South Korean professional footballer Son Heung Min, aka Sonny, also the nation’s hero, has been discriminated against by the media, sparking controversy.
Recently, Amazon Prime Video started to release the Tottenham’s new documentary All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur. Six of the nine episodes in the series have already aired, and the final three are set to be unveiled on Monday.
What sparked the controversy was the subtitle added in the preview of the trailer for the last three. The trailer gave a glimpse into the infamous on-pitch clash between Hugo Lloris and Song Heung Min carried on into the dressing room.
In the video, the parts where Lloris shouted at Son (in French) had the English subtitle, whereas the parts for Son was only subtitled with “(shouting)” even when he spoke in English.
Here are some of the comments left on the trailer posted on YouTube.
“This is one of the best examples of how Asian racism is. You can understand French or Portuguese but can’t understand what Son said? This is ridiculous and this video shows Amazon is a group of racist. This is awful and disgusting. Asian Lives Matter”
“Why is Sonny just ‘Shouting’? Amazon translated French, but Sonny’s English is [Shouting]?”
“Son: *Speaks English*
Amazon Editor: hAhA hE iS sPeAkInG kOrEaN sO i’M nOt GoNnA tRaNsLaTe”
“This is very strange. Were you guys just too lazy to translate Son’s part? Couldn’t have been that much effort with as much money as Amazon have got”
“Sonny does not deserve Amazon’s SHOUTING.”
This is not the first time when Korean footballers received Asian racism on media. Previously, Spain’s leading media AS has been criticized for portraying Lee Kang In with “chinky eyes.”
On Sept. 11, As used the caricature pictures of rising stars in LaLiga league on its cover page. Of all eight players, only two footballers �” Japanese footballer Takefusa Kubo and Korean footballer Lee Kang In �” were drawn with “chinky eyes.”
