OK. This is old news.
But I just watched the video of Stephen Colbert “challenging” Rain. I have to say I think it’s freakin’ hilarious, and I’ve never watched The Colbert Report. (David didn’t even know who he was—Colbert, that is. We are all too aware of the phenomenon that is λΉ„.
I understand why some Korean netizens were offended by the M*A*S*H reference, but, really, when I lived in the States I don’t think I would have gotten the joke: “I’m gonna be all over you like egg on a bowl of bibimbap!”
I think it shows mainstream America has come a long way in changing its view of Korean culture. You have to be a certain level of cool before comedians will even think making fun of you is worth their time. (It is debatable whether that’s a good thing …) As for being derogatory, the whole point of the skit is that he’s dissing Rain for beating him out as the number one “most influential” person in the world—which is the real joke.
{ 2 comments }
annamatic 05.15.07 at 12:11 am
I think some of the sarcasm may be lost on the Korean public too, because Colbert’s TV persona is one that actually spoofs right-wing conservatism. The Colbert Report started as a segment on John Stewart’s Daily Show where Colbert would report the news as if told by a Bush devotee, and Stewart would feign incredulousness. So part of Colbert’s act is that he says outrageously intolerant things because he is poking fun at the people who hold those views… So actually he’s probably not making fun of Koreans, but he is making fun of people who would make fun of Koreans… as convoluted as that may sound…
MigukNamja 05.15.07 at 6:07 pm
The “all over you like egg on a bowl of bi-bim-bap” joke was hilarious. It’s spot-on for hot bi-bim-bap, since the egg usually cooks on and sticks to the sides of the very hot bowl unless you stir it very quickly. However, since this kind of bi-bim-bap is very hard to find in the states (cold bi-bim-bap is much easier to find), it makes it especially poignant for those who have had one too many eggs stick to the sides of a hot bi-bim-bap bowl.
I thought the video stereotyped Korean culture a little too much, but I can’t blame him : Hyundai, Kimchi, and M*A*S*H are about all 95% of Americans know about Korean or Korean-as-seen-through-American-eyes culture. There’s nothing wrong at all with Hyundai and Kimchi, either, and he didn’t make fun of them, per se, he just used them as cultural reference points to make the video “Korean”.
There are a huge number of things he could have trashed/criticized Korean culture for but did not. I felt that making fun of Rain was purely to make fun of the poll itself, not Korea or Rain himself. Heck, the photo wasn’t even goofy. Indeed, if a K-pop star or any pop star is the #1 most influential person in the world, this is a pretty damn shallow world…or…there was some major ballot stuffing going on.
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