How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Panel)
Quote #1
[lots of music notes and Korean characters] “Kim Il-Sung” [more music notes and Korean characters] (2.64)
Guy’s translator is singing propaganda songs to him, though without knowing what she’s saying, how does he know? It could be the 100% Korean-language version of “Gangnam Style.” Probably not, though. Most (all?) North Koreans probably don’t even know that song exists.
Quote #2
[The Chinese] leave the door open, watch television in their underwear, and yell to each other from room to room until late into the night. (3.36-3.37)
There is quite a cultural difference between the way Guy acts at the hotel (getting drunk every night) and the way the Chinese residents act at night. What we have here is a failure to communicate.
Quote #3
“Jeezus! It’s even written in Korean.” (3.75)
Guy has a difficult time communicating with the housekeeping at the hotel, who insists at coming in at 7 a.m. to bring him water. Hey, Guy, at least they’re bringing you drinkable water. That’s something you need after all those nights you’re out drinking until the wee hours.
Quote #4
When the father finds out the children are lost, he should not be smiling. (4.3)
Guy’s animation job can be funny—especially at times like these, when something critical gets lost in translation.
Quote #5
I tried to convey that I didn’t understand Korean [...] but [the animation director] just kept coming back for more. (4.5)
Guy and the animation director end up communicating with rudimentary charades. We’re not sure how much they understand each other’s points.
Quote #6
“How about we go see the animators on the 11th floor? I still haven’t met them. It seems a bit strange.”
“Yes, fine. No problem. [Three panels of increasingly complicated Korean text.]” (5.10-5.13)
This gag reminds us of Mad TV’s Korean drama skits. The language is so different, it takes them a long time to say short things. Why do you think that is? How does this affect communication?
Quote #7
“This is too slow. It has to be faster...”
“Too fast?”
“No, too slow. They’ve got to speed it up.”
“It’s fast?”
“No, I’ve been telling you! It’s the opposite... Faster, it’s got to be faster.”
“All right.”
“All right what?”
“It has to be redone.”
“And redone how?”
“Redone faster.”
“Right.” (6.54-6.60)
This inane conversation shows that even when both parties are speaking English, Guy has trouble communicating with the North Koreans. Maybe the problem is with him, not with them?
Quote #8
This typical French gesture comes up at least once in every production. [...]
“The gesture... what does it actually mean?”
“Hm. Well... it means: Ooh la la.” (8.120-8.122)
As if translating English to Korean weren’t hard enough, trying to translate French mannerisms to English and then explain them to Korean people seems next to impossible. Maybe some cultural differences can never be understood? Or maybe they can only be understood if you’re allowed to educate yourself about these differences (something the North Koreans for the most part are not allowed to do)?
Quote #9
“Which is better, Windows 98 or Windows 2000?” (9.106)
Guy and his translator start to communicate over something they have in common: knowledge about computers. Unfortunately, Guy derails the conversation by trying to steer it toward the fact that North Korea is the only country without Internet access. That gets the translator to clam up pretty quickly