Op-Ed: Keeping it real
I’ve written two opinion editorials already on the Jaebeom controversy and my dear friend daysgoby wrote an excellent article on Korea’s flawed media system but tonight I’m going to give you my interpretation of this whole mess and what I think is the right thing to do. Whether you’re a Hottest, a Korean American, Korean netizen, supporter, or someone who has been somewhat affected by this controversial debacle, come along for the ride.
This op-ed is strictly my opinion and does not reflect on Seoulbeats as a whole. I realize I am just an observer in this whole mess but as a person with a brain I’ve got some things to say.
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock for the past several days, I’ll give it to you quick and simple: 2PM’s leader, Park Jaebeom has resigned from the group and is back home in Seattle, Washington. Fans have been going ballistic the past few days with petitions, post-its, rumors of boycotts and I’ve got so much to say and all this space to type, so bare with me. This will be my last opinion editorial on this matter for the sake of Jaebeom and his fellow 2PM members.
Unless you’re part of JYPE, a member of 2PM, or posing in family portraits with Jay Park, you don’t know what is really going on. Like me, all you know is what you hear from the media, which means you or I or those crazy Hottest fans stewing up a boycotting mutiny, have absolutely no idea what the real deal is. Because we don’t know what caused the resignation or what led the leader to get on a plane back home, why don’t we all just take a chill pill and relax for the time being. Let me take all this craziness one step at a time and break it down for you. The level this situation has gone to could have been completely and utterly avoided if fans just sat back and accepted what was going down; but we’re all KPOP fans, which means that would’ve been impossible. So now that the psychos have been unleashed, let’s take a look at where some folks are going wrong.
1) Petitions.
At first, when Jay was still in Korea dealing with massive amounts of criticism and death threats, I wrote up a post saying that as a human being, I supported a petition to fight against the other petition which called for Jaebeom to commit suicide. But soon after, Jay wrote a letter to his fans stating that he was quitting. He was then filmed leaving on a jet plane for Seattle. As soon as this disaster struck the ears of Hottest everywhere, petitions spread across the Internet faster than the bubonic plague.
Hottest, I think you guys are great but I have to keep it real: This petition is useless and they know you’re trying to help, but you’re just making matters worse. Whether it was Jay’s decision to leave or it was JYPE’s decision to let him go, the cold hard truth is that he’s gone. Convincing people to sign a petition to bring him back will not bring him back. Even if this petition is indeed signed by 10,000 people and the goal is met, does not mean that Tinkerbell will turn this petition into magic fairy dust and sprinkle it on Jay’s head to give him the power he needs to fly back to Korea and land in the arms of his fellow 2PM members. So for Gandhi’s sake, stop with the damn petitions.
2) Post-its
I really think the different color post-its make the JYP buildings really pretty and colorful but writing out Jay’s name with hot pink pieces of paper will not bring Jaebeom back or make the situation easier for JYP. I know you guys love him and want him back, but your hard work was for nothing because as soon as word got out that JYP’s building had been attacked by weaponless,lifeless pieces of squared paper, he commanded them to be taken off. But you guys seem to keep doing it and your efforts have fallen on the sidelines, literally. I have to keep it real: Post-its will not bring Park Jaebeom back. He has a phone and he has Internet and I’m 99.9% sure he knows that most people support him, but at the same time I’m sure he wants this to go away, so please, stop with the post-its. You’re wasting trees.
3) Boycotts
This by far was the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard so far. An underground 2PM fansite (I didn’t even know underground fansites existed) has decided to boycott JYP Entertainment, 2009 Dream Concert tickets, 2PM albums, 2PM merchandise, and all of future 2PM activities. In other words, fans will not support JYP or the rest of 2PM unless Jaebeom is put back in the group. And just like that, you “fans” just became “antis” and are everything but supportive. And if you think I was angry before, get ready, cause Ellie is about to go Jekyll and Hyde on all your asses.
Here are my opinions:
Wooyoung, Nickhun, Taec, Junsu, Chansung, and Junho are still 2PM whether you like it or not. Do you think they like the fact that their leader and hyung just went home packing because of some malicious, psychotic netizens? Do you think boycotting JYP and 2PM will have Jaebeom merrily skipping his way back to the group with a ginormous lollipop in hand and pigtails in his hair? I mean the whole notion of it is so ludicrous that it’s actually laughable. Banning against 6 vulnerable, hard working, singers will not make the band into 7 again.
Here’s a reality check: Every one of you who have decided to join this insane underground fansite to boycott the entertainment company and the group are just escalating this problem into new heights that were never meant to be reached. I don’t know Jay and I have no connection to the rest of 2PM but as a human being, why can’t you all just understand that what the boys need right now is space, time, and silent support? Stop suffocating them with your post-its, boycotts, and petitions. I’m just a KPOP entertainment writer and I feel as if this whole thing is taking a toll on me and I’m nowhere near the battlefield! Can you just imagine what they’re all going through?
All in all, what I am saying to you all is to let it go. What’s done is done and we should all let the situation breathe. Give JYPE time to figure out what to do next, give 2PM love, and give Jaebeom back his life. He’s got family and friends to lean on, so let his healing process begin. You love him because he’s talented and music is his life. If you’re that passionate about something, you’re not going to let netizens bring you down. So as fans, let him heal so he can come back to live out the rest of his dream.
EDIT::
After a night’s sleep, I woke up and read some of your comments and trust me, I know many of you are suspicious about JYPE and JYP’s motives. The point of my op-ed isn’t to point a finger at one culprit, it’s to tell all the fans that whatever happened with Jaebeom and JYP entertainment has happened. Jaebeom either quit 2PM on his own or JYPE told him to leave. We’ll never know unless someone close to the situation comes out and blatantly tells us. Whatever the reason may be, the point is that Jay has quit 2PM and he’s home in Seattle. If Jay’s friend did indeed say that the only way to make a comeback are his fans, then he’s damn right because fans are all he has right now, but I’m sure he didn’t want the support to be be taken to the level where fans are boycotting the rest of his members’ activities. To sum this edit up, we don’t know the real deal but since the present situation is that Jay has left and there are 6 other members trying to clean up the mess, I say support by giving the leader space and bringing the rest of the group love. I doubt this is the last we’ll see of Jay, he’ll be back.
JYP said in a statement that Jaebeom said he wanted to leave.
Yes but Korean Hottests don’t believe that was the whole truth. They believe Jay was pressured to say he wanted to leave to act as a sacrificial lamb for the company image. Truthfully, Koreans know their culture and the nuances behind decisions that big Korean business like JYPE make better than outsiders so if the KHottests say something is amiss, I trust their judgement. I’m disappointed in the way JYPE handled this whole thing. They did not even try to protect and defend Jay throughout this. They just sent him away. How can Jay himself want to give up all those years of hard work in just 4 days? He still has 6 years of contract. He hasn’t made the money he said he wanted to make to help pay his family’s debts. Also how can he get a ticket for an international flight so quickly? Unless the decision for him to leave was made already. What about the JYPE staff member who said there was no way Jay could leave all on his own? Too many things don’t add up. JYPE needs to give us some better answers and until then I support what any action fans take to bring Jay back.
But you have to understand that the Korean fanatics here are much more serious than other countries and by that alone they tend to be a little bit more delirious. A prime example are the antis! I’m not saying that they are antis in anyway, but I question their judgment which may be colored by biasness. They probably refuse to believe that Jay could ever abandon them. Like Ellie said, no one knows what really happened.
As for what JYPE did or didn’t do, there could be many reasons. For example what could they say when clearly the evidence of Jay’s messages were there. Things were in such a deep **** that I think they just had to give time to the Korean population to read and digest the information. In ‘my’ view, I think JYPE had shown the best support by letting Jay decide what he wanted to do. At such a time, family is important and if that meant leaving Korea and going home, then JYP had given Jay a chance to get away and recover.
Things keep getting distorted like a broken telephone, and before it escalates any further which I can’t imagine how, people should just stop worrying about Jay and instead go back to yout studies, do your homework, focus on your life instead of Jay’s (as I will do as off this minute!!! ㅋㅋ) Give the guy a break, let him come back on his own pace. This is not the end of him…
NO new artist of one year of carerr under a major label’s contract can afford to decide to leave. Even Rihanna or Alicia Kets couldn’t just get up and leave because of a negative event, let alone newcomers like Jay. It doesn’t happen in any part of the world.
I meant “career” and “Alicia Keys”….
Wow, I am going to write a long one and I hope this is the final time I have to comment on this situation.
