SB Chat Box #17: K-pop Pet Peeves?

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Written by Amy On February 16, 2012

We all know that once you’ve gotten into K-pop for a certain amount of time, things that make K-pop K-pop start becoming a little eyebrow raising. This week Patricia and I talk about some things that are distinctly K-poppy (comebacks! concepts!) and why they’re peeving us out.

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Download the podcast here.

Congrats to KIMGINA for getting all the songs correctly, narrowly beating out chunface (for the zillionth time) ;) Leave your guesses below for this week’s song guesses.

Last but not least, we do read your suggestions on what you want to hear us talk about next, so keep them coming and we’ll eventually answer all your questions.

Until next time…!

Amy

I like angsty TV, boy bands, and can appreciate a good, non-creepy stare.

I Tumble and I blog.

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Tags: Seoulbeats Chat Box

T Hudson

I know this is immature…but FIRST COMMENT yayy !!!
- LVHT
  
  You didn’t even COMMENT so I don’t think it counts. ;)
T Hudson

Me again :D
I just thought of a podcast I would love to hear..a podcast all about Variety Shows. When I first found kpop (last year) I was a little taken back by the idea of variety shows in which celebrities went on TV and promoted themselves through games and other random activities. And even though the idea was a little bit foreign, I really loved it, because it only deepened the “connection” I had with “my artist.” However, now that I have gotten more “experienced and matured” in kpop, I have begun to realize how scripted and formalaic some of these variety shows really are *cough We Got Married* and the dependency many of them have on their gimmicks *cough Monday Couple*. Yet…I still can’t seem to stop watching them! I would love to hear your opinion on the topic too!
Oh and I LOVE your podcast, and get really excited (probably to excited) every time I see a new one posted. Keep it up !!
- Anonymous
  
  yeah another thumbs up for chat box on variety shows. maybe even monthly thing…
chunface

I’m back for revenge!! Haha.

Songs:
Speed – Lovey DoveyEpik High – Free Music
Wonder Girls – Long Long Time
DBSK – Paradise
Beast’s JunHyung – Living Without You

will be back to give a proper comment on the podcast ;-)
- http://evacuatewithstyle.org/blog Amy
  
  omg /._.
  - KIMGINA
    
    T_TI slept through it…
  - Guest’s Father
    
    You… need to get this person to talk with you guys one show…
Spanky

asked for a Kpop Choir? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iILx0yuV_Cw
chunface

The concept of concepts…sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not. I don’t really get why they need to have a concept whenever a group makes a comeback or debut. But I don’t think KPop wouldn’t be KPop without that.
Oh the bad hair, I thought it’ll soon fade away, but apparently not. *facepalm-ing while looking at Big Bang’s teaser photos*. DBSK…gosh, the concept of Triangle is really weird. The hair..I can’t even look at it without cringing or laughing because of its absurdness.

The teasers..they’re supposed to tease us, make us anticipate with the group’s comeback or debut, but now..I don’t think it makes me anticipate the group anymore. It pisses me off. Haha. Seriously, 17 teasers yet still no debut?? And in those 17 teasers, they still haven’t even introduced all of the members. I see more people getting tired of the teasers than those that still look forward for EXO’s debut.
Blah2341

That podcast about pet peeves basically described everything in kpop.lol. My own biggest pet peeve would be the annoying expressions that the Kpop artists do. I know they’re supposed to be cute or sexy or whatever, but I can not look at a music video with 3 million lip wipes or winks without laughing.
- http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava
  
  Although lip wipes, when done well, come on you know it’s droolworthy
hmmmm

The hair!!!! I actually think its gotten better since the 1990s though. Still can’t stand the bleach blond hair though. It looks bad. I will never understand comebacks….. can’t they just go heres a new song off a new album YAY!
I wouldn’t mind the teasers so much if there was a definate date set. Don’t really care for it, but don’t really mind. (Even though everyone is sick of Kai teaser all his teaser actually have more views than some of the other videos, even the older ones of other members.)
My biggest pet peeve is the mass amount of idol groups debuting. Does all the youth of Korea feel like they need to become idols? Even the weaker vocal half of SNSD can form a group and out sing some of the rookie groups main vocals. 60+ idol group debuts last year is just ridiculous.
- mimo
  
  A lot of Korean youth want to become idols, and some say it is because it beats studying for those crazy entrance exams. If I remember correctly, there has been an increase over the number of high school dropouts, and some of them have stated that they wanted to focus on being idols.
  
