K-dramas still film a cliché Africa. Africa's screens tell another story
A University of Toronto scholar shows how Shooting Stars, Marry My Husband and Queen of Tears use Africa as a backdrop for Korean character arcs.
PANM — When Africa appears in Korean dramas, it is rarely as it is. Osarugue Otebele, assistant professor at the University of Toronto's Cinema Studies Institute, examined three recent hits in The Conversation.
What she found
- Shooting Stars (2022) opens with its star actor digging wells with village children in "Africa", a trip that polishes his image at home.
- Marry My Husband (2024) sends its villain to volunteer in Africa as a kind of punishment and character-building.
- Queen of Tears (2024) has a character recall his wild years in Africa, although he mostly stayed in his hotel.
No country is named. Africa is a single place: needing charity, or lawless, or a place of punishment, where a Korean hero can prove himself.
Why it happens
Otebele argues that these portrayals say more about South Korea than about Africa. As Korea has become a global economic and cultural power, Africa serves as a measuring stick for how far Korea has come, and aid scenes boost its soft power. African personalities on Korean television, such as Sam Okyere, have faced racist backlash.
The other picture
The clichés leave out the Africa of modern cities, culture and innovation. That Africa is on African screens every day: Nollywood, South African and Kenyan series, and a generation of African filmmakers and creators telling their own stories, to their own audiences and, increasingly, to the world.
Source: The Conversation, 22 October 2026.
