Local viewers continue to express their anger after “King the Land” introduces an Arab Prince in its recent episode.
On the July 8th and 9th episodes of “King the Land”, an Arab Prince appeared, and entered a rival relationship with male lead Goo Won as he actively pursued female lead Cheon Sarang.
According to Arab audiences, it is unacceptable that a Muslim character is shown drinking alcohol, as this act goes against their religion. In addition, it was an Indian that played the role of an Arab character, adding to the frustration.
As a result, as of July 11th, various criticisms have appeared for “King the Land” on the global film review and information platform IMDb.
One viewer demanded an official apology, saying, “This is disrespectful behavior. As Muslims and Saudis, we will not be satisfied with such a depiction. They have created a character that ‘represents’ Arab princes in an offensive way, which has nothing to do with Arabs or Muslims.”
Another viewer criticized, “The character presumed to be an Arab prince (played by a non-Arab actor) wore traditional Arab clothing but acted in the most terrible way according to ridiculous stereotypes. The depiction of Arabs as wealthy fools who are only interested in money is not the first time, and I hope it will be the last.”
The IMDb rating for “King the Land” has also fallen from above 5 to 3.5 (as of July 10th) and 2.2 (as of July 11th).
At the same time, even Korean viewers are criticizing the production team of “King the Land”.
“The portrayal of the Arab prince has received tremendous criticism and condemnation from Arab viewers. This shows a complete lack of respect for their culture, causing disappointment and anger among Arab viewers. If Korean culture was distorted and portrayed, wouldn’t Korean viewers be angry as well?”, a Korean netizen said.
Amidst the controversy, JTBC explained to Mydaily on the 10th, “The characters, regions, and place names depicted in the drama are all fictional settings. We did not portray anyone as a prince of a specific country.”
However, JTBC’s explanation did not satisfy the affected viewers and the situation only continues to escalate.
Source: Daum