  Just saying that the idol world has its tough parts, but it paints a picture of perfection for Korean youth. Not all are into it though to be honest. But I guess this could be my pet-peeve with the Kpop industry: everything it portrays influences the youth, so couldn’t they provide a more realistic image rather than helping escapism :S??
- Guest
  
  Don’t know how much my opinion will help, but I recently attended a seminar about the Hallyu wave. Basically, some parents are even happy about their kids dropping out and doing work as an idol, because for them it means living a better life, the “Korean Dream” I guess you can call it. I think sometimes people are blinded by the glamor though, since obviously with all the lawsuits and companies taking the majority of the profit, idols barely earn anything. But both parents and kids believe that it will lead to nice cars, a better life, social mobility for the parents and for the eventual grandchildren, etc. There is tremendous amounts of sacrifice financially, emotionally, socially, etc. Skipping education in a country that shoves textbooks down students’ throats is probably the RISKIEST move that anyone can take, comparable to suicide. I don’t know much about SK politics, but I believe there isn’t much support for homeless people or even the elderly once they retire. If you blow your chance for education, it’s over. I think the Korean media promoting the idealistic dream of being an idol doesn’t help either – saying how idols bring pride and respect to your country to a nationalistic community really fires things up. And also news articles that advertise the pricey costs of idols’ million dollar apartments and expensive Ferraris is just the cherry on top.
  - Anonymous
    
    Yea the only people who do make a decent living are those idol groups at the top. Then during interviews you hear how hard they work or the poor situation them and their parents were in and how now they can buys homes and businesses for their parents. The parents don’t really hear the part where they say “I ate ramen all through my training days living in a tiny apartment with 35 other people” part, but the “I am now able to buy my parents a home/business/car”. Its so sad because only the top tier groups who sell at least 100,000 cds, sellout concerts, have tons of endorsement deals, sell tons of random stuff with their faces on them. I think there are probably a good 10 idol groups who are doing well to great financially. Everyone else is still poor.
Musik 사랑해

YES!! the word COMEBACK is so misused! AMY I love u for that
http://twitter.com/missyu8shi Yushi Wang

I think a pet peeve in kpop, though it may or may not be related is that they keep banning songs. Also sometimes for girls I really don’t like it when they try really hard to be an image they’re not comfortable with, but that’s just my opinion.
Arbitrary Greay

Fandom pet peeve: Use of the word “flawless.”
I think I twitch every time I see or hear someone use or say it now.
- Mija
  
  and use of the words “hater” and “stay pressed” if you don’t agree with an idols flawlessness
  - mimo
    
    Some people didn’t get the memo that humans aren’t perfect.
http://www.twitter.com/hipployta Hipployta

Hmm…Speed’s Lovey Dovey sound way better when I’m not looking at the video which stars none of them LOL
Mija

One variety show pet peeve is when they ask the girl idols to do a sexy dance on the show then while she dances the male hosts watch with their mouths open and moan and drool over her as if they’re ready to masturbate right in front of her. I find that soooooo creepy and disgusting because the guys are so old and the girls are so young EEWWW!
- GSun
  
  Oh yeah, but it’s perfectly understandable when the male idols rip open their shirts to show their bodies and the older noona hosts swoon over them. Ugh, double standards.
  - Guest
    
