KPOP

hear me out. this post isn't going to be what you think.

I HATE KPOP.

You heard me right.

KPOP disgusts me.

KPOP offends me.

But I think I'm jumping the gun a bit. Let me back up a bit.

When I first got into kpop, it was through their dramas--they were fun, over the top, sometimes insanely tragic, but they were, for all intents and purposes, entertaining.

KPOP aims to please.

Then through a rather rapid process I started to like it's music--even though, and quite possibly in spite of the fact that I couldn't understand a lick of it. It started with 2NE1, then extended through Big Bang and the whole of their entertainment company, YG Entertainment. Like every blossoming relationship, everything was great in the beginning. I got see these groups sing and dance on their weekly music shows, I watched the shows they were in--subbed or not, I listened to their songs, I got to know their fandom. Everything was fun and entertaining and deceivingly innocent and lighthearted.

But then I got to know the dark side of kpop.

Kpop singers, whether in a group or otherwise, are dubbed "idols" and every group has its own official fanclub. These fanclubs wage war with each other on a daily basis. DBSK/JYJ have Cassiopeia, Super Junior has E.L.F. (wait for it... Ever Lasting Friends LMAO), 2PM has Hottests, Girl's Generation/SNSD has Sones, Wonder Girls has Wonderfuls, Big Bang has VIP, 2NE1 has Blackjacks... you get the picture.

And in these fanclubs... there's a whole lot of IDOL worship. Fans STAN their idols (stalker + fan) against other fanclubs, against criticisms, against everyone and everything. They protect their idols fiercely. They shower their idols with tons of love in the form of lavish gifts--spending absurd amounts of money on designer gifts for their idols and buying each and every piece of memorabilia. They will continue to STAN their idols as long as the idols keep them happy. So these idols dance with smiles on their faces, they play nice, they give all sorts of fanservice to the admiring masses.

Doesn't seem to bad, right? In fact, back in the 90s, when I loved NSYNC, I would do this very same thing--but fandom in the US is not like fandom in Korea.

Because what happens when these fanclubs turn against their idols? What happens when teens take stanning too far? what happens to a culture that is so absorbed in this idol worship? What happens when teens, young girls especially, want so badly to become an idol that they often tolerate heinous acts of rape and harassment, and endure hours of plastic surgery?

This is the dark side of kpop.

As much as these idols have their fans...many will have an equal number of anti-fans. These fans can and will be brutal.

When leader of boy group 2PM, Jaebum, or as you may know him now JAY PARK, broke the hearts of Hottests last year, antis (and many former fans) decided to issue a suicide petition that garnered thousands of signatures. That's right, people were petitioning for him to commit suicide. Like what the fuck.

Epik High's Tablo made a statement that he graduated from Stanford. Anti's got hold of this bit of information and would not let go. They created his anti-cafe "TajinYo" or "We Request the Truth from Tablo" and basically assaulted the musician urging him to confess that it was a lie: he didn't go to stanford. They dug up all this crap from stanford records, slandered his name, his WIFE's name and their NEWBORN baby. Tablo went on the record many times stating the truth, gave his transcripts, even freaking went to Stanford with a camera crew to verify the truth. Everyone was suing everyone. It went to COURT. How ridiculous is that. Finally, thank God, Tablo won out in the end.

Kpop is especially disturbing when it comes to women. Korea is known for its plastic surgery. Female idols go under the knife regularly. This creates unrealistic expectations of beauty...which in turn forces more and more women, and young girls, to under go plastic surgery. I feel like the most obvious example of this is the girl group SNSD. They are known for their faces and legs--and are often labeled as being "plastic" due to the amount of plastic surgery, real or imagined, they've had.


They're supposed to represent Asia's "Girl's Generation." right. because all girls look like that. but young girls buy into this perfection and try to emulate it: like this.

SNSD has lyrics that are SO OFFENSIVE to me as a woman. Their image is always about being cutesy and SUBMISSIVE. See the music video (subbed) "tell me your wish." I understand that the group's concept is dictated by their company, incidentally run by a male so go figure, and that they're catering to popularity. But I feel like they're catering more towards creepy men than to girls. And then the message they send to girls is damn harmful.

That's not to say that SNSD are the ONLY ones who do this. But they ARE one of the biggest groups in kpop and they are the worst transgressors. Although Orange Caramel, another group apparently wants to fight SNSD for that title:


That picture doesn't even do justice. These girls dress up in heinous outfits straight out of a halloween costume bag: Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland. Yes, OPPA, let me be your DOLL.


Girls who want to become famous in korea not only put themselves at risk during surgery, but they also tolerate sexual transgressions, often by their own entertainment companies. This often leads girls to depression, which then leads to suicide. Countless idols or famous actors are driven to suicide by fans, antis, or the pressure of the kpop industry.

Fans aren't above breaking the law to support their groups. Chinese fans of Super Junior stole Korean Social Security numbers just so their could vote in korean website polls. The disgusting part about this is that people were trying to JUSTIFY IT. That's kpop idol worship for you.

Oh and you know how the G20 Summit was held in South Korea... they used kpop idols to attract attention. There were all these G20 summit songs by idols, idols all in ceremonies...but what do these idols have to do with the summit? Like, why?

The thing about kpop, I would argue a part that makes kpop what it is, is that it takes itself SO SERIOUSLY. All the the things above are representative of that. Fans stan HARD. So much so, that they lose sight of bigger more important things going on around them. They lose touch with reality. It's the thing that pisses me off the most about kpop. Because it makes something light-hearted and entertaining in its most basic form, and transforms it into this disgusting thing.

And I personally hate all the anti-fans and cafes. These people who get to hide behind their computers but spam kpop idol's twitter accounts, their home pages, who get to comment on every article written... they don't realize the power they hold. They get to bitch and criticize, causing sometimes fatal results, and for what? they put in SO much time and effort hating... but why? just to be mean spirited? cant they put all that energy into something positive? where do they get the nerve? I dont understand it.

So I'm not embarrassed to say that I like kpop. I'm upset and horrified that I like it. Even my bias, YG/Big Bang/2ne1 has its share of fanaticism--even as they try to be more about the music (which is why I like them and not other groups/companies). I'm beginning to think I should be a fan of the group over kpop in general, because I'm so disenchanted with it.

Let me leave you with the example that will take the cake. I could have used this one example to show all things wrong with kpop: fan sends idol bloody fan letter sprinkled with pubic hair.

That's the bat. shit. crazy stuff that happens in kpop. And kpop wonders why it isnt more reputable.