It’s that time of the week again!
Time to see if your commenting efforts have paid off, and whether, this time around, you managed to hit the jackpot for the Seoulbeats’ comments hall of fame.
Here is our selection of five of the best comments on articles from this week.
Guest on SNSD: Same Old Song and Dance?:
SNSD‘s progression or regression is directly connected to how much money SM makes from each concept. The numbers prove that SNSD’s “fiercer” concepts don’t make as much money as their cutesy ones. ‘Run Devil Run’, ‘Genie’ and ‘The Boys’ were not as successful as ‘Oh!’ and ‘Gee’. By SNSD’s own very high standards for digital sales, ‘The Boys’ has been a disappointment. Korea likes SNSD best when they’re prancing around in short shorts. Hence, SNSD will prance around in short shorts as long as Korea and SM wants them to. If SNSD’s girl power concepts were the ones that were the most successful, SM would start their MVs with a quote from Germaine Greer and they would burn their short shorts as a stand-in for their bras.
SNSD has always been the weakest of the top idol groups musically. And that’s never going to change because their weakest music is the best for business.
Serendipity on Roundtable: Is crossdressing just for laughs?:
I’m going to go and say this, the reason why people find men cross-dressing funny, is less to do with seeing womanly things as degrading, and more to do with male pride. That and the fact it’s completely normal nowadays for women to walk around in pants and the likes. But how often do you see men wear skirts? When women cross-dress as men, I don’t think they’d be looked down upon (as someone said below, women have done it various times), but rather it’s like… they’re wearing what? Pants and a jacket? It’s not something that’s so ridiculously unbelievable. Unlike a man wearing a skirt.
Also, I’m surprised this wasn’t elaborated on more, but a lot of female idols are IDOLS in the sense they rely on aesthetics over everything. Whilst male idol groups rely on being entertaining. So when Super Junior performed ‘Gee’, they’re being a male idol group, they’re being entertaining. Comedic and SuJu just don’t go without each other. In SNSD‘s case, their performance of ‘Sorry Sorry’ was to look good. Even if they didn’t try, people would only focus on how good they look, because they’ve built a name for themselves around their legs and their looks. Now, on the other hand, if someone like Shinyoung or Jung Juri were to try ‘Sorry Sorry’, people would laugh, because they’re female comedians. Or even if the same ‘Sorry Sorry’ parody was done on a program such as Happy Together or Invincible Youth, where the atmosphere is comic, then once again it would serve the same purpose as the Super Junior ‘Gee’ performance.
I agree that it’s sometimes done to the point in which it is tacky, but I do not believe it’s offensive.
RainbowsnDaggers on Snoop Dogg and SNSD?