US TV series Countdown causes online stir over ‘badly misrepresented’ portrayal of Singapore
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US crime drama Countdown depicts a Singaporean businessman (left) who cannot speak English and requires an interpreter (centre) in a scene from the Aug 20 episode.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
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SINGAPORE – An American crime drama has drawn criticism from some viewers for its scenes portraying Singaporean characters.
In the 11th episode of TV series Countdown, which aired on Prime Video on Aug 20, investigators played by American actors Jensen Ackles and Jessica Camacho interview a Singaporean businessman named Kieran Teo (portrayed by American actor Brian Yang).
The show follows a Los Angeles Police Department detective (Ackles), who is drawn into a covert task force. In the episode’s storyline, the businessman owns a cabin where a suspicious death has taken place.
However, he is depicted as speaking only Malay and requiring an interpreter (played by Singaporean actress Valerie Loo) to communicate with the English-speaking investigators.
The episode also presents the businessman’s fictional company, Beruang Holdings, as being “owned by the People’s Action Party of Singapore”, leading to a representative of the Singapore Government intervening to halt the investigation.
Fictional representatives of the Singapore Government (left) depicted in a scene from the Aug 20 episode of US crime drama series Countdown.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
On online platform Reddit, user TendTheAshenOnes posted on Aug 27 that they felt Singapore was “badly misrepresented” and called Countdown out over its “tone deafness to socio-geopolitical circumstances”, suggesting the show “for global audiences and on a global platform” did superficial research.
“Clearly, someone on the team searched ‘What is the national language of Singapore’, saw that it was Malay, and based their entire assumptions on that one text line, not going a minute further to understand that Singaporeans are well educated, speak English natively, would not need a translator in a professional and diplomatic setting, and are not, in fact, a part of Malaysia,” the user wrote.
The user also lambasted the show’s depiction of Singapore as a “dodgy country that was seeking to mask crimes” and for its negative depiction of the PAP’s governance.
“Should they apologise or do we simply let it go because ‘it’s just a TV show’?”
Another user commented: “Hollywood misrepresenting a (insert anything here) is a tale as old as time.”
Countdown stars American actors Jessica Camacho and Jensen Ackles.
PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO
Yet another user responded by poking fun, saying, “my ideal representation of Singapore is a pirate island ruled by Sao Feng”, referring to Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End (2007). In the Hollywood film, Singapore was ruled by pirate lord Sao Feng (played by Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat).
Such a backlash pertaining to Singapore’s portrayal
The most high-profile example, romcom film Crazy Rich Asians (2018), was pilloried by local audiences for failing to represent the Republic’s multiracial diversity.
Similarly, netizens were critical of video game Overwatch (2016) for its “cringeworthy” introduction of a Singaporean robot character who spoke Singlish in a stilted tone.
More recently, Marvel Cinematic Universe’s depiction of Madripoor, an island-state inspired by Singapore that appeared in Disney+ series The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (2021), was blasted by one critic as “serving a ‘chop suey’ of tropes about South-east Asia”.
