Continuing with the series “Some most annoying things in Kpop” whose two previous parts
you could check out here and here, we will show you several more ridiculous points that
get idols being thrown shade at.
Yet, what’s even more ridiculous is that, though none of these things make sense, they've
been around in kpop from the beginning to this day and show no sign of changing anytime
soon
Dating rumors stemming from idols’ using the same products (and sometimes traveling
to the same place)
As idols are those who have a lot of money to spend and also are the fattest to hop on
latest trends since an integrated part of their job is to maintain a relevant image,
the fact that they frequently opt for the most in-vogue items from famous designer brands
as well as traveling to the most talked-about place in town is of a completely normal thing.
However, to many netizens, and especially delulus who are obsessed with incubating a
fantasy where they and their bias would live happily ever after, seeing celebrities using
the same items or hanging out at the same spots is a huge flag signaling there is love
floating in the air.
While that’s kinda stupid to believe in because idols would often do everything in
their best to hide dating traces, which means the chances of their deliberately showing
their using couple items and favorite dating spots is super slim, some headstrong people
still do everything to connect the dots to weave out a love story and bash the idols
for that.
For example, BTS’ J-Hope and TWICE’s Nayeon have recently been embroiled in this type
of mess because netizens spotted pictures of them dining at the famous pop-up resto
of Louis Vuitton, taking similar pictures of the dishes and the lightning also signaled
they might have been there at the same time frame.
Specifically, they ordered the same signature chocolate dish, similar main course, and similar
table spot.
Besides, since the restaurant is full of windows, many could see the weather and how bright
it was outside.
Especially because they were sitting at the opposite side of the table, this led to many’s
belief that they were at the restaurant around the same time of the day.
Their dating speculation quickly surfaced the Internet and on all Kpop big forums and
outlets, people kept flocking in to leave comments about their alleged love story.
As this broke out at about the same time as the dating news between V and Jennie, many
also criticized Nayeon and J-Hope for joining hands with their agencies to make everyone
forget about Kim Garam’s scandal.
At the time, HYBE’s stock value was plummeting so their posting these photos online was also
said to be despicable and full of ulterior motives.
However, there were also lots of people shielding the two idols, saying that netizens should
have spent time developing themselves rather than weaving a thread of love story out of
their rich imagination.
Looking at the dating rumor, they were just seeing another episode of “BTS dating who?”
series and the fact that BLACKPINK’s Rosé had also been to the resto, which also triggered
a discussion the other day about J-Hope and Rosé’s being in a relationship, also proved
that the speculation was senseless.
Last but not least, since this was a pop-up resto set up specifically by Louis Vuitton,
which meant it would just be there for a short amount of time, apparently tons of celebrities
would come to have exclusive experiences and hop on the trend as they should.
Basically, many believed this whole drama was all in delulus’ heads, and Nayeon and
J-Hope should have never been hated for this.
Visual position in each group
With the advent of monster rookies on the gen4 Kpop race, the keyword “visual” has
also been increasingly noticed because entertainment agencies are debuting more and more visually
pleasing idols.
In fact, it’s almost like the most-talked-about topic in Kpop now is about which idols, especially
female idols, deserved the visual position in their group and “visual shook” is also
among the biggest buzzwords these days.
However, when you take a step back and try to look at the huge emphasis on the visual
role more objectively, you will see it serves nothing more than a senseless title, and perhaps
a toxic title to a certain extent, because it implicitly confirms that this member is
prettier than others and the rest should have the same face as the visual to have their
beauty recognized.
The mildest consequence of picking out one member to hold the visual role is to have
other girls insecure about their appearance and try to change their natural beauty.
Maybe it’s hard to spot this type of aftermath but when you look closely at APINK, you will
see their case has a lot to do with this.
For years, the visual of Naeun has always been praised as being among the top ranks
of Kpop and in the group, she was literally the only member to garner great attention
thanks to her look only.
Then all of a sudden, Chorong had heavy plastic surgery despite her initially bubbly image.
