It was my pleasure! I feel the same way about them as a musical group. I always loved music and particular groups, but never to the extent of calling myself a fan, and certainly not part of a fandom. If it was the sound of their music alone they’d just be another group that I like. I’d started looking into K-pop about a year before I found BTS and that’s the level most of the groups I’d found stayed at. If the members seemed particularly nice or had impressive choreo or were a cornerstone of the genre I’d look more closely, but nothing was really compelling me to look up lyric translations or ingest the media as anything more than fluffy mainstream music. I know there are other groups that have messages to their music, but nothing like the consistent scale and intellectual depth that I’ve seen with BTS.
As soon as BTS told me that even my brain wrinkles were sexy I knew they were going to be Different.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a piece of pop culture intellectually challenge me as much as BTS has, and it’s absolutely incredible. Most popular media is hardly a challenge, and to me it’s not supposed to be. The main goal is to have as large an audience as possible be able to solve whatever puzzle is put forth, and it’s only challenging to the extent that the audience recognizes it as a puzzle. That is not, however, what it feels like BTS’ goal is. To me, their goal is the journey rather than the destination. In the process of trying to figure out what is happening to their characters and how they are maturing, it’s virtually impossible not to self reflect on one’s own journey and how it compares and what that says about what (if anything) you yourself are striving for. To me it’s the maturation of the brash, in-your-face messages of their earlier music. (Show don’t tell, as it were.)
What it’s also done is band the fandom together in a very unique way (amongst all the other reasons ARMY is unified). We joke about BTS turning us into detectives, a book club, conspiracy theorists, but they’ve succeeded at doing what my schooling never managed to and that is to make me want to dissect and analyze the media I consume. Every piece of media they release feels like a new clue, a potential piece of the story if only we can see the underlying meanings. This is so much more than filling out boxes on a worksheet or seeing grander themes and symbols than it ever felt like the creator would intentionally put in (and every time it feels like BigHit does that they pull something that makes every inference they make seem absolutely intentional and I want to scream at them). Rather than ruining a work that I superficially enjoyed, being a part of such a community that routinely has active discussions about classic literature, philosophy, and other media references has enhanced each piece. They are making the sum greater than the parts and strengthening their fandom at the same time.
Also, a tidbit that would probably interest you is a little background on the founder of their groups and the CEO of their label, Bang Shi-hyuk. He’s incredibly intelligent and went to the top university in South Korea. However, what I found most intriguing is that he majored in Aesthetics of all things.
Yeah, the subject of cultural appropriation in K-pop is a tricky one, and it’s one I’m always tentative to speak about given my perspective as a white American. If nothing else the debate has been eye opening to my own privilege and the history of my society’s culture. However, I’ve seen both sides of the debate make great points, so it keeps feeling like I’m waffling on where I stand. In the end, I try to be rational and take it on a case by case basis, factoring in intent, impression, and as much consideration for the oppressed as possible. As for the history of hip hop in South Korea…I haven’t looked into that too much, but BTS just had a bit of a thing with Seo Taiji and I want to say there was talk about Seo Taiji and the Boys bringing/popularizing hip hop in South Korea?
It really has been fun learning about Korean culture via BTS. I’m actually starting to teach myself the language to try and have a better, direct understanding of them. If you have the chance, in addition to looking up lyric translations look up lyric explanations. I thought I understood their songs until I read someone’s breakdown with explanations about Korean culture, language, and society thrown in and it was honestly mind blowing. Most people I see recommend Muish, and I personally enjoyed Crystal_Green’s explanation on ARMY Amino of the Sewol Ferry incident and how Spring Day (probably) references it, but I’ve read breakdowns from a variety of sources.
Welp, I accidentally wrote another essay. I’m so glad you’re enjoying BTS!
BLERG ignore how I commented back to myself, I meant to do it here!