Ughh, Fandom…kinda sucks…
Watching Guerilla Date with DBSk was borderline painful for me. Here’s why:
1. It was funny that Junsu was saying that he enjoyed walking outside again. I was like “huh?” you’re surrounded by tons of fans a good tenth of which are clinically insane and you enjoy this? Right…
2. I was surprised that someone knew the exact date of DBSK’s debut. I guess Korea puts more emphasis on debuts but even when I was younger and loved N’synch I had no idea what year they debuted (which once again could simply be due to my general laziness about these things).
3. The girl that “doesn’t like Jae Joong, but Loves him” kicked a girl in the head trying to get to DBSK and she cried. That’s relatively normal I assume, but she was a bit cuckoo. I loved Micky’s face during the entire thing he seemed so uncomfortable.
4. Yunho had to start dancing again. “Dance time for the friends”. Sit the fuck down, Yunho, just tap your feet quietly. Don’t you sometimes feel like Yunho is that friend you havethat is always making a spectacle of himself? But I do love how Yunho always hugs his fans, it’s really sweet because you know that makes their day.
5. Somehow Jaejoong reveals the women in his masturbation fantasies. Sorry, I’m crossing a line, but let’s be honest here. The guy asks him how he deals with loneliness that a guy feels (what kind of answer is he expecting?) and Jae Joong says he watched foreign movies because those actresses become main characters in his imagination. Oh Jaejoong, Jaejoong, Jaejoong…
6. Lastly, it was slightly painful because it led me to writing everything below(/after the jump).
[I apologize in advance for the PhD like post. Not in quality but in length.]
Sometimes I wish that Dong Bang Shin Ki would just be normal musicians and just sing. As much as I love DBSK and I think that they’re funny and really talented and all that good stuff, the image that SM sets up for them is really shitty. Which is why a lot of (older) people don’t take them seriously. I was talking to one of my friends (she admonishes me for liking DBSK) and she said that she hated how SM tried to make DBSK seem like gods, which I completely understand. I’m even irked by the way people can’t say anything bad about DBSK for fear of their psycho fans.
(Fans get in taxis to follow DBSK)
So far, the only people that I’ve met that know about DBSK and like them are American. And the people that dislike DBSK are Korean (from Korea). I think it’s because they know exactly how ridiculous the media is concerning them. They’re praised and it’s ridiculous considering that there are a ton more important people that do a lot more interesting things and are a lot more talented than DBSK.
It’s like why people love to pretend to hate N’synch/Backstreet Boys, they were sooo popular but among a younger age group so people who were in, say, college hated them but couldn’t get their catchy tunes out of their heads.
Don’t get me wrong DBSK is really talented and as a Pop group they have good music. But SM really markets DBSK as an obsession to be had or as images that belong to you, not solely as musicians. Almost every musical artist has some sort of image but I think with “Idol groups” it’s definitely to a much farther extent. When I first started watching Korean variety shows I was really happy to see how honest they were but after watching a lot you realize that they are being themselves, but to an extent. They’re only able to say this much, or do that much. They are very much controlled even in the extremely intrusive celebrity culture in Korea.
Celebrity culture (fandom is definitely a sect under that) is in general rather disgusting. In America you have paparazzi stalking you and loitering outside your house in Korea it’s fans. But whoever the person and whether they get paid for what they do or not it’s absolutely ridiculous. The thing that bothers me the most about JYP and SM artists is that they have so little control over what they do. For example, in an episode of Line Up, DBSK’s manager tricks Junsu into thinking that he might have to stay on Line Up as a permanent part of the cast. It is at once funny and sad because in the end Junsu would have little say in the matter.
This makes me think of American artists like Pink, her record company had her put out an R&B album and that just wasn’t her style so she went to a more pop/rock root. She had control even though her record company wasn’t happy with her change (they were quickly appeased when Pink’s second album became her best selling album to date). Jo Jo started when she was 14 and even she had a say in what happened to her music. Idol stars are most often teenagers, children almost (Changmin was 16 when DBSK debuted).
But in general, the global entertainment industry is an ugly, ugly machine. If your smart, have good guidance etc. you’ll stay above it. Like Justin Timberlake; he manages his career so well. He left N’synch and decided he wanted to do R&B so he worked with the best of the best in that genre. (You can imagine how annoyed he was when he won best POP album at the Grammys. But I mean, you won a freaking grammy dude). And then there’s YG artists like Big Bang, when they first came out they didn’t have that much artistic control but now, as everyone knows, they write and produce almost all of their songs. YG is the guy who says that his artists train for a long time because he wants them to figure out their style. JYP is the guys who says, an artist has to make three albums with him before he listens to what they have to say. Are you kidding? No wonder Rain left his ass. And SM, who knows how to make money is a pop idol machine is somewhere in between but mostly on the JYP side.