I have been reading most of the comments left for this opinion article, and I have to say we are getting way ahead of ourselves. I know that counts for me, as well, because I previously left comments on Seoulbeats about Jay’s controversy since it started. I was mad, sad, confused, and devastated. I hated that it happened and resented everyone that caused it. But, you know, I took a chill pill and got some sleep and space from the controversy. What made it even worse was when I came back from that little break only to find out Jaebeom had resigned from 2PM. I felt as if someone had stabbed me in the heart. I was to the point of having an asthma attack (kind of silly isn’t it) since it was so random. I actually cried. I felt sick and sad.
I signed that petition. I ranted for Jay. I cried for Jay. I did possibly everything I could do for Jay. However, I realized whether I am an international fan or Korean fan in Korea, it was out of my hands. No matter our location as a fan, we are battling with someone or something much bigger than us. Although, we want it to be a David and Goliath story. It can never be. These are grown people-adults with careers, futures, and families to support. Jay has left the building to recover. We should stop what we are doing. Yes, it is great and I DO NOT DENY the fact that showing him support is the best way to go. However, we are crossing that line that shouldn’t be crossed. We are not involved in this situation any longer, we are just fans. This is now between JYP, JYPE, 2PM, and Jaybeomie. Petitions, Post-its, boycotting, and other civil disobedience towards the controversy is not shaking JYPE.
Jay has made a decision to leave. We need to respect that. Whether he left on his own or he was asked to leave. We need to, once again respect it. Personally, I believe that this is the best thing for him to do. That is to go home and think. Reflect. He needs to separate himself from this problem, not to forget, but to start to heal. We need to face reality. We have to stop being so greedy and selfish. I don’t want to pressure him anymore. We shouldn’t pressure him any longer. We all know he has internet and a phone and can go to any website and find info on himself and read what people are saying. He wants to get away for a while. Don’t remind him of what he left, don’t force him any longer, don’t diss the members, the company, and his career that he fought 4 or more years to love, appreciate, and achieve. You say you are his fans and care for him, but you are making everything he did be in vain. As JYP said himself, he worked to get where he is now, not just career wise, but opening up to everyone. Jay in the past would not bow 90 degrees to strangers. Jay in the past would not have cried for strangers. Jay in the past would have not cared for his members. Jay in the past would not have taken this career seriously. However, the Jay now bows 90 degrees to ask for forgiveness. The jay now cries for the strangers that has become his fans and ONEDAY family. The Jay now has love for his members and could not bear to see his members bear a burden that was not their own. The Jay now takes his career seriously for the sake of his family, members, fans, and especially himself.
He came to Korea and entered JYPE as an immature boy, but has left as a great and courageous man in my eyes. I no longer see him as an entertainer, but something better: one of the most true, pleasant, outgoing, generous, loyal, and respectful man I have ever known. I don’t want to linger on the thoughts of him resigning from 2PM because as much as it hurts: IT IS IN THE PAST. He must move on. We must move on. 2PM and 2AM must move on. He is alive and that s what is important. I want him healthy. So, if there is any chance i should pass him on the streets one day I can see a MAN that has moved on. A MAN that has become a better and more brighter person. He said before that if he was never an entertainer he would become a vet, if he decides to not go back into the entertainment business and becomes a vet. Let’s all bring our pets for him to treat. If he does come back into the entertainment business, let us treat him as we did when he debuted with his group. Let us look at him as a new, fresh, unseen person with accepting eyes. Let’s embrace his talent once more.
I can almost believe he would want us to stop feeling sad. He would want us to be happy. He wants to bear this as a man. Let his family and friends at home take care of him for now in our place. Until, he is ready for use to care for him again let us wait for him with accepting arms. Let us be strong for the Wooyoung, Taecyeon, Junsu, Juhno, and Nichkhun who are left without their leader. They are feeling more pain than we are. We should support them. They have to moxie to still hold their emotions in and smile of television although they hurt. And we should all see it in their faces. I know I do. Everytime I see their faces after the incident, I can’t bear to watch due to the sorrow, guilt, and regret I have for them. I wish I could have done more, but we can not. Let us just appreciate them and show our love to them and silently wait for our one and only LeadJa Jay Park.
I don’t think anyone is “against” Jay having a break. What the Hottest want is to know that Jay will come back. If next week JYPE makes a public announcement saying “Jay won’t be back right away, but we can now officially announce that he’s still part of the group”, everyone will calm down. I think people get it twisted, they think the Hottest don’t realize he’s human, no – Jay needs a rest and his family and friends. All the fans want is the certainty that Jay wasn’t “forced to leave” and that the group will remain the same, whether they come back tomorrow or next year.
