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My problem with K-pop and why i think K-pop is bad for humanity (K-pop causal listener since 2013)

OOGABOOGA

Banned
First, K-pop stans. While some of them are chill, but omg the majority are hella annoying, they trigger me so much. They seem very obsessive and over-protective. Like for example Blackpink released a new song, I would comment "umm sorry but this song is bad(which most of their music is tbh) then I would have a whole squad of a triggered 13yo dragging me for saying I didn't like the song. Or if you said for example i don't like this outfit of this member, they would fuck you up. For some of them having a favorite members is problematic and disrespectful, you must like all the members. It's like your psycho ex. 😭 oh and don't let me start with the bragging about the album sales, charts and youtube views, like I don't understand the obsession, you are not getting a penny from that. 🤭


Now the k-pop industry itself is pretty disgusting tbh. The K-pop companies have no work ethics, they under-pay their artists and over-work them to the point some of them become ill and have to be hospitalized.
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They are focused so much on looks, like you can't debut if you don't look attractive, it's too superficial. They have beauty standards that you must fit them and it keeps getting worse and worse as time passes or if you are not extremely skinny to the point of almost becoming anorexic, sometimes you can see their ribcage while they dance.
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They go through a strict diet to look so skinny like that.
Now the artists... it's even hard to call these people artists. they were built through a system that taught them how to sing, dance and act, they don't make their own music or cheography or have any creative freedom (they are in it just for the momey tbh). almost everything is artificial, even their own personality, they have to always to be cheerful and innocent in order make money and not piss off their fans.(it's funny when some of them get exposed for bullying in school or sexual harassment)

Okey I think that's it. My problem isn't the kpop groups themselves, but the fandom and the industry nature the korean pop culture itself that make me feel sick. I never really supported any of the groups or cared much about them. some of the music is really good tbh, i just casually listen to some of it on spotfiy. my Spotify list is like 1% K-pop.

I think yeah, that's it...
 
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Grildon Tundy

Gold Member
My friend worked at Taco Bell as a teenager and now he won't eat there after learning what goes down behind the scenes. Seems like every industry is like that. One way to better enjoy any commercial product is to learn nothing about the process that brought it to you.



You can't see his face, but that ostrich is really happy because he's looking at hot K-Pop idols under there
 
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wondermega

Member
So much of what you mention applies to all of celebrity in general, really. It's exploitation for the almighty dollar/mind share and makes lots of sense, although it is harmful (to differing degrees) to all involved. Still it is not going anywhere, and as media/broadcast has blown up dramatically in the past 100 years (and especially accelerated since the advent of Internet/social media) it's going to keep mutating, be worth MUCH more $$, and be more damaging to all involved. You mean well, but honestly there is never going to be any stopping of this - appreciate how quaint it is now, for in another 10-20 years it will be significantly more brutal I am sure..
 

TheDreadBaron

Gold Member
So much of what you mention applies to all of celebrity in general, really. It's exploitation for the almighty dollar/mind share and makes lots of sense, although it is harmful (to differing degrees) to all involved. Still it is not going anywhere, and as media/broadcast has blown up dramatically in the past 100 years (and especially accelerated since the advent of Internet/social media) it's going to keep mutating, be worth MUCH more $$, and be more damaging to all involved. You mean well, but honestly there is never going to be any stopping of this - appreciate how quaint it is now, for in another 10-20 years it will be significantly more brutal I am sure..
Yeah, if they had the technology to grow perfectly supplicant K-pop idol drones that never sleep, can be rented for perverts’ satisfaction, and are wholly owned by the corporation as property, and the cost was only an equivalent biomass of puppies and fetuses I’m positive they would already be doing that.
 

Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
Isn’t this just a reflection of Korean society and how dysfunctional Asian economic powerhouses are when it comes to social issues e.g. societies with high percentage of elderly population yet who are obsessed with youth?

Work ethic that is unhealthy yet nobody does anything about it, K-Pop industry is not the only one where you pull long hours, it’s pervasive in the economy.
 
