Netflix's Teach You a Lesson, a Korean series based on the popular webtoon Get Schooled, premiered on June 5 amidst intense controversy. The show follows a fictional government bureau trying to fix South Korea's troubled school system, but faced backlash over its source material's themes and casting complaints.
The original webtoon was removed from the North American platform after facing massive backlash over an episode involving racial stereotypes. The creators apologized, and Kim Nam Gil publicly turned down the project due to the controversy.
Kim Mu Yeol stepped in to play Na Hwa Jin, the tough school supervisor, and addressed the casting controversy directly. The show's director, Hong Jong Chan, clarified that the team deliberately dropped the webtoon's most controversial concepts and aimed to reflect real-life situations and build empathy.
Teach You a Lesson paints a chilling picture of an alternate South Korea where classroom discipline has collapsed, and student gangs rule the hallways. The government creates the Educational Rights Protection Bureau (ERPB) to reset the balance of power in broken schools, led by Na Hwa Jin and his team.
