This is no mere stereotype. His words imply that Koreans and/or Korean culture are/is disgusting and, as a result, 'Old Boy' is the logical product.

What Rex Reed knows best, besides producing cheapshot, superficial rants passed off as film reviews, is STEALING. He was caught about five years ago stealing music CDs from a Tower Records store.

By his "logic," I guess we can conclude (strictly for entertainment purposes, of course), what else can we expect from a greedy rat who shoplifts easy-listening music CDs despite having plenty of money from whoring himself out to the highest bidding studio on a regular basis (pure speculation on my part, of course).

anybody tells me what kind of crap foods this guy's eating everyday?

Rex is right his talking is moral and exact indication He simply muckrake korean bearish spirit We normally talk about barbarism of Indian Japanese German .... It must not be percived indignity on mores, If so that is indignity on human and cuture

Reed is not anti-Korean any more than he's anti-black or anti-semitic. His lurid and hyperbolic writing style is indiscriminant -- he lashes out at anything and everything in his over-the-top efforts to land haymaker wallops on the overinflated egos of the rich and famous in Hollywood. Here's some examples:

from a review about Guess Who?
"the spastic Ashton Kutcher"
"the noisy, eye-rolling, Uncle Remus School of
Dramatic Art called Bernie Mack"
"this moronic drivel"

Miss Congeniality 2
"anything but fabulous, clumsy Sandra Bullock
is back in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and
Fabulous, an unasked-for sequel to a
second-rate farce...another candidate for the
trash bin"

And so on...ad nauseam...this doesn't excuse Reed's disgusting stereotyping of Korean culture, but it does put it in context...

Reed is not anti-Korean any more than he's anti-black or anti-semitic. His lurid and hyperbolic writing style is indiscriminant -- he lashes out at anything and everything in his over-the-top efforts to land haymaker wallops on the overinflated egos of the rich and famous in Hollywood. Here's some examples:

from a review about Guess Who?
"the spastic Ashton Kutcher"
"the noisy, eye-rolling, Uncle Remus School of
Dramatic Art called Bernie Mack"
"this moronic drivel"

Miss Congeniality 2
"anything but fabulous, clumsy Sandra Bullock
is back in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and
Fabulous, an unasked-for sequel to a
second-rate farce...another candidate for the
trash bin"

And so on...ad nauseam...this doesn't excuse Reed's disgusting stereotyping of Korean culture, but it does put it in context...

Reed is not anti-Korean any more than he's anti-black or anti-semitic. His lurid and hyperbolic writing style is indiscriminant -- he lashes out at anything and everything in his over-the-top efforts to land haymaker wallops on the overinflated egos of the rich and famous in Hollywood. Here's some examples:

from a review about Guess Who?
"the spastic Ashton Kutcher"
"the noisy, eye-rolling, Uncle Remus School of
Dramatic Art called Bernie Mack"
"this moronic drivel"

Miss Congeniality 2
"anything but fabulous, clumsy Sandra Bullock
is back in Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and
Fabulous, an unasked-for sequel to a
second-rate farce...another candidate for the
trash bin"

And so on...ad nauseam...this doesn't excuse Reed's disgusting stereotyping of Korean culture, but it does put it in context...

Interesting analysis of Reed's review here:
http://purifyingflames.blogspot.com/2005/03/acceptable-racist.html

i'm a little disappointed. it's been almost a day since i posted the comment below and nobody has written some personal attack/diatribe on me. any other hypocritics out there? where are you laura? i'm dying of boredom over here.

i get it, laura. i just think people like u are way too oversensitive. u're taking things way too personally or u just can't take any critism. who among us is not a racist in some way? you have never laughed at some polish joke or dumb blond joke and thought nothing of it? i could be wrong and you may be a saint but i seriously doubt it.

our peeps need to continue to do something about racists like reed. for now we've fanned the fire for sure as the observer took the review off their website. whether they will issue an apology or statement is perhaps too hopeful? we shall see.

however, what's more disturbing to me is what i've read on this site. people like "keenobserver" are the worst kind of all--self-hating koreans who can't get over his/her own "wanting to be white" and keeps on the pathetic rant about "agreeing" with bigots like reed.
so sad that "keenobserver" can't get it--we're rallying about the racist comment not the quality of the film or criticsm of it. whether we like the movie or not is besides the point!

people, stop this hateful nonsense. he is no more racist than u and me. he's just saying the some of contents of this movie belongs in the sewage and even though i loved this film, a part of me have to agree with him.

Oldboy Rex Reed

Ignoramus Maximus Rex: An extinct species of pea-size-brained reptiles that were noted for its unintelligeable rantings about movies, and accasionally have been known to expound upon the profound complexities of ethno-cabbage-ology. Scientists note that the unfortuneate demise of the species was mainly due to its disproportionate ratio between the miniscule brain mass compared to its over-sized mouth.

It has been reported that Charles Darwin has accepted a full responsibility for this evolutionary hiccup, and issued an official apology.

It's unacceptable. By Reed's reasoning, Oldboy wasn't any good because the culture from which it came from isn't any good. It's racist, offensive and shouldn't be tolerated.

I would not worry at all. First, Rex Reed is a third-rate gossipy, fairy-like movie critic. He's a fluff, whose knowledge of films is as thin as yesterday's National Enquirer.

it's obvious from the inconsistencies his "review" that he was either not paying attention during the film (which I've heard he's known to do), or didn't see it at all and just went on someone else's flawed synopsis.

i think we've given a racist hack like him more attention than he deserves.

i'm korean by the way. that makes me a self-hater i guess. does this unpuzzle you, puzzled?

Keenobserver is a hater just like Rex. Take your banal and narrowminded hatefulness somewhere else.

lighten up, people! come on, everyone, together, hahaha, just laugh it off. besides, an ass he is, but mr. reed may be on to something. the movie oldboy to me is a blinding indictment of korean society for the cesspool that it has become past 20 years. old man (daddy) like daesu routinely has sexual relation with young girl like mido (daughter) in modern-day cesspool called korea. it is sick!! chanwook, the director, had this in mind when he made this brilliant film, i have no doubt. so, i think mr reed inadvertently made a good call on this movie. i loved this movie by the way. different strokes for different falks.

Yeah, dude is getting my two cents!!
I don't even want to say his name. Dude needs some education before making comment about the nation's number one food. Obviously he is ignorant about Kim Chi's scientific superiority.

Rex Reed is as ignorant as he is ridiculous. This is the same guy who liked the train-wreck "Spanglish." Says a lot....

Part of what I wrote in my letter to the Observer:
"Perhaps this is Reed’s wrongly-directed attempt at penance for the insult onto him when, as an actor, his scenes were deleted in "Inchon,"(1981, dir. Terence Young) ironically a movie about the Korean War aptly named for the port city in which the movie takes place."

LET'S SEND REX A BIG ASS JAR OF KIMCHEE!!!

This type of stuff seems to happen too frequently, especially in the media, even among hacks like R. Reed. Even if they will never admit or know why this is wrong we have to make a stink about this so they remember what a pain in the ass the consequences can and will be.

what a complete ignoramus. appaulling.
the observer is a joke anyway but this is so wrong.

It's incredible how some people still think this type of crap is OK. Let them know this is absolutely unacceptable. Shame on Rex and shame on the Observer, but shame on all of us if we let this one slide.

comments@observer.com
rreed@observer.com

Rex should stick to what he knows best-- crusty fluff fare like the Woody Allen piece he strokes in that same article.