Cultural Appropriation has been one of the most talked-about controversial topics in the Kpop Industry in the past few years.
The Real Problem - Why don't these almost GLOBAL ARTISTs know any better? The world is such a small place now, still, these artists claim they don't know about what this particular problem entails. The issue of Racism and Colorism. Are they so blind to their own fans' lives and history? They may be well rounded in the sense of vocal, visual, gag ability but they are not really socially aware, which is very bad for someone in the spotlight. In short, they should know better. They should read more, their team should be more knowledgeable and informative. Before putting out a performance, someone should check and double-check their content. These are the ways of damage control. But these are all Superficial Fixer-Upper things. What really needs to be done, is make the artist more aware of the situation. Where do people come from when they are expressing grievances. What are people made of? How Culture and History shaped them.
HOW DO THEY FEEL?
The Real Problem - Why don't these almost GLOBAL ARTISTs know any better? The world is such a small place now, still, these artists claim they don't know about what this particular problem entails. The issue of Racism and Colorism. Are they so blind to their own fans' lives and history? They may be well rounded in the sense of vocal, visual, gag ability but they are not really socially aware, which is very bad for someone in the spotlight. In short, they should know better. They should read more, their team should be more knowledgeable and informative. Before putting out a performance, someone should check and double-check their content. These are the ways of damage control. But these are all Superficial Fixer-Upper things. What really needs to be done, is make the artist more aware of the situation. Where do people come from when they are expressing grievances. What are people made of? How Culture and History shaped them.
HOW DO THEY FEEL?
It is my opinion that ALL LEARNING COMES OUT OF FEELING. People do things in order to attain a certain feeling and they themselves do not do things and prohibit others from doing things that FEEL bad and hurtful. This is the secret of living in this world.
You wish to achieve a goal fueled by feeling. And when these feelings get hurt, either knowingly or unknowingly, that is when people become unhappy. And if a celebrity, especially someone you love, is the source of that unhappiness, well that is not so good for business now, is it? Hence being socially aware becomes a very important part of being a celebrity.
To my dismay, there are just too many examples of racially insensitive controversies in Kpop.
Like the time when -
1. KAI of EXO wore dreadlocks for Wolf and Ko Ko Bop.
KAI WEARING DREADs AGAIN.......... ( THE AGAIN PART IS A HUGE PROBLEM )
See here lies the real problem. When you don't learn and you repeat the same thing again. Why the hairstyle was worn again in another MV some 3 years later? Although I can't wrap my head around it. I understand why it happened. But we will get to that later.
2. MAMAMOO doing BLACKFACE while a rendition of Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk.
MAMAMOO in BLACKFACE
I can't stomach a group I stan so much could have been so ignorant at one point in time. But they apologized immediately and never repeated the same again.
3. YESUNG's cosplay of Nick Fury from the Avengers.
YESUNG in BLACKFACE as NICK FURY
Sorry Yesung, but there is no need to change your skin tone to portray a particular character.
Skin color has nothing to do with who Nick Fury is, as a character.
The lack of understanding of this aspect is what is wrong with this image.
4. G-DRAGON
You wish to achieve a goal fueled by feeling. And when these feelings get hurt, either knowingly or unknowingly, that is when people become unhappy. And if a celebrity, especially someone you love, is the source of that unhappiness, well that is not so good for business now, is it? Hence being socially aware becomes a very important part of being a celebrity.
To my dismay, there are just too many examples of racially insensitive controversies in Kpop.
Like the time when -
1. KAI of EXO wore dreadlocks for Wolf and Ko Ko Bop.
KAI WEARING DREADs
See here lies the real problem. When you don't learn and you repeat the same thing again. Why the hairstyle was worn again in another MV some 3 years later? Although I can't wrap my head around it. I understand why it happened. But we will get to that later.
2. MAMAMOO doing BLACKFACE while a rendition of Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk.
I can't stomach a group I stan so much could have been so ignorant at one point in time. But they apologized immediately and never repeated the same again.
