[SBS Star] 'King the Land' Faces Criticism for Their Controversial Representation of Arab Prince

'King the Land' is under fire for the way they portrayed an Arab prince. 

Last weekend, JTBC's drama 'King the Land' aired their new episodes with the new addition 'Prince Samir' (actor Anupam Tripathi) to the cast. 

'King the Land' revolves around 'Gu-won' (JUNHO of K-pop boy group 2PM), the inheritor of a luxurious hotel 'Hotel King', and an employee 'Cheon Sa-rang' (Yoona of girl group Girls' Generation) who works there. 

'Prince Samir' is the 13th richest man on Earth, and possesses wealth that most cannot even comprehend the size and amount of. 

He is shown to be living life at a bar in his very first appearance in the series, enjoying alcoholic drinks and spending time with girls surrounding him. 

Impressed by Cheon Sa-rang's hospitality and beauty, he constantly flirts with her and proposes to her at dinner as well. 
After the two episodes were unveiled, viewers in the Arab world expressed discomfort, and even rage.

They criticized the portrayal of Prince Samir, claiming that it reinforced stereotypes of Arab princes as playboys and that serving alcohol to a Muslim character was disrespectful to their religious beliefs.

Additionally, there was controversy surrounding the casting of an Indian actor in the role of an Arab prince. 

They asked, "Why cast an Indian actor to play the role when you could have easily cast an Arab person for it?" 

Over the weekend, 1/10 ratings started piling up on the popular ratings site IMDb. 

Currently, 99.4% of Saudi Arabian users have rated the drama 1/10, and 96.8% of United Arab Emirati users have also given the drama 1 out of 10. 
In response to the backlash, the production team of 'King the Land' released an official statement on July 10. 

"All the settings, characters, regions and place names in the series are fictional. Prince Samir was not portrayed as a prince of a specific country.", then they emphasized that there was no intention to satirize or distort a particular culture. 

They added, "We respect various cultures and would be more attentive to ensure that future productions do not cause any discomfort." 

However, most of those furious viewers have dismissed this statement due to the lack of explanation or apology they expected and demanded. 

They are continuing to share angered posts and comments about the depiction of the Arab community in 'King the Land'. 
'King the Land' is currently available to watch on Netflix, in over 190 countries around the world. 

Last week, 'King the Land' topped Netflix's weekly ranking for non-English TV shows. 

(Credit= JTBC King the Land, IMDb) 

(SBS Star)