Stop hating & start living.
Okay. This morning when I was looking through the newspapers for more updates on the European debt crisis, I happened to chance upon an article in the Life section which was titled "I hate Kpop". Adeline Chia, the lady who wrote it, elaborated on how she felt it was like a "cult-like culture", where all the entertainment companies have formulated the creation of their artistes down to a T & so on. She went on to describe that the songs were a pain to her ears because of how they were infused with Gaga-like beats, auto tunes etc etc and yeah, basically content that really, really irked me.
I've always said this & I'll say it again - I really despise people who discriminate the korean pop fandom just for the sake of discriminating it. If we can respect the interests, hobbies or even past times that other people have, why can't others do the same? Honestly. Saying that kpop is stupid/dumb/a talentless cult-like culture etc is clearly overexaggerating things, and that only makes you look like a shallow, clueless and unknowing individual. Understand that what I'm gonna write below is based on what I respect about it and not just in response to her article but kpop in general. Everything has flaws, which is why I'm not trying to say that Kpop is godly, or that everyone should love it and throw themselves into the whole Hallyu shit - that, is obviously not what I'm driving at. All I'm saying is to respect people and their love for Kpop.
1. It's an interest in another culture. First off, I'd like to clarify that it's just an interest just like any other interest easily understood (by dumb people, even). For instance, it can be an interest in soccer, in Gossip Girls, in Harry Potter, or even blogshopping. Some people say Kpop is not just an hobby; it's an obsession. I wouldn't go ahead and fight that because clearly, there is a thin line between having a major interest and an obsession. Some people are so obsessed with blogshopping that they are there stalking the pages every time the page owners declare that oh, we're gonna launch a new collection at this xxx time. They may find themselves feeling extremely disappointed (insert self-hate/loathe/negative feelings) that they did not manage to get that particular dress or top they want within the first 3 minutes of the collection's launch. They also spend every other day in between their studying time (or whatever it is) browsing through the profuse number of blogshops online. You see what I'm driving at? There are many things that people are obsessed about but they do not realize that is becomes self-consuming as well. Stop pointing fingers only at "stupid kpop". Let's move on to soccer. Many guys are willing to sacrifice hours of sleep, get up in the wee hours of the night, risk looking like shit even though they may have a major presentation or meeting the next day, just to watch a soccer match which they may claim is extremely exciting or important in the season's league. Some even use Excel to calculate the odds for their soccer bets. We don't tend to criticize this, but why do these people try to majorly put down other people's interest in Kpop? Even if it's a so-called obsession, so what? Get this right - Please learn to respect other people's interest.
2. "THEY FLOOD TWITTER LIKE MAD JUST RAMBLING ON ABOUT THEIR CRAZY, FAKE KOREAN IDOLS!" So what about those times where my twitter/facebook/tumblr have been flooded by posts about Arsenal and Chelsea and Manchester United? I'm not interested in what you have to say about those matches, seriously, but I do not put them down. I laugh it off and go on about how cute it is that everyone's raving about it, then I start getting excited about it, & I don't mean it in a sarcastic sense. Learn to respect others. Afterall, all these social spaces are meant for freedom of expression as long as they do not violate the integrity of other people. If you abhor it because the pain goes deep into your bones, you can always unfriend them on Facebook or unfollow them on Twitter. Nobody's forcing you to bear with that itch in your ass/fingers, you know?
3. "Kpop's just really stupid because their artistes are talentless. They're all produced in the same way, marketed in a way to drive their pop culture into the heads of silly dumb people." People who say things like that are either really insecure about themselves, or they are so jaded about everything (for God's sake) that they refuse to see good in other people. How do you define talentless? Performing abilities can either be borne talent, or they can be trained and refined. Many of these kpop artistes have gone through so much in the early years of their lives to dedicate their all into training to their very best so they that they can present the best side of themselves to others. Who are these haters and trollers to judge them and disapprove of their efforts in pursuing their dreams? Saying that they're talentless can be way too harsh. Some American and Taiwan artistes (don't get me wrong, I listen to all genres of music equally) get to debut within a year of training. Most korean artistes go through at least 3 or more years of training. This dumb "formula" which these people claim is used actually refers to the tiring, gruelling and extensive training which the trainees are being grilled through before they can even be considered good enough to debut. They may not be the best, but why are trollers discriminating other people's efforts? People who discriminate Kpop offhandedly are just unable to see past everything and at the blood and sweat these people have poured into chasing their dreams. There are certain idols whom I respect not just because of their awesome stage performances, but also because of the spirit, passion and effort behind the scenes. Take for instance TVXQ. All of them worked their asses off to get to what they are today. Jaejoong grew up poor and even had to sell his blood at one point in time just to be able to feed himself. He worked his ass off to pay for his own training at SM, sacrificing and learning so much about relationships and family along the way. How is this "stupid" in any sense, you tell me? Why can't some people just see past all that glamour on the surface? These are people who have given their hearts into pursuing their dreams. Marketing is all part of it, why don't we just accept that and look past it? Many, many things in life are marketed in some way or another, if you take a moment and think about it.
