A recent event, which features Hollywood star Margot Robbie in Korea, attracted negative opinions from netizens.
On July 2nd, Hollywood actress Margot Robbie attended a promotional event for her upcoming movie, “Barbie”, which was held at the Yeongdeungpo Times Square in Korea. The event was attended by director Greta Gerwig, lead actress Margot Robbie, as well as producers America Ferrera and Tom Ackerley. Ryan Gosling, who plays a major role in the movie, could not attend due to schedule conflicts.
At the event, the “Barbie” team greeted Korean fans by taking photos and expressing gratitude in Korean. They also kindly answered questions related to the movie posed by the host, Park Kyung Rim.
However, after four movie-related questions, a performance by the “Korean Cultural Heritage Foundation’s Art Troupe” began under the name of “Korean Traditional Dance Performance”. Here, dancers dressed in hanbok (traditional Korean clothing), showcased traditional dance accompanied by Korean traditional musical instruments.
Subsequently, the host called hanbok craftswoman Park Sul Nyeo, a “surprise guest”, to the stage. Here, Park Sul Nyeo expressed her regret, saying, “I wanted to showcase how beautiful Korean silk is”, adding, “I want to let you wear a ‘full outfit’, but they said there wasn’t enough time.”
Park Sul Nyeo then presented various hanboks designs. Then, when the host, Park Kyung Rim, asked, “Shall we take a photo?”, claimed that photos are lasting, and took the center place among the “Barbie” team, who are supposed to be the main characters of the event.
Particularly noteworthy was that Park Sul Nyeo even placed her business card in the pouch of the hanbok she presented to Margot Robbie.
The event lasted for about 18 minutes. When Hollywood stars visit Korea, related events are usually tightly scheduled to fit their availability.
However, during the “Barbie” event, a total of 10 minutes were allocated for the dance performance and the hanbok presentation by Park Sul Nyeo, while approximately 3 minutes were dedicated to promotional activities for the “Barbie”, other than the photo time with the actors and the surprise birthday party for lead actress Margot Robbie.
As a result, after the event, various online communities expressed dissatisfaction with the event planning. On the online community “DC Inside”, a user published an article titled “What’s there to be happy about?” along with photos of the dancers and the photo taken with the “Barbie” team after the event.
Similarly, on the online community “HyGall”, another user mentioned the event, saying, “Watching today’s ‘Barbie’ event reminds me of a déjà vu from ten years ago” .”Exactly ten years ago in 2013, when Amanda Seyfried visited Korea. It was Amanda’s birthday that day, and she was reluctantly dressed in hanbok. I recall that forgotten day”, they added.
Below are some comments from netizens:
- Who invited the grandmother who confidently took center stage? It goes beyond embarrassment and brings shame to the country. If you look it up, this isn’t even the first time
- What is this? Why did they perform Korean traditional music and wear hanbok? It’s so embarrassing… Thank goodness Ryan Gosling didn’t come here
- What kind of movie promotion event is this? Is it a forced Korean praise show? It’s a poorly planned and terrible event
- Who planned this? It’s terrible and awful. Why Hanbok at such an unrelated event? There are many beautiful options, so why this?
- I can’t even look at this without feeling embarrassed
On the other hand, this is the first known visit to Korea by actress Margot Robbie. Meanwhile, her movie, “Barbie”, is scheduled to premiere in Korea on July 19th.
Source: Wikitree
