KBS's Young Lady and Gentleman criticized for controversial age-gap

Young Lady and Gentleman has drawn ire from the internet for allegedly inappropriate storylines.

On September 25, KBS premiered their new K-drama Young Lady and Gentleman. The weekend drama stars actors Ji Hyun Woo and Lee Se Hee. The show's synopsis states that it's a love story where age plays no bar. It portrays a relationship between a young woman in her 20s and a single father in his 40s.

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Young Lady and Gentleman lands in controversy

While relationships with huge age gaps are not uncommon in K-dramas, especially when the man is older, they are not looked at favorably by the audience. While the initial synopsis received mild criticism for romanticizing age gaps between male and female leads, the buzz died down after Ji Hyun Woo's statement. When asked how he feels about playing someone in love with a person 14 years younger in an interview, he said:

Well, love doesn’t come with an age limit. I hope the viewers can find Young Lady And Gentleman to be a heartwarming, emotionally healing show.

The first episode of Young Lady and Gentleman, though, has unleased a fresh tirade of criticism and has sparked a heated debate. The first episode shows the characters meeting for the first time. In keeping with K-drama tropes, this initial interaction takes place as children, but only for the female lead. Ji Hyun Woo's character is 27 years old, while the female lead, played by child actor Kim Min Seo is only 13 years of age.

Since the age of 13 is well under the Korean and international age of consent, several viewers have given the show a negative review. Post the initial encounter, Young Lady and Gentleman skips a decade, fast-forwarding to when the characters are in their 20s and 40s respectively. In the next 49 episodes of the 50 episode drama, the characters are destined to fall in love.

Several Korean viewers of the show took to THEQOO, an online forum where fans discuss shows and games, to air their grievances. Most agreed that the setting was "creepy," with some even calling the relationship in Young Lady and Gentleman predatory and "borderline pedophilic."

The interaction between an adult man and a teenage girl in Young Lady and Gentleman seems to have made most viewers justifiably uncomfortable.

The K-drama also drew comparisons with Vladimir Nobakov's Lolita, where a 12 year old girl is groomed by a middle-aged French professor, Humbert Humbert.

Here are some of the reactions of viewers (translated from Korean):

“I would not have been this offended if the leads met in their adulthood. They could have been 30 years apart and I wouldn’t have minded. But this is not it. What a bunch of pedos…”

“A lot of international viewers watch K-dramas too. I wonder what they’ll think of this portrayal. I feel like this would be seen as problematic wherever in the world.”

"I usually like the age gap trope but this isn't it. I wanted to call the police as soon as I saw a 27-year-old talking to a 13-year-old child."

People were also shocked by the fact that KBS, being a public broadcasting channel, was willing to allegedly encourage pedophilia and grooming with Young Lady and Gentleman.

Over a thousand viewers gathered post the premiere to discuss the show. Several pointed out that though the gap wasn't that bad, the fact that the initial interaction took place when the the female lead was only 13 was extremely inappropriate and problematic.

The clip of the interaction too seemed to have an unnecessary romantic air. Several viewers of Young Lady and Gentleman pointed out how the camera zoomed in when the characters had their hands clasped together around a hammer when playing. This style is usually used when two leads are sharing a romantic moment, and its use in this situation was not well received.

The child actor is currently playing Oh Juri in Netflix's Hometown Cha-cha-cha. Here is a clip of their first meeting:

One viewer pointed out how disturbing age gaps are normalized through shows like Young Lady and Gentleman.

“This is how it all begins though. 14 years difference? That’s not too bad. Man in his 40s dating a woman in her 20s? That’s not too bad. A woman in her late teens? That’s not too bad. And like that, the line gets pushed so far back—they’ll still say ‘not too bad’ about literal children too. It’s disgusting.”

The impact of one episode on society at large was also a point of discussion. Several viewers urged the showrunners of Young Lady and Gentleman to reconsider the storyline and the setting, highlighting the disparity between what society perceives as acceptable and what is obviously questionable.

One viewer penned down an eloquent response to the premiere:

I get it. There are celebrity couples who are 10+ years apart. So it does happen in real life and that’s fine. The point is not that these characters are so many years apart. The point is, it is incredibly dangerous for a television program to broadcast a scene that captures a man and a teenager in a romantic light. What is the screenwriter/director thinking, showing an actual child with a full-grown man in a uniform?

Just think about how television has constantly changed the way society perceives what is acceptable and what is questionable. It may not seem that deep, but it is most definitely this deep.

Although the producers of Young Lady and Gentleman have not yet responded to the backlash, it is unlikely that the debate will die anytime soon. The show takes over KBS2's Saturday & Sunday 19:55 time slot, which was previously occupied by Revolutionary Sisters.