While the link between her going under the knife at a late phase in her career and her
barely having talks revolving around her visual like Naeun was vague, it’s still likely
that she couldn’t bear the visual insecurities any longer so having it done late was still
better than not having it done at all.
As a more severe consequence, members in one group could become jealous of the one holding
the visual position and in time, the synergy of the whole act was gradually shattered into
pieces.
You can take a look at the alleged bullying case in APRIL and considering how Lee Hyunjoo
was often praised for her visual more than the other girls, many believed the group had
bullied her out of jealousy.
Besides potentially ruining the members as well as the group’s future just for a title,
the visual role is also believed to make no sense because “beauty lies in the eyes of
the beholder,” which means beauty is subjective and it often does more harm than good to make
something subjective a fact.
This also makes some believe the visual title should be completely eradicated from the formation
of a group yet because at heart, the function of the Kpop industry, Kpop fans and South
Korea's economy revolve around “beauty,” omitting the visual role is pretty much a
mission impossible.
Hating the whole group just for one member
Considering the strict nature of Knetz, obviously you shouldn't be surprised to see how they
bash the whole group terribly just because they find one member a thorn in the eye.
While this makes no sense as it is the management company that has the power to put the members
together rather than the members having the power to choose who to debut with, people
still hate what they want to hate.
The epitome of this ridiculous point is no other than LE SSERAFIM and although the act
has bagged home several titles at big year-end award shows as well as having their tracks,
even including some b-sides of the first album, trending on social media, lots of people still
hate them for once letting such a controversial persona like Kim Garam be in their group.
After Kim Garam’s scandal broke out on the exact same day her debut teaser was released,
the situation quickly escalated and while the victim side non-stop released evidence
and statements, as well as explicitly said that they would take legal actions against
Kim Garam, HYBE would either make super vague or no statements at all about the situation,
making people believe Kim Garam was indeed the bad guy being shielded by HYBE’s money
and power.
According to netizens, the fact that none of the members voiced their opinions nor showed
sympathy for the alleged victim in Kim Garam’s speculated bullying sandals, though the evidence
was as clear as day, made the group trashy.
Some even assume Le Sserafim was just on the same level as Kim Garam because there was
no way a righteous person would be friends with a girl like Kim Garam, who was not only
accused of bullying but also having tons of vulgar photos taken during her highschool
phase.
Many netizens said that they really wanted to stan Le Sserafim because this group is
full of pretty and talented members, especially Sakura and Chaewon, 2 popular former idols
from IZ*ONE, but they decided to not become a fan because their conscience does not allow
them to support a group that harbors a bully.
While many people agreed with this, others believed that these netizens had gone too
far and that their actions could destroy the remaining members who are 100% innocent and
extremely potential.
Fans' gifts got thrown in the trash cans
Can you ever imagine an idol, who has spent years and even decades in the practice room,
learning about all sorts of things from dancing, singing to greeting, saying, and communicating
with fans, could ever be dumb enough to discard their fans’ gifts in public places?
Of course not, not even in your wildest dream.
However, when people spotted fans’ gifts being thrown in public places, they immediately
bash the idols, calling them ungrateful people who looked down on the ones that built them
though in fact, management companies were the one to manage and supervise all the gifts
fans sent to idols.
In fact, idols may not even know the existence of their presents because at fanmeetings,
the staff would always take away all fans’ gifts to check thoroughly and if they didn’t
hand the presents back, there would be no way for the idols to know what their fans
had sent.
SEVENTEEN is the epitome of this case and back in 2016, they were accused of trashing
low-valued gifts and letters from fans.
Many letters weren’t even opened and on one poster, a note to Joshua wasn’t even
taken out before being discarded.
Pledis Entertainment then released a super vague statement, saying that the maid might
have cleaned up the letters by accident yet fans believed the company was simply a money-chaser
and not caring about low-value gifts.
Still, the group was bashed fiercely and for a long time, they were said to soon end their
career in ashes because of the alleged ungrateful and arrogant attitude.
So, why do you think these annoying things are still here to stay in Kpop?
For the first and last cases, do you think some people were playing dumb to pick a quarrel
with idols?