[HanCinema's News] "Queen Woo" Comes Under Attack for Gratutitous Sex Scenes

The first part of "Queen Woo" came out this past August 29th on TVING and has been fairly popular, but has also come under increasing criticism in recent days for sex scenes that some viewers found to be gratuitous, and borderline pornographic. "Queen Woo" stars Jeon Jong-seo in the title role as the sitting queen who schemes to maintain her position of power in the 24 hours following the death of the sitting king. The epic story is rated as unsuitable for viewers under the age of 19.

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Most adult viewers assumed that this content rating was due to violence, however, not sexual content. And much of the sexual content in "Queen Woo" isn't anything as straightforward as, say, the title character seducing the future king. One scene in the second episode involves priestesses being bewildered into having sexual relations with women under the belief they're having sex with men. Nude ice massage scenes are also not obviously relevant to the drama's stated premise.

Intense sexual scenes like this are not new to historical South Korean media. "A Frozen Flower" from 2006 also took place in the Goryeo era, but the sexual content of this film was limited almost exclusively to the three lead characters, and the actors knew what they were signing up for. With many extras or minor characters involved in the sexual content of "Queen Woo" there are more troublesome issues of consent involved.

"Queen Woo" was premised at least in part on the idea that a serial drama on a streaming platform could show racier material that wouldn't be possible for a normal television broadcast. It remains unclear whether the backlash to the sexual content will damage "Queen Woo" in the long run. The drama cost twenty million dollars to make. Part two will appear on TVING in South Korea on September 12th. "Queen Woo" is broadcast via Viu and Paramount Plus in other international regions.

Written by William Schwartz