“Love Next Door” Hit With Scathing Criticism For Ignorant Representation Of Africa
International netizens are calling out the scriptwriters of Love Next Door for their insensitive representation of Africa.
The Jung Hae In and Jung So Min-starrer is a story about two childhood friends slowly turning into lovers. The mother of Choi Seung Hyo, the male protagonist, is portrayed as a career woman who works at the Korean embassy and has traveled around a lot for her job. The show specifically mentions “France” and “Africa” as the two places she had been posted at previously.
This mention of Africa is the very first reason why many have called out the show’s writers. They argued that naming “Africa” alongside “France” showed the writers’ ignorance, implying they either didn’t know that the former is a continent and the latter, a country, or they didn’t care enough to look up an African country’s name for the script.
All these f*cking K-dramas and their disrespect for the continent of Africa has got to f*cking stop at some f*cking point or I’m swearing this sh*t off. The weird racism and homophobia they be doing is half the reason I watch barely watch K-dramas now. #LOVENEXTDOOR
— Kyla WANTS YOU TO PAY WRITERS & ACTORS Sylvers (@Hey_KayKay) September 22, 2024
continent. the second largest continent to exist actually. there are 54 countries that exist there as of now. a lot of people from that continent watch this show. is it so fucking hard to pick up a map and pick any country you can see in it to make your characters ++
— cath next door (@inthemoodforkyo) September 22, 2024
finally someone is talking about it 😭 i already mentioned this on MDL but seriously can kdrama writers stop mentioning africa as if it's a country.. i genuinely wonder if they're aware about it being a continent not a country https://t.co/f4QrZmiHaD
— wassy 🇵🇸 (@aristocatz06) September 22, 2024
The second reason why many are upset involves a dialogue from a recent episode, where Seung Hyo’s father tells off his mother for always choosing to go to “dangerous” places replete with “civil wars” and “terrorism.”
Netizens felt it was a stereotypical and insulting association to make with the entire African continent and, once again, a result of ignorance.
I have had a enough of kdrama using Africa, do something else.
Like y’all are so miserable and dumb. Wtf is even Africa??? Africa is a continent not a country!!!
The racist shit we see every damn time#LoveNextDoorEp11 #LoveNextDoor #Kdrama pic.twitter.com/Kj5ngeqY3K— Stacey green (@Staceyg67769800) September 22, 2024
kdrama writers constantly bring up africa in a bad light unprovoked and label an entire continent as a country they rly never learn 😭 https://t.co/a3viMAjU20
— ً (@fumiyafilm) September 22, 2024
The obsession some Kdrama writers have with Africa is quite something🥴🥴🥴 #LoveNextDoorEp11
— nolizwe (@ma_mhlaba) September 21, 2024
This is not the first time a popular show on Korean TV has been called out for misrepresenting Africa. Previously, SES member Bada was criticized severely for her skewed perception of Africa and its people. The backlash against her was especially focused on the fact that she misinformed her daughter about the way children live in Africa. You can read more about the incident here.
