Yoo In-na's lines in 'Bora Deborah' crossed the line

《Taeyuna’s Listening Bodbo》
Reporter Tae Yu-na and Ten Asia will properly cover all aspects of the drama based on what she heard and saw on the spot. We will be the eyes and ears of readers in an era where dramas are flooding in on numerous channels.

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Ignorance and complacency came back as arrows. Currently airing dramas have been embroiled in controversy over their dialogue settings. JTBC's Saturday-Sunday drama 'Doctor Cha Jeong-sook' suffered from a derogatory term for Crohn's disease, and ENA's Wednesday-Thursday drama 'Look! 'Deborah' made the mistake of comparing a historical tragedy to the importance of grooming one's appearance. It's also disappointing that it ends with only a brief apology for 'failure to pay close attention' and the deletion of part of the video.

Recently, ‘Look! 'Deborah' became controversial by comparing an anecdote from the Auschwitz concentration camp to improving one's appearance. This line was mentioned in episode 9 when Deborah (played by Yoo In-na) talked to Lee Soo-hyuk (played by Yoon Hyun-min) about the importance of taking care of one's appearance.

Deborah said, "In the Auschwitz camp. While watching people dying lying in their own excrement, someone would take a glass of water, drink half of it, wash the other half. They even shaved their faces behind the tray with a piece of glass. And they survived." “Taking care of one’s appearance and grooming oneself is a matter of survival,” he said.

Lee Soo-hyuk said, "It looks like you had some fun reading. Viktor Frankl's 'In the Death Camp', right?" Deborah responded, "I saw it in a magazine."

After the broadcast, voices of criticism poured in, mainly from overseas. Auschwitz concentration camp is where the German Nazis committed massacres during World War II. The reason was that the Jews' efforts to preserve their dignity and survive in the concentration camp should not be linked to taking care of their appearance and grooming themselves.

One overseas viewer said, "I never thought I'd hear a metaphor like this in my life," and "I can't believe the writer came up with this and everyone in the process approved it. The horror of ignorance." The fact that the inmates washed their faces and shaved was not a matter of cosmetics. This is because people with good complexion had to look like they could do the job, and only then could they survive. It was the bare minimum effort in the face of the cruel reality that sick people were sent to gas chambers.

Korean netizens also strongly criticized the line that compared this tragedy to gossip. Arrows rained down even on actors who were unaware of the problem even after receiving the script.

In the end, ‘Look! Deborah's side admitted that they were not careful in their dialogue. The production team apologized, saying, "We should have mentioned historical facts from an accurate perspective, but we failed to consider them carefully. We never intended to consume historical tragedies lightly. We sincerely apologize. We will be more careful in future productions." . All scenes in which this line was mentioned were also deleted.

Previously, 'Dr. Cha Jeong-sook' also became a problem by calling Crohn's disease a 'bad disease'. During an episode involving a patient with Crohn's disease, the patient's father-in-law and mother-in-law, who came to the hospital, criticized the patient, saying, "How can you hide such a nasty disease and get married? They say this disease can be inherited." Accordingly, a scene appeared where the patient attempted to make an extreme choice.

In response, viewers criticized the drama, saying, "Crohn's disease is not hereditary," and "It's a drama that hurts young patients." Dozens of complaints were also reported to the Korea Communications Standards Commission. As the drama gained syndrome popularity by exceeding 18% in viewership ratings, it is true that it is regrettable that it would have been better if more attention had been paid to settings that could lead to distorted perceptions in the drama.

In response, the production team said, "There was no intention at all to lightly treat the pain and depression of patients fighting the disease," and "We failed to pay close attention to the fact that lines spoken with the intention of pushing patients could increase negative perceptions about specific diseases. “I did it,” he said, bowing his head.

Of course, the script probably wasn't written from the beginning to be handled lightly. However, the result was that it hurt someone and made them angry. It is a skit created by the writer's clumsy boasting of knowledge and the director's carefree production behavior. It's even more unfortunate that even the actors who acted directly had no awareness of the problem.

Taeyuna, Ten Asia Reporter youyou@tenasia.co.kr