A talk show in need of speech therapy

This column is more than four years old now and I am simply amazed that there are still so many TV shows that deserve to be slaughtered.? The hunt for each week’s prey has never been tough.? All you have to do is turn on your television, click your remote a few times and, voila, there is a victim to toy with.? This was exactly what I did last week. While using only tiny fingertip movements I easily came across the launch of a new show, “Chatter of Beauties.”? I was first persuaded to see the show by watching its trailer, which consisted of a dance sequence involving a dozen beautiful ladies from various countries in red miniskirts and thick make-up.? The ladies did nothing but smile and dance for some 30 seconds until the title emerged: “Chatter of Beauties, the Global Talk Show.”
The trailer gave no further information, so I was left confused about how the dance sequence could lead to a “global talk show.”? The trailer presented nothing except the dancing ladies, so I was unsure if the ladies were there to talk or dance.?
I first tuned into “Chatter of Beauties” on a Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m.? I also found their Web site, where the producers said that their goal is to invite expatriate women living in Korea to share their thoughts about this country.? Well, I have two questions here.? First, why only women?? Second, why did the women have to dance around in miniskirts?? After watching the one-hour show both questions remained unanswered.?
Don’t get me wrong here.? I do not dislike beautiful women.? On the contrary, I love any human beings who are beautiful and I believe the word “beauty,” which is often used like a female noun, is not gender-specific.? Still, I can’t understand why they had to wear miniskirts to talk about their lives in Korea?? Renowned feminists like Gloria Steinem are too busy to discuss a small Korean TV show, so let me do the talking here.?
So, in the show, the ladies were talking, not dancing, but they were still wearing the same provocative outfits.? This is a talk show without a brain, a chat show with the verbal capacity of an infant. There is a five-member panel and an emcee ― all Korean males ― and they question the 16 expatriate women.? On the show I watched, the Korean male panel asked the women questions about such illuminating issues as their experiences drinking with Korean men and their list of Koreans whom they respect.? However, at some point, the Korean men began flirting with the ladies.? Nam Hee-seok, the emcee, began asking an expatriate lady from a Muslim country how he could have four wives “like men in her country do,” adding, “Is there a way I can emigrate to your country?”? Mr. Nam, a comedian, is married to a dentist who is beautiful as well as talented and she recently had his daughter.? I developed an urge to call the relevant government office to start the process of shipping him to his desired destination. It being a Sunday, I held myself back.?
The climactic moment came in a segment where the ladies selected a partner from among the five-man panel to act out a scene from a Korean TV drama they like.? And the scenes that the producers selected had kissing and the ladies as well as the panel appeared more than happy to participate.? I have to pose another question here:? What is the point of kissing in a show designed to develop a global perspective of Korean society?? It was more like a nationally televised group blind date.?
Then I realized the truth. The producers of this chat show must all be desperate bachelors trying to widen the scope of their search for Miss Right onto a global stage.? I am so sorry that there is no quantitative way to prove my hypothesis at the moment and anyway I don’t want to waste any more of my time on this show. ?Maybe the program will only end after all the producers and panelists emigrate to Muslim countries and become naturalized polygamists.?

by Chun Su jin