APink's Bomi Does Blackface on SNL Korea

[shinychopstick.livejournal.com]

On July 1, APink appeared on SNL Korea. In this particular skit, they parodied the well-known Korean cartoon 아기공룡 둘리 (Dooly the Little Dinosaur). Bomi played the character Michol, who is seen to be a racist caricature of black people (though being an ethnically Korean character based on Michael Jackson). This isn't the first time the depiction of this character has come under fire for blackface (see last year's post on King of Masked Singer's Michol mask, which provides a recap of other instances). This also isn't the first time SNL Korea has been messy (just check their tag).

Source: tvN

Mods, I added a bit more context about the portrayal of the character since there isn't much to say about the narrative of the skit itself.
When will this Michol character lose all cultural relevance in Korea? When will Korea learn that blackface isn't okay no matter the intention?

Comments

[shinychopstick.livejournal.com]

Really disappointed but sadly, not even surprised. Just another day in kpop. I really hope everyone involved apologizes and learns from this

I also wonder whether the decision to make her skin relatively lighter compared to other portrayals was a conscious decision, and if it was, why not nix the whole idea in the first place? Ugh

[mmmalvina.livejournal.com]

maybe they thought blackface = actually painting face black? and the caricature itself is fine? idk

[yourethesky.livejournal.com]

wouldn't be shocked if this were the case.

[kimbafierce.livejournal.com]

I'd go with the thought that she/her management didn't want her to appear "too ugly"

[ashdevilrun23.livejournal.com]

SNL needs to be cancelled they ain't funny and their always doing this shit.
glad I only stan eunji

[otraera.livejournal.com]

they knew what they were doing

[happydirections.livejournal.com]

would you mind telling me what hayoung said?

[jazzygyu.livejournal.com]

Thats so weird maybe I need to go back and read the history of this character but I could have sworn he was based off of Michael Jackson who is black?

[shinychopstick.livejournal.com]

yeah I had to look up the character again to write the post and apparently it's an ethnically Korean character that's based off of Michael Jackson so still a caricature using black features

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

I'm confused as to in what way is he supposed to even resemble MJ that they keep making excuses for this portrayal smh.

[happydirections.livejournal.com]

thank you! i get what she's trying to say but it still doesn't change anything. "we made the skin whiter" it shouldn't have been darker from your own to begin with. i'm tired. we still get made fun off and people don't care. i'm sorry that this is bumming you out so much, love. stuff like this is already really bad and hurtful. makes it that much worse when it comes from someone you like.

[shinychopstick.livejournal.com]

I feel the same way. I had to unfollow lots of other APink fans on twitter cause they were being defensive and obtuse. I also had a really soft spot for Bomi (and Hayoung) but they're dumb as hell for this and deserve the criticism

[nekokonneko.livejournal.com]

0 days since our last silliness blackface

[jazzygyu.livejournal.com]

I think the character was supposedly inspired by Michael Jackson...So yeah its a caricature...I'm sure a lot of people will want to brush it off as her just portraying a carton but majority of people I've seen who cosplay Michol come across as completely racist... when Kikwang did blackface he was portraying Michol and his blackface incident was probably one of the worse incidents I've seen in kpop.

[sethelaezekiel.livejournal.com]

Eric nam refused to do blackface/brown face and he's not an idol with much clout so there's no excuse for these other idols imo

[krissasaur]

More info on the Eric thing? Like did he actually say he refused?

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

Yeah and they wanted him to mock an openly gay Korean entertainer ( i can't remember his name) he felt it would be disrespectful. The brownface they wanted him to do was dress up like Ghandi. And he put a full stop to it. He dressed up like Krillin from Dragon Ball Z and Chole Montez (how ever the fuck it's spelled) instead.

[krissasaur]

Thanks, I was able to find it. Just posting it here for others reference:

---
Eric Nam said, "...when I was recording for 'SNL' there was a part where I dress up as Gandhi and portray him in a silly way, but I thought it was so weird. I would feel terrible if white people in the States dressed up as Koreans on TV, pulled their eyes and said, 'I am Korean.' So I ended up changing that part...I am glad that I am becoming more famous so I can voice my opinions on matters like this."
---

But wow. I am so sad I am not a ballad fan now. I need to stan this boy.

[pourtant.livejournal.com]

not that i think other idols need an excuse but eric nam is from the us so he's more sensitive to/aware of that kind of thing

[by-venoms-sting.livejournal.com]

when will this ever stop 😩

[she-devil666.livejournal.com]

never

[cagallisakura.livejournal.com]

bomi why :(((((( and whatever hayoung said, like what does that even mean... another disappointed but not surprised moment

[theweebdream.livejournal.com]

#anotheronebitesthedust

[jaequeeragenda.livejournal.com]

oof, no thanks

[jinkiestabi.livejournal.com]

OP....I'm confused. That definitely looks like an SNL member in Blackface....Bomi's sitting in the audience???

[shinychopstick.livejournal.com]

I think each one of the members is playing multiple characters if that's what you mean, since Eunji's playing the dinosaur on stage and is also in the audience. Bomi's playing the Michol character with the wig and overdrawn lips for sure even though it might not look like her with the makeup

[jinkiestabi.livejournal.com]

Ah okay, I see. Yikes. I get very confused with this character. I know they don't see the cartoon as bad because he's ethnically Korean but it's a racist caricature of Black people. Disappointing. It's weird to see people defend it when I believe there's an apology somewhere about the character, confirming it's racist. Sigh.

In any case SNL should have been cancelled after that harassment scandal.

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

It's even worse cuz he's supposed to be based off on Michael Jackson & he looked nothing like that even with his changes. D:

[mjspice.livejournal.com]

*bmp bmp bmp* Another one bites the dust

[21cgirls.livejournal.com]

i'm not even surprised anymore lol

[minho-lover.livejournal.com]

BOMI!? no wtf.

[dio-elaclaire.livejournal.com]

siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

[supersunshiner.livejournal.com]

not surprised .. apink has been written off for bomi and it doesn't resemble MJ in any way so wtf

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

That's the second week in a row SNL does something like that (not to mention their prior)
Just cancel the show already

[krissasaur]

Bomi is the one I like! Nooooo!

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

I said this before but im not shocked or surprise. I except things like this happen. My way of dealing with this is "things are going smoothly in Kpop and everyone being calm and behaving....i wonder how long until someone fucks and shows they ass?"

[elisaorange.livejournal.com]

Honestly feels like things are progressing backwards instead of forwards with these Kpop artists, like how many of them are just going to casually do blackface? This sh-t is disgusting.

[she-devil666.livejournal.com]

adds this to my *pretend to be shocked* folder