Kpop minefield

Following text expresses writer's opinion, it may be bitter for some, it may be unnerving for some, and some may send me to Hell. It's fine, I'm accustomed to hate on the internet.

First, I will present you a short story. There is a very famous guy. And there is another guy who is stalking him, well, not exactly stalking, sasaeng-ing him, meaning - he has double keys to this famous guy house, he left blood notes, he has ID number, phone number etc. One day this guy comes to the famous guy house and gets slapped. No one cares - it's man to man, mano-a-mano. Another story - there is this girl, very famous, she has a stalker guy who breaks into her house, wears her underwear and lefts some 'personal fluids' on her bed. One day she comes back and the guy is waiting so she kicks him in the groins making sure he'll never be a father. Brave girl, right? Applause, applause, applause.

Now we have two things combined.

 

The fandom exploded after audio of JYJ member Hero Jaejoong was disclosed by one news site. In this video, the sound of slapping was recorded. And the whole fandom divided into two groups, those shielding ("Oppa didn't mean it!") and those who condemn the man to Hell. The first group is living in denial, so just let it pass.

But there is another group, living in an illusion of 'world peace everyone, no violence, disgusting beaters, no hitting, let's make love not bruises'. Political correctness transformed all societies into some hyper-sensitive people where saying 'I'm not making fun of squirrels' is taken as actual making fun of squirrels. And everyone who at least tried to reason the behavior was deemed as crazy psycho. Why? Because it is necessary nowadays to say what others deemed as right to say. So you can't say "yes, prisoners free labor is good" because you may get stoned for that. 

For this group anyone who comes with giving reasons behind Park Yoo-chun/Kim Jae-joong's behavior is equal to violence-loving future woman-beater.

 

But here's the thing - there are reasons behind their behavior, heavy, dark reasons. Giving reasons for their behavior is NOT equal to whitening the actions or to justifying the actions. Some people just can't hold their nerves right. And some just can't see such, apparently, subtleties.

OK, his actions were too hasty. He shouldn't stoop to sasaengs' level, but I can personally understand it. Those guys have been harassed (yes, harassed, they had shirts ripped off, they were touched, grabbed and worse, read about that here) for 9 years. There is actually a limit of what a human nature can take. Some fans in fandom say: 'but U-Know can keep it classy". Maybe, but… Why only JYJ cases are leaked? I'm not trying to make up any conspiracy theories, because they are groundless, but SM manages well their artists and seems like C-jes does not. I don't believe only those two are devils and the rest of merry bunch is Peter Pan and sparkling fairies. 80% of idols have to deal with sasaeng on a daily basis, but those of DBSK are a specific breed. Plus, the last 3 years for JYJ were beyond any person nervous capability. So, those two are the only ones caught.

 

Korea has no law against stalkers. Police does not take any case unless violence is involved, and their answer is - deal with that. As someone pointed out - probably police, family and seniors in entertainment industry advise younger ones to respond with a hit when stalked in a nasty way. It's a vicious circle.

Sasaengs are strong and fearless because, paradoxical, they have law (in a form of lack of it) backing them up. Idols have nothing to turn to except for their own character, but it's easy to break and unstable, given certain circumstances. No one can indict stalkers, no one can drag them… ooops, I mean, make them go before court and get sentenced. They are minors? Then why they are not sitting and cramming like mad for their future? Where are the parents who give money for millions of won worth cab drives? Where are the bodyguards that are supposed to protect the trio? Everyone knows about the problem, yet it gets swept under the carpet basing on the rule – what I can't see, doesn't exist. But sasaeng problem exist and worsens. And society, politicians, police, lawmakers do absolutely nothing to stop that. Media do something, however, to create new demons of 21^st century, named JYJ.

Much storm comes toward Jaejoong because it was a female sasaeng. And folks on boards call her 'poor girl', just because she's a female. We don't know if she's a girl or 50-yo ajumma twice as big as Kim Jae-joong. 

As I said with Park Yoo-chun's case - I'm a woman too, and I don't excuse her purely because of the gender. Some people "work hard" to get beaten up. Sasaeng do that, seriously, they are dangerous folk that should be locked up in a mental institution and never allowed to go out.

And I disagree with 'violence is not the answer'. When nerves break like November ice on puddle, it's hard to remain calm. Sometimes this is the only answer left. Plus, the sasaeng being hit there, didn't scream, didn't moaned, nothing. This is disturbing. And there are their posts around saying "I don't care if I get hit". They say: "It's an addiction. It gets worse. I have to come periodically. If I don't I keep thinking. If I don't go, it's weird, strange. And makes me want to go".. (from the link provided above in the text). Yes, some hear voices that order them to kill people. For me it's the same category, but no one seems to see the madness in this group.

Fine, maybe he shouldn't have done that, true, I agree on that, but let's try to disregard the fact of gender and think about who's the victim here. I hope all of you know what road JYJ crossed, what kind of bridges they burned behind. They forgot that Nazguls of Kpop have wings now. The mental state, all of them are in now, is not stable. They are like rabbit during the hunt. Violence is not the answer? How about mental violence then? They have been raped and killed mentally already many times and no one cared. They need help, they need counseling, that's true, but it's the entertainment that drove them here. During press conferences, concerts, photo- and drama-shooting, they have to be nice, smiling and all, yet they come across some stalker waiting under their windows. The bottled anger and frustration, suppressed all this time has to vent. It either vents as screaming or violence. Human beings are, in all, primordial in their basic reactions.

Am I justifying the actions? No. Am I justifying the reason? Yes. Because there is a reason for such behavior. Maybe suicides and such violent actions among celebrities will finally be a wake-up call to all those big figures there? Maybe someone should protect idols from such people? What about bodyguards? Maybe new law?

What's more? Folks on boards keep saying "he did that many times". Only basing on "Do you guys know how many times I've hit people like you? I did it several times I can't even count it with my fingers". Don't they watch movies, dramas? When you want to scare someone, you say words like that even if it's a lie. "I eat those like you, bitches, on breakfast" doesn't mean I actually eat people as my meal, for fork's sake. It means nothing, it's not any evidence.

Funny enough, people like movies when character, under heavy pressure, cornered and without any way to escape, takes the means of justice into his/her own hands. We all love "The Chaser", right? What the cop did? He hunted down and killed the psycho. What Michael Douglas' character did in "Falling Down"? Lashed out his frustration against society. I'm not saying those actions are admirable and praiseworthy. I'm stressing out that people are applying double standards to some situations. If we like when someone takes the justice in their own hands in movies, how can we say, in full consciousness, that this-and-this is a douchebag for doing exactly the same in real life?

Picture modified by me from this website.

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