Well said, javabeans! Thanks for doing a piece on this.

Amy, thank god there's another sensible voice out there. I felt kind of silly writing this initially, because I felt like I was stating the obvious. I thought the initial reaction to the Rain piece was so positive that I was surprised to see such a strong backlash. I thought maybe a few people would be upset, but I was startled to see the number of people -- even English-speaking Rain fans -- up in arms and offended over it.

I loved that egg/bibimbap line too! Although that Hyundai line in the song subtitles cracked me up too. As well as the "He's singin' in Korean... oh yeah, he's singin' in Korean..." ;)

Sarah,

I hadn't realized that the Korea media has commented on Colbert piece on Rain. Thanks for enlightening me on that.

I found the piece Colbert did wildly funny. But then, I love Colbert. I also watch Bill Maher religiously too - yes, I'm a bleeding liberal. Koreans who believe the Colbert piece was mocking Rain really aren't "it-getters!" I think the fact that Colbert did a piece on Rain should energize Rain fans since Colbert has such a large following in the U.S. and caters to mostly the younger audience (the audience Rain wants to have?).

I really liked "I'm all over it like egg over bowl of bibimbop" the best!

Amy

p.s. My caucasian husband and I saw the Colbert piece together last week and he got it! Also, I own 3 Rain CDs so I'm speaking as a fan of Rain as well!

Oh my god, it was funny and in very good taste. I don't understand the big fuss, it was the funniest thing I seen in awhile...when I think about it now, I'm just laughing. gosh people just need to take a chill pill..hha.

julie, i'm glad you feel better about it now! Initially i was annoyed at the korean press for misunderstanding, but i figured that was counterproductive.

The fact that so many Americans are Non-It-Getters show that Colbert isn't universally appreciated, even in his own language. Satire is sophisticated. And I have to remind myself every time I get annoyed with the Korean mentality (my parents and I used to argue profusely about stuff like this) that Korea may be overly defensive, but it's understandable why. They've only been a first-world nation for a short while, and have centuries of oppression and occupation built into their national psyche. So they're very protective of their national image -- I get that, even though most of the time I forget first.

The fact that Korean reports are focusing on the Korean-centric "slurs" show that their insecurities are still very raw -- all the news reports dwell on the fact that Colbert made mention of the terms "Hyundai," "kimchee" etc. as though they were used pejoratively. It's like you don't get why people are laughing in your general vicinity, so you assume they're laughing AT you. Some have even seen Colbert throwing the TIME magazine through the glass pane as "symbolic" -- because the magazine had Rain's face on it. They didn't see that it was a silly, harmless gesture just designed to parody Rain's window-breaking video scene.

I just hope they see that Stephen Colbert, for all his bluster and cheekiness, is a good-natured guy and this segment was really done very respectfully. He clearly put a lot of research into accuracy. And it was funny! Best of both worlds.

Raising Korean children in "white world" I tend to be sensitive- probably overly- to people mocking things Korean/Asian. I saw this clip right after I had read an email from a person talking about Korea as if it were a 3rd world country. I was ticked off anyway. So, when I saw the Jong-Il comment and the MASH references, it bugged me. Parodies are great, but I wish that the general audience had some respect for what was being parodied (does that even make sense? :-P ). I thought of some of my more clueless friends/family watching this only to poke fun. That being said...the video is hilarious and it is done with respect on Colbert's part- it is an actual parody of a Bi video (they took the time to copy it!), and he even knows what bibimbap is!! I can't say that about anyone in my extended family. heehee The exposure for Bi is wonderful, of course. Regardles, I love your blog javabeans, and if you say it is ok, then I will relax! You are awesome girl!

I totally agree ~ you can easily tell from just watching it that he is definitely not mocking Rain in any way or fashion. I didn't even realize there were people that were offended by it, I thought it was totally amazing ~ free publicity for Rain! I don't know how well his US debut will go but I totally think that this is positive for him...I'm sure JYP understands haha. And yes for the commentesr above^^ that bibimbab line still kills me lol.

Exactly. Stuff on Colbert is pretty mainstream- they should treat it as a compliment.
And hey, free publicity!

i personally thought it was a compliment when someone as notorious as colbert decided to do a segment on rain. but my question is, was rain even insulted by the segment? i mean i haven't heard him say anything about it, but really, if rain isn't upset, why should everyone else be?

however insulted some people are, it's as you said java, satire.

I adore RAIN... Colbert, I have never heard of before but my curiosity was peeked so, I viewed the clip.

The man was funny and his skit was funny.

It's all about advertising people. Web-sites, my space, forums, youtube; wake-up, advertising in any shape or form rules!!!

You could be the most talented 'popsicle' in the world and it wouldn't mean jack if people do not know your name. And, dare-I-say; RAIN baby, you just got plugged... :)

I read from another open forum that Rain wasn't affected by Colbert at all. He was quite tickled by it actually. hmm..don't know how true that is..I don't follow Rain's news.