3. YESUNG's cosplay of Nick Fury from the Avengers.
Sorry Yesung, but there is no need to change your skin tone to portray a particular character.
Skin color has nothing to do with who Nick Fury is, as a character.
The lack of understanding of this aspect is what is wrong with this image.
4. G-DRAGON
G-DRAGON in BLACKFACE ALLEGEDLY PORTRAYING TRAYVON MARTIN
Many speculated that G Dragon was paying tribute to Trayvon Martin, a young black youth who was killed by a police officer in Florida, USA just because the officer thought that he looked 'suspicious', when he posted this pic on his SNS. But what exactly does this achieve? Nothing. It fuels the same ideas in people's minds about the contrast of black and white and does nothing for tribute. YG denied that it was a tribute. Okay, then what exactly was he doing when he posted this pic? No answer.
6. GIKWANG
GIKWANG of THE GROUP BEAST in BLACKFACE.
THIS IS VERY PROBLEMATIC.
Gikwang's portrayal of an EXTREMELY VILE STEREOTYPE imposed onto blacks when they were just coming out of enslavement, is the MOST PROBLEMATIC out of all of the above. The whites tried to suppress the blacks' new found freedom, by turning their occupation of harvesting and selling watermelons into a stereotype where they depicted how blacks had an increased liking for the fruit and how it was associated with their childish and unclean ways. IF THIS ISN'T DEVILISH, THEN WHAT IS? Because knowingly acting out a stereotype in a way that depicts people in an Oppressive Image is inexcusable. I'm sure the director of this sketch knew exactly what he/she was depicting here. It's just hateful.
5. WENDY
WENDY DOING A "BLACK PERSON's" IMPRESSION. WHAT ???
What the hell, Wendy? I can't even understand this one. For God's sake, you are from Canada. You have lived your life among people from many diverse cultures and beliefs. And on top of that, she didn't even acknowledge let alone apologize for her behavior.
6. GIDLE
G-IDLE's Leader SOYEON TALKs OF DANCING TO AFRICAN INSPIRED MUSIC AS ETHNIC-HIP
G-IDLE's Leader Soyeon talked about doing ETHNIC HIP as a performance concept on QUEENDOM, a Korean Reality Show where famous girl groups compete. Do you know what the biggest problem with this is? THE IGNORANCE of it all. It's a big problem. Artists need to be more informed about HISTORY. The Entire World's History because these are the people they do everything for and hurting them even if unknowingly feels like a lover who doesn't care about his/her partner's childhood, the difficult times they have been through and STILL GO THROUGH.
Go read or watch ROOTS by Alex Haley. You'll understand. And extrapolate this feeling to other minorities also.
PLEASE, BE MORE INFORMATIVE AND SOCIALLY AWARE.
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Saying all that, I have a COUNTER-ARGUMENT in favor of these Artists:-
Koreans have, for the most part of their lives, lived inside a bubble. They haven't known much diversity. They have lived with people who look and behave in more of the same fashion. They are not familiar with the pain that people have suffered on the basis of their skin color.
I know what you might be thinking. Why such negativity then? Because I don't like the repetition of behavior that has again and again been reprimanded. It's not only about whether your behavior is right or not as harmful as it is made out to be. But rather the fact that even if one person is getting hurt by your actions and they are someone you need in your life. Don't repeat it again. This especially is important in a Celebrity's life. Baby NO CAN DO WITHOUT FANs.
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BUT THEN THERE IS THE COUNTER-COUNTER-ARGUMENT of COLORISM in KOREA:-
This tells us why Koreans even though living in their PALE BUBBLE do not get a pass at discrimination. They have been Racists for a long time.
People in Korea have this ideology where they relate everything good with PALENESS of Skin. Someone who maybe even 1% less fair than the Ideal Pale Statue that they think is Heavenly, gets mocked by friends, family, co-workers, etc.
The following celebrities were also targetted by their own label mates or employers because they do not fit an Orthodox, Prehistoric Stereotype.
