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Production team of The Penthouse officially addresses allegations of racism levied on the character Alex Lee
Alex Lee is a character portrayed by actor Park Eun Seok in The Penthouse: War In Life.
One of the most important and burning issues in contemporary politics lately has been the cause of Black Lives Matter. One element of this discourse is the concern of cultural appropriation which is a matter not only relevant to the African American and Black community but also minorities and people of colour in general. Indian culture too is often found represented in media, mostly Western, through racist portrayals of stereotypes, accents and more. As such, it is not difficult to imagine how it must have felt like for the African American community to see their culture being used to define a fictional character of a completely different race in what is most likely an exaggerated caricature and hence, disrespectful.
Actor Park Eun Seok, who plays the character of Alex Lee, the character in question with the racist portrayal of Black culture, spoke out and apologised for having hurt the sentiments of his fans through what could be perceived as racism and mockery of the culture. His letter seemed to have come from a sincere and genuine place but the right to forgive still belonged to the community affected. Now, the production team of The Penthouse: War In Life Season 3 from SBS has addressed the matter directly. They said, "We were not intending to mock a specific race or culture.” No updates have come as of yet regarding whether this character will be retained in the drama despite the backlash or not.
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What do you think about this matter? Should the character of Alex Lee be kept in the drama as is? Share your thoughts with Pinkvilla in the comments section down below!