There are three parts of this whole celebrity culture thing (in terms of music):
1. Record company control/freedom
2. Marketing (which ties into the whole freedom/control issue)
3. Fandom (which is in direct correlation with marketing etc)
I’m sure this more but this is all the rant I can provide. Please disagree with me I already feel slightly obnoxious for writing this whole thing.
March 9, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Haha! I’m surprised you’re surprised that fans know debut dates. Debut dates are like *the* thing to know, and fandom elite bitches will scoff at you for knowing debut dates because uh derrr everybody knows debut dates. I myself am a little fuzzy but it was probably either 12/23 or 12/26 of ‘03. Probably the latter because I vaguely remember them singing a Christmas song AFTER Christmas was over. But I could be wrong
To be honest, anything involving the fans during the Guerrilla Date, I didn’t watch. It was too mortifying. The boys are probably used to this but I myself as a fan, am still not. I don’t like the idea that somewhere across the world, somebody as insane as this is representing fans everywhere because DUDE, at the end of the day, they’re just HUMANS. I always try to put myself in these situations before I disagree/criticize but I think it’s just…so sad when you seem to lose all bodily function just because your idol is in front of you. Granted, it’s a bad start to even label them as idols because the word idol actually connotates WORSHIP and nobody in this realm of the entertainment is worthy of worship, I’m sorry.
And the more involved I am with KPop, the less I like LSM. Lots of business politics behind all the management companies in Korea, lots of which I don’t know, but what I do know just doesn’t sit with me. And it boggles my mind when you hear all these SM artists praise LSM like he’s god. Of course, they have a lot to be thankful for because without him, they’d be nobodies most likely, but you can tell from the way they talk that they genuinely think these good things about LSM. It’s like watching a victim who’s been brainwashed and they don’t even know it. I feel like this is the mentality of most Asian artists though. They *so* grateful just to be able to have the opportunity to work, to be doing what they love, that they don’t see outside the working box too much–which ties in to what you said about Junsu saying he’s happy to be walking outside. How is that even a normal thing to say?! That you’re happy to be breathing fresh air at home in instead of getting shuffled from airport to airport to recording studio to recording studio? It makes me so sad.
And the thing with SM is that most of the time, their methods for star-raising work. But all their artists come off as the same entity sometimes. All the female stars dance one way, all their male artists dance another. They pretty much follow one formula. When I saw ZLY dance in her new song, I thought she was maybe a member of CSJH for a second because it’s just the same shit but now transported onto a solo artist instead of a female group artist.
Still going on SM line–fans are very happy/excited when they hear about member-created songs. Like we’re super excited when we hear that a member of DBSK created/composed/wrote the lyrics to a song because it NEVER HAPPENS. I mean, in American ent, artists release entire albums worth of self-created works. And that’s just so fucked up.
They’re praised and it’s ridiculous considering that there are a ton more important people that do a lot more interesting things and are a lot more talented than DBSK
I wouldn’t say that DBSK isn’t talented though. Everybody in SM is raised to be more talented than they were before they entered the company, it’s just their image is so unattractive to people who don’t follow the crazy fangirl way of thinking. And in the KPop scene right now, other than verbal creativity that comes with a lot of hip-hop artists like Epik High and all the people they work with, there are not many artists who are as well-rounded as DBSK is in the pop scene. Ballad singers are great, but they can’t dance. Dance artists can’t sing. And people who can do relatively well in both are solo artists and you can’t gather as much force when you’re a solo artists as compared to if you’re part of a group, gotta say.
TOO MUCH RAMBLING SORRY.
March 9, 2008 at 10:24 pm
It’s almost as if good singing is an afterthought these days for a singer. Ironic….
And, just to emphasize your point….Yunho, we all know your specialty is dancing but for the love of god can you effin not do it everytime I see you in a clip. Thanks. O_O
March 9, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I agree with what you’ve said in your rant. Loads of Dongbang fans complain about how they don’t spend time in Korea and that they should go back etc etc, not that I don’t like them in Korea… But I actually like them better in Japan ’cause it seems like Avex lets them have a little more freedom and get to concentrate more on their music. YC and JJ wrote “Kiss shita mama sayonara”, and it actually got allowed to be put onto their new J-album (and some of DBSK’s TRICK songs were wrote by themselves too), but when have SM done something like that? I guess there was “Holding Back the Tears” but the rest of their songs only had the opportunity to be performed on X-man and the like. I have more to say but I should stop ’cause my rant will soon be longer than yours!
Oh and I interpretted JJ’s foreign movie story as “we like to watch foreign porn” haha~ I guess I’m not the only one who thought that x]
March 10, 2008 at 1:39 am
Amy, I agree that DBSK is a really well rounded as a group and as individuals, which is why I really like them. Yoochun couldn’t dance but he learned, Yunho’s vocals weren’t that hot but now he can sing his little tush off.
