Questions About That Video of Kids Interrupting the Guy on BBC That Demand Answers

Hello and welcome to the blog post about the video of the Serious Korea Expert on the BBC being interrupted by his children, which has gone viral because it’s great. You know what I’m talking about, but here is the video again anyway: 

To summarize what’s going on here/help pad out a blog post that is mostly just a reason to embed this video: Robert Kelly, an expert on Korea, is discussing the impeachment of South Korean president Park Geun-hye with someone from the BBC. Then a child (presumably his) walks in. Then another child (again, presumably his) walks in. Then a woman barges in and quickly corrals the children. Throughout it all Kelly sort of tries to continue the interview, but sort of tries to deal with the kids, but doesn’t do either, instead mildly chuckling as the woman drags the kids away. It’s a Monty Python sketch come to life and the perfect antidote to a week that I don’t know about you, but, kind of stressed me out.

In any case, there are some serious questions I have about this video, so let’s go through them together.

How is the second kid moving around? The second, younger kid (a.k.a. the best part of the video) is apparently floating through space, which is confusing some people. “How can the second child even move independently?” is how my co-worker put it. This actually has an answer: Check out these contraptions. They’re great!

Did the first kid know her dad was on TV? If she did, was she trying to get on TV as well? Or was it a more pure I-want-to-watch-daddy-work sort of motivation?

Did the professor do an OK job of handling the situation? This issue has partisans on both sides: There is the He should have gently but firmly and quickly escorted the kid out as soon as she entered camp, and the No you don’t want to interrupt a broadcast, just laugh it off camp. For the record, I’m in the You should have locked the door camp.

What is the deal with the woman/nanny/wife? Not sure what her role is, but she’s the one who stopped minding the kids and allowed them to run wild, right? 

Why didn’t he stand up? Kelly looks very well put-together on camera, but consider that he remains seated even when it seems like THE EASIEST AND BEST SOLUTION would be to stand up and shoo the kid(s) away. Here’s one theory why he doesn’t: 

(In the UK, “pants” means “underwear.”)

“What will it mean for the wider region?” We never really get an answer to the interviewer’s question, do we? I would like to know!

Is Kelly asleep while all this is going on? The professor lives in South Korea, where it is currently (googles) a bit after midnight. Is he aware that he is famous? I sort of hope he wakes up to a million notifications, texts, and interview requests. (We sent him a DM on Twitter, but he hasn’t replied.)

I think this is long enough for a blog post now.

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