TMZ: Linguistic discrimination or humor?

I want to reflect on this relatively recent issue (at least in the Korean news) about TMZ and how critics are considering their comments toward EXID (a Korean pop star) as 'racist.' In this post, I don't intend to discuss or explain the underlying racism (though I acknowledge it is difficult to exclude this topic), but I want to explore the pragmatic aspects of the conversation happened in the newsroom, specifically the topic of "humor." Some questions that came to mind after watching this video were:

1. How was (what TMZ think as) "humor" used? 
2. What was the underlying meaning of the "humor"? 
3. Why was this "humorous'" to the newsroom staff but not to the rest of the world? (especially to Koreans?)
4. What were the intentions for using this "humor"? 
5. What's considered appropriate and inappropriate when using humor? Could we claim "appropriateness" when it comes to use of humor?

There are three key comments in this footage critics consider as "offensive":

1. K-pop star, Junghwa, greeted and responded to a question TMZ crew asked ("How are you feeling?")--"I'm so happy!" The staff reported this to the newsroom by mocking Junghwa's English accent. Some say the reporter was mocking the high pitch voice, but it was actually the accent. When the newsroom staff laughed back at her mockery, she "defended" by saying, "What?! If it were a British girl I would do a British accent." Now, my question is, was she trying to defend her actions? Was she trying to acknowledge what she said was wrong? What did she mean when she brought up the British accent? Would it be the same (would it create the same reaction) if she truly mocked someone with a British accent? Why did her follow up comment about the British accent create more laughter in the newsroom? 

2. One East Asian TMZ staff member tried to "mitigate" the situation and "defend" the Korean K-pop star, but it was not really successful. She added to the mockery, seemingly targeting the East Asian group in general, by commenting, "At least she didn't say, 'Thank you, thank you'" (bowing her head). Her comment elicited further laughter in the newsroom. What was her intentions for saying this? Was she sincerely trying to mitigate the situation? ("At least she didn't say...") What was the point of sharing (or mocking) the "Thank you-thank you" with the bowing action? Was she stereotyping that East Asians typically say the "thank you-thank you"? By adding the phrase, "At least she didn't say," is she implying that "thank you-thank you" is something negative? Also, just because she's from an East Asian ethnicity, does that give her privilege to say things as such? People in the newsroom were commenting that it's okay for her to do this since she's Asian. Is race or ethnicity a justifiable reason to make this supposed to be "humorous" comment? Finally, by saying this comment, was she trying to include herself as an East Asian or was she trying to exclude herself from the group? 

3. In response to the East Asian TMZ staff member's comment, a female (non-Asian) TMZ staff asked the East Asian TMZ staff, "Where are you from?" She replied by saying (rolling her eyes), "Um, AMERICA?!" So what was the purpose of this question? Was it to sincerely elicit information about her background? Was it to mock her back? The East Asian TMZ staff member's response was even more interesting. We can see here that she identified herself as an American--from America. Interestingly, her response ("America") created a lot of controversy on the net. People are commenting how she identified as American in this context (not "Asian American" for instance) to show membership in the newsroom crowd, yet she was being "disloyal" to her Asian roots. 

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Language is powerful and can be interpreted (and feel offended by many) in different ways (as shown in this example). We don't know all the intentions of the speaker, and as a speaker, we don't always think about how our words will be interpreted by our hearers. 

Complimenting Your Wife's Dish

Today, I thought about why wives/women want to hear some 'feedback' (a.k.a. compliment) or why we directly ask for compliments from husbands/love ones about the dish that they prepared.

Are we deprived of hearing compliments? Do we want to feel appreciated? Do we really want to know how the food taste like? Also, do we want them to tell the truth (about how the food taste like)? Or do we just want to hear some ritual-type of compliment? (Honey, this is great!)

Another thing to think about is, how often do we want them to compliment us on the food we cook? For every meal? Obviously, we do want to hear some sincere compliment, but what is our notion of sincerity? Do they need to exaggerate a bit? Do they need to use a higher tone or pitch? How about their facial expression? What adjectives are appropriate? Great? Awesome? Delicious? How much elaboration do we expect? (Honey, I love the spaghetti! The sauce is soo xxx.)

What do we truly want from husband's compliment? Do we want to form some kind of bonding? Or do we want to feel good? Do we want to improve our cooking? Or do we want to keep tab of what they like and what they don't like?

Also, why do we want to hear the compliment before we ask for it? Why do we get (a bit) upset if they don't give or delay their compliment?

Finally, is this something universal for all cultures? If so, why?? If not, how is it different in other cultures?

