The Royal Hotel continues to prove its appeal to the audience thanks to its unique script and charismatic characters.
However, the appearance of other cultures outside of Korea on the screen has created waves of controversy on social networks.
Specifically, in episode 7, the film introduces the character of the rich Arab prince Samir, played by Indian actor Anupam Tripathi – who is best known for playing Ali Abdul in the series Squid Game – played. The male lead Gu Won (Lee Jun Ho) received the task of inviting this VIP guest to the hotel. Although easy to complete, Gu Won did not expect Samir to be fascinated by the beauty of Sa Rang (Yoona) and constantly sought to flirt. This made the male lead hot, standing still.
After the episode aired, some praised the funny, interesting character. However, many viewers questioned how the King the Land crew built this new character. In the scene where Samir appears, he is sitting in a bar surrounded by a lot of beautiful people. The description of an Arab prince who is both an alcoholic and a womanizer makes Arab audiences angry. At the same time, the decision to cast an Indian actor in this role made viewers even more frustrated.
Many people have asked the film crew to publicly apologize:
– What are you trying to convey by insulting Arabs? We don’t drink, we don’t go to bars and we don’t touch women like that.
– They chose an Indian actor, dressed him in Arab clothes and acted like an illiterate, obsessed with alcohol and women. This scene is really disrespectful and insulting to us.
– King the Land is an excellent romcom up to this episode 7. Do we really still have to do such stereotypes about Arabs? It’s that I haven’t talked about them casting an Indian actor for the role.
– Don’t talk about us like that in the movie. That’s not funny and extremely discriminatory. You should apologize for this action.
– This is not the first time Korean films have distorted our culture in such a disrespectful way. They really lack ethics and knowledge.
On Instagram, many people asked the crew to delete the scene of Samir in episode 7. However, the crew has not yet responded to this issue.
Before that, another Korean movie, “I’ll See You In The 19th Life” starring Shin Hye Sun was also criticized for its historical distortions related to Arab. In one episode, the crew reported that an Arab man living in the 10th century was the inventor of a wine called Arak, which is the forerunner of today’s Soju. However, many spectators asserted that the invention of alcohol came from the experiments of the alchemist Razi in Iran. According to historical documents, he is credited with discovering sulfuric acid and ethanol. In particular, ethanol is the main raw material for the production of drinks such as vodka, tequila or soju later.
After the film aired, Iranian viewers took to Netflix’s Instagram page to ask the studio to explain the construction of the character’s image as an Arab man. However, the producers of See You In The 19th Life have not yet responded to this information.
Elsewhere, in episode 8 of the drama that aired on the evening of July 9, there was a kiss scene of more than 2 minutes between Lee Junho and YoonA . This scene is holding high rankings in hot search on social networking platforms, helping to increase the temperature of the film significantly.
According to Nielsen Korea, episode 8 of the drama achieved a nationwide viewership rating of 12.3%, setting a personal record for the project. It is known that this achievement also helped King The Land rise to 7th in the chart of highest-rated dramas in JTBC history, behind: The World of the Married, Reborn Rich, Sky Castle, Itaewon Class, Agency, Doctor Father .
Currently, the film has gone half way, with increasingly attractive content. The international media predicts that the movie rating will increase significantly in the next episodes.
On online forums, audiences make comments about recent episodes of King The Land . In particular, the kiss scene in episode 8 of the male and female lead couple was mentioned by many people, as a reason for the movie rating to increase sharply. In particular, Lee Junho and YoonA were also praised for their natural acting and explosive chemistry.
In addition, the cleverness in scripting helped King The Land retain the audience. The film is recognized as a project to heal the viewer’s soul, after Doctor Cha , in the midst of horror films, heavy “drama” competing to debut. The audience has high expectations for the beautiful ending for all the characters at the end of the movie.
