Netflix’s “One Of Us Is Lying” Is Facing Backlash For Offensive Korean Subtitles

Netflix‘s drama One Of Us Is Lying is in hot water with audiences for the Korean translation of one of its episodes. The show, which isn’t available on Netflix in America, is available to stream on Netflix Korea.

With the rise in streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney +, it has never been easier for Koreans to enjoy American shows. This is especially true as American shows on these platforms, more often than not, have Korean subtitles.

Although the subtitles allow Koreans to enjoy the shows most of the time, there are instances when the subtitles fail to capture cultural nuances. As in the case of Netflix’s One Of Us Is Lying.

On December 12, a post uploaded onto a Korean online community has since gone viral. In the post, the author uploaded two screenshots of subtitles for a particular line in the episode. One was the English subtitles of the line, “Yeah, he’s really got a thing for, uh, Jake’s sloppy seconds, huh?”

The second photo is of the same line subtitled in Korean.

TJ has a hobby of “dish-washing” the women Jake meets.

— Line In “One Of Us Is Lying” (Season 2 Episode 4)

In the subtitles, Netflix uses the term Seolguji (설거지), which is the act of dish-washing. The term, however, is also used in some chauvinistic online communities to derogatorily refer to the act of marrying a woman who has had many sexual partners.

Netizens voiced their displeasure at both the original term and the translated Korean subtitles, stating that it objectified women.

• “The original (English) term is just as vulgar. (Explains sloppy seconds), yuck.”
• “Are they not even embarrassed by themselves?”
• “F@ck. That’s dirty. Who subtitled it?”
• “I’m trying to ignore it because there are people who use the term in real life.”
• “It’s so dirty, really.”
• “(Seolguji) also means to come into ownership of something that is used or discarded. For example, the term is used in stock trading, to refer to a type of stock. It also refers to when you buy a particular stock for a high price only for the stock price to drop soon after.”

What are your thoughts?