Netizens are heavily criticizing the dialogue delivered by Lee Min Ho’s character in 'Where the Stars Gossip.'
On an online forum, viewers discussed the lines spoken by Gong Ryong, a character played by Lee Min Ho in the tvN drama co-starring Gong Hyo Jin. In the series, Gong Ryong is an obstetrician-gynecologist with a mysterious mission. However, certain lines spoken by the character have sparked backlash.
One line in particular drew strong reactions:
"I attended private afterschool academies, received a perfect score on my CSAT, went to medical school, then saw women's uterus everyday and delivered babies everyday."
Another controversial moment involves Gong Ryong describing his mother and 'aunts,' who worked at a hostess bar and raised him:
"The uterus of my mother and the aunties were like alcohol but were comfortable and warm. The breasts of my aunts were drenched in cigarettes but were very big and safe."
These lines were paired with scenes of childbirth at the hospital, which many viewers described as "highly inappropriate," "outdated," and "disturbing."
Adding to the discomfort, one viewer noted that Gong Ryong confronts men who visited the hostess bar to indulge with his aunts—not to address the issues surrounding illegal prostitution, but to demand payment, saying, "You have to pay if you fooled around with pretty women."
Netizen reactions were swift and critical, with comments such as:
"Oh, so it wasn’t just me. I was shocked while watching this, really."
"?????? Is the writer a man by any chance?"
"The writer is a woman, and she’s famous. Why did she write it like this?"
"I stopped watching at this part."
"The dialogue level is crazy."
"It's 2025, and nothing has changed at all."
"She's a female writer, but the dialogue is like this? I was honestly appalled."
"Seriously, the writer's skills seem to have declined."
"Seo Sook Hyang has always been a bit macho and old-fashioned."
"The dialogue is awful. I stopped watching because I felt uncomfortable."
"What’s going on with this dialogue?"
"What is this even?"
"This feels incredibly outdated."
"Talking about wombs and breasts? I didn’t expect to get a sense of 'male-centric literature' from a drama."
"Why is the dialogue like this?"
"I just watched the first episode, and the male lead’s backstory is ridiculous; his moms work at a bar, he says he has to study, and they encourage him to keep earning money through the bar."
"I couldn’t believe my ears during the breast part."
"I also watched and thought, 'What is this?'"
"The male lead's background is absurd. Three women who aren't even his real mom work at a bar, and he demands tuition fees from them, beats up a man they drank with, and takes his money."
"The writer is the one behind 'Pasta' and 'Don't Dare to Dream,' but it seems like she hasn’t kept up with the times."
"Meanwhile, the male lead’s acting, which is supposed to portray this, isn’t great either, making it even more unbearable."
"This alone is enough reason not to watch it."
"I was channel-surfing and saw this briefly. Lee Min Ho was saying something like, 'I told my aunts to earn money, and they went to work at a bar.' It seemed off, but I thought there might be more context, so I just switched channels. LOL."
"Right after mentioning the aunts’ breasts, there’s a karaoke hostess scene, and Lee Min Ho says to a customer who didn’t pay, 'If you played with a pretty woman, you should pay up.' The dialogue is so bad."
"I can't believe I’m not reading the prose of an 80-year-old male chauvinist writer but instead the dialogue of a modern drama written by a female writer."
Have you been watching this drama? What are your thoughts?
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