4. "It has no originality - everything's just autotuned, Lady Gaga-like, ripped a little from here & there, then pieced together" Do you even know what inspiration means? It means that you hear stuff from various sources, then try to come up with something yourself. If you're gonna say next that "oh, they basically rip stuff so there aren't any new ideas"....well, all I can say is Hallyu goes back a long way to even ten years ago. SM Entertainment, for instance, was formed than more than a decade ago. TVXQ was formed 6-7 years ago. Where was Lady Gaga at that time? Did she even exist? Hell no. I love her and her music, but to say that korean pop's just a rip off from her songs is just absolutely Bullshit with a capital B. What's wrong with coming up with music that people appreciate and gravitate towards? Gaga songs, which are heavily popular, all sound strangely similar. Even my favourite Adele or even Dashboard Confessional - they all incline heavily towards a certain genre. There's nothing wrong with that right? So what's up with getting so riled up about Korean music, which is claimed to be horrendous and horribly repetitive? Just to let you trollers know, there exists a wide variety of genres for korean pop. It's not our fault that you're so...myopic, for a lack of a better word.
5. "It imposes unrealistic ideals on the youths these days" C'mon, we all know that this criticism exists for all kinds of popular culture, so don't try to use it solely to attack Kpop alright? I understand that this is a real and existing problem about kpop, but hey, what if these stars were horribly ugly instead? Then all ye haters are gonna turn the other way & say "Oh dear, how do people like that even become stars?" You see, it's not possible to please everyone. I mean, you're entitled to view kpop in your own way, but there is absolutely no implicit need for people to be so vile about it.
I can't believe I wrote so much shit just because of a stupid newspaper article. I understand that people can dislike kpop - heck, why should people even bother about something which doesn't even strike them? All I'm begging is for people to look beyond the surface before being so vicious about things like that. To put down other people's interest as "cult-like" is being way too judgmental and crude. All I know is that it reflects badly on that person as an individual. That said, I understand that there are some kpop fans who are seriously overboard - they live and breathe it like it's their life and become so delusional because of it. These are the minority, however, and I do not think it's fair that you're labeling the entire lot as a cult just because of the black horses. It's as stupid as saying that the entire fleet of horses is lousy, insane or siao just because one of them has mad horse disease or something. Alright, I'm going to stop writing this and go read about how H & M admits to using computer generated fashion models...then transfer ebooks into my Nook.
I've always said this & I'll say it again - I really despise people who discriminate the korean pop fandom just for the sake of discriminating it. If we can respect the interests, hobbies or even past times that other people have, why can't others do the same? Honestly. Saying that kpop is stupid/dumb/a talentless cult-like culture etc is clearly overexaggerating things, and that only makes you look like a shallow, clueless and unknowing individual. Understand that what I'm gonna write below is based on what I respect about it and not just in response to her article but kpop in general. Everything has flaws, which is why I'm not trying to say that Kpop is godly, or that everyone should love it and throw themselves into the whole Hallyu shit - that, is obviously not what I'm driving at. All I'm saying is to respect people and their love for Kpop.
1. It's an interest in another culture. First off, I'd like to clarify that it's just an interest just like any other interest easily understood (by dumb people, even). For instance, it can be an interest in soccer, in Gossip Girls, in Harry Potter, or even blogshopping. Some people say Kpop is not just an hobby; it's an obsession. I wouldn't go ahead and fight that because clearly, there is a thin line between having a major interest and an obsession. Some people are so obsessed with blogshopping that they are there stalking the pages every time the page owners declare that oh, we're gonna launch a new collection at this xxx time. They may find themselves feeling extremely disappointed (insert self-hate/loathe/negative feelings) that they did not manage to get that particular dress or top they want within the first 3 minutes of the collection's launch. They also spend every other day in between their studying time (or whatever it is) browsing through the profuse number of blogshops online. You see what I'm driving at? There are many things that people are obsessed about but they do not realize that is becomes self-consuming as well. Stop pointing fingers only at "stupid kpop". Let's move on to soccer. Many guys are willing to sacrifice hours of sleep, get up in the wee hours of the night, risk looking like shit even though they may have a major presentation or meeting the next day, just to watch a soccer match which they may claim is extremely exciting or important in the season's league. Some even use Excel to calculate the odds for their soccer bets. We don't tend to criticize this, but why do these people try to majorly put down other people's interest in Kpop? Even if it's a so-called obsession, so what? Get this right - Please learn to respect other people's interest.
