'Teach You a Lesson' director says show's fantasy violence should provoke debate

In the Netflix series "Teach You a Lesson," a government bureau is tasked with punishing anyone deemed to be disrupting order in schools, whether they are students, parents or teachers. The bureau agents' preferred method? Violence. Lots and lots of it.

"Of course, violence should never be used [in real life], no matter the reason," an animated director Hong Jong-chan said in a roundtable interview at a cafe in central Seoul on Thursday.

But amid "the frustrating reality of what happens at schools, a fictional institution stepping in and seeing things from the victim’s point of view creates a satisfying rush of adrenaline," he said.

"Teach You a Lesson" follows the fictional Educational Rights Protection Bureau, whose special agents — Kim Moo-yul's Na Hwa-jin, Jin Ki-joo's Im Han-rim and Pyo Ji-hoon's Bong Geun-dae — protect victims. Political intrigue unfolds in the background as powerful figures seek to oust the bureau's founder, Education Minister Choi Gang-seok, played by Lee Sung-min, and dismantle the agency.

The premise is so surreal that even without a fantasy label, the show scarcely feels real. Its fantastical imagery — including a black-clad Na, the bureau’s lead agent, mowing down bullies Terminator-style — delivers a sense of catharsis that reality cannot, according to Hong.

"We hoped the series would raise questions and spark discussion," Hong added. "What happens after that is beyond our control. [The creators'] role is to speak through the work. I think everyone will view it differently depending on where they stand and the perspective they bring."

The series has indeed sparked controversy, not only for presenting violence as a solution, but also for reducing its characters to stark categories of good and evil, from borderline psychopathic student bullies to parents whose abuse drives victims to suicide.

It faced backlash even before its release over controversial characterizations in "Get Schooled" (2020), Naver's webtoon series on which it is based. In one episode, a mixed-race Black student is depicted as a bully who targets a white-presenting mixed-race classmate, who in turn says he used the N-word in retaliation for anti-Asian racism perpetrated by Black Americans. Publisher Webtoon issued an apology and discontinued the series on its North American platform.

Another storyline shows Na slapping a teacher for teaching "feminist" material, portraying such education as a form of "ideological indoctrination."

Those storylines from the more than 250-episode webtoon did not make it into the TV adaptation. Another controversial plot, however, did. In the third episode, a female student falsely accuses her teacher of sexual assault, driving him to suicide — a storyline critics said risked further entrenching the harmful stereotype that women fabricate such allegations, particularly because the series frequently draws parallels with real-life cases.

Hong defended the storyline as "necessary" because it "clearly establishes that Ye-ri [the female student] is lying and shows how her false accusation drives the male teacher to take his own life."

"We wanted to portray a wide range of people who cross the line, while making sure each episode had its own self-contained appeal," he said.

"I did not communicate with the original webtoon creator during [the series'] production," he added.

Even with its R rating, the Netflix original drew 6.4 million views in its first three days, topping the platform’s rankings in Korea and reaching No. 1 globally among non-English TV series following its Friday release. WWE superstar John Cena joined in the fun, sharing a photo of Kim on Instagram after fans pointed out their resemblance in appearance.

"I think [viewers] really understood the heart of what we were trying to convey, and as a director, that was the most gratifying and rewarding part for me," Hong said of the series' early success.

Will there be a second season? Nothing has been decided, the director said.

"Personally, I’d like the Educational Rights Protection Bureau to go wherever there are perpetrators crossing the line, whether that means a second season or even a 10th," he said.