    Kind of have to agree with you GSun. If the girls don’t want to be looked at that way, then don’t do sexy. Both male/female idols are asking for it when they do anything sexual, no matter what their age. If anything, it should be the companies’ fault for enforcing the sexy concept on them.
  - Mija
    
    Im not saying its right but I just find women screaming over a shirtless guy less disturbing than guys about to masturbate in front of the girl. thats just me
- Kymberly Moore
  
  My variety pet peeve is all the constant replays. It’s sooooo annoying!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LL4QDJLVFDT2RDIZYBALSE75JE angel29

On the topic of concept:

“Amy: Like I don’t, how do you describe, like if you are the PR person for YG and you had to be like Big Bang’s new concept is fill in the blank, what would you fill in the blank, Patricia?

“Patricia: Obviously, surgical equipment cause no one’s done that before and it’s so avantgarde and YG is all about that so we’re gonna put oxygen masks. I mean why would anyone think of that? I don’t even like BB and I just even distress over this.”

I laughed at this. It’s more a metaphor of what they went through, don’t you think? After the events of 2011 and some people saying it’s over for Big Bang, all those surgical equipment is not just a shallow concept. Big Bang went through a very difficult phase only a few in this industry has experienced but is now coming back strong. I guess that is what you can claim both a legitimate concept and a comeback.
- O.o
  
  I like Patricia and Amy. But sometimes they make comments out of ignorance. I suggest they research on the things they want to talk about.
- O.o
  
  I like Patricia and Amy. But sometimes they make comments out of ignorance. I suggest they research on the things they want to talk about.
  - hmmmmm
    
    Thats rude. They’re just discussing their opinions on what they saw. Relax. It was a really funny comment.
    - O.o
      
      Well i guess they’ll make better opinion when they do know the facts first. I’m a big YG stan. I do admit that they have flaws. But saying that they just constantly bring something “avantgarde” because “YG is all about that” is kind of mindless. They’re giving an impression that YG doesn’t have a backing logic behind the concept.
      
      I think they would have not said that if they only knew the reason behind the concept of BB’s impending comeback.
- http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava
  
  I am honestly concerned that their new concept is going to get some backlash though. I might be overthinking, but their concept is that they were “dead” in a way last year right? And now they’re coming back to life? And their new song title is called Alive. Considering what Daesung went through last year I can see people giving him a lot of hate for this and say that he’s been insensitive, and I’m genuinely concerned because he’s just seeming to come out of his sadness now. Am I think only one that automnatically worried about the criticisms when I saw this concept?
  - Guest
    
    I kind of like the “dead” and now “alive” concept. To be honest, Daesung spent most of his time at church after the scandal – trying to find a way to live his life again without feeling crushed from the burden of what happened. To me, it’s like Big Bang was “born again.” I think people have to understand that Daesung can’t be sad forever… Just like how I hope the family of the man who passed away can move on from their grief too. I hope I’m not being insensitive by suggesting that, but I think with anyone else, grieving forever isn’t emotionally healthy, it can keep you from living your life normally. I think learning to celebrate that person’s life instead is the final step. And maybe BB’s concept is sort of related to that. Kind of like: We have been hurt, we have healed (surgical concept?), and now we’re going to live again. Maybe that’s a cheesy analogy but just my thoughts.
    - http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava
      
      I like the concept, I just hope everything goes smoothly, their comeback is kinda of a big deal this time and I’m so excited for it, I just hope there’s as little hate as possible and Daesung can comeback truly happy and be smiley like he was, he’s such a sweet person, of all the people he’s someone that I really don’t think deserves hate.
      - Guest
        
        Yeah I totally agree with you. I felt so bad for him during the scandal, he’s a good kid and he’s not the type to intentionally hurt anyone. I have to say that last year was probably the worst for BB in their whole career. I’ve only gotten into Kpop since 2011, ironically during the time of the scandal, so I don’t know much about them as a band before that time. But from what I’ve heard, it was probably the hardest period that they’ve had to face. But if it means anything, they have 5+ years of experience behind them and have truly made a mark in the industry. So with that credibility backing them up, hopefully their comeback will be successful.
  - Lovezain11
    