N of VIXX
HWASA of MAMAMOO
JESSI
KAI of EXO
SEOLHYUN of AOA
Many speculated that G Dragon was paying tribute to Trayvon Martin, a young black youth who was killed by a police officer in Florida, USA just because the officer thought that he looked 'suspicious', when he posted this pic on his SNS. But what exactly does this achieve? Nothing. It fuels the same ideas in people's minds about the contrast of black and white and does nothing for tribute. YG denied that it was a tribute. Okay, then what exactly was he doing when he posted this pic? No answer.
6. GIKWANG
THIS IS VERY PROBLEMATIC.
Gikwang's portrayal of an EXTREMELY VILE STEREOTYPE imposed onto blacks when they were just coming out of enslavement, is the MOST PROBLEMATIC out of all of the above. The whites tried to suppress the blacks' new found freedom, by turning their occupation of harvesting and selling watermelons into a stereotype where they depicted how blacks had an increased liking for the fruit and how it was associated with their childish and unclean ways. IF THIS ISN'T DEVILISH, THEN WHAT IS? Because knowingly acting out a stereotype in a way that depicts people in an Oppressive Image is inexcusable. I'm sure the director of this sketch knew exactly what he/she was depicting here. It's just hateful.
5. WENDY
What the hell, Wendy? I can't even understand this one. For God's sake, you are from Canada. You have lived your life among people from many diverse cultures and beliefs. And on top of that, she didn't even acknowledge let alone apologize for her behavior.
6. GIDLE
G-IDLE's Leader Soyeon talked about doing ETHNIC HIP as a performance concept on QUEENDOM, a Korean Reality Show where famous girl groups compete. Do you know what the biggest problem with this is? THE IGNORANCE of it all. It's a big problem. Artists need to be more informed about HISTORY. The Entire World's History because these are the people they do everything for and hurting them even if unknowingly feels like a lover who doesn't care about his/her partner's childhood, the difficult times they have been through and STILL GO THROUGH.
Go read or watch ROOTS by Alex Haley. You'll understand. And extrapolate this feeling to other minorities also.
PLEASE, BE MORE INFORMATIVE AND SOCIALLY AWARE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Saying all that, I have a COUNTER-ARGUMENT in favor of these Artists:-
Koreans have, for the most part of their lives, lived inside a bubble. They haven't known much diversity. They have lived with people who look and behave in more of the same fashion. They are not familiar with the pain that people have suffered on the basis of their skin color.
I know what you might be thinking. Why such negativity then? Because I don't like the repetition of behavior that has again and again been reprimanded. It's not only about whether your behavior is right or not as harmful as it is made out to be. But rather the fact that even if one person is getting hurt by your actions and they are someone you need in your life. Don't repeat it again. This especially is important in a Celebrity's life. Baby NO CAN DO WITHOUT FANs.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUT THEN THERE IS THE COUNTER-COUNTER-ARGUMENT of COLORISM in KOREA:-
This tells us why Koreans even though living in their PALE BUBBLE do not get a pass at discrimination. They have been Racists for a long time.
People in Korea have this ideology where they relate everything good with PALENESS of Skin. Someone who maybe even 1% less fair than the Ideal Pale Statue that they think is Heavenly, gets mocked by friends, family, co-workers, etc.
The following celebrities were also targetted by their own label mates or employers because they do not fit an Orthodox, Prehistoric Stereotype.
I Call These Celebrities THE DUSKY ROYALs, Yet I Know That This Label Is Wrong. They Should Not Be Defined By Color of Their Skin. They Are Simply THE ROYALs.
PLEASE, I BEG OF ALL KOREAN PEOPLE, MAKE A CHANGE IN YOUR MINDSET BEFORE THIS BECOMES A CAUSE OF SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS.
BE COLORBLIND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PLEASE, I BEG OF ALL KOREAN PEOPLE, MAKE A CHANGE IN YOUR MINDSET BEFORE THIS BECOMES A CAUSE OF SOMETHING MORE SERIOUS.
BE COLORBLIND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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