It really is a bit strange when you hear SM artists talking about SM as if he isn’t a money-hungry jerk. Yunho even mentioned that when they get texts from SM there are hearts and other emoticons in it. I was like “Wha-wha-What?”
Misrepresentation of fans in general is disappointing. It makes sense though, of course the one the girl thats going to get ahead and be seen is the one to kick a girl in the head to get to them. Or the only fans you hear about are the ones having stupid fanclub wars (Cassiopeia vs ELF!) Honestly, does the news in Korea not say, “Do you know where your children are?” (and what useless fights they’re starting?)
Guerilla date was noooo fun to watch. The only slightly amusing thing was Jaejoong but other than that it actually made me slightly depressed.
Korea’s business is pretty dirty, the amount of gang related business that goes on is ridiculous and the sketchy conglomerates are so prominent. The main one is of course Samsung.
Ahhh, there is so much to say about this that you really could write a PhD on it lol
I would love to know who the “Fandom Elite Bitches” are, they sound really fun. Haha
March 11, 2008 at 11:20 pm
“Do you know where your children are? ROFL! i agree~ its like they let their kids run around wild (i mean how can they possible stalk dbsk 24/7 or have those suju strikes forever)
fandom is overrated
i love dbsk but i think way too many fans portray them with glowing halos
i must say yes they are one of the more well rounded groups but its disappointing that groups that are just as talented cant get enough light or support to do things just because of their looks
March 13, 2008 at 3:08 am
I don’t have any real comments to add, but I really enjoyed reading this. I have to agree with a lot of it.
March 15, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I’m not korean but I don’t like the now DBSK/TVXQ.
I’m in love with them in the early years – HUG single. Altough they can write songs, I still can’t see them as talented singers. Their music is overproduced, I think. Sadly, I feel like hearing chipmunk sings when listening their songs… Cos I feel their voice is like (pardon me, but this is very difficult for me to describe it in proper englis) coming from the nose, like they have a flu?
I’m tempted to write this not because I’m defending label/recording company but somehow they’re the one who first discovering the artist so they’re the one who spot the artist’s talent and knows where the appropriate direction to market/sell them to the public.
Pink, for example. Her 2nd album – Missundaztood – still have r&b sound. Her 3rd pink album is a flop cos she’s trying to hard to become herself, going to the extreme, more rock sound (collaborate with Tim Armstrong from Rancid). Then, she’s compromised in the next album. Still put her rock roots but her single stupid girl has r&b touch.
Another example:Kelly Clarkson. After the success of 2nd album, she tried so hard to be herself (Going different direction from Clive Davis suggestion), and her third album is considered a flop (altough still selling 2 million copies worldwide). And I heard she’s reconciled with Clive Davis and working on the 4th album, rumored will not be as hard as My December and listening again to Clive’s musical input.
But yes agree with you re. SM approach to market their artists, as if the artist is god. It’s crazy! I’m also like you. Right now, I’m into OneRepublic like crazy but I don’t know when they first debut, etc. Yes, I love the vocalist, Ryan Tedder. But I don’t know his birthday date to even care sending the label/artist management a (expensive) birthday gift.
March 20, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I’ll keep my short , but i agree with you all..But about Yunho..
Danm he’s like I friend I have always like wanting to show off..
And I get embaressed.. Like the dance I just couldn’t watch it…
I get this omg feeling and skipped the whole part..
JJ’s thingy yeah well..I find that wierd 2 but let him fantasize he must have something to get the stress away xD..
And debut .. don’t even know that..@.@..I still can’t remember ..but yeah I AM a lazy person.
June 15, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I’ve begun to notice how controlled everyone is as well. I remember watching a Mission Impossible Episode where Jaejoong was joking around and tried on one lady’s little tiara. He wanted to wear it on stage, but had to go through three peoples’ approval. The first lady he had to ask said “Absolutely not.” anyways.
In America, almost any preformer probably would have just done it, and not had to worry about getting in trouble.
And Yunho’s dancing. OH Yunho. I was just telling my friend the other day that I veiw Yunho as a kind of a one-trick pony. He’s one of my favorites, but if I saw a show where he didn’t dance, I’d be tempted to send him a banner declaring “I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!”
I think that Yunho dancing constantly may partially just be because that’s his role to fill. I remember them (DBSK) talking about how their ‘roles’ were screwed up when Changmin started being more hot and less cute. That’s where the whole SM/whoever their company is control comes in. They all get assigned these characters, which is so sickeningly fake it makes me shudder. I also think Yunho feels very insecure because he’s probably the least talented singer of the group, and yet he’s the leader, so he feels that dancing racks up awesome points?
June 17, 2008 at 4:14 am
i agree with all the comments and the entry! i’m just too tired now to type out my opinions. sorry about that. X=
Amy: it’s 26th December 2003. xD
lol.
August 6, 2008 at 1:09 am
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