Actor Lee Min Ho’s “Sex And Pregnancy” Scene Horrifies “When The Stars Gossip” Viewers
Spoiler Alert
One scene from the latest episode of tvN‘s struggling K-Drama streaming on Netflix has viewers baffled by the scriptwriter, director, and even the cast who took on the show.
In Episode 6 of When The Stars Gossip, a space station romance between an astronaut and an OBGYN doctor on a mission, lead actors Lee Min Ho and Gong Hyo Jin are seen observing the behavior of mice.
When Gong Hyo Jin’s character, Commander Eve Kim, questions whether the two mice will end up mating, Lee Min Ho’s character, Gong Ryong, assures her of it—claiming he knows what he’s doing.
When it comes to sex and pregnancy, I’m the expert.
— Gong Ryong (according to Netflix’s official English subtitles)
While the line doesn’t sound too off-putting in the subtitles—or in the dubbed version, where Gong Ryong simply says, “When it comes to pregnancies, I am the expert”—it is now being berated by Korean-speaking viewers who watched/heard it in the Korean original.
In the Korean original, the line is grammatically constructed closer to:
I’m the expert at/about having sex and impregnating.
— Gong Ryong
After the episode aired, viewers flocked to online communities in outrage. Some pointed out the disrespect toward OBGYN doctors by portraying Gong Ryong like a “breeder,” while others mocked the production for costing an extravagant amount of money to be set in space yet not involving space at all.
- “I cannot believe this is a tvN weekend K-Drama that cost ₩50.0 billion KRW (about $34.3 million USD) to make.”
- “What the hell is this?”
- “This… aired? Who bagged the ₩50.0 billion KRW (about $34.3 million USD) production budget?”
- “I’m flabbergasted that this show still landed investments with a script like this.”
- “The scriptwriter put in 0 effort to make this even remotely sci-fi. Instead, she smothered the whole script in sex.”
- “Seo Sook Hyang must have been possessed by a demon or something when she wrote this, because otherwise… What happened?”
- “I’m having second thoughts about the cast who chose to take on these roles.”
- “I’m an OBGYN doctor and… this is offensive. I’m a doctor who treats women, not a fricking breeder. This is so disappointing, more so because I liked her earlier works.”
- “Both the scriptwriter and the director have no idea what they’re doing.”
Though one netizen recognized the cheekiness in Gong Ryong’s answer and related it to a Natalie Portman clip they had seen…
View this post on Instagram
I wonder if this is a twist on that one Natalie Portman video. I think it’s something she said on a talk show about being asked about her father’s job when she was younger. Her dad is an infertility specialist, but based on how she described it, her teacher called her mom and asked about the dad or something… I saw it on YouTube Shorts.
— Netizen
…most simply expressed their disappointment in the scriptwriter who can’t seem to stop talking about sex, the director who is driving the show to its demise, and even the cast who must have read the script and still accepted the role.
- “It’s shocking to me that no one from the directing team or the cast lineup found this script to be problematic.”
- “This show had me confusedAF since the fruit flies. For one, scientists would refer to it as ‘mating,’ not ‘having sex.’ I can’t believe the script is still hung up on sex. And… OBGYN doctors are not sex experts. Has this scriptwriter never been to an OBGYN before?”
- “What the hell is this…”
- “How many episodes do cast members get to see before accepting a role? I’m going to be so disappointed if the actors still chose to be a part of this AFTER reading the script.”
- “What does this scriptwriter think OBGYN doctors do…? I’m disgusted.”
- “Sex, sex, sex. So immature. What OBGYN doctor would act like this in real life?”
- “This is low key super disrespectful toward OBGYN doctors.”
- “Does anyone ever say sh*t like that out loud in real life? Like, ever?”
- “I’m still trying to draw the connection between an OBGYN doctor and sex expertise.”
This scene is one of many that have turned the viewers off from When The Stars Gossip. Previously, its “misogynistic“ portrayal of supporting characters also faced fierce backlash. Given, the viewership rating is plummeting to an all-time low—proof that viewers show no mercy when it comes to K-Dramas poorly made.
Read more about When The Stars Gossip here:
