Love Me Tender

What’s up with the recent string of Korean celebrities committing suicide? I don’t know enough about Korean culture to know if this is requires a double-take or just another sigh. From my perspective though I just have to ask, WTF?! I know for the most part the Korean entertainment industry is quite unoriginal and notorious for plagiarism, so are these copycat incidents just reflecting this unoriginality? And I just have to ask, if a Korean is going to kill themselves why don’t they just go to sleep in a closed room with the fan on? Even though electric fans in Korea have a safety mechanism that shuts off to prevent this *cough*LMAO*cough* couldn’t they just import one from somewhere else? You know…since they’re so determined to kill themselves?

Personally I think there needs to be a greater emphasis put on seeking help with depression. Celebrities are put under a lot of pressure for their careers and their personal lives. They are expected to be perfect and people love tearing them apart when they don’t live up to their superhuman role. That is a lot to handle, for anyone! And who can they really turn to? Anyone can pretend to be there for them, listen to their worries and then go sell it to some tabloid. I think they should attend therapy though. In their position just talking to close friends and family just won’t cut it. They need professional help.

List of deaths so far:
10/08/2008 - Kim Ji Hoo
10/03/2008 - Jang Chae Won
10/02/2008 - Choi Jin Shil
09/??/2008 - Ahn Jae Hwan (isn’t confirmed to be a suicide just yet)
02/10/2007 - Jeong Da Bin
01/21/2007 - U-Nee

This is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. Super Junior members Shindong and Kangin got tattoos recently. Shindong’s is just a little weird looking and the saying is odd - “A friend in need is a friend indeed.” What the crap is that supposed to mean? It is neither profound or impressive. But it is nowhere as bad as Kangin’s. Kangin’s tattoo has a MAJOR spelling mistake in it. Rather than saying “Actions are more precious than words” it says “Actions are more prection than words.” Prection? That’s not even a real word or close to a real word. Serious FAIL! Why, why, why didn’t he spell check?! Kangin! Idiot! At least ask Brian or Tim before you did something stupid like that. I am cringing for you. Foolish boy.

SHINDONG

KANGIN

References:
1. PopSeoul!: pictures & info
2. SujuOppa: info

So Wonder girls got a boost in exposure by being featured (and praised!) by none other than Perez Hilton himself. Talk about lucky! And they’re not even the most talented artists in the mainstream Korean music industry. This might actually have benefits for BoA since she’s planning to debut in the US in the near future. I was really ticked off by some of the ignorant comments made on the post though. There were so many comments perpetuating stereotypes of East Asians with broken English, exoticizing East Asian women as sex objects, and just references to East Asain restaurants (as if that’s all they can succeed in, in America). Honestly, it is disgusting how much racism there still is. Anyway, I hope this exposure helps Korean artists trying to break into the American music industry. I hope that with representations from East Asians who don’t fit the stereotype of idiotic jesters that ignorance against Koreans and other East Asians (who tend to be lumped into a huge category despite their vast diversity) can diminish.

You can read the Perez’s post on the Wonder Girls here.

I don’t remember how but I stumbled upon Wikipedia’s page on the ‘V’ sign as an insult, and it had a section called “Japan and the V sign in Photographs.” It’s pretty interesting actually. I don’t know how much of it is accurate since many things need citations, but who really does studies on this. Well, maybe someone in cultural studies or social movements maybe. Anyway here is what it said:

During the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, figure skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture when she fell during a free-skate period—but continued to smile even as she sat on the ice. Though she placed only third in the actual competition, her cheerful diligence and indefatigability resonated with many Japanese viewers, making her an overnight celebrity in Japan. Afterwards, Lynn (a peace activist) was repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese media. Though the V sign was known of in Japan prior to Lynn’s use of it there (from the post-WWII Allied occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese for having popularized its use in amateur photographs. According to the other theory (actually present in the Japanese version of this entry), the V sign was popularized by the actor and singer Jun Inoue, who showed it in the Conica photo camera commercial in 1972.

(Read on …)

I’m not a believer of karma or “waht goes around comes around” or retribution of any kind, but I can’t help but laugh at the irony of SBS and their latest stunt. After forcing many youtube users’ videos to be deleted off of youtube because of copyright infringement, they have gone and done the same thing with footage from the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olypics. What hypocrites! So basically they can commit the crimes that they claim others are doing against them? Interesting group of people.

References:
1. Coolsmurf
2. PopSeoul!

I just read that coolsmurf, who has dedicated endless hours of his life to subtitle and upload Korean variety shows onto youtube, has had all his videos deleted and his account suspended. This was due to a third party named SBS International Inc. complaining that the uploaded material was an infringement on copyright laws. So they axed coolsmurf’s hard work.

I am very disappointed by this. I know that youtube had started “cracking down” on illegal material but I think that copyrights are bullshit to begin with. In this case in particular SBS should be thanking coolsmurf rather than doing this. It is because of coolsmurf that so many international fans have been created for the Korean music industry, including myself. If it wasn’t for the videos he subbed and uploaded, I probably wouldn’t have been into Korean music because most things aren’t subbed. Translators, subbers and uploaders deserve a lot of credit for their work and dedication to the international fanbase of so many East Asian industries. It is a shame that these companies don’t see it this way. A shame.

Thank you coolsmurf for your dedication for so many years.

I’ve been noticing the increasing anti-Tiffany sentiment on the net (on English sites). Hmm…interesting. I’m not particularly a fan of SNSD or any of its members (although I do like the leader since she actually has singing potential), but I definitely wouldn’t call myself an anti-fan. I find the term anti-fan an oxymoron in the first place, but that’s besides the point. I don’t really see why there are so many people who hate Tiffany. There was even a recent post on ShenYuePop! that was an overtly anti-tifanny post that basically listed all the bad things about Tiffany. Seriously, woah! Most of it was just summarizing what the latest rumours about Tiffany were, but some of the personal input was quite laughable.

The article stated that SNSD are “talent challenged…who sell worthless music, labeled under “virgin” and cute unmarried girls image, contradicting it by wearing super short skirts and not hesitating the chance to reveal their panties to the world.” An oxymoron? Of course. Can the Korean music industry really sell chastity? I highly doubt it. What I don’t agree with in this article is the author’s omission of other groups. Isolating SNSD as the only group who falls into an oxymoron is just uncalled for. Most of the SM artists aren’t very talented and even if they are, the majority of their popularity is due to superb marketing and other means of buying their fame. It’s called capitalism people. Everything is done for profit and not for the sake of talent, art, or craftsmanship. SNSD is no different than any of the other SM groups-their popularity comes from selling their image. What group aren’t whoring their music? They all sell their bodies for profit. And it’s not just SM artists. Tae Yang and Wonder Girl’s new image? Whoring. It’s part of the industry. Why are some artists picked on when it is the industry and people who buy into it that are at fault?

(Read on …)