Fans Accuse ‘Escape’ Director Of Queerbaiting Using Song Kang and Koo Kyo Hwan

Korea News

2024-06-26
09:58

It seems like they won’t be able to escape the queerbaiting allegations.

The director of the Korean action film ‘Escape’ Lee Jong Pil is getting dragged to filth by fans for his response to the question of whether the characters of Song Kang and Koo Kyo Hwan, Lee Hyunsang and Seon Woomin, were involved in a queer romance.

Thanks to Song Kang’s cameo, ‘Escape’ has been earning praise from fans who interpreted the subtle glances between him and Kyo Hwan to be laced with lust and romance, with many claiming this to be a possible representation for the gays.

[ENG] Song Kang scene in ‘Escape’ pic.twitter.com/eANnn6yVqo

— 🐶 (@kangiesubs) June 23, 2024

In a recent interview, however, director Lee said that he did not intend for the relationship between the two characters to read as queer-coded.

Lee said that when he creates, he thinks about how to reach the audience with his characters but he did not want the audience to view them as queer, specifically. He added that he initially thought about writing a wife for Kyo Hwan but ultimately changed it to a guy after much consideration.

Lee continued to say, “What is the relationship between this person and Lee Hyunsang (Kyo Hwan)? As a director who aims for a film of “subtraction” where there are many empty [narrative] spaces, I hope the audience can fill in the answer to that question. Therefore, I don’t want to specify [the relationship] in detail. I thought this was an ambiguous area which should not be revealed, so I removed it from the plot.”

The director’s response received an adverse reaction from fans who claimed that this was textbook queerbaiting.

am i the only person who’s so tired of this “leave it up to your interpretation” bc either give us cannon or just stop its getting so old https://t.co/q5K7DhJcoo

— n (@rvinpeaxe) June 23, 2024

replacing the original female character w a male character for “impact” but then backtracking on it once ppl start creating a romantic narrative, that’s one way to declare you were queerbaiting. https://t.co/uf6y0aVsGQ

— ru (@rusiefool) June 23, 2024

hmm while I’m not surprised they wouldnt make the character openly queer and i kinda guessed it’d be more subtle reading “I did not intend to be queer-coded” is bit 😬 https://t.co/vaNwD2lat0

— violet🌺 (@tawinvc) June 23, 2024

What’s your take on this issue? Do you agree that this is queerbaiting or simply an artistic choice from the director? Sound off in the comments section or tweet us @BLTaiOfficial.

Sources: (1) (2)

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