“See You in My 19th Life” accused of misrepresenting and distorting Iran’s historical narratives 

Iranian viewers are demanding the producers of ongoing K-drama “See You in My 19th Life” to address the matter.

After a promising start, tvN’s “See You My in My 19th Life” recently came into criticism for misrepresenting and distorting aspects of Iran’s history. 

“See You in My 19th Life” revolves around Ban Ji Eum (Shin Hye Sun) – a girl who has memories of her past lives. After passing away due to a tragic accident in her 18th life, she is reincarnated into the 19th and is determined to pursue Seo Ha (Ahn Bo Hyun), a guy she met in her previous life and is suffering trauma from her death. Having to approach him as a stranger, Ba Ji Eum brings laughter by showing a weird side of herself in front of someone she loves.

However, in one episode where the series shows one of Ban Ji Eum’s past lives, there was one she was an Arabian man living in the 10th century. He was Ji Eum’s fourth life. The man claims to be the father of an alcoholic drink called “Arak,” the drink that gave birth to the present-day Soju.

Nonetheless, Iranian audiences found this detail culturally insensitive. They stated that the alcohol was discovered from an experiment conducted by an alchemist, physician, and philosopher named Abu Bakr al-Razi. Iranian viewers cited well-documented historical records to show that he was the one who discovered acid sulfuric and ethanol; the latter is the main ingredient to make drinks such as vodka, tequila, and soju.

After the episode was aired, Iranian viewers left comments on Netflix’s Instagram to request an explanation why the man in the series was Arabian, instead of Iranian. Currently, “See You in My 19th Life” producers have not spoken up about the matter.

Source: k14