Chinese actor and director Stephen Chow's female version follow-up to the film Shaolin Soccer, Kung Fu Soccer (功夫女足), has been embroiled in controversy over excessive denigration of Korea.
According to major Chinese media including The Paper on the 14th, the film Kung Fu Soccer, which opened locally on the 11th, surpassed 600 million yuan in cumulative box office revenue (about 132 billion won) within three days of its release and is riding a wave of popularity. This work is the spiritual successor to the 2001 mega-hit Shaolin Soccer that swept across Asia, and is a comedy that depicts the process of a ragtag, weak women's soccer team incorporating martial arts to achieve miraculous victories.
However, apart from its explosive success, strong criticism has arisen at home and abroad because the film contains many scenes that openly belittle and mock the South Korean women's soccer team. The fictional "Ewha women's soccer team," which evokes a particular domestic university, is depicted as a team that resorts to all sorts of cowardly tricks to win, so-called "foul play". Moreover, they are distorted as caring more about wearing circle contact lenses and makeup than performance, and, under the guise of B-level comedy, clumsy Korean lines are even inserted, causing offense.
In response, Professor Seo Kyoung-duk of Sungshin Women's University voiced strong criticism. Professor Seo pointed out, "Even during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the short-track film Fly, light on the ice, which the Beijing Municipal Radio and Television Bureau released, depicted Korean athletes as deliberate 'cheat kings,' causing a major controversy."
He added, "No matter how much artistic fiction a film claims to be, continuously insulting Korea's sports world through portrayals of sports such as short track and soccer is clearly wrong," and urged, "Before Kung Fu Soccer's scheduled overseas release in August, such incorrect portrayals must be corrected. There must be no more crossing the line with forced comparisons that harm neighboring countries."
[Photo] trailer still from Kung Fu Soccer
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