Netizens trash South Korea’s ‘unrealistic’ reality shows
‘Daughter-in-law in Wonderland’ star Kim Jae-wook said the show’s production team turned his family vicious and its editing made their relationships awkward
Thanks to the trailblazing efforts of programmes such as MBC’s I Live Alone and SBS’s My Ugly Duckling, reality shows that depict the everyday lives of celebrities have become an inseparable part of today’s TV entertainment landscape.
They have notched the top viewership ratings and become a part of the pop culture conversation, with channels making subsequent spin-offs of hit programmes such as Grandpas Over Flowers and online show Wassup Man, nabbing millions of viewers each week on YouTube.
As comical as reality TV can be, it also has harmful detractors – those who feel these reality programmes are “unrealistic” – closely planned or scripted, in other words.
One particular example is Kim Gun-mo in My Ugly Duckling. Dubbed an “event guy”, the 50-year-old singer never stops exploring new events and activities. To name a few, he has tried making a soju fountain, soju cake, gigantic bbopgi (traditional Korean sugar candy made of caramelised sugar and a pinch of baking soda) and taking a drone certification exam.
In another show, Daughter-in-law in Wonderland, which depicts the daily lives of daughter-in-laws and how they handle domestic chores, comedian Kim Jae-wook called it quits recently, saying the production team turned his family vicious and the way they had been edited made their relationships awkward.
Before he issued his statement, netizens heavily criticised Kim’s parents for their disrespectful behaviour towards their daughter-in-law. Footage showed them demanding their daughter-in-law should deliver her baby naturally, not by C-section, saying otherwise the baby could have a lower IQ. This scene provoked outrage among viewers. Meanwhile, the comedian was also mocked for his incompetence to mediate marital disputes.
After Kim announced he would leave the show, he made it clear his family had already decided to deliver the baby via C-section for the sake of his wife’s health, even before airing the show. Thus the footage was overproduced and scripted, he said.