breaking down mistreatment in the kpop industryK-pop (Korean Popular) has broken out of the East Asian market and into the world with their music and film talent. Similar to American Pop culture, they have music shows, talk shows, and comedy sit-coms. In the K-pop community, artists are referred to as idols and are admired by thousands of fans. These idols are on a pedestal, rivaling politicians in terms of influence because they are well-loved by the public for their squeaky clean images set by the company. With years of investments into trainees to hopefully one day debut, these idols are often objectified by their companies to maintain a perfect image and be a crowd pleaser. With this type of culture, it has sometimes led fans to cross boundaries and forget that their idols are also human. These people are called “sasaengs”. In the upcoming blogs, we are going to discuss scandals, harassment, sexualization, and sexism in K-pop. The way we view K-pop in America is one that reflects thinly veiled orientalism. When K-pop scandals occur, viewers and listeners around the world find it difficult to confront the true realities of K-pop. They don’t want to admit that they themselves are complicit in all this craze. Viewers want the glory of K-pop--the attractive artists, the concerts, and the merchandise--but they don’t want to engage in topics that are harder to digest, dubbed the “dark” side of K-pop.
35 Comments
|
Categories
All
Year ARchive
February 2023
|