Yeah. I get your point, but it’s better to not fight fire with fire and give them some time if they are going to make an announcement on whether he stays or leaves. Right now, how anxious and hot the fans are can cause more hostility and make matters worst. It is better to be peaceful and have patience than bum-rush them into making a wrong decision. That is just my personal opinion. I just want the best for him. Plus, I would hope they know he is only human because I am a fan myself. Like i said before, he is human before everything else.
I don’t think anyone could have the centainty of saying “post-its, petitions, etc WILL NOT or WILL bring JaeBum back”. Whatever Ellie or other people might say about this whole boycott, i just wanna say one thing.
These Korean people boycotting have been fans (of 2PM or other singers) for years and it seems like being a fan of celebrities is a big part of their childhood/teenage years. I would think that they basically know WAY BETTER how Korean entertainments work/react than people who are outside Korea.
But it all comes down to cultural difference again.
As we have clearly witnessed, Korean netizens became furious enough to make Jay leave in 4 days. Almost in the same manner, 2PM fans started the boycott in almost 4(?) days, formed a united fan group in the hopes of bringing Jaebum back.
Yes, for a lot of non-Koreans this whole thing (Korean netizens’ or fans’ actions) is inexplicable. That’s ok because this just comes from cultural difference. Koreans are fast paced, they get angry fast, get over it fast, and want things almost instantly. That’s just how things work (or so it is seen) in Korea.
So I want to just tell people who think “boycott is a ridiculous idea” to take a chill pill yourself and just wait till what is going to happen.
2pm fans are not doing this to cause any violence or trouble, they are doing this out of sincere and pure love and longing. JYPE cannot be stupid enough to not understand why there were 1500 fans boycotting in silence. So let’s just wait and see what happens but just don’t jump into conclusions that you know better than the fans because I think they (Korean fans) know better
agree.
For people who think that Koreans know their entertainment industry WAY better than non-Koreans. Get real. Seriously. I am in Korea right now and I have talked to my fair share of Koreans about this issue – and do any of them have any real insight into how the entertainment industry works? NO. They don’t. Koreans are just as ignorant of their own entertainment industry as anyone else.
First of all, the entertainment industry is the entertainment industry. All in all they function about the same because an industry is constituted by business and businesses, no matter the country, are all about capital. Ergo, cultural differences aside, the entertainment industry collectively can function as a whole because really, it’s all the same; there are just different people. These different people are bound to employ different methods to achieve the results they want and therein lies source of confusion for many people who seem to think that being Korean gives one an innate sense of the Korean entertainment industry (which is totally wrong). Being Korean – a native Korean – give you an innate sense of how the entertainment industry interacts with the public. That is all. The intricacies of the industry itself will remain a secret no matter how long you live in Korea unless you become a PART of the entertainment industry.
Secondly, cultural nuances are not that difficult to understand though it is quite possible to “get” a culture without being able to fathom why exactly things are the way they are. Its like saying “Okay, that’s really weird, but I get it.”
Don’t confuse countrymen with a form of industry. Most people, regardless of ethinicity or country, do not understand the subtleties of the entertainment industry.
If you blindly idolize celebrities, chances are you don’t understand the entertainment industry. If you are suspicious of the entertainment industry (and you should be) and can only see celebrities either as people or cash signs, you do not understand the entertainment industry. The entertainment industry is unique in that it manufactures people as products rather than items (this is true moreso in Korea than virtually anywhere else).
Whenever you deal with people, things get messy – that’s just the nature of people. Entertainment can be – scratch that – IS a really personal line of work no matter where you play a role because you are always dealing with people who have to invest themselves entirely to their work, to the point that being a celebrity is WHO they are, not what they are. How do you divide business and pleasure? Sometimes you can’t. A lot of times you can’t.
I use words like “subtleties” and “intricacies” in application to entertainment because none of us, no matter how logical, intelligent or wise we are, will be unable to really understand the entertainment industry the way it is behind closed doors unless you immerse yourself in it. There’s a reason why there are a lot of secrets (because the people you’re dealing with are technically always working; they are always people in costume because that’s really what celebrities are) and just because you’re suspicious of them doesn’t mean you actually know anything, it just means you’re suspicious.
