Netflix’s #1 Global Megahit Is So Controversial, The Series It’s Based On Has Been Cancelled

Although there are plenty of controversial teen shows on various streaming services and TV channels, Netflix’s latest global smash hit in the genre is uniquely divisive. The teen drama might be one of the most inherently controversial genres in existence. Since their inception, teen TV shows have always pushed the boundaries of what can be shown to their young audiences and sparked debate over whether depiction equals endorsement when a series is aimed at a younger, ostensibly less discerning demographic.

In the 2000s, the British drama Skins and the glossier American soap Gossip Girl both ran into controversy for depicting casual sex and drug use among their young protagonists, although HBO’s three-season hit Euphoria managed to make both shows seem quaint with its constant graphic nudity, gory violence, and drug use. Of course, this eventually came back to bite the show, as the show’s attempts to constantly escalate its shock value resulted in the Euphoria series finale feeling less like a teen drama and more like a Tarantino movie.

More recently, Netflix’s South Korean drama Teach You A Lesson, based on the earlier webtoon Get Schooled, managed to cause even more controversy with its divisive premise. The story of the series is centered on Kim Mu-yeol’s Na Hwa-jin, a former Special Forces captain who becomes a school inspector for the fictional Educational Rights Protection Bureau. This task force is granted the ability to use corporal punishment against unruly students in an attempt to tackle the rising scourge of classroom violence.

Teach You A Lesson Has Faced Boycott Calls From Teachers’ Unions

Essentially a reactionary fantasy about a schoolteacher beating his students with impunity and being praised as a hero as a result, Teach You A Lesson faced widespread criticism from the moment the project was announced. The Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union called for the planned live-action adaptation of Get Schooled to be canceled with a statement titled “Violence Is Not True Education” (via AnimenNewsNetwork), and various actors linked to the project faced pressure from fans to boycott the production.

Back in 2023, Get Schooled was pulled from the Webtoon platform as critics accused the webtoon of perpetuating racist stereotypes and disproportionately portraying characters of color and female characters as villains. The webtoon’s Chapter 125 plot concerning “reverse racism” also earned criticism. More broadly, the show’s central theme of state-sponsored violence against children solving the crisis of classroom etiquette was viewed as a regressive, dangerously misguided message by many commentators.

Get Schooled Was Canceled In North America Due To The Controversy

Despite these fair critiques, the live-action adaptation of Get Schooled went ahead as planned, and Teach You A Lesson soon became a huge worldwide hit for Netflix. While Netflix’s earlier martial arts show Cobra Kai also blended violent action with teen drama, that superior series also humanized its young protagonists and focused on their complex, nuanced character arcs. In contrast, Teach You A Lesson moves from school to school, reducing the students to interchangeable faces for Na Hwa-jin to pummel into submission.

It is unsurprising that Teach You A Lesson was slammed for promoting vigilante violence against children, but that isn’t the extent of the show’s issues. The series was also criticized for reducing its teacher characters to passive, meek stereotypes who only exist to justify the heavy-handed violence of Na Hwa-jin and the Educational Rights Protection Bureau. Such depictions were viewed as disrespectful to real-life teachers who spend their days working with students, rather than fantasizing about beating them senseless.

Between its alleged racism, sexism, promotion of violence against children, and enthusiastic support of state-sponsored violence, the webtoon Get Schooled is one of the most divisive pieces of media aimed at teenage viewers in recent years. Now, Netflix’s live-action adaptation, Teach You A Lesson, has brought this same story to a larger audience around the world.

Source: AnimenNewsNetwork