Chilean Comedy Show Called Out For Making Racist Jokes About BTS

Apr 12, 2021, 11:32 IST

When will it stop? Is the question that we ask ourselves all the time? Asian community constantly becomes the target of racist and xenophobic jokes and for what? The ‘South Korean’ band BTS is someone who faces this racism first hand. They are constantly mocked for absolutely bizarre reasons.

After being mocked and given literal threats for simply covering Coldplay’s song, ‘Fix You,’ we are now back again with another foreign TV program making fun of BTS. Chilean comedy TV show, ‘Mi Barrio’ (open TV channel available to the whole country) recently aired an episode where they performed a parody act on BTS. Five men came dressed up as the Bangtan Boys. They wore clothes from the band's Idol era. The act made fun of the Korean language, of their names, and even compared the members to the novel Coronavirus.

What’s wrong with all this is that it clearly is open racism. They are not just making fun of the boyband, BTS but also the entire Korean community and the Asian community at large. The problem is that many people do not see anything wrong with it. They very easily term it as, “It is all a joke.” The phrase we commonly hear is, “Why are you taking it so seriously.” Let us all be clear, “Racism is not Comedy.”

BTS’ Chile Fanbase Explains Everything

Take a look at this thread here. This was reported by BTS’ Chilean fanbase, @BTS_Chile. “…a parody performance of BTS, where all the jokes were based on racism and xenophobia, including mockery of their language, their names, and a joke related to the pandemic.”

[THREAD] Last night, Chilean comedy TV show #MiBarrio (open TV channel available to the whole country) presented a parody performance of BTS, where all the jokes were based on racism and xenophobia, including mockery of their language, (cont.)

video cr; isidoradae pic.twitter.com/tBK8CYbbKs

— BTS Chile (@BTS_Chile) April 11, 2021

The BTS Chile fanbase on Twitter even provided an explanation and a template on how to write a complaint. Many ARMYs started writing to the show and are now waiting for an apology.

Hashtags like #ElRacismoNoEsComedia and #RacismIsNotComedy started trending on Twitter. People are now spreading awareness regarding the situation and trying to educate more people about it. Not just BTS’ fanbase, ARMY but others are also trying to spread the message.

Grammys and German Radio Situation

This is not the first time that something like this has happened. Just a few weeks ago, a German radio host made fun of BTS. He was angry at the BTS cover of Coldplay’s song, ‘Fix You.’ He said that the boys should be sent on a vacation to North Korea, (which many pointed out as being a reference to the concentration camps). All this was brushed off as being a joke with no proper apology being issued.

Sometime later, it was the Grammys. BTS’s song Dynamite was nominated in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category but did not win. Winning and losing are normal. Others who did not win the award faced no issues, but BTS was ruthlessly mocked for their, ‘Grammy Failure.’ Topps made a ‘BTS Garbage Pail Kids Sticker’ which showcased the band being beaten up by the Grammys.