What's the Polite Way to Greet, to Talk, and to Look?

I wanted to share the following conversation between two celebrities in Korea. This conversation transcript was taken from a video footage "hacked" by someone. This clip was edited and cut (not meant to be aired or released). Many people in Korea are trying to interpret this conversation (based from the video) to judge who's at fault here. Celebrity A is the older actress and Celebrity B is the younger actress. Celebrity A was running late for the reality TV show, so the show staff invited Celebrity B; this made Celebrity A "angry." Prior to releasing this video, Celebrity A was criticized for having Celebrity B cry, according to a news article. People made comments and judged Celebrity A's poor personality. In response, Celebrity A apologized nationally and admitted that she was upset about having another female guest. However, a week later, this video footage was released and people's opinions were divided. Some people began to criticize Celebrity B's language and actions, claiming that this wouldn't had happened if Celebrity B was polite. It is important to note that in the Korean language, age matters a lot because language changes (or is expected to change to show respect). I'll differentiate that as "formal" vs. "informal" in the transcript. Below is the conversation that happened when the video was still rolling:

Celebrity A just came out from swimming in the ocean (that was part of her scene). Celebrity A approaches Celebrity B who's sitting down, sorting something (seaweed?)

A : 안녕 ('Hello') 

B : 추워요? (Looks up facing Celebrity A) ('Are you cold?')

A: 어. 야, 너무추워. 너 한번 갔다와봐라 ('Yeah. Hey, It's so cold. Why don't you try [going]?')

B: 안돼.. (Smiling, yet busy doing her sorting) ('I can't...')

A: 넌 싫어? 남이 하는 건 괜찮고 보는건 좋아? ('YOU don't want to? But it's okay for OTHERS to do it and to watch them do it?')

B: 아니 아니... ('No no...')

A: 지금 너 어디서 반말하니? ('Why are you talking to me impolitely?') or ('Why are you not using the formal language when talking to me?')

B : 아니.. 아니요. 추워가지고.. (not facing Celebrity A; silently; almost talking to self) ('No' [informal].. No [switch to formal]. I'm just cold [back to informal]) 

A:  지금 내가 우스워 보이니? (Literally: 'Do you think I'm funny?'; Actual: 'Are you looking down on me?')

B : 아니...아.. 언니 저 맘에 안들죠? ('No [informal].. Ah.. Oni (honorific to call a sister).. You don't like me, right?')

A : 눈깔을 왜 그렇게 떠? (angry tone; Literally: 'Why is your eyeball glaring at me like that?' Actual: 'Why are you giving me a dirty look?')

B: 네? ('What?' [formal])

A : 눈을 왜 그렇게 뜨냐고, 너 지금 아무것도 보이는게 없지 그치? xxx이 진짜 (Literally: 'Why are you glaring at me like that? You're blind to see anything right now? [then swear words]; Actual: 'Why are you staring at me like that? Can't you see I'm older than you, but you don't get that, don't you?')

Staff 1: 왜 그래? (facing Celebrity A) ('What's wrong?')

A : 반말 해대잖아 반말 ('She's using informal language to talk to me') or ('She's not using the honorific language')

Staff 1 : 어? 일단 나와 나와 ('What? Let's first go over there')

A : 너 쳐맞기 싫으면 눈 똑바로 떠 xxx야 (facing Celebrity B) ('If you don't want me to beat you up, make sure you look straight with your eyes, you b****').

(when Celebrity A leaves)

B  : 아 저 xxx진짜 후우 (talking silently to self) ('Wow, that crazy b****')

It's so interesting to read people's conversation on the internet as a reply thread to the news article. People are discussing what is considered as "polite" nowadays. Some people are saying that Celebrity B was talking to herself, so she didn't really have to say things using honorifics. Also, they are saying that Celebrity B was not really glaring at her. The sunshine was bright, so when she was looking up to Celebrity A, it seemed like she was glaring. However, some people are arguing that Celebrity A is at total fault, since she's disrespecting her by not using honorifics. Also, people on other TV shows are discussing what Celebrity A really meant when saying , 'You don't like me, right?' (statement highlighted in yellow). I'm a Korean, but I really don't understand the culture fully, so at first, I was surprised by how people are reacting to what Celebrity A said. It seemed like an honest question to me. However, I guess in context and considering the Korean culture, in which you shouldn't really question or challenge people older than you (to show respect), the question, 'you don't like me, right?' was a huge attack and a sign of disrespect. I can kind of imagine myself asking that question with no bad intentions, but I guess I'll get in trouble if I say something like this.

[출처] 예원, 이태임 대화내용|작성자 요