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Ashrak

Neo Member
they were built through a system that taught them how to sing, dance and act, they don't make their own music or cheography or have any creative freedom (they are in it just for the momey tbh). almost everything is artificial, even their own personality

Isn't that pretty much the standard for "Celebrities" from the music industry?
 

kurisu_1974

is on perm warning for being a low level troll
For some reason I have had zero exposure to anything k-pop outside of that Gangnam song a couple of years ago. I do watch Korean movies now and then but there doesn't seem to be overlap there.
 

Tams

Gold Member
It's far worse with K-Pop than any other celebrity worship I've seen. Even the Michael Jackson nutters come across as saner and more mature.

There's just something about the language they use that rubs me up the wrong way. And don't dare say anything negative.

I think a lot of it is young teenage fans, some of whom now also seem to not being growing out of it.
 

Z O N E

Member
Stans, Sasaengs and Anti-Fans (not your typical anti-fans) are all insane.

Stans I don't need to explain but sasaengs... MY GOD.

The stories I've read are bat shit insane.

One anti-fan of a boy group gave this one idol orange juice at a fan meet and greet... but she had laced it with superglue. SUPERGLUE.

There is this one sasaeng who is obsessed with this one girl idol from the popular group Twice and he makes Youtube videos talking about how he wants to meet her, that she is destined to be with him, even threatening to kill her and himself. He found out her groups flight info to Japan and boarded the same plane.



It's INSANITY.
 

Cyberpunkd

Gold Member
There's just something about the language they use that rubs me up the wrong way. And don't dare say anything negative.
This is just typical infantilisation of the teenagers in Asian societies, where adolescents are seen as 'pure' and 'child-like' with all the mannerism that comes with it. This later leaks to society where you have Korean men exiting the army still doing 'heart' signs and acting in a feminine way.
 

GymWolf

Member
That one looks especially unhealthy for me 😏
They are all fake and their face is the result of a 6 men 4 hours make up job.

Never watch any documentary about korean women and makeup\plastic surgery dude.

I know all women use heavy make up, but korea is over the top.
 
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Tams

Gold Member
K-pop is new art form, it's a music for watching.
It's literally just Western 90s pop again (The Spice Girls, Steps, Blue, S Club 7, Backstreet Boys, etc.) or J-Pop. There's nothing new about it other than it being in Korean and more plastic surgery and talent abuse.

Hell, you could even go back to The Beatles Mania if you really wanted to. Even by today's standards, some of their fans were crazy. Perhaps even classical artists like Mozart. Or Franz Liszt who is probably the first known panty-dropper. Or you know, the effervescent Lord Byron.
 
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Kssio_Aug

Member
You might not like Justin Bieber, but you can't deny that he knew how to play and to sing since he was a kid. It's a very different scenario than the one OP is pointing out about K-Pop, which it seems to be almost random untalented people randomly selected to peform exactly as the producers behind the scenes want them to, with no freedom to perform simply because they might not even be able to peform by themselves. If they could change them to androids, they probably would, just so they wouldn't need to bother about drama in social media and could save money on their diet and shit like that.

Sure, I know big known artists also end up follwing orders of their promoters or whatever, but many of them at least know their shit, have good voices and some stage presence. Some of them even write their own songs and create their own performances.
 
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Posting this here because I don't want to make a new thread.

But this song came up today in my YouTube feed. And I happened to have the subtitles turned on. And I was reading the lyrics. And wow, this song is clearly about getting a hand job isn't it!? Or is it just my filthy mind?😅

See below with subtitles on:

 

Hoppa

Member
They always have these long awkward shots of the singer(s) looking directly into the camera with their dead shark eyes, it’s very strange
 
For some reason I have had zero exposure to anything k-pop outside of that Gangnam song a couple of years ago. I do watch Korean movies now and then but there doesn't seem to be overlap there.

I can't believe Gangnam Style came out 10 years ago, seemed like it was yesterday. Oh, it seemed it hit its ten year July 15!
 

k1m1d4n

Member
Posting this here because I don't want to make a new thread.