But...this was so funny! He should not be mad at all...because this is free publicity.
If you want to be successful in a different culture, you've got to take everything about the culture and adapt. That includes "Sense of Humor"...Ahh...but why is the US market so important to break into? Everybody's doing it. Should go to CHINA! =)

Javabeans-- very nice post. I thought the Bi paraody was pretty funny, and I'm actually surprised that there was such a strong response in the korean media. Anyways, before I read your post, I had no idea what Stephen Colbert (the character) stood for or and didn't have a clue as to who he (the character and the man) was... Anyways, your explanation of him piques my interest! I'm checking him out XD.

I agree with everyone! Publicity for Rain and Colbert's hilarious! Thanks for the clarification though.. sure some people needed that!

When i first saw da vid on that... i personally wasnt even affected.... even tho. i am a huge rain fan... and yahh as u said.. da only thing dat bothered me was da kid jong il thing.. but yeahh ppl shud calm down... =]

I thought it was GREAT publicity for Rain. It was hilarious. I was even hoping Rain's people would ask for a guest spot on the Stephen Colbert Show. :)

I LUVEEEDDDD the parody. i personally thought it was GREATTTT advertisement & i think the media is being REALLY stupid about it. Even though I admit the kim jon il part was a bit ehhhh, I think the rest was great parody. He was jabbing at Rain because Colbert was "jealous" right? Good grief, I think Korean fans get WAYYY too defensive about their stars. even though i really like Rain, It never crossed my mind that this was racial. I think reporters need to learn that Colbert makes fun of EVERYONE not just koreans. all in all, Rain should be happy. More recognition=more success.

if that's the case i hope he does the same for se7en~ give him exposure~

wow, i had NO idea they were attacking Stephen Colbert's segment on that, but they definitely need to listen to and understand what he's saying.

at first i was a bit scared, actually, because i thought Rain might be getting bad publicity.. but when i watched the video of it i laughed and was glad that Rain was getting some good-humored publicity that would only benefit him. (i even sent the link to my brother, who literally called me this morning to tell me how funny it was) *sigh, korean fans really do need to cut the defensiveness.

Now if only all of the big Korean newspaper websites can link to this page so they can understand Stephen didn't mean any harm or was being disrespectful -_-.

As usual, javabeans, big fan of your summaries.

It's sad to see that the Korean media has blown this wayyy out of proportion. If they only understood how GOOD it is for Colbert to be doing this--how much recognition that this will give Bi/Rain in the younger American audience. Maybe they need someone to explain it to them, because from my experience (mainly my mother) some Koreans don't really understand satire and sarcasm. Haha..oh well :].

Anyways, I thought that the parody was HILARIOUS as did many of my other Korean friends. Like you said though..the only thing I didn't really like was the "Kid Jong Il" reference. =/ But hey, it was still pretty funny. Hopefully the Korean media will lighten up about this and Bi/Rain look at it as an insult and see it as a positve thing that helped him gain more recogintion in the U.S. =]

oh my gosh, when i saw the Colbert clip last week, i fell down laughing watching that thing. Colbert is so clever and witty in the things that he says. i watch him when i have the time, and i enjoy it everytime.
i'm surprised that the Korean press is going insane over this segment...i mean, it's seems so obvious that IT'S ALL A JOKE!!! i think koreans should be proud or at least amused at the fact that Colbert took time in his extremely well known show to do a five-minute segment on Rain. if i was korean, i would be sorta glad that the korean culture has sparked some hype or interest in the american culture. it's nice when two cultures intertwine...and it's even better when it's Colbert doing it. haha.
my favorite parts were when Colbert acted surprised that the #1 most influential person was RAIN..."At #2...What! Who's at #1? It can be?! My old nemisis, 24-yr-old R&B pop sensation Rain." and when he mentioned a title of a Rain song..."Now sure he's got some good songs like 'Ne gah neu wot dong chim dei'...haha.

To be honest, i was rather surprised that the korean media took colbert's piece on rain the wrong way. It was obiously satirical and widely funny. It was in fact pleasant to see a korean star like Rain actually getting metioned in the US media plus colbert's attempts in speaking korean were hilarious!!! lol

I was SO elated when I saw the Colbert parody. What a positive, funny piece. Thank goodness, it's about time especially after these last couple weeks. Plus Free marketing for Rain! As I'm pretty sure 90% of Colbert's viewers had no idea whom Rain is and most of them will end up goggling him for more info. The next day at work, after the Colbert piece aired, at least 5 co-workers came up to me asking Who Rain was? After a brief bio of Rain, a few of his videos, a couple of downloaded mp3s, a clip of his latest movie "I'm A Cyborg But It's Okay" Rain had 5 new fans. So seriously, this is a very VERY positive thing.

wow thanks for this sarah.im so behiind. ive been out. you gotta admit this was hilarious.thought not everyone would think so, icant really blame them. lol. but really, first time to watch the colbert thing.and i thought the daily show with john stewart was hilarious. hahha im glad u cleared this up for many. im pretty sure, rain just got a popularity boost in the US. if not for being funny maybe they saw something too. hahahhaha maybe koreans arent as used to american humor...not everyone can really.