The Dangers for Idols in Feeding into Fan Obsession
TL;DR: In the relationship between Korean idols and obsessive fans (sasaengs), sasaengs do more harm than good to everyone involved during their unconventional attempts to express their love.
“Korean Pop Idols and Fan Interactions” Essay
Ever since the Hallyu Wave made its way to a broader international audience, the popularity of idols during the time skyrocketed, and they paved the way for the rise in the popularity for later idol groups. What is most striking about these idols is the amount of interaction that they have with each other and the fans. Idols can personally communicate with fans a lot through different mediums such as live streams, social media comment sections, fan-meets, Hi-Touch’s, concerts, YouTube videos, KCon, and more. Although idols work hard to produce music under circumstances that make them feel lonely at times, they still try to have time where they can talk to fans and thank them for their support. Fans from all over the world express their love and appreciation for these idols differently. These expressions range from going to all of their concerts and buying all of their music to grotesque actions that are less than conventional. Because fans from all over idolize these Korean celebrities, there is a general consensus about what rights idols should have. However, at the same time, fans begin to have variances in how they interact with idols in order to communicate a message across to them. Sasaeng (사생팬) are alleged fans who try to resort to crazy dangerous methods to get their favorite idol to notice and love them. Their media ideologies heavily conflict with their idioms of practice and their interpretations of the result of said practice.
The first example of a disconnect between one’s media ideologies and idioms of practice in this digital culture is an interaction between 2PM’s Taecyeon and a sasaeng. Most fans try to send letters to their idols in hopes of them reading it and remembering who took the time to write to them. However, there was one fan who took this medium a step further in order to stand out compared to the thousands of fan letters sent to these idols every day. To this fan, she believed that by doing something different with her letter, Taecyeon would remember her more clearly than other fans. Instead of using writing utensils like pens, markers, or pencils, this sasaeng wrote on the letter in her menstrual blood, adorned with some of her pubic hairs, in order to make him remember her and fulfill her fantasy of him seeking her out and falling in love with her. Her ideology was that in order to be remembered and loved by an idol with many fans, she had to make herself stand out by doing something different and more shocking. In this case, she used a classic medium, but she added more shock value to it. She did achieve a part of what she wanted. He remembers her, but he doesn’t remember her for anything good and has no desire to pursue her. This is an example of a crazy fan’s media ideologies that conflicted with her idioms of practice. In turn, her actions were not necessarily communicated the way she believed it would, and she received a lot of backlash from other fans and the celebrities themselves.
The next example would be when Super Junior member Choi Siwon’s Twitter got hacked by a fan. Through more casual platforms such as Twitter, fans and idols interact with exchanges of public tweets, replies, and retweets. Idols make sure every interaction is public in order to avoid any tones of bad publicity which would result in a slow diminishing of popularity. Because of this, idols hardly tread the line of being personally involved with select fans. In doing so, they face major consequences such as isolation and loss. This was the case with DAY6’s Junhyeok, who secretly dated and exchanged messages via Instagram with a fan. This case shows that although fans can be understanding of the idol’s career, there are times where temptation can be too much and inadvertently threaten their careers. Transitioning back to Choi Siwon’s situation, he responded to the hacking of his account by calling out the fan publicly on Twitter. His account was hacked numerous times, and he replied, “Real love is when you understand the person and are caring. Love is not when you invade someone’s privacy and spy on them. Please do not hack my account again. Please.” From this, it’s safe to assume that he was addressing the same fan or group of fans. Looking back in the minds of fans, in order to stand out, they have to do something that is memorable for the idol so that they won’t forget who they are. For sasaengs, it’s not enough to just interact and comment on their idols’ posts. Some like to take the extra step by hacking into their accounts, finding about their private lives, and following them while they’re off their schedules. The ideal that sasaengs strive for is boiled down to the idea of standing out from the rest whether it be through extreme dedication and/or illegal measures. Often times, their pursuits challenge ethics such as skipping school to follow idols, using surveillance equipment for stalking, and breaking into their homes. Media hacking is one of the other questionable pursuits for affection. The sasaeng ideology seems to be that by doing these things to their idols they stand out and will be the ones to gain affection and praise from their idols.
Finally, the last example that shows that a huge part of miscommunication in the Korean Pop idol fan culture is mainly due to sasaengs would be that in general, sasaengs employ the use of underground taxi services (via online or phone) whose purpose is to drive and stalk these idols from their day-to-day activities. They often charge hundreds of dollars per hour, and unfortunately, many sasaeng actually employ the use of this service. However, this service goes a step further where girls that try to stalk their idols and do not have the money to afford the taxi services will give their body to the driver to do what they please. This creates another problem altogether, one that wraps both idols and fans involved. This method of showing affection for their idols is not only immoral, but it is also dangerous and adds more to a small but existing problem. For most idols, they want their fans to be healthy and safe, but sasaengs will try to do what they can regardless of the consequences that fall upon them. The small population of sasaengs have people that dropped out of school, became homeless, and still continued to pursue idols when they don’t have much left to lose. While sasaengs assume that they are doing what is best for the idols and them, they are in fact putting everyone in danger. One of the biggest car accidents with one of these taxi’s included a seven-vehicle collision with Super Junior’s Heechul and Leeteuk. The media ideology of employing all resources available, whether legit or not, to achieve a goal may seem work in theory, but instead, there are a lot of factors that either make it more difficult and dangerous for not only the idols but the fans as well.
Some may argue that sasaengs are in fact achieving their goals and that there’s nothing wrong with them. South Korea does not have many laws against stalking idols and invading their privacies like other countries, so it wouldn’t be considered illegal, just looked down upon. Idols know what they are getting themselves into when they are famous. Having obsessed fans comes with the price of fame and popularity. Sasaengs and idols are responsible for the consequences that they have to face. Although some of these arguments are true, one’s safety comes before all else. Privacy has been breached, and people have suffered from injury. Nothing can justify the injuries and trauma that both fans and idols face every day. In fact, South Korea is currently taking up measures to enforce stricter policies on these sort of situations and protect the idols more. As for sasaengs, they are hindering their potential to live their lives of going to school, staying home with family, and interacting with other people. Most tend to dedicate most of their lives to following their idols in real life or online. However, because of these temptations and clouded judgement, sasaengs tend to communicate their love for their idols in ways that are not necessarily conventional and can come across as obsessive. Instead of getting their idol to notice them for being sweet and loving them, sasaengs tend to push them away and get their idol to notice them for being dangerous and nerve-wracking. In all of these things, sasaeng culture is a small culture, but it makes a big impact on those around them. Media ideologies conflict with their idioms of practice and cause misunderstanding or misfortune among the fans and idols. The life of a sasaeng varies in different degrees where some behaviors are less harsh than others. Despite all of this, sasaeng culture heavily affects not only the idol but the fandom for that idol. In turn, misunderstanding and horrible idioms of practice are the catalyst for huge wars between fans of different idols and their respective groups.