    If U read his interview with naver the meaning for Alive is not that they are reborn again or were dead before. It was to show that their talent and passion for music was still alive. Also both daesung and gdragon are prepared for criticism for either coming back to early or being insensitive. They both have been worrying about it for some time but they realized that life goes on and they cant just hide from the world. Their passion for music is too great for them to call it quits. I think what happened to them last year was horrible and tragic but I also think it was good for them. Gdragon mentioned that he was starting to get sick of everything but after he almost lost everything he realized how much he enjoyed making music and performing. Same for Daesung. It also gave then more time to think about what was important and to spend time together and with their family. The oxygen masks I thought was a great metaphor for being Alive. T.O.Ps hair I think is fitting because of their song blue. And daesungs white/blonde hair looks better each time I see it. Plus I think it works because it makes him look more angelic and his solo song is called wings. I get that the concept is weird but it is also well thought out and it has a purpose.
    - http://twitter.com/Laava90 Lava
      
      I didn’t read the interview, but just to clear it up, I’m in no way saying that that’s what I think of the concept, just that it was something that came to my mind, and as prepared as they are for criticism, I think Daesung seems like such a sweet and good person that I would really hate for him to get any backlash from anything =( but like you said he can’t hide from the world, I’m hoping their comeback goes smoothly and everybody sees how much he genuinely is a good person; idols have images and stuff, but I think you can’t fake being as good as he comes across.
Agata

Ok…honestly…I think I’ve had enough. How can you speak non stop about negative things…gosh…it’s gotten so tiring. If you hate kpop so much…then move on. Find something else to fill in your time.
Sometimes I feel like you’re so ignorant…you don’t really know the facts and you base your opinions on assumptions…it just irks me so much. For example names of the fan clubs. I’m from Poland and there are some artists whose followers have like a collective name. Please, talk about something positive…stop criticizing everything.
- http://profiles.google.com/3scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge
  
  The point…the whole point…of this chat box is to talk about the ‘pet peeves’ of kpop -__- ergo things we (kpop fans) find annoying or unnecessary. And LOL if you think SB writers hate kpop!!
http://twitter.com/ErikinaDaisy Erika Ward

I agree SO much about all the HUGE ass kpop groups. I agree that when Super Junior did it — it worked because it WAS a shock factor and it did get them attention because no one had done it before. But I feel like after SuJu, every other company was like, “Oh, look – they stuck 13 people together and it actually works. Let COPY~” And thus the average number of members in kpop groups is now something like 7 or 8? And there are SOOOO many groups with over 10 members — WHY~!?!? Now, I’m an ELF and am proud to say that I know everything about my 13 Super Junior boys, but see it works for THEM and them ALONE. 1) cuz they were the first 2) because they have SM behind them 3) because they’re fricken SUPER JUNIOR

I mean look at what happened to 2pm and 2am — they were originally a like 12 members group.. but that died.. and MANY companies have tried to put out huge groups, but NONE of them succeed as SJ has in terms of numbers working with success. Now, I feel like SM is trying to copy SJ’s success with EXO, but I have this terrible feeling that it will fail horribly – maybe they realized that and that’s why they split the group into two.

I just hope that Kpop leaves the numbers alone, let SJ be 13 on their own, and instead of focusing on how many members you can FIT in a group — think about how many you NEED~ Without the excess.
- Guest
  
  I believe there are members in Super Junior that are, as you say, “excess.” By the way, they are no longer the original 13 anymore. Not trying to be harsh, but it’s a fact. Look it up on wikipedia.
  
  Super Junior are not gods from above that are somehow more special than any other group that wants to do the same number of members. Yes, I agree that it is tiring when a concept is repeated like a large number of groups – a la the girl groups copying SNSD isn’t going to work well either.
  
