I originally started this blog to allow me to rant and rave about anything and everything, but as anyone who know me would expect, politics has been the main subject about which I wrote. Not this time, though. I want to talk about something far more puzzling. In the modern, diverse, multi-national world in which we live, how is it possible that Hollywood cannot figure out what is and what is not a Korean name?!?
Back when M*A*S*H was on, it was understandable to have Mr Miyagi (Pat Morita) play a Korean even though his Korean was horrendous to listen to. But in 2009?
Of course, you are wondering what I am talking about. I watched an episode of NCIS Los Angeles that featured a North Korean assassin names Lee Wuan Kai. First of all, I am not sure if they are saying her last name is Lee or that it is Kai. If it is Lee, fine. If it is Kai, there are some problems. Not only is Kai (pronounced as a rhyme with "high") not a Korean last name, but it is not even a Korean syllable at all. Koreans cannot make the "aye" sound. They can say ah-ee (which when said fluidly sounds like an "aye"), but not in a single syllable.
Second, Wuan is not a Korean name either; it is Chinese. LA, where the show is filmed, has a Korea Town. How hard would it be to drive over there and check with a random Korean person if the name is appropriate?
Again, this seems picayune, but it is just lazy or conceited to just go with what they guess (or proudly assume) is a Korean name. Send the errand boy on a 10 minute errand (or an internet search) to see if the name is even Korean.
3 comments:
This made me laugh. I agree with you, it seems they could try to find a Korean name with little effort. It would be odd if they had a Mexican character with a German name. Maybe this is just me but it seems Americans don't know much about the 'Asian' cultures. We just lump them all under 'asian.'
I liked that episode of NCIS: Los Angeles! Of course, I know nothing of anything Korean so it didn't bother me but I understand your frustration. I am frustrated by having Brits or anyone else play Russians, it is irritating to no end!
ha ha Totally! It drives me nuts every time I watch the Pacifier - those two north Koreans speak Korean with the heaviest accent and yet claim to be Koreans! Or when they say certain people are Koreans, and yet they speak a different language. On CSI episode a while back, the translation was totally wrong too. But oh well.
Post a Comment