The latest episode of CBS' Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders has landed itself in a controversy for portraying Singapore in a negative way. The episode has several misinterpretations of the island nation. For example, a scene refers Geylang as the "dark side of paradise" and an "overcrowded slum with a thriving underworld". In addition, it shows the incorrect footage of Gluttons by the Bay as Geylang.
Despite being the red light area, this is factually incorrect. Following the controversy, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has hit back at the makers of the series with an array of photographs on its Facebook page. A report on Marketing Singapore wrote, "Each photograph was accompanied by captions which took a jab and debunked most of the geographical and factual inaccuracies of Singapore portrayed in the Criminal Minds episode, which is called Cinderella and the Dragon."
One of their post reads, "Hey Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, is this what the "dark side of paradise" looks like? #VisitSingapore." Netizens immediately applauded STB for its witty and creative reply.
Some of the reactions are:
Jimmy Wong: Where's all the ugly red lanterns the show promised?
Alyce Lim: If Geylang is a slum, they prob have never seen one..pls, let them stay in the "fantasy land" they r in..where gun shooting occurs every other month..
Chi Chuan Poh: The script writers from criminal minds need to see this.
David Sim: We should get Gary Sinise here to host a Sg documentary.
Hopeily: Have you guys watched the new Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders? Their latest episode featured Singapore AND OH MY GOD I FEEL SO IRKED!!!!
Radzi: LOL how can the creators of Criminal Minds Beyond Borders be happy with their shitty production on Singapore?
Veteran blogger Mr. Brown also released a two-part reaction video regarding the issues and that has literally taken the internet by storm. "The first video alone garnered over 1 million views, 13,000 reactions, over 2,000 comments and 17,995 shares at the time of writing. Meanwhile, the second video has reached over 431,000 views, over 8,000 reactions, 7,633 shares and 1,000 comments at the time of writing," the feature on Marketing added.
