 여자만 죽이는 캐릭터 아니라 말하며 그게 마치 취향의 영역인 것처럼 여겨지니까 기어이 이런 작품까지 드라마가 됨. 차근차근 가까워졌을 뿐이지 갑자기 떨어져 나온 게 아니다. https://t.co/Lk0uOdFzAB
— 마녀 (@VI0LET_RAI) February 24, 2022
When ‘The Chaser’ came out, you all watched it with no problem. When I said it’s misogynistic to have actresses appear as literally ‘Dead Female Body 1, 2, and 3,’ I was told the character ‘doesn’t only kill women.’ You all tried to convince me that this is a genre that can become a preference to some. And that has gotten us here, with webtoons like this getting K-Drama adaptations. We, as a whole, steadily walked toward this ending. It didn’t happen overnight.
— @VI0LET_RAI/Twitter
작가님.. 킬링스토킹 시작했다가 중도 하차했던 1인입니다. 음지에서는 뇌 빼고 보니까 자극적이네 마라맛이네 중독적이네 하는 거지 이거 현실로 가져오는 순간 그냥 ‘일베펨코충 참교육 남주’라고요… 뉴스 안 보세요? 맨날 죽어나가는 여자들 안 보이세요? 이게 도전인가요 엿먹이는 거지… https://t.co/T3Yp4gEMM1
— 아올 (@aowl3_9) February 24, 2022
Koogi… I’m one of those readers who started reading Killing Stalking and quit halfway through. When it’s ‘underground,’ fine. We read it without thinking too much about it. We like the aggressiveness. We like the violence. We say it’s entertaining. But that’s all when it stays there, underground. Once we bring it to the screen, it becomes justification of ilbe-users. Do you not watch the news? Are you really unaware of the countless Korean women who end up dead each day? This is not a challenge you should take on. You’re f*cking over your own kind.
— @aowl3_9/Twitter
이게 어떻게 좋은 소식이냐 ‘여자’만 골라 죽이는 여혐살인마가 주인공인 작품을 양지화하겠다고? 음지여서 통용되었던 빻취라는 걸 이해를 못하는 듯,,,이 작품이 그런 주인공을 비판하는 것도 아니고 여혐살인자 미화의 끝판왕 아님? 진짜 여혐민국 현실… https://t.co/I3g8ffOiAj
— ㄷㅌ (@dotol_secret_) February 24, 2022
How is this ‘good news’ for any of us? This webtoon has a main character that is outright misogynistic and only murders women for his hate toward females. To turn this into a K-Drama makes no sense. The webtoon was ‘acceptable’ only because it remained relatively underground to those who seek it. Plus, it’s not like this webtoon ends up criticizing the women-hating murderer. If anything, it tries to justify the way he is. Does it not? Why does South Korea hate its women so much?
— @dotol_secret_/Twitter
킬스 실사화 왜함?
뉴스틀면 나오는데 https://t.co/eDdH1bVKC6— 키오 (@tmfm_69) February 24, 2022
Why would we need a K-Drama adaptation? Turn on the news and we see it in live-action every day.
— @tmfm_69/Twitter
Thousands of comments have chimed in, criticizing KidariStudio for selecting Killing Stalking to adapt and even the webtoonist for accepting the adaptation offer.
- “This is not it… Not because it’s BL in genre, but because it’s… Why does this need a K-Drama adaptation? Insane. We don’t need so much cruelty. Don’t cross the line. K-Dramas are literally trying too hard now.”
- “Please read sh*t like this in the corners and do not bring it to the screen.”
- “This needs to remain a niche webtoon and not be turned into a K-Drama. The content is not it…”
- “I looked up some scenes and wow. The main character looks like a kid. So small… The plot is disgusting. I don’t get why people read this kind of stuff.”
- “But there are literally thousands of other webtoons that are more entertaining. Why this one?”
- “Great. This is the one that’s going to f*ck over the whole K-Drama boom.”
- “Ridiculous. But I’m sure the K-Drama version will be heavily edited from the original version. It has to be, right? Besides, I don’t even know who will say yes to acting the characters. It’s going to take a lot of skills to portray.”
Pointing out how, in the past decade, Korea has seen a spike in the number of stalking and murdering crimes against women, the comments insisted that the K-Drama adaptation of Killing Stalking will “romanticize abusive relationships” even more and potentially “give reason to the female-hating males.”
This is not suitable to be on screen, especially not now. Times have changed. I know that Killing Stalking has a lot of international readers and it’s a huge hit outside Korea. But that’s because international readers have a higher tolerance to genres and themes like this. In Korea though, where misogyny and femicide are unsolved ongoing problems… It should not be made. It will only give reason to the female-hating males to exist. It will give them a sense of ‘Yes, this is it. This is how we feel and this is normal.’
— Anonymous Comment
Neither KidariStudio nor Koogi has responded to the outcry.
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