There’s always a lot to talk about Kpop, but one topic gets mentioned a lot is how
toxic some Kpop fandoms are. Accept it or not, not all Kpop fans are good people, these
fans would always try to control the idols’ life for god knows what reason.
However, I personally think toxic Kpop fans are not initially bad, they’re just the
result of the Kpop industry, which has been actively spoiling them throughout its existence
by these 4 doings:
1. Kpop treats idols like mass-produced products Compared to Kpop, Westerns singers have a
pretty natural process in building their success. The recipe would be: uploading cover videos
on Youtube; gain enough attention; record labels come find them and sign the contract.
After the paperwork is done, the star goes on a training process where their vocals would
be polished, performing techniques are improved and brushing some more things up.
Then they’re allowed to produce music, go on multiple promotional campaigns to increase
reputation, public recognition, and if lucky enough, music tours will be organized after
a few music products.
Basically, the success formula for most Western artists is composed of two elements only:
their own music talents and the company’s investment.
However, the process is so much harder for a Kpop idol. At first, they could also be
noticed for their talents and visuals, but that’s far from enough. Instead of signing
with a record label and starting making music right away, they will go auditioning, which
could possibly take place for more than 100 times before they get to sign a trainee contract
– yup, a trainee contract, not a contract that you can make money out of it yet.
Then comes the hell training period. While most Western artists just train for a few
months before debuting, in Kpop, it could be two, three or even ten years
Why take so long? Well, to be a Kpop star, you must brush up
a lot of things other than just vocals and performing skills. You’ll need to practice
dancing, modelling, acting and even changing your own personalities. When this process
ends, you would pretty much turn into a totally different person, a well-rounded, polished
and perfect version of yourself.
So, while raw gems of the West get sharpened and become diamonds with many shapes and colors,
the Kpop companies literally create the diamonds themselves and mold them into limited concepts.
Take CLC for example. These girls’ initial concept was girl crush, but Cube forced them
to do cute concept though it’s not their cup of tea.
Basically, Western artists just need to stick to their own style and the audiences will
flock to them, but Kpop idols need to adjust themselves to fit the taste of others.
That’s stage 1 of how Kpop fans are spoiled.
2. Kpop makes fans think they own the idols Do you notice that Kpop idols cry very frequently
on stage, livestreams or fan meetings, but seemingly for no clear reasons?
Most of the time, they also have very similar gestures and reactions. There are hundreds
of idols in Kpop, and you actually believe hundreds of different people just act the
same all the time like that? It’s because they are taught the same lesson.
To be honest, these gestures are quite hard to pull off, especially when you’re not
a fan of Aegyo, this can make you feel very awkward and cringy.
Same for the idols, but they still have to because fans want to see them acting cute,
crying and such, because it makes them feel like they’re someone very important to the
idols, like a girlfriend or boyfriend. With this thought in mind, toxic fans gradually
believe that they actually own the idols, to the point that idols are not allowed to
date, to neglect fans even when they’re exhausted or to do anything that can be disapproved
of by fans. If the idols “cross the line”, toxic fans will seek revenge on them like
they revenge a betrayal boyfriend or girlfriend.
Just so you can see how constrained Kpop idols are, dating has never been a no no for Western
artists and their fans. Taylor Swift dated 13 guys in total, yet all her fans care about
is her music and talents, that’s why she still gains huge success after roughly 15
years since debut.
3. Kpop doesn’t take illegal actions seriously You remember the scary case of TVXQ’s Yunho
back in 2006? Let me remind you: Yunho was at a cafe and was given some orange juice
by the self-called “staff”. This person was actually a sasaeng fan who just wanted
to make Yunho remember her for life, so she came up with a sickening idea: spike his drink
with super glue. Yunho ended up being rushed to the hospital and stayed there for a while.
The most frustrating part is though this incident almost cost his life, it was later reported
that the girl was forgiven since Yunho saw she was young.
You may think: “Yunho, just do whatever you want to bring that culprit down. We don’t
care if it seems cold-hearted”. But are you sure that some fans would still look at
Yunho the same way if he chose to punish that young girl instead of forgiving her?
While some believe that Yunho’s action stemmed from his goodwill, some reckoned that SM Entertainment
did influence his decision to create a generous image for him, even though he almost lost
his life! Isn’t this a huge green light for other crazy fans to plan on doing similar
things to their idols? There’s a fact that Kpop idols are very
forgiving, even when people do super crazy stuff to them, like throwing things at them,
invading their privacy and body, poisoning their food - in such situations, most of them
would just smile it off, some even make apologies for the mistake they didn’t even make, all
because the companies fear their angelic image could be spoiled, fans would not love them
anymore and their career would be affected.
Returning to the incident of Yunho, if he was an ordinary person, the girl would be
charged with attempted murder. Well, unfortunately, he’s an idol, and the public – instead
of paying more attention to the crazy act of the girl – they focused more on praising
the victim for letting the culprit get away with such a terrible crime.
4. Kpop encourages fans to overreact to idols’ mistakes
While Western artists can pursue whatever image they want, even super erotic ones like
this, in Kpop, idols must maintain a pure and flawless image. You can’t be like Miley
Cyrus and still be loved. Once you’re involved in a scandal, your career is pretty much gone,
unless you make a super teary apology and try 10 times harder to recover your image
Of course, making mistakes is blameworthy, especially when you’re a famous and highly-influencing
person like a Kpop idol. However, I personally think that most of the time, Kpop fans are
overreacting toward idols’ mistakes. Take Tzuyu for example, did she really deserve
all these malicious words and have to appear like a criminal in an apology video just because
she waved her national Taiwan flag? Did Tzuyu really commit a terrible thing or
that some fans just wanted to prove that they can manipulate her, and it makes them feel
good because they get a famous Kpop idol to do as they told?
(G)-IDLE’s Soojin is also a victim of this. She might have made a mistake back in school,
but she was just a kid, plus she has also written a long post explaining details of
the incident, and promised that she would be a better person down the road. Soojin literally
did everything to beg for forgiveness, yet she is still boycotted everywhere. Her role
in the latest MV of (G)-IDLE was also limited down to zero. Some people just really want
to push Soojin to a dead end.
In short, while toxic fans are obviously to blame for making idols suffer, the management
companies indeed play a huge part in nurturing this destructive fan culture. Through the
above 4 acts, they have paved the wave for extreme people to treat idols like emotionless
entities instead of humans with feelings.
Well, that’s the end of the video. Do you share the same opinion with me? Comment down
below to share if you agree or disagree. Also, don’t forget to like, share and subscribe
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