Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Dae’s new drama “Sh**ting Stars” under fire for being racist and playing off sexual harassment as a joke
With just 2 episodes, “Sh**ting Stars” is facing heavy criticism from international netizens.
tvN’s new Fri-Sat drama “Sh**ting Stars”, starring Lee Sung Kyung and Kim Young Dae, was off to a rough start with its premiere last week. Not only did it record low viewership ratings domestically of under 2% for both the first two episodes, “Sh**ting Stars” has also been called out for being problematic by international viewers.
Specifically, in scenes of episode 1 where the male lead Gong Tae Sung has a mission trip to Africa, the continent was disrespectfully and stereotypically portrayed as a monolith where there is no access to clean water with Kim Young Dae’s character being depicted as a “savior”. Moreover, the use of a song from Lion King also makes many viewers feel offended.
The second episode of “Sh**ting Stars” continued to receive negative comments for playing off sexual harassment towards the female lead Han Byul (Lee Sung Kyung) as a joke. Specifically, when Gong Tae Sung discovers that Han Byul made a typo mistake and published an incorrect article about his “gender”, Gong Tae Sung gets so angry that he enters the lady’s room and almost takes off his pants in front of his female co-worker to prove she’s wrong.
Netizens’ comments on Twitter:
- The way they portray Africa is ridiculous and racist
- Both episodes are problematic. What is wrong with the writers?
- tvN removed the “Lion King” song from streaming sites, otherwise it will be a big deal.
- No wonder this drama flops.
- Sexual harassment is not funny and should not be played off as a joke. The scene is so disturbing.
Moreover, many viewers claim “Sh**ting Stars” earns low ratings also because Kim Young Dae and Lee Sung Kyung can’t lead their own drama. Especially Kim Young Dae, whose acting has come under controversy since “Penthouse”. As for Lee Sung Kyung, her previous successful works namely “Doctors” or “Dr. Romantic 2” were led by veteran seniors such as Kim Rae Won and Han Suk Kyu. Therefore, her carrying Kim Young Dae alone is said to inevitably lead to the failure of “Sh**ting Stars”.
