Obsession, Sexualization, and Selective Reactions
In Korean idol fan culture, there aren’t too many things that can be constituted as “weird”. However, there are a couple things that are definitely out of the unspoken social norms and deemed difficult to discern.
First, as mentioned in a previous topic, sasaengs are obsessed fans that will pull out all stops to make sure the idol of their affection remembers them to the extent where all parties are hurt. One example I mentioned before was the sasaeng who sent an idol a letter written in her menstrual blood, adorned with pubic hairs. This is considered weird because fans and idols don’t expect fan letters to be written with such a medium. It’s not accepted at all in the community because it’s just something that never should be done. It’s not only disturbing to the recipient, but it negatively affects the reputation of the recipient. It’s blind obsession which unfortunately cannot be avoided as an idol with many fans. Most of their actions are so unconventional and dangerous that its’s weird to other fans because nothing good can actually come from their actions. If you would like to know more about sasaengs and their impact on the Kpop community, you can refer to one of my previous scrapbook entries here.
The next “weird” thing in this culture would be the sexualizing of underage idols. For many idols, they debut when they are 14–15 years old, making them well underage as the age of maturity in Korea is 19 years old. Online, many fans write fanfiction of a sexual nature for many idols. However, there are some that write these types of fanfiction for underage idols. Many fans try to combat this because they don’t think it’s right to write sexual comments or fanfictions of younger idols. This idea comes off as disturbing because they’re still new to the business and shouldn’t be exposed to such comments when they have yet to adjust to their new lives as idols. Despite the fact that people are vehemently against smut fiction being written for younger idols, it is completely normal and more supported when smut fiction is being written about older idols. That standard is not weird, but the fact that people do sexualize underage idols is weird because most if not all countries tend to be against sexualization of minors.
The final “weird” thing that exists within this digital culture is fan reactions to some of the music videos. For many fans, they do find that the idols are aesthetically pleasing and that they are super talented. However, there are things in music videos that happen that spur a weird reaction from the fans. In one music video, one of the members stabs someone repeatedly with a broken bottle, but when I see a lot of fan reactions, they don’t really think about the death taking place. Instead, I often hear how masculine and tough the member is. The same goes for another music video where a character drowns himself to commit suicide. Many thought that he looked good as he immersed himself in more water. In some ways, as long as the idol looks the part and sings the part, anything they do in the videos can be things they can get away with. However, there are times where people call out music video producers for airing sensitive content such as scenes of domestic violence and assault. What’s weird is how people overlook certain violent scenes whereas others nitpick on other scenes when both are really violent and bad. What’s even worse is that there may be some double standards as girl groups often get the brunt of controversy for the things they show in comparison to boy groups. More MV’s by girl groups are taken down by being too sexy than boy groups who have more sensual hip movements. Girl groups are the brunt of the drama for the content of their music videos than boy groups. People don’t bat an eye when a boy group depicts a graphic and violent murder scene, but they would immediately call out a girl group video for dating violence. It’s not that dating violence isn’t bad, but it’s just that murder is also bad yet no one is really complaining about it when another group does that. In general, girl groups get a lot more criticism for everything than boy groups. This double standard is something observed within watching the weird reaction videos and posts made by fans.
