‘Beauties’ blur lines between free, fair speech

One of the most talked-about stories in the past month or so has been the reaction to an episode of “Misuda” (“Chatting Beauties”) in which a Korean college student said that short men are losers. It spawned all kinds of reactions - from companies marketing products to short men to the production staff resigning - and raised interesting questions about free speech, about the content of television programs and about whether the show is, in fact, scripted.

What’s interesting is that there was an episode of the show in July devoted to bashing foreign men, yet there was no outrage among Korean netizens. This suggests there is a double-standard regarding who it is acceptable to make fun of on TV, and that while the show thrives on flattering Korean men, anything veering from that “script” is a recipe for disaster.

“I guess when those beauties are calling foreign men losers that’s one thing but when the mark lands closer to home, well, ouch,” writes Puffin Watch.

“Putting Lee’s statement next to a couple of quotes from the last ‘controversial’ episode of Misuda makes for some interesting reading,” writes An Acorn in the Dog’s Food. He cites a couple of quotations from the July episode: Kenyan panelist Euphrasia said on the show, “In Korea it seems that if you’re tall and just speak English well, you’re treated as the king,” and German panelist Vera said, “If a German guy is tall then everybody thinks he’s handsome in Korea.”

An Acorn in the Dog’s Food continues, “Given some of the comments in that earlier episode, I would have expected Lee to be criticized by her peers. Or at least the vocal ones from before.”

Jessica! writes, “It’s interesting how women, foreign or not, continue to be seen as objects for entertainment. Scripting and censoring a show like this to silence women’s voices is just another symptom.”

Some felt the whole incident was blown way out of proportion. “I fail to see why a comment like that deserved the reaction it received,” Emma writes. “Sheesh. She’s just a college girl saying what most college girls say, though I personally wouldn’t have said that being short makes you a loser.”

Holterbarbour asks, “What is wrong with expressing a personal preference? Isn’t that what’s expected of them?”

Other users reacted to Lee’s comment that she was merely reading from a script. The last time we read about the show being scripted was during another controversy, when netizens objected to a book that panelist Vera wrote that said the women just memorized and repeated what was written.

“It’s hilarious how easily she admits that she had a script,” writes Peter. “Considering that the show aims to create a ‘conversational’ atmosphere, you’d think the producers would want that kept quiet. I wonder if viewers are upset about the fact that it’s all scripted, or if they assumed as much all along (as did I) and just don’t care.”

Chris in South Korea says, “Most shows follow scripts - no problem with that. It’s when the words coming out of your month are supposed to be yours that a script would seem to get in the way. But hey, she gets paid to say the words - she’ll have to live them down in infamy.”

The word “loser” wasn’t coined by the show, but it’s now frequently heard in Korea because of it. One can only imagine the damage done if a foreign woman were criticizing a Korean man, or worse, if a foreign man were criticizing a Korean woman on TV.

This whole issue is, as I see it, less about women speaking up for themselves, and more about insecurity making headlines. It’s a show that’s been built on beautiful foreign women flattering Korean men over the years, yet a few words of criticism are what everyone’s talking about.

*Readers are welcome to send suggestions for topics that they wish to be covered or blogs that they would like to see featured in this column. Please e-mail us at: estyle@joongang.co.kr.

By Brian Deutsch Contributing writer