Our Hope
05/25/19 — First day of the Love Yourself Tour: Speak Yourself tour in Brazil. I remember this day as clearly as I could considering I had been on cloud nine for the past day. Brazil is a big country, so after traveling for more than ten hours and then standing for another eleven hours in a disorganized line, finally seeing the seven men that I have been admiring for the past two years was indeed a relief.
After screaming for approximately eight minutes straight during Dionysius and Not Today, BTS start introducing themselves: some short lines, some a little longer, and my favorite, the interactive one:
“I’m your hope. You’re my hope. I’m…”
“J-HOPE!”
I remember screaming his name with all the air my lungs could provide at that moment, alongside with the other thousands of people in the stadium. At the moment, I didn’t think much of these three phrases said by him. But when I was on the bus, after the concert, unable to sleep because of the amount of adrenaline running through my veins, I started remembering lots of moments that I had just experienced. His presentation was one of the things that stood out to me.
“I’m your hope”
J-Hope is the stage name and the persona that Jung Hoseok has been carrying over the past seven years. The idea of the name, according to him on an interview for Cuvism Magazine (2013) is derived from Greek mythology:
You know how in Pandora's Box after everything else left, the only thing remaining was hope, right? I put "hope" in my name to be a hopeful existence in the group.
— J-Hope for Cuvism Magazine (translation by BTS-TRANS/BANGTANSUBS)
Besides that, his name is a reflex of his positive personality. All the members of the group had, at some moment, talked about how his constant happiness and positive way of seeing life help and give energy to them. These little comments are often seen in behind the cameras videos, BTS Episodes, Bangtan Bombs, etc. Sometimes they are in the form of a simple "he gives me energy" from one of them, other times you can see his effect by how he lifts the mood with just his laughs, no words needed.
All these personality traits can be proven by himself through his lyrics on his Mixtape - Hope World. In the first song, he gives an open statement about who he is, who Jung Hoseok has become because of his persona:
My name is my life
A hopeful vibe
A positive rather than a negative type
I live up to my name but ain't no price
— Hope World
However, his "I'm your hope" motto isn't just about being positive and happy. Giving hope to someone is showing them it is possible to achieve something they want.
BTS came from a small and almost bankrupted company with a complicated past with some artists. They were seven boys with dreams that were being crushed and mistreated by media and fellow idols and artists. They were running towards the light at the end of the tunnel and it took some time, but they got there. Although before that, there was a darker time when we get to hear a small part of it through their songs and documentaries.
In Burn The Stage, BTS talks about when J-Hope had left their company before their debut. There, sitting at a table and sharing food, they laugh about the situation that once was a reason for tears. Namjoon admits his past fears of them not being able to make it to debut and success without J-Hope:
I can say this now, but I talked to the guys. I told them we need Jung Hoseok. We need Jung Hoseok. We can't make it without Jung Hoseok.
— Burn The Stage
Working with him brought them hope, but his effect goes beyond the seven members. BTS complement themselves with ARMY. They always talk about their objective as idols, and based on Namjoon's discourse from the Wings Tour Final, we can assume that being an emotional support to the fans is one of the priorities:
If we helped your dream and your life a bit by our existence, our music, our performance, our pictures or videos, even if it's not big, if we could reduce your pain from 100 to 99, 98 or 97, that makes our existence worthy.
— Wings Tour Final
J-Hope, when working on solo projects like his mixtape, has shown similar wishes. As an example, in the second song of his mixtape Hope Word, P.O.P (Piece of Peace) pt.1, he talks about his desire to help other people because, at other times, he was the one that needed help:
I want to help
I used to be like them, someone with passion
Make dreams brighter, get rid of the nightmares
Peace will be right there
I want to help
I used to be like them, I had that spirit
Make dreams brighter, get rid of the nightmares
Peace will be right there
If I
Someone's strength
Someone's light
I wish I could be a
Piece of peace
— P.O.P (Piece of Peace) pt.1
Every fan has their personal experience in how someone, or in this case, an idol can affect their life. For me, an international fan, I hold on to the abstract and symbolic demonstrations of J-Hope's lyrics and messages. I receive them and get inspired by his hopeful way of living.
J-Hope's hope has been given through his support to small artists multiple times as sharing songs that he recommends or humanitarian causes and organizations in the form of pictures (using a breast cancer awareness shirt and showing handicrafts he purchased that were made by Monkeybiz) and donations (ChildFund Korea, Jeonnam Girls' Commercial High School, etc).
“You’re my hope”
The difference between a character and a real-life person is that people are never constant. They are never happy or sad all the time; sentiments are temporary. A persona, however, is a mask, a way to represent yourself in an environment. J-Hope is a public persona, but behind every mask, there is a person. And behind J-Hope there is Jung Hoseok, and as he has stated during their docuseries, sometimes things are not easy.
In Burn the stage as a response to the previously discussed dialogue of him leaving the company, he stated that he came back because he trusted them. In the end, they were there. In their history as BTS, he wasn’t the one who gave all the hope to the group. They were, and still are, each other’s hopes. They got each other’s backs to help their own-selves so their personas can shine. After all, who better to help clear the vision and head when things are complicated than someone that has been beside you in every step of the way?
“Without them, I’m not J-Hope. I’m just Jung Hoseok”.
— Bring The Soul
It is a known fact that ARMYs have a record of being active and vocal about social causes through social media, but, besides that, inspired by BTS, we are used to being active donators to different causes. As for specific accounts as OneInAnARMY that organizes regular donations for different organizations or just small organized contributions as a type of “thank you” which was the case with James Corden’s The Magic Breakfast charity institution.
As fans, we are too bringing hope. Not only to J-Hope and BTS but also to all the people worldwide who have benefited from the charity projects.
We are hope. Hope to a better world.
“I’m…”
J-HOPE!
He is J-Hope, our hope.
