Sexual Violence in TV Dramas

Sexual violence is overused by TV dramas in the name of love.

Eun-gyo, played by Chang Seo-hee, was raped by her ex-boyfriend Woo-sup, played by Kim Nam-jin, who cannot give her up on the night before her wedding to another man in the January 11 episode of the MBC drama Merry-Go-Round produced by Han Hee and Yoo Jae-hyuk, and broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays at 7:55 p.m.. The drama did not show the scene directly, but conveyed the idea symbolically through the terrified face of Eun-gyo.

“I do not owe anything to you now. I won’t see you again, even after death,” En-gyo says wearily as she leave after being raped. From the shock of that night, she does not even appear at her wedding.

Aside from this, Merry-Go-Round has also broadcast the scene where a reprehensible character, In-cheol, tries to sexually assault Eun-gyo’s sister Jin-gyo, played by Soo Ae.

The SBS drama Steps of Paradise also broadcast an attempted-rape scene on December 18 of last year. Tae-hwa, played by Shin Hyun-jun, worried that Jung-seo, played by Choi Ji-woo, would turn to another man, tried to forcibly remove her clothes but had to stop because of strong resistance from Jung-seo. This drama also suggests that Tae-hwa attempted to sexually assault the heroine because he was madly in love with her.

TV viewers point out that sexual assaults depicted in the dramas should be strictly supervised and monitored because love cannot excuse violent acts such as rape.

In particular, TV viewers are furious that the recent rape scene in Merry-Go-Round may have been aired to promote the show’s popularity rating.

“I’m worried that any elementary student could see it because it is televised at 8 p.m. when many families are watching TV together,” said one viewer, who was identified only by his or her internet ID, LEESB1987, “Rape is a criminal act, but the rape by Woo-sup was shown as just an aggressive expression of love,” said another respondent.

“Unlike other programs that illustrate crimes, the dramas portray rapes as ‘acts committed because one loves the other too much’ instead of crimes, which brings about even more serious effects,” said General Secretary of Media Campaigns Kang Hye-ran of the Korean Women’s Link.

“We admit that it was too much,” Merry-Go-Round’s supporting producer, Choi Do-hoon. “We have lowered the level of indecency by symbolizing the scene after many discussions on how to portray the scene.”

kathycho@donga.com