And why does it have so many fans and views? I don't think I know anyone who listens to it and the Americans that apparently do I highly doubt they understand Korean.
It's really fucking weird. And some of it even seems directed towards American viewers.
American women really like swooning over K-Pop idols. It’s not uncommon for them to refer to their favorite singer as “my baby”. Koreans have also made a considerable effort to market and appeal to American degeneracy, you can see it in their cultural trends for the past 10 years.
This wouldn’t be a problem if the K-Pop fandom wasn’t one of the most mean-spirited groups online. The majority like to go after traditionally masculine/feminine things as though it’s a sport.
The fanbase are mostly zoomer girls in their late teens/early 20s, living their modern Beatlemania with the usual single-minded hormone-driven fervour and engaging in the typical adolescent bullying against people who call them out on how stupid it all is. There's nothing new about any of it: it's just amplified because of the internet.
Worse. These K-pop stars are are treated inhumanely. They live in tiny, shared dorm rooms, aren't allowed to sleep, to eat properly, can't date, can't even meet their own families. They are forced to get plastic surgeries.
Their pay is nothing. They have to "pay back" the company for their training and of course for their living expenses (which are fucking sub par, so no way they cost much).
Their phones get randomly checked by their management, they are banned from driving.
Some girl band's fans held fundraisers because the company didn't provide them with clothes and while they worked basically all day (remember, they live together, often even with their manager and inside the management company's building) and were only allowed like 5 hours of sleep, they didn't earn enough to get their own outfits.
So basically these women, more often than note wokesters, support glamour slavery.
A few years ago they squealed over some idol dude being "cute". What did he do? He was finally allowed to meet his mother after YEARS, but he had to do it on stage, in the middle of a concert. Dude got emotional, like anyone would. They thought it was cute.
My god, this sounds even worse than how Japanese Idols are treated.
Sad to see that the music industry is fucked up in multiple Asian countries.
I guess so. Also, the thing is, we know this. We actually know about these things and people still fantard about these people. Like sure, the fact they ALL have eating disorders, get plastic surgeries galore (then a bunch get botched...), etc., but like UWU, they are so amazing.
From time to time, one of them kills themselves and toxic fans badmouthing them get the blame. But I will be honest, being constantly broke, starving, sleep deprived, simultaneously being forced in 24/7 contact with your coworkers while banned from being close to anyone else, being forced to change your looks, get mentally abused by management every day, etc. probably result in mental health so bad it's unfair to blame people talking shit about you.
Sure, it probably doesn't feel nice. But it happens to many people in many industries, but having a good meal, sleep and relaxing time with people you actually love fixes a lot.
What the fuck, so basically they are mk-ultra like slaves?
I... guess so? Never thought of it that way, but yeah, it's really fucked.
If you read Korean comics online, they idealize and fetishize abusing those weaker than oneself. I'm not even slightly surprised by the state of North Korea after exploring a bit of South Korean culture.
A Japanese woman I know really hates this, since Japanese boy bands aren't much different and they've been a thing for decades. (like SMAP, Arashi) She would've loved for them to break into the US market. But Koreans got better at copying creative ideas and perfected how to sell them to the West.
Looks at US and Korea
I think your friend might’ve dodged a bullet, even if she hates it. Popularity is rarely a blessing.