On the 7th (local time), Netflix USA released the official trailer for "Sex Education Season 2" on their official YouTube account. Photo by YouTube screen capture
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] A line in a Netflix original drama that seemed to mock Koreans by saying their bodily fluids taste like kimchi has sparked a racial discrimination controversy.
On the 7th (local time), Netflix USA released the official trailer for "Sex Education Season 2" on its official YouTube channel.
The released trailer depicts Otis (Asa Butterfield), who provides sex counseling for students and friends at Moordale High School who have contracted sexually transmitted diseases, along with his business partner Maeve (Emma Mackey).
However, controversy arose over a line spoken by one character. He loudly claimed that he had a sexually transmitted disease and said, "My bodily fluids taste like kimchi."
Domestic netizens who saw this continued to criticize it as "clear racial discrimination." They argued that comparing a sexually transmitted disease to kimchi was a way to demean it as something "unpleasant" or "strange."
One netizen pointed out in a YouTube comment, "The fact that the kimchi-related content was deleted only in Korea means they knew it was racial discrimination," adding, "They fully understand that Koreans would feel offended if they heard that line."
Another netizen criticized, "The reason this drama was very popular in season 1 was because it dealt with social issues and discrimination such as minority discrimination, abortion, and school violence," and added, "Isn't it a big problem that even in such a drama there is a line that could be seen as racially discriminatory?"
Other netizens expressed various reactions, saying, "Isn't this British white people belittling Asian culture?", "Asian actors rarely appear in this drama, yet Asian culture is being demeaned," and "Why on earth compare food to bodily fluids?"
Meanwhile, on the 8th (Korean time), it was confirmed that the scene was deleted from the domestic trailer posted on Netflix Korea's official YouTube channel and social media.
Netflix has not issued any official statement regarding the controversy.
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