If you’re a normal person, there’s one aspect of the entertainment industry that you will always understand. And that’s the interaction between the entertainment industry and the average, everyday Joe Schmo people that follow it. You can analyze the cause and effect relationship between the two and you can formulate opinions on how it works. Does that mean you understand the entertainment industry itself? Nope. Don’t confuse those two understandings because the implications are waaaaaay different than you would initially think.
for those people who think boycott is right just because fans are the consumers & they have the right to demand what they want from the company, it’s really shocking to hear such a selfish & disrespectful statement.
lets say we’re talking about biscuits. there is an increase in price but yet the quality is deproving, we boycott & stop buying it. there’s nothing wrong in that as the company is asking for it by giving shit to customers. BUT, we’re not talking about biscuits here, or any other consumer goods for that matter. we’re talking about 7 young men, with feelings & emotions.
did the Hottest care about the remaining 6 when they decided to boycott?? did the Hottest consider how much more miserable Jay will feel knowing his absence will cause his brothers more trouble?? did the Hottest show respect & support to the remaining 6, LIKE HOW REAL FANS SHOULD??
the intention of the Hottest are good. but one cannot help but feel whether it’s a tad overboard because it’s not just between the company & consumer now. other people are caught in between, & for all we know, the remaining 6 are feeling alot worse than all of us combined together, so they really don’t deserve to be treated this way while the so-called ‘fans’ are busy demanding for what they want & throwing tantrums just because they ain’t getting it.
i’d say, let 2pm continue to do their thing, so that one day when Jay comes back, he won’t have to pick up the pieces of a broken group left behind due to the lack of support by their own “fans”.
“Convincing people to sign a petition to bring him back will not bring him back.”
Here you can’t really generalize fans. I know reality, and I’m pretty sure that if I know it, others do, too. I wouldn’t sign the petition with the hopes of bringing him back (though I know that many did). It would be to show him that I am part of a greater mass of people who still support him and believe he was wronged. You can say that he knows he has people who support him, but a petition gives him a number. After thousands of people make me feel like the crusty stuff left at the bottom of dumpsters that not even maggots would eat, seeing a petition with a real (large) number of people supporting me would make me feel like the dumpster lid, at the very least. Putting a number on supporters is like putting a face or a voice, to an internet friend. Once you do, you realize that they are real, living people.
“I don’t know Jay and I have no connection to the rest of 2PM but as a human being, why can’t you all just understand that what the boys need right now is space, time, and silent support?”
How do you support someone “silently”? Support is verbal or through actions. If nothing is said or done, you cannot possibly show support. Hottests and other supporters have done both: they’ve supported verbally through petitions, physically through postits and their boycott. They didn’t even start a riot or disrespect other people when they went to boycott at JYPE. They cleaned up after themselves and left early.
This event will remain a blemish on the face of JYPE and 2PM, and yeah, it will be hard for Jay to return to JYPE. I would never return to JYPE if I was in his position. These petitions and boycotts probably won’t bring Jay back. But it could bring about a change. It could bring about awareness and, as classroom cliche as it sounds, bring about intelligent discussion.
Like you said, we don’t know how the situation went down unless we’ve got connections. We don’t know how the members feel about it. “What if they don’t want the support/actions?” is what you’re asking. But what if they, the rest of 2PM, want fans to boycott? I really remained on the borderline for a while, debating with myself whether or not to support or criticize the many Hottests who are boycotting, but I realized that I couldn’t stay there.
I might not know how they feel, but I know how I feel. I might not know how the situation went down, but I know the facts. It went from Myspace comments to anger to apology to Seattle, with little support from JYPE. And people are boycotting JYPE, not the members. Returning CDs and merchandise, whose profits go mainly to JYPE and NOT 2PM, is reasonable. Maybe attending events that do not have Jay means that they’re supporting JYPE’s (or lack of) actions and decisions. Before any change can happen—good or bad—someone or something needs to be challenged, and that’s what these people are doing.
I understand the reason why you wrote this editorial, but you generalize too much by assuming that everyone who supports Jay only does so because they are hardcore fans whose only thought is to bring him back and make 2PM complete. It’s hard to not make this a big issue. I feel its setting a standard for anything that could happen like this (the Korean vs not-so-Korean-from-Korea tension) in the future, especially with the rise of international members in popular groups within the industry. That’s why I can’t let it go and pretend that everything is ok.
Note: I can’t say I’m a Hottest, because I don’t follow 2PM or their activities. I just know their names and have gotten to know them through their music. Sorry my comment ended up as an essay.
everything you wrote is 100% true