South Korean girl group Oh My Girl have been accused of appropriating Indian culture.
In May 2016, the girl group released a song called ‘Indian’, which their Korean fans felt had Indian elements in its sound. The fans then began calling the group “curry-dols”, which is a play on the term “idol”, which is used in South Korea to refer to celebrities.
The nickname caused quite a stir amongst fans.
I hope Oh My Girl realizes their mistakes with appropriating Indian/South Asian culture and calling themselves ‘curry-dols’
— D-8 TO BTS X DOM (@ohmychunkkook) July 17, 2016
The group didn’t help themselves by performing a song called, ‘Curry’, shortly after the nickname was spread around. The lyrics include “it’s yellow, spicy, and although it doesn’t smell nice, Taj Mahal” and “Shanti shanti, yoga fire! I love hot curry!”.
This spurred on even more of a backlash for their lyrics and for referring to their dance moves as “Aladdin Dance”.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS BULLSHIT. IM GONE. THIS IS DISGUSTING. CURY DOLS WTF???? https://t.co/wv98aNNBhS
— Varun (@itsVarunG) July 19, 2016
Again, the band didn’t help themselves as one of its members was photographed wearing what appeared to be a bindi on her forehead at a fan signing.
160710 잠실 팬사인회 프리뷰#오마이걸 #OHMYGIRL #효정
カレー国の姫🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/RSqa02i0HZ— mappy (@Dear_omg_) July 10, 2016
It’s always great to see cultures embracing each other. However, was Oh My Girl’s attempt at using Indian influences in their music actually done distastefully? After all, not everyone is regarding them as racists.
If y'all still call oh my girl racist well read this pic.twitter.com/KtsVA364Wy
— Jennifer (@Yewonator) July 17, 2016
