When it comes to Kpop idols, cuteness is one of the most powerful tools to attract fans.
They even have the word “aegyo” to denote the lovely and coddling actions.
Besides the cool and badass image on stages, fans are always excited to see a different
side of their idols in real life, and that's why “aegyo” is so popular in the idol
world.
However, it happens that some idols just tried too hard to be cute in order to please fans
to the point that their actions and expressions were said to seem to be too exaggerated.
Jang Wonyoung
As a phenomenon of the fourth generation, Wonyoung has always taken the Kpop community
by storm.
With such a remarkable reputation, the female idol captured the love of fans from all over
the world yet also received countless hatred from antis.
One reason Wonyoung often gets bashed for is her kinda cringy facial expressions.
When being a part of IZ*ONE, her cuteness and innocence used to be the money-making
weapon since it highlighted her role as a maknae.
However, Wonyoung now came in for several criticisms for the way she acted since many
netizens think that she’s abusing aegyo to gain attention
One most talked-about example of this is the cover stage of the song “Way To Go” by
SNSD, which was performed by 9 female idols from 6 different groups on KBS Gayo Daechukje.
It could be seen that Wonyoung was absolutely the center of the performance since the visuals
of IVE seemed to be favored by the cameramen when her screentime out of the whole performance
was overwhelming to that of others, which also captured the attention in an unwanted
way.
Although the female idol was beautiful as usual, her performance was considered to be
inappropriate for a bright and cheerful song like “Way To Go”.
While other girls danced energetically and decisively, Wonyoung’s movements were criticized
for being too light and excessive, as if she was trying to look as pretty as possible instead
of convey the spirit of the song.
The biggest explanation for the hatred towards Wonyoung is her cheesy facial expressions,
for which the female idol continuously got bashed since she re-debuted with IVE.
Netizens claimed that Wonyoung’s expression is becoming more and more “manufactured”
as she always brings that fake smile on every event and stage.
Many also found it annoying and tired seeing her cringy and repetitive expression with
pouty lips and half-closed eyes which have become Wonyoung’s signature, saying that
it seemed that the female idol no longer showed her real emotion for the sake of her perfect
image in front of the public eye.
Some even found her expression scary and wondered how the female idol could even focus on singing
while trying to pull out that face.
The controversy didn’t stop there.
When IVE appeared as a guest on Weekly Idol, Wonyoung’s behavior caused debates again
as it can be noticed that the female idol continuously looked and turned to the cameras
as well as did some cute gestures, even when other members were talking to the MC.
Many netizens claimed it was evident that rather than being completely immersed in the
show, Wonyoung was hyper aware of how she looked and just concentrated on presenting
herself beautifully.
Regarding the strawberry-eating controversy that had made many people grow out of Wonyoung,
compared to the way she ate in her IZ*ONE era, many notice that Wonyoung now cannot
even open her mouth widely and only takes ridiculously small bites with naive expression
while eating.
That’s why Wonyoung is believed to have been trying too hard to act childish and cute
in the hope that more fans would join her fandom.
However, on the other hand, Wonyoung’s fans claimed that hatred and criticism towards
the female idol is totally nonsense.
Since aegyo has become a part of the Kpop industry and even Korean culture, there’s
nothing wrong with Wonyoung acting cute because she’s just doing what an idol should do.
Plus, they also said that those bashing Wonyoung are the ones who need to seek help because
they're so sensitive that they can get mad and throw spiteful words at an 18-year-old
girl just because she has some cute expressions and gestures.
Yuna (ITZY)
Recently, a dance cover video of Yuna captured the attention of netizens, however, in both
positive and negative ways.
So a few weeks ago, Yuna took part in the Pink Venom Challenge by Blackpink, posting
a short clip of her dancing and lip-syncing to the chorus of the song on Tiktok.
While fans gave her several compliments for her stunning visuals without heavy makeup
or complicated outfits, others pointed out that Yuna’s moves and expressions were quite
cringy as she tried too hard to look sexy.
According to them, while Pink Venom’s choreography was very powerful and decisive, Yuna danced
in a quite cheesy way.
Some pointed out that the female idol’s gestures looked too girly and excessive and
her movements seemed to be over-excited, which did not fit the original song’s spirit at
all.
This is not the first time Yuna came in for criticism for similar reasons.
Once in her V-live, the female idol made a simple cover of the song “Love Dive” by
IVE as requested by fans.