  But just because “they were the first”, “they have SM behind them” and “they’re fricken SUPER JUNIOR” doesn’t make them any better than another group. Don’t talk about how 2PM and 2AM “died” when SJ is essentially a decaying group as well.
  - Anonymous
    
    Well even LSM said that Super Junior were all the boy trainees that they semi had hope for after they took out the boys of DBSK. So I think there was some overlap in designated jobs in Super Junior. They were meant to be split up and move onto different career paths anyway so I always thought their name and size were due to their initial concept. Those boys hustled though. Its wan’t easy to get where they are, but I give them mad props. They are all fairly popular individually and have a huge international following. WIth 13 boys, girls are bound to find one person to like.
- Arbitrary Greay
  
  I’d like to point out that “they were the first” isn’t exactly true, as girlgroup i-13 also debuted in 2005, and had trained for two years. Besides which, Suju was based off of Morning Musume and Menudo.
  
  And people thought no one would be able to make a huge idol group would work after Onyanko Club until Morning Musume, and then people thought no one would be able to make a large group work after Morning Musume, and then AKB48 made it big. And now even SKE48 and NMB48 are selling well while AKB48′s still on top of the heap.
http://twitter.com/ErikinaDaisy Erika Ward

I agree SO much about all the HUGE ass kpop groups. I agree that when Super Junior did it — it worked because it WAS a shock factor and it did get them attention because no one had done it before. But I feel like after SuJu, every other company was like, “Oh, look – they stuck 13 people together and it actually works. Let COPY~” And thus the average number of members in kpop groups is now something like 7 or 8? And there are SOOOO many groups with over 10 members — WHY~!?!? Now, I’m an ELF and am proud to say that I know everything about my 13 Super Junior boys, but see it works for THEM and them ALONE. 1) cuz they were the first 2) because they have SM behind them 3) because they’re fricken SUPER JUNIOR

I mean look at what happened to 2pm and 2am — they were originally a like 12 members group.. but that died.. and MANY companies have tried to put out huge groups, but NONE of them succeed as SJ has in terms of numbers working with success. Now, I feel like SM is trying to copy SJ’s success with EXO, but I have this terrible feeling that it will fail horribly – maybe they realized that and that’s why they split the group into two.

I just hope that Kpop leaves the numbers alone, let SJ be 13 on their own, and instead of focusing on how many members you can FIT in a group — think about how many you NEED~ Without the excess.
YaddaYadda

Pet Peeves:

1- the use of the word: “world/worldwide/global” NOT EVEN

2- hoards of self cams! AM I PRETTY?

3- claiming of X idol having an “S-line” NOT EVEN CLOSE SISTER photoshopping don’t count.

4- circle lenses/ faux double eyelids. What’s wrong with YOUR eyes.. You’re Korean!

5- 20+ year olds guy/girl acting and dressing like they’re 5 yes old. REALLY!??

5-
Guest

Honestly, I’m exhausted just trying to think about Kpop pet peeves…
Inaba11

i hate it when i saw “i don’t find soso attractive” and someone posts 20 pictures of soso and say “HOW CAN YOU NOT FIND SOSO ATTRACTIVE?!!! HE/SHE IS A GODDESS/GOD”
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000793762972 Ashley Polk

can someone tell me the songs that were played this time?
felicia elasih

oh gosh. TRIANGLE was.. o.o

I’ve always wondered how everyone know fanchants like that. I personally think it’s kind of cool, but scary at the same time.

and speaking of SNSD in america.. i wonder if they were embarrassed to hear fanchants since they’re trying to integrate into another market. I also think that the reason why even international fans do fanchants is that because their artists finally /FINALLY/ come to their end of the world. Though still i’d be slightly embarrassed to do fanchants on a morning show.. and not like.. with /everyone/ else participating.

kpop used to be pure. ish. now it’s just the same.
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