I just learned the Korean version of "Netflix and Chill" today. Apparently, it originated from a movie called "One Fine Spring Day," or 봄날은 간다 in Korean, but it apparently means the same as the current English version of "Netflix and Chill." (I'll wait for you to google that if you don't know what it means). First of all, those are great examples of why language is so difficult to translate for computers, because computers don't understand nuance, and double meanings, and cultural references, and you'd constantly have to add in new modifications based on cultural changes, so there's still value to learning new languages, Google won't replace all our language abilities! Even if you said "Do you want to eat ramen," a computer won't get the significance of whether you actually DO want to eat ramen or cook ramen for someone, versus some other ulterior motive. Ah the power of the human brain. It also gives a lot of cultural significance, as Koreans (and a lot of Asian cultures) rely on ramen as a staple of their diet, and as such it be used as a way to invite a love interest back into one's home under the pretense of feeding them.
Also, it's encouraging as a Netflix (NFLX) stockholder to know that Netflix has entered our cultural lingo, like "you want Fries or that," or "just Google it." Earnings came out today, and apparently Netflix subscriptions were higher than expected, vaulting the stock up beyond the $200 mark (it was like $100 on this exact date 2 years ago before it went up $25 after hours due to high earnings, and I missed my chance to double my investment in one year. Sigh).
"Do you want to eat ramen?" is unfortunately also related to the other big news of the day, the "Me too" hashtag going around that is the movement towards drawing more attention to women's difficulties in society dealing with sexual harassment. Unfortunately there are some men out there (and a few women) who try to take advantage of women's vulnerabilities and make sexual gestures or sexually suggestive language. Not all men do it and it gives me great shame as a man to know that it happens to women everywhere, but a few bad apples (or maybe more than just a few) makes everyone look bad. For my part, I'll try to be more knowledgeable about the issue (I will read "We Should All Be Feminists" per suggested by MJ, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, only 48 pages of large font! Quick Read! And besides not engaging in sexual harassment, also be aware of things that may offend women or be taken as sexually suggestive, and discourage men from "locker room talk" like boasting among themselves about sleeping with women, etc.
It is a fine line, especially in a sexually charged society with many innuendos and suggestive words (Netflix + Chill being one, as well as the eggplant emoji) that I and others have to be careful about drawing lines of behavior where a woman might feel uncomfortable if that sort of talk were directed at her. For example, asking a woman"Do you want to Netflix and Chill later," or going up to a Korean woman and asking "Do you want to eat ramen?" are not OK as a form of sexual harassment. Certain behavior may not seem as egregious as the alleged stories about Harvey Weinstein to various female actors and asking if they could give him a massage while he was wearing a bathrobe and could be "just joking," but it's still not acceptable as a form of sexual harassment. Especially if a woman tells me "that's gross," then it's time to apologize and remove any trace of sexual innuendos from jokes, much less any predatory behavior or acts that can be construed as disrespecting a woman's body, or even sexist comments in general about women being weak or some negative stereotype. Every time it comes up, I have to think of MJ or my sister or any close female friends, I definitely wouldn't want them to be sexually harassed or violated or demeaned in anyway.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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