Last month, the most famous family in the world was probably that of Robert Kelly, an American professor of Political Science at Pusan National University in South Korea. On 10 March Kelly was speaking on Skype from his home office, giving a live interview on BBC World News. The BBC was asking him about the dramatic political situation in Korea when, all of a sudden, a different kind of drama began. Kelly’s 4-year-old daughter Marion gatecrashed his home office. “I think one of your children just walked in,” said the interviewer. Kelly tried to push his daughter away, but into the room strolled his 9-month-old son James. A moment later, Kelly’s Korean wife Jung-a Kim ran in and frantically dragged the two little intruders out of the office. Kelly, clearly embarrassed, apologized and finished his interview.  

From family blooper to global sensation

Kelly was convinced that no television network would ever call him again to speak. He was wrong. The BBC chose Kelly’s interview as its favourite live TV moment of the week. The video quickly went viral on Twitter and became very popular on YouTube. Kelly and his family became internet memes. Media outlets around the world showed or posted the video of the blooper. Probably hundreds of millions of people saw it. Professional and amateur comedians did spoofs and parodies of Kelly’s BBC interview. Comedian Trevor Noah even called it “the greatest moment in the history of television. Ever.” Noah also said, jokingly, why he thought Kelly did not get up from his desk to lead his children out of the room: because he probably wasn’t wearing any pants!  

Press conference

Kelly and his family returned to BBC News for another interview to talk about the blooper, their sudden fame and their family life. They also spoke to many other journalists. “I made this minor mistake,” said Kelly about not locking the door to his home office, “that turned my family into YouTube stars. It’s pretty ridiculous.” Kelly assured everybody that he and his wife do not mistreat their children. Maybe Kim had been a bit forceful in getting them out of the office, but that’s because she was trying to save the interview. He also said that he did not fight with his wife after the blooper and they did not punish their children for gatecrashing his office. Kelly also said that the event was not staged, as some people had suggested. The interview, he added, simply caught “a regular family off guard.” At the end of the day, he and his family were happy that their blooper had made so many people laugh – it was “pretty hysterical,” he admitted. Kelly, answering another question, also added: “yes, I was wearing pants!”  

Harmless assumption or outright racism?

Besides laughter, the family blooper sparked some serious social debate. Many people believed that the Korean lady in the video was the nanny, not Kelly’s wife. For some it seemed a reasonable assumption. They claim that Kim’s attitude seemed that of a nanny who had lost control of the children and who was worried she might lose her job. For others, making this assumption was a clear sign of stereotyping, if not of outright racism. They argue that if you think that an Asian woman in a white man’s house can only be a nanny, then you are jumping to a racist conclusion. Would you have thought the same if the woman had been white? Kelly himself said that the assumption that Kim was the nanny made them “pretty uncomfortable.” For sure, the video offers an opportunity to reconsider one’s assumptions: are they based on facts or on stereotypes?  

— (Carlo Dellonte) (Image credits: screenshots from BBC)