The TV series Cain and Abel (I) has been criticized for depicting Shanghai, China as dark and backward. The TV series East of the Garden of Eden (Part II) once attracted attention because of its luxurious location, but it was criticized because the second half was too rough. /Chosun Ilbo
Wang Si, a special correspondent of the Global Times, reported that the Korean Chosun Ilbo criticized the recent "unverified story of insulting China" in South Korea, saying that unverified Korean dramas can only encourage anti-Korean sentiment.
Chen Junjie, press officer of the Korean Embassy in South China, said that he couldn’t help being angry after watching the SBS TV series Cain and Abel recently. He said: "Don’t screenwriters write works without textual research? Shanghai in the play is not so much the scenery in 2009 as the 1960s. It is unbelievable to describe a modern city like Shanghai as a backward old city. "
More and more people point out that a thorough textual research is needed to keep the Korean Wave flowing. A careless description of Japan, China and other neighboring countries will inevitably be condemned for "distorting culture and history". Korean media are worried that the export of Korean dramas will also be frustrated.
The Korean media quoted the Global Times report entitled "Korean TV series distorting China" in March this year, saying that the scenery of Shanghai, China in SBS TV series Cain and Abel was portrayed as a backward scene in rural China in the 1960s and 1970s. "There were even scenes in which violent gangs in China shot people in broad daylight and the police in China poured water on Su Zhixie for torture, which was totally impossible in reality."
Chosun Ilbo said that the film crew explained that Shanghai was described as dark and horrible in order to emphasize the plot in the play. Cain and Abel is a story in which an elder brother tries to kill his younger brother for his own inheritance. The film crew said that such a scene was made to "emphasize the suffering of the protagonist wandering in do or die", but China protested: "It is a distortion to make a TV series without textual research, and no matter how clever it is, it can’t be forgiven."
Korean historical dramas have also been criticized by China media. In SBS TV series "Yuan Gai Su Wen", there is even a "mistake" that Mao Zedong signed on the screen behind Emperor Yangdi’s seat. The Embassy of China pointed out that more Korean historical dramas were produced without interviews about the size of China Palace or the appearance of prisons. Therefore, some people even suggested that "a visiting program should be launched to organize Korean playwrights to come to China to learn about the culture and history of China".
The article also said that South Korea’s MBC TV series "East of Eden" earned about 5 billion won by export. At first, the play attracted attention for shooting the location of Macao directly, but in the second half, streets in South Korea replaced Macao to save production costs, which caused criticism.
In December 2008, the car chase and gun battle on the outskirts of Macao was broadcast, but its background was the winter scene in South Korea. Cui Yonghao, vice president of the Korea Cultural Industry Promotion Agency, said: "To continue to develop Korean TV dramas, we need to work hard on historical research and screen editing."
Chosun Ilbo appealed that in order to export Korean dramas to Asia, Korean screenwriters should also change their perspective of observing Asia, instead of describing Macau as a gorgeous gambling city and Hong Kong as a dark alley, they should actively understand and explain the history and present situation of Asian neighbors.
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