K-Drama ‘King The Land’ makers issue apology for misrepresenting Arab culture
Korean drama ‘King the Land’ sparked online backlash over Arab character
K-Drama ‘King The Land’ makers have issued an apology for misrepresenting Arab culture!
JTBC’s Romantic comedy staring Lee Jun-ho and Im Yoon Ah in lead roles, also available on Netflix, sparked online backlash over the portrayal of an Arab character.
I was enjoying watching an episode of King of the Land, but when this scene came, I got angry. This is not what the Arabs look like! First, the non-Arab actor, Is it that difficult to bring an Arab actor? #KdramaOffendsTheArabs @SBS8news @YTN24 @KBSnews @NetflixKR
(@jtbclove) pic.twitter.com/JujSLDqOEy
— رُبـىٰ/루바✨. (@forestella44) July 10, 2023
“King the Land” episodes 7 and 8 featured a new character of Arab Prince Samir (Anupam Tripathi). The character in question has been portrayed as a womanizer who enjoys drinking with several women.
As soon as these episodes were released, viewers criticized the drama for not respecting Arab culture and demanded a apology from the production team.
“An apology from the production company for ‘King the Land
We would like to express our deep and sincere apology for causing unnecessary inconvenience to our viewers without full consideration of other valued cultures although we have no intention of caricaturing or distorting any particular country or culture in the process. It has been our sharp realization that there has been a lack of understanding, experience, and consideration for other cultures, We will do our best going forward to create content that can be enjoyed
by anyone regardless of where they are from and what kind of culture they have
We will take a thorough look into the part of the video which was
considered problematic, and do our best to make sure that right measures are taken, We earnestly promise to our viewers that more care will be taken down the road so that there will be no inconvenience in viewing our content.”
According to Netflix charts, “King the Land” is currently the second-most-watched show on the platform in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Here is how internet reacted to the last episodes of Kind the Land showing controversial Arab character:
I was enjoying king in the land until they decided to show that lousy guy as an “Arab”.
— Khadijah Mahuta Esq (@MrsMatawalle) July 11, 2023
King the land was such a good romcom series before ep7… like really do we still have to do these "arab" stereotypes not even talking about them casting an Indian actor as an Arab or the clothes….
— Nano (@selbyulie) July 8, 2023
