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Post by roverpup on Apr 14, 2018 2:14:43 GMT
I don’t know either QZ. Everyone I have seen seemed like they were overjoyed that BC was a visitor in their country, so hopefully all this “outrage” over a bow or two is confined to a Twittersphere or just some fan sites. However as reported by ladyemma91
So there apparently must be some sort of social media blowback about this. Hopefully it is just a small sampling of BC “fans” in Korea (I am picturing someone judging all Sherlock fans in the Europe and North America by the standard of TJLC followers - a well established, attention grabbing, segment, but minority of the overall fandom).
:-))
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Post by sgev1977 on Apr 14, 2018 2:47:11 GMT
Cultures/countries are not monolithic. Kenan Malick talks about culture gatekeepers to refer to the persons who put themselves in the positions of defending tradition and culture. I know a very extreme examples of “progressive” Westerners defending these kind of people as representatives of those cultures almost always in detriment of native (and actual) progressives because, you know, identity politics but that’s another story! Anyway that’s my reason why I don’t believe in “it’s their culture so I won’t try to understand it but I totally would agreed with them”. Traditionalists tend to scream louder (as do traditionalists from the UK or the USA) but they are not ALL the country. Humans are humans and even when culture influence us they don’t define us.
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Post by mllemass on Apr 14, 2018 3:28:10 GMT
I've been trying to think of an equivalent situation, and I remembered when my cousin visited from Italy a few years ago. He tried to impress us with his knowledge of English by casually using the f-word during a family gathering. I gasped in surprise and cautioned him that that word isn't used in "polite company" - and certainly not around my elderly parents and aunts and uncles! He said that he had learned that word at school, along with other slang words, and was never told that it was a "bad" word. And he'd heard it a million times in English-language movies, so he thought it was used a lot here.
He did understand the idea of "bad words", of course, because Italian has lots of them, too! In fact, he taught me quite a few of them while he was here, and then told me that his mother would kill him if she knew he was teaching me that stuff.
There was a guy on Twitter who originally started the outrage against Benedict's bow and tried to get others riled up, but I ended up blocking him because he used #twit when talking about Benedict. How dare he call Benedict a twit!
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Post by onebluestocking on Apr 14, 2018 3:28:58 GMT
To my knowledge, he didn't. He bowed at the airport in the Buddhist style, with hands in prayer position. Then he bowed the next day in what is apparently an apology gesture, with one hand folded over his fist in front of him, at a different event. I just assumed that Karon or someone, saw the Twitter comments and told him to bow differently, but still didn't get it quite right. Both are pictured here, along with the two right ways (one of which looks a lot like the "apology" way, just with the hands closer to the body instead of held out in front): www.koreaboo.com/news/benedict-cumberbatch-fire-bowing-certain-way-front-koreans/
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Post by onebluestocking on Apr 14, 2018 3:37:48 GMT
I imagine it is like anything else, just a few outspoken people. Like in the UK, any Daily Mail article is sure to be followed with umpteen comments about migrants, but it is far from the majority feeling about him.
Now that I've read more about it, I understand the issue, and I'm sure BC was glad to learn too. After all, he doesn't usually greet people like that in Western countries, he is trying to show respect and honor the local culture when visiting there. So obviously he does not want to offend them accidentally. If you were from a country where people didn't wave, and you visited someplace where they do, wouldn't you want to be told if you were mistakenly doing it with your middle finger? He will certainly learn from it and move on, I don't expect it to be a big deal except among the few people who take offense at everything he does and remember it forever (Your Fave is Problematic types.)
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Post by ladyemma91 on Apr 14, 2018 3:44:18 GMT
He did the Buddhist bow three times, arriving at the airport, arriving at the red carpet and then before departing Korea at the airport. Me and a friend just started to find it hilarious after a while, like well there he goes again.
Like I said, I want to know his full reasoning if he did know, but I’ve just accepted we will never know.
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Post by sgev1977 on Apr 14, 2018 3:59:27 GMT
TBH I wouldn’t be surprised if he ACTUALLY went full Buddhist by now. As you said that would explain his sudden vegetarianism but of course it’s pure speculation! Anyway he always have had interest for it and he actually said he wanted to visit a Buddhist temple there. It’s the salute he is more familiar with and that’s probably the most obvious explanation.
I think he actually use to do bows in Western countries but I’m not sure where he puts his hands! I remember him saluting people at San Diego Con with a big theatrical bow!
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Post by queenzod on Apr 14, 2018 4:14:55 GMT
I’m pretty sure he is a Buddhist now, which, according to something I read/googled on a Korean etiquette page, means it was fine what he did. I did search through half dozen pages on bowing etiquette in Korea, and only one of them mentioned hand placement. Most of them were more concerned with the angle of the bow and the situation. I think whoever’s complaining is trying to stir up trouble.
And all this after I said I wasn’t going to be bothered, lol.
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Post by igs on Apr 14, 2018 7:30:59 GMT
I am picturing someone judging all Sherlock fans in the Europe and North America by the standard of TJLC followers If you're implying that Johnlockers are specific to Europe/North America you're mistaken. I mean the official Korean trailers for the show (since S1) are definitely something that people everywhere took to legitimize that relationship. They're pushing the Sherlock/John love story aspect hard, it's not even arguable. For the bow thing, I've kind of missed this controversy and I don't have personal knowledge of Buddhism or the significance of this or that gesture in Korea. But if it was a Japanese and/or Chinese bow then yes it would have been wise to stop doing that. If a celeb came to Finland and did something culturally Russian or Swedish as a salute they'd be in the middle of a social media turmoil for sure. But I hope people understand BC wasn't being malicious about it, and that people who it doesn't even concern (pardon my generalization but American white women who just like being overtly woke about everything) let it go. If Korean people are/were offended that's well within their rights to express, of course.
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Post by ellie on Apr 14, 2018 8:13:52 GMT
I think most people would just see it as him trying to do the right thing but accidentally getting it wrong. He probably shouldn’t keep doing it though. 😊
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