MovieChat Forums > Busanhaeng (2016) Discussion > Everyone on board was South Korean

Everyone on board was South Korean

posted 8 years ago by jon-698
40 replies | jump to latest

In Western cinema they add people of all colours usually, or normally a token character here and there. I noticed that everyone on board was Korean. Does this mean South Korea doesn't feel the need to be political correct ? In some ways I thought it kinda refreshing that they didn't need to have every ethnic group under the sun in it, they did whatever they liked. Didn't bother me at all that they didn't have a white or black person in it. I also noticed in another South Korean film, The Wailing, it was the same situation. Why does Western cinema and TV feel the need for everything to have almost every ethnic group in it ? As a white person I didn't not want to see Train to Busan because it didn't have white people in, I don't only watch shows with my race in. Yet I have heard many complaints over the years that if a film doesn't have a black or Asian person in then people wonder why and how racist it is. I don't get it.

[–] TheSmashingTesticles 8 years ago

Probably because almost everyone in South Korea looks alike and the country is not racially diverse like what U.S. and Canada are.

People accuse Hollywood of being racist because they constantly hire white people to play as non-white characters and when they make movies that take place in countries where majority of people are not white, they still hire a white guy to play the lead role (COUGH! COUGH! The Last Samurai and The Great Wall). Hollywood purposely does not want to hire that many non-whites in their movies and when they do, they constantly portray blacks and Asians in stereotypical ways, like they make black people look like criminals and always "die first", and they constantly portray Asian men as awkward, nerdy, and non-romantic characters. Asian men only play as strong roles when they star in martial arts movies but those movies only enforce more stereotypes on Asian men as if all Asian men are kung fu masters.

The world is a crazy place, I know.

[–] Pulpfix08 8 years ago

I agree with your point! and might I add a proof of how wrong hollywood stereotyping has been for years is the success of the new star wars:rouge one which has the most diverse cast & use of gender neutral roles!..

[–] emiranda061288 8 years ago

The Great Wall is a Chinese production.

[–] josekarl 8 years ago

The main role in The Last Samurai must be played by a white actor, he is a XIX century american soldier

[–] Horse_Caulk 8 years ago

Geeze.

You know how they say there are no dumb questions?

They lie.

[–] kinshasaaaaa 8 years ago

Bloody hell! Well said!!!

[–] pankoeken 8 years ago

they constantly portray blacks and Asians in stereotypical ways, like they make black people look like criminals and always "die first",

Do you live in the 70's? In the present it's forbidden to make a black person look like a criminal in a movie or tv show. Hell even in home security commercials EVERY guy breaking into a house is white.

[–] captainburrito (128) 5 years ago

You are right, blacks have gone from stereotyped and token characters to better roles over time. Asians now have just gotten on the token characters tier.

[–] Geff (453) 8 years ago

Yes, TheSmashingTesticles was right in the first line. Then he went off on a cathartic tangent.

US and Canada are racially diverse because they are a product of colonialism. The native population has mostly been killed off from disease and genocide.

A lot of countries starting from the middle wast and going eastward including China and India are fairly racially homogeneous.

Europe is racially diverse because Europeans at one point or other colonized many eastern countries and people from those countries sometimes migrated to Europe.

Nowadays wealthy people from countries like India (especially India) tend to migrate to western countries particularly so that their children can become enriched with better education. Higher education in many regions like India and the middle east tend to have poor higher education thresholds because educational facilities are bogged down thanks to religion.

Now I went off on a tangent...

[–] Stratego (30498) 5 years ago

What testicles are you talking about, whiny snowflake?

[–] heyteegs 8 years ago

I have non-Asian friends and relatives living in South Korea and, at one point, I thought it would've been interesting to have an English-speaking couple on the train. I haven't seen any Korean movies though that go far afield with diversity.

http://crewdtees.com/category/sex

[–] clydeebarretto 8 years ago

Korean (along with other countries such as Japan) have the TINIEST of populations outside their ethnic race. From wiki "South Korea is one of the most ethnically homogeneous societies in the world, with more than 99% of inhabitants having Korean ethnicity." How the hell would they have a "diverse" cast in a film when almost the entire population is ethnic Korean?

[–] willett-brian 8 years ago

They have something like 35,000 US troops stationed there. If an actual situation like this happened you'd kind of think just maybe you'd see some helping out?

[–] Unicorn_Blade 8 years ago

What would be the point of showing them though? To show, once again, how US saves the world? (puke). Sorry, US troops do not need to be everywhere to make a situation look realistic.

Funnily enough there is a disaster Korean tv series about an outbreak of flu, (aptly names The Flu) which does feature white characters, American I believe. They were made to look ririculous by the way, not very competent but very ruthless.

I think knowing the population is not very ethnically diverse, it's not relevant to show a random non-Korean with the sole purpose to please a small audience abroad.

I travelled in Japan last year, and to be honest, except for the super touristy places in big cities, there were not that many foreigners. We were on a train a few times and we were the only non-Japanese, so I do not find it strange that they did not have any foreigners really.

In the beginning there was nothing, and it exploded.

[–] jpogi 8 years ago

I'd evacuate the entire US base in minutes upon receiving a report of a plague, if I'm the commander.

[–] captainburrito (128) 5 years ago

That is a good point. In some of their big disaster movies, Americans do feature eg. The Flu where they are pretty villainous and overbearing.

[–] clydeebarretto 8 years ago

Western cinema, which you're most likely referring to is Hollywood is in the good ole U.S. of A. We actually have DIVERSE races and ethnic groups living here and have been for decades.

[–] skatermcgrath93 8 years ago

Does this mean South Korea doesn't feel the need to be political correct ?

Shut up.

[–] gandzetina 8 years ago

Does this mean South Korea doesn't feel the need to be political correct ?

Are you for real?! I thought people like you exist only in movies.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Dirty-Barry 8 years ago

There was a North Korean in carriage 11, spotted him straightaway.

[–] Sybil (64) 8 years ago

I saw him too was the one wearing a shirt.