Let me be straight with you, I specifically did a lot of posts on the language or cultural aspects of KM because I thought they would be insightful to you. Somebody said that before they read my blog, they didn’t notice or think that language was as important in relationships in Korea. Or that speaking in banmal was rude, period. No exceptions. Those are the misconceptions that I wanted to clarify. And honestly, Korean fans appreciate KM in a different way and I wanted to share those things so you could compare and contrast with the international community. Because I do feel like the international Ji/kook fandom misses out in a lot of ways.
But there gets to a point where there are just way too much “analyses”. As much as I love wearing my tin-foil hat and talking about theories, that’s not something I want to focus on. I love KM and I will continue to support the “real couple”, do translations and make commentary posts, do compilations, scream and cry and shitpost, but no, I won’t pump out banal analyses without substance.
I have my own personal opinion on each separate issue, but I’m gonna try to be as neutral as I can.
BH are middle of the road in terms of how they manage the group. They’re first and foremost a business and like all businesses, their practices range from good to questionable. Objectively speaking, BH is not the best and they’re not the worst. They have a lot of room for improvement, especially when it comes to communication (and I don’t just mean making good subtitles). And it is true that fans on both sides of the fandom worry about the safety and well-being of the boys. But it is also true that they have shown effort to address fan concerns and problems. And they’ve done incredibly well thus far for a company that isn’t a part of the Big 3.
In other words..
Many fans bring up legitimate concerns concerning the safety of the boys, etc.
Are there (both international and Korean) fans who overreact? Yes, but what else can you expect from a fandom this size. Some people venerate BH, others hate them irrationally. But in reality they’re somewhere in between and I advise all fans to see them through this lens. Don’t jump on the bandwagon and spread mass hysteria or hate, be cautious and rational, look at things from multiple perspectives. Be a smart consumer.
180714: ARMYS TRENDED WORLDWIDE UNLISTED CONTENT FROM FANCAFE’S 5TH ARMY ROOM. THEN TRENDED THE HASHTAG #ARMYSGOINGTOJAILPARTY AS A WAY TO SAY “WHATEVER WE ALL GOING TO JAIL ANYWAY"HAHAHAH
K pop fandom creeps me out for numerous reasons but one weird thing is that it’s the only music following I can think of where I have never actually seen the fans talk about the actual music.
what you also have to keep in mind when looking at a market that strays from the west, is that kpop in and of itself is a multifaceted entity; in which music does exist, but there are also variety shows, livestreams, weekly live stage performances, CFs, and an entire six weeks of promotional activity directly after an artist’s or artists’ come back where fans are nearly overwhelmed with the amount of content – musical, digital, and physical – that is thrown their way.
kpop is not just a genre of music. it is a culture – and one that revolves heavily around exposing fans to a generous amount of media and content as well as the music that they produce. the appeal of kpop can most definitely come in the form of appreciating the lyricism and masterful production and composition skill that’s certainly there, but as is the case for most foreign fans, we gravitate because of a connection we feel towards the idol or idols, in whatever way that may be. is this not similar to western standom? are you not compelled by your favorite television series’s moving plot, or your favorite character’s endearing quirks?
there is a popular misconception floating around that kpop stans are somehow lesser in intelligence because we listen to music in a language that may not be our native tongue. moreover, it is also a common belief that we don’t have a dialogue pertaining to the musical technicalities of what we’re listening to.
i call bullshit. we are in the Big Year of 2018. subtitles exist, translators are abundant, and duolingo is as free as ever on the app store. the issue a lot of people have is not with kpop itself, but with the notion that something nonwestern has amassed a level of acclamation that – in their eyes – is ludicrous for artists who come from over there, and so you will do whatever you can to discredit both its success and the supporters of its success.
your ill-conceived xenophobia radiates microscopic dick energy. grow up.
@paticle 