The best internet video of the past few years is very likely the one where a professor named Robert Kelly, a political analyst living in South Korea, tries to lend his expertise to the BBC as his kids barge into his home office to dominate the shot. The comedic timing on display is perfect: First the daughter arrives, marching up to her dad with arms swinging, then his infant son in a mobile baby walker glides through the door. Last, Kelly’s wife, Jung-a Kim, rushes in, grabbing both kids while trying to crouch out of view.
The video was so popular that Kelly and Jung-a Kim became accidental celebrities, attracting a lot of press more interested in their family situation than any of the boring knowledge Kelly might have to share about regional politics. Now, two years on, if Kelly is going to be interviewed, he’s obviously come to understand that the kids stay in the picture.
Kelly’s latest BBC appearance wisely focuses not just on his academic background, but on what the coronavirus quarantine is like for a family in South Korea. He and Jung-a Kim sit in front of the camera with their two children, the baby now a little boy, and try to discuss life in Busan. Naturally, the kids are not into it. The boy bops up and down and the girl goes over to her dad to hug him, pull faces at the camera, and then poke at his cheeks, mess up his hair, and bite his fingers.
Their mom carries on regardless and Kelly again tries to talk a bit about the politics of South Korea’s pandemic response, but the kids go rogue, wandering in and out of the room and helpfully illustrating what their parents mean when they say it’s difficult to deal with kids stuck indoors who are “climbing the walls.”
If ever there was a time for the BBC Dad to return, it’s now, when viewers across the world understand better than ever before what it’s like to try to get work done with other people hanging around. He is the hero of the home office, able to triumph over any distraction. Let his example serve as guidance to us all.
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9 Comments
I bet there are a lot of disappointed people who clicked on this link hoping to find a very different kind of BBC Dad.
I…uhh…certainly didn’t
That is BBC Daddy, bit different. More leather and a lot less children
You can also see his wife’s pants are falling down, giving the impression the kids made a break for it while she was in the bathroom.
It was good, but honestly it wasn’t even the best BBC blooper of the last few years. Ahem…
My 5 year old son finally felt the full ramifications of Social distancing yesterday and it hurt. It was a beautiful sunny day here in Chicago and the kids were out in the yard playing, there is a nice family that lives across the street with kids in similar age groups. We saw them out in the court riding bikes and for a brief moment considered letting our kids out too, but how do you tell a pair of 5 year old that can’t be within 6 feet of each other? My son saw his friend and so wanted to play, he is so tired of just playing with Mom and Dad and his big boring brother. Had to say no. The mom from across the way and said her daughter wanted to play so bad too. We basically decided the moment this is over we are throwing a block party but for now we are all in our own little world cages. We did setup a bit of a schedule on using the court so we can kinda keep the kids from noticing when the others are out playing. Its a weird world when I have to tell my kids no, don’t go play with your friends outside.
i forgot about the way that the daughter struts into the room in the original video. that shit rules
Yeah, it’s cute now, but wait for the video in 15 years time where he’s trying to report on world news but just keeps stopping to remark about how empty the house is and start singing ‘Cat’s in the Cradle’ softly to himself.
The interview where he kept glancing back at the door over and over, until he finally walked back there, opened it and looked out, then sat back down with tears in his eyes was really informative about how the new South Korean president is handling China.