2. "THEY FLOOD TWITTER LIKE MAD JUST RAMBLING ON ABOUT THEIR CRAZY, FAKE KOREAN IDOLS!" So what about those times where my twitter/facebook/tumblr have been flooded by posts about Arsenal and Chelsea and Manchester United? I'm not interested in what you have to say about those matches, seriously, but I do not put them down. I laugh it off and go on about how cute it is that everyone's raving about it, then I start getting excited about it, & I don't mean it in a sarcastic sense. Learn to respect others. Afterall, all these social spaces are meant for freedom of expression as long as they do not violate the integrity of other people. If you abhor it because the pain goes deep into your bones, you can always unfriend them on Facebook or unfollow them on Twitter. Nobody's forcing you to bear with that itch in your ass/fingers, you know?
3. "Kpop's just really stupid because their artistes are talentless. They're all produced in the same way, marketed in a way to drive their pop culture into the heads of silly dumb people." People who say things like that are either really insecure about themselves, or they are so jaded about everything (for God's sake) that they refuse to see good in other people. How do you define talentless? Performing abilities can either be borne talent, or they can be trained and refined. Many of these kpop artistes have gone through so much in the early years of their lives to dedicate their all into training to their very best so they that they can present the best side of themselves to others. Who are these haters and trollers to judge them and disapprove of their efforts in pursuing their dreams? Saying that they're talentless can be way too harsh. Some American and Taiwan artistes (don't get me wrong, I listen to all genres of music equally) get to debut within a year of training. Most korean artistes go through at least 3 or more years of training. This dumb "formula" which these people claim is used actually refers to the tiring, gruelling and extensive training which the trainees are being grilled through before they can even be considered good enough to debut. They may not be the best, but why are trollers discriminating other people's efforts? People who discriminate Kpop offhandedly are just unable to see past everything and at the blood and sweat these people have poured into chasing their dreams. There are certain idols whom I respect not just because of their awesome stage performances, but also because of the spirit, passion and effort behind the scenes. Take for instance TVXQ. All of them worked their asses off to get to what they are today. Jaejoong grew up poor and even had to sell his blood at one point in time just to be able to feed himself. He worked his ass off to pay for his own training at SM, sacrificing and learning so much about relationships and family along the way. How is this "stupid" in any sense, you tell me? Why can't some people just see past all that glamour on the surface? These are people who have given their hearts into pursuing their dreams. Marketing is all part of it, why don't we just accept that and look past it? Many, many things in life are marketed in some way or another, if you take a moment and think about it.
4. "It has no originality - everything's just autotuned, Lady Gaga-like, ripped a little from here & there, then pieced together" Do you even know what inspiration means? It means that you hear stuff from various sources, then try to come up with something yourself. If you're gonna say next that "oh, they basically rip stuff so there aren't any new ideas"....well, all I can say is Hallyu goes back a long way to even ten years ago. SM Entertainment, for instance, was formed than more than a decade ago. TVXQ was formed 6-7 years ago. Where was Lady Gaga at that time? Did she even exist? Hell no. I love her and her music, but to say that korean pop's just a rip off from her songs is just absolutely Bullshit with a capital B. What's wrong with coming up with music that people appreciate and gravitate towards? Gaga songs, which are heavily popular, all sound strangely similar. Even my favourite Adele or even Dashboard Confessional - they all incline heavily towards a certain genre. There's nothing wrong with that right? So what's up with getting so riled up about Korean music, which is claimed to be horrendous and horribly repetitive? Just to let you trollers know, there exists a wide variety of genres for korean pop. It's not our fault that you're so...myopic, for a lack of a better word.
5. "It imposes unrealistic ideals on the youths these days" C'mon, we all know that this criticism exists for all kinds of popular culture, so don't try to use it solely to attack Kpop alright? I understand that this is a real and existing problem about kpop, but hey, what if these stars were horribly ugly instead? Then all ye haters are gonna turn the other way & say "Oh dear, how do people like that even become stars?" You see, it's not possible to please everyone. I mean, you're entitled to view kpop in your own way, but there is absolutely no implicit need for people to be so vile about it.
I can't believe I wrote so much shit just because of a stupid newspaper article. I understand that people can dislike kpop - heck, why should people even bother about something which doesn't even strike them? All I'm begging is for people to look beyond the surface before being so vicious about things like that. To put down other people's interest as "cult-like" is being way too judgmental and crude. All I know is that it reflects badly on that person as an individual. That said, I understand that there are some kpop fans who are seriously overboard - they live and breathe it like it's their life and become so delusional because of it. These are the minority, however, and I do not think it's fair that you're labeling the entire lot as a cult just because of the black horses. It's as stupid as saying that the entire fleet of horses is lousy, insane or siao just because one of them has mad horse disease or something. Alright, I'm going to stop writing this and go read about how H & M admits to using computer generated fashion models...then transfer ebooks into my Nook.