'They didn't just pick us up off the street!' Meet the globally derided Squid Game VIPs

[soryang]

‘Why is Squid Game’s English-Language Acting So Bad?’ demanded one recent headline, echoing the sentiment of hundreds of tweets and memes. The culprits are the “VIPs” – four English-speaking, mask-wearing billionaires who watch the action from afar, placing bets on the outcome of the carnage. To the naysayers, the VIP acting in Squid Game is stilted and mannered, and pulls them out of the show. But who are the people behind the masks?

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/oct/19/they-didnt-just-pick-us-up-off-the-street-meet-the-globally-derided-squid-game-vips

I have to say that "stilted" or "wooden" fairly characterizes the western English speaking actors that appear in Kdramas, generally. It's interesting that in this Guardian discussion the "actors" involved mention the lack of context and appropriate direction in their roles. It's a common problem, no question about it. One has to admit that a lot of South Korean actors sound wooden too when they speak English for their Kdrama roles onscreen, unless they've actually spent a lot of time in the US. It' mystifying in a way, because I've heard a number of westerners speak Korean perfectly on daytime talk shows.

My reaction is that the actors do appear as if they were picked off the street as if any English speaker would do. The reference to their script sounding like Google translate was funny too (which could be attributed to the script writers). The comment at the very end of the article, suggested to me, confirmation of the low class of at least one actor.

I watched Dr. Peterson, who is a Korean studies prof, well known because of his youtube channel, Frog outside the well, react with Chad, another Korean studies enthusiast, to the first episode. The professor isn't thrilled with the violence. Me either, I guess I'm showing my age again. Chad, indicated he was put off by the violence, but was still intrigued and drawn into the story and would watch more to see how the characters would deal with their life and death situation. I was just turned off.