June 14, 2012

Korean "diva" compared to chief's daughter

Bada, "Hyorin Looks Like an Indian Tribe Leader's Daughter"Bada called Hyorin an "Indian tribe leader's daughter," arousing laughter.

In MBC 'Radio Star' aired on June 13, Kim Wan Sun, Bada, and SISTAR's Hyorin were invited as 'Korea's Divas.’

On this day, while talking about the relationship among the three of them. MCs said "Bada has called Hyorin an Indian tribe leader's daughter before." Hyorin was shocked, and Bada said "I've heard that somewhere else, so I just passed it on. Of all the things I've heard, that made me feel the best."

When Bada asked, "Does that make you feel bad?", and Hyorin, forcefully, said "No, I feel good," and Bada said "It's not even an Indian's daughter but it's the tribe leader's daughter. That's a good thing. It is a mixture of the wild nature and nobility."

But the MCs continued to make fun of Hyorin. Yoo Sae Yun and Kyu Hyun said, "You kind of look like Pocahontas or Anaksunamun."
Comment:  This is the entire article, so we don't know why they're comparing Hyorin to "an Indian tribe leader's daughter." The only clue is the last line--"You kind of look like Pocahontas." This suggests it's her appearance rather than her personality or something else.

You can imagine what Koreans think of Indians from the line, "It is a mixture of the wild nature and nobility." In other words, Indians as noble savages again.

Then there's the headdress superimposed on Hyorin in the last image. I don't know if it was done by the Korean TV show or by the website reporting on it. Either way, it's stereotypical.

For more on Indian princesses, see Hamilton Collection's Spirit Maidens and Umatilla Model Portrays Pocahontas.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Isn't the picture before the headdress picture from "The Mummy?"