However, as Yuna changed her tone trying to sing in a higher pitch, her voice became dissonant
to the point that netizens believed the cringe level of her cover had surpassed that of Wonyoung
in the song.
Her facial expression in the Vlive was also criticized for being too sultry.
Previously, there were several cases when netizens slammed Yuna for her exaggerated
reaction.
For example in another live video of Yuna streaming in a car, she suddenly sneezed yet
in a quite weird and cute way at the same time though.
After sneezing, the female idol slowly said “Bless me” with a bright smile, which,
according to many netizens, was so abnormal and cringy.
They said that her facial expression at that time was quite forced as if she was trying
to be flirty.
Despite all the hatred Yuna had to receive, countless fans still believed that there’s
nothing wrong with her and tried to defend the female idol.
Obviously, Yuna is just a bright, extrovert and confident girl who does not hesitate to
vibe herself and act comfortably.
That might make some people feel uncomfortable but that also didn’t mean they have the
right to insult her.
Moreover, fans also pointed out that because of rude comments and harsh criticism netizens
threw at Yuna, the poor girl now acts in a more reserved way and no longer enjoys herself
like before.
The proof is that she hesitated to dance to the song Love Dive with ITZY at their own
fanmeeting and even felt embarrassed after sneezing.
Thus, fans believed that haters had forced a young, cute idol to behave against her nature,
which is so shameful of them.
Jeon Somi
Somi is now working as a soloist under the management of The Black Label.
Pursuing the sexy, girlcrush concept, she attracts numerous female fans as many girls
now want to have a stronger and more independent vibe.
However, when Somi came back to her cute, childish expression with aegyo, the reaction
of the netizens was not so good.
One thing that netizens did not like about Somi’s aegyo is her forced and quite awkward
facial expressions.
While the female already has a cute puppy look, she was said to often show up with a
pouty mouth and a sulky face.
Once on SBS Inkigayo, Somi got criticized for pulling a sad pouting face when losing
to other artists.
They said that things were not that serious but Somi had to act like she was hurt and
try too hard to look pitiful to get everyone’s sympathy.
In other music shows, Somi, again, received negative opinions since netizens found her
reaction at the winning moment quite exaggerated and annoying.
Particularly, in her first win with “What you waiting for”, many people noticed that
while she was waiting to be announced as the winner, Somi had a series of facial expressions
that were said to be extremely cringy and confusing as she kept puffing her mouth, biting
her lips and sticking out her tongue.
Someone even wrote a long rant about how annoying Somi is, saying that her child-like voice
is another reason the female idol got bashed.
The OP claimed that though Somi’s voice is kinda thick and honeyed, she always tries
to twist it and talk in a higher tone, which is so tiring to listen to.
In response to the criticisms aimed at Somi, her fans fiercely defended her by rebutting
that Somi was just trying to be closer to fans by showing the playful and friendly side
of her, and didn't try hard to become a kid at all.
Moreover, behaving cute is the nature of almost all the girls, so it seemed like some netizens
were going too hard on Somi and had nothing to do but nitpicking on her.
Jungwoo (NCT)
Not long after Jungwoo debuted with NCT, there appeared a topic showing opinion about the
male idol’s problematic aegyo.
In the original post, a netizen showed how he felt uncomfortable with Jungwoo’s effort
to look cute.
Take his expression and gesture at Weekly Idol for example.
In the show, Jungwoo was seen doing an aegyo by cry-shouting like a baby and made a grin,
and even twisted his tone in a cute and child-like way.
While fans were really excited with this and even labeled him as “The master of Cuteness”,
others expressed hatred towards his action, saying that Jungwoo’s aegyo was too cringy
and cheesy to the point that they have to skip through that part everytime they watch
that episode.
In another gameshow with other members of NCT, Jungwoo was said to have not given up
on over-acting.
Particularly, when asked to spell the word “barbecue”, Jungwoo was seen having some
difficulty and could not spell the whole word.
Immediately, criticism came at him like a storm as many claimed that Jungwoo was too
obsessed with giving off a child-like vibe that he could not even talk in a normal way.
However, Jungwoo’s fans thought all the criticism toward the male idol was ridiculous
as he didn’t try to be cute at all.
In fact, Jungwoo has always been a funny and energetic person so sometimes, his gestures
and expressions might appear exaggerated to many.
However, it’s his bright and cheerful vibe that brings about laughter and happiness to
anyone around him and people should be grateful for that instead of digging up dirt on him
like that.
So, do you think these idols really have something cheesy in their actions?
Or are they just victims of the extreme scrutiny from netizens?