During an interview with ABC‘s Tamron Hall at the 92nd Academy Awards, director Bong Joon Ho faced this question: “As a filmmaker, what made you decide to have the film in Korean when you’ve had other films in English?”
The internet, including Jenna Guillaume and Marlow Stern, immediately reacted:
https://twitter.com/JennaGuillaume/status/1226653335626739712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank” rel=”external noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/MarlowNYC/status/1226652964447637504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank” rel=”external noopener noreferrer
https://twitter.com/Hello_Tailor/status/1226654200555286533?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank” rel=”external noopener noreferrer
While the question went under fire for being “blatantly ignorant” and “condescending”, the director himself handled it with grace. He answered:
Yes, Snowpiercer is also about the rich and the poor… But I wanted to explore the similar theme with characters that I could see around my own daily life, set in Korea with the Korean language.
— Bong Joon Ho, interpreted by Sharon Choi
Since the interview has gone viral, Tamron Hall has come to her defense on Twitter — responding to the criticism by clarifying her intention behind the question.
https://twitter.com/tamronhall/status/1226653306757345283?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank” rel=”external noopener noreferrer
Still, netizens remain divided over the validity of Tamron Hall’s question.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the Parasite squad found themselves in a questionable moment during interviews with the American press. Variety became heavily mocked for this bit, which made even the interpreter do a double take, “Is that the question?”
https://twitter.com/chaewonjrn/status/1226101426109198337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” data-wpel-link=”external” target=”_blank” rel=”external noopener noreferrer
Watch Bong Joon Ho’s full red carpet interview with Tamrom Hall here:
Source: Koreaboo
Leave a Comment