But this song came up today in my YouTube feed. And I happened to have the subtitles turned on. And I was reading the lyrics. And wow, this song is clearly about getting a hand job isn't it!? Or is it just my filthy mind?😅

See below with subtitles on:


Yes. Definitely....
I just don't agree with the whole aiming it at me part.
I guess she never saw that "something about Mary" movie, and what it does to your hair....
 

Hugare

Member
You must be too young to remember about the boy/girl bands phase

Nsync, Backstreet Boys, Five, Hansons, Spice Girls and etc.

The difference now is that we have the internet that teens didnt have back then during the early 2000's

It will take some time, but will eventually saturate
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
i actually like kpop. i don't understand a word of korean and that shit is catchy. it's good to keep on and zone out. i only really know some kpop bands/artists. blackpink, loona, iu, momoland, jeon somi, and twice.

i suppose with any fanbase you have crazy fans who are like a cult. not my thing but i get it. i just enjoy the music.
 

Tams

Gold Member
Posting this here because I don't want to make a new thread.

But this song came up today in my YouTube feed. And I happened to have the subtitles turned on. And I was reading the lyrics. And wow, this song is clearly about getting a hand job isn't it!? Or is it just my filthy mind?😅

See below with subtitles on:


Maybe. It really just sounds like nonsense to me though.
 

Alebrije

Member
K pop it's like others pop cultures ,it's the 80,s of Koreans. besides being more childist nothing new yo see...
 
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Rat Rage

Member
Posting this here because I don't want to make a new thread.

But this song came up today in my YouTube feed. And I happened to have the subtitles turned on. And I was reading the lyrics. And wow, this song is clearly about getting a hand job isn't it!? Or is it just my filthy mind?😅

See below with subtitles on:



The K-pop industry is really something. I'm not a fan of pop music, but I cannot not appreciate how fucking well made a lot of the videos and songs are.
 
I thin the problem is it's been used to effeminize the males in S.Korean so much, I have to look at pictures from the 70's to remember what a Korean man in his 20's and 30's used to look like.

Really that goes for most Asian pop, though there are exceptions in china.
 

teezzy

Banned
If you're an adult man who listens to this stuff, I literally would not want to be seen in public with you
 
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Konnor

Member
The problem with K-pop is that it's terrible, generic music that is far worse than Western pop which also in general is hit or miss. I have yet to listen to a K-pop song that isn't boring trash, it's like these fuckers are not even trying to create something unique.
 
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Sensates

Member
I'min the far east where these cultures completely permeated the youth culture, and I really don't understand it.
The stereotypical kpop song and videos are just too produced, plasticky and lack of any kind of excitement. I can't even finish one song.. I have a sis who is into these stuff and it completely puzzles my mind..
 

DarkestHour

Banned
The problem with K-pop is that it's terrible, generic music that is far worse than Western pop which also in general is hit or miss. I have yet to listen to a K-pop song that isn't boring trash yet, it's like these fuckers are not even tryng to create something unique.

I feel the exact opposite.
 

Tams

Gold Member
I'min the far east where these cultures completely permeated the youth culture, and I really don't understand it.
The stereotypical kpop song and videos are just too produced, plasticky and lack of any kind of excitement. I can't even finish one song.. I have a sis who is into these stuff and it completely puzzles my mind..
Yeah, at least 90s/early 00s pop had some character. Some of that came from faults, both in production and musicians. A drug addiction here, a gaffer appearing in shot there, slightly subtle lyrics there.
 

Whitecrow

Banned
We all have been teenagers and we all had a time where we were idiots and knew nothing.

The problem is that with social networks, idiots get together more easily, normalize their idiocy, and become 10 times more idiots.

Fuck social networks.
 

Soodanim

Gold Member
Nothing in the OP is unique to K-Pop, it's all the result of the same old things: anonymity, social media, fandom, and what people call parasocial relationships (an attachment to celebrities). Regarding health, look at the "Size 0" trend from the '00s that hit USA and anywhere else Hollywood/fashion/celebrity culture successfully exports extreme trends to.

It just looks worse when you get to look from the outside in because you have the perspective of someone who isn't bombarded by it constantly like is the case with Hollywood. Posting about it on a site like GAF is the prime example of that, given that half of the OP's complaints happen here.
 
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