A foreign traveler faces severe criticism for misleading subtitled videos on Vietnam’s Traffic Police

Lâm Trực@

Videos by Small Brained American have swiftly drawn waves of criticism from netizens for their inaccurately subtitled content, impacting public perception of Vietnam and its people.

Small Brained American’s channel has become a focal point on social media in recent days due to videos documenting an American traveler’s journey in Vietnam.

Most notably, in a short video posted on TikTok on March 27, the traveler is seen interacting with a local. When asking for directions to a gas station, the local responds in Vietnamese, but the subtitles wrongly suggest that the local was using vulgar language like “stupid” and “go away.”

In another video posted on March 30, which garnered over 1.1 million views on TikTok, the traveler describes the coffee sold on trains in Vietnam as “black as asphalt” with a taste like “dish soap.”

A more controversial video captures the traveler being stopped by traffic police in Vietnam and asked for his driver’s license. The subtitles inaccurately portray the female officer’s words in Vietnamese.

By April 2, the video with over 11 million views was no longer visible on the traveler’s TikTok channel but still present on Facebook.

In reality, these are snippets from longer videos posted by the traveler on YouTube since June 2023.

Wave of Criticism from Netizens

Immediately, TikTok user Jessica Anh Dao, a Vietnamese living in the US, swiftly responded with a video in English, highlighting the perceived negative aspects of Small Brained American’s videos.

“This American traveler comes to Vietnam but insults the Vietnamese people and cuisine,” Phuong Anh analyzed in her English-language video.

Phuong Anh then cited several videos by the traveler, including one where he compared Vietnamese coffee he bought on a train to “black as asphalt” and “tasting like dish soap.”

Phuong Anh argued that while not everyone may enjoy all dishes from another culture, one should not use derogatory language to describe others’ food.

Small Brained American also misattributed subtitles to a local when asking for directions to a gas station, Phuong Anh observed.

According to the audio in the video, a local was simply guiding the traveler in Vietnamese, gesturing towards a gas station 2km away before waving him off. However, the foreign traveler misinterpreted this as being called “stupid” and told to “go away.”

In the video where the traveler is stopped by traffic police, he was accused of misrepresenting the subtitles, as the female officer was simply translating his words from English to Vietnamese for her colleagues.

Phuong Anh believed that actions tarnishing the culture of a country should always be condemned, as failing to do so could encourage more people to follow suit. Disrespecting others’ cultures demonstrates a lack of civility, respect, and sophistication.

Phuong Anh stressed that the traveler’s actions not only tarnish the image of Vietnamese people but also that of Americans. Furthermore, these actions could lead foreigners to believe that Vietnamese people dislike them.

“Many foreigners even comment asking, ‘Is it true?’ ‘Is the translation correct?’ That’s why I decided to make a response video in English,” Phuong Anh shared.

“In the world, there are many good people, but there are also rude ones. If a negative video goes viral without repercussions, others will follow suit, and there will be more of such actions. Therefore, they need to know that such actions are not supported,” she explained.

Currently, the American traveler’s vlog channel has approximately 500,000 followers across platforms. Small Brained American’s videos are facing rapid criticism from netizens, with many believing the traveler mistranslated and distorted others’ words because the videos don’t align with the subtitles.

Some advise him to use Google Translate if he doesn’t understand Vietnamese. Some foreigners expressed frustration, affirming that Vietnamese people are very friendly and that they have had beautiful memories in this country.

However, the traveler continues to post other short videos about his travel experiences in Vietnam on TikTok and Facebook without offering any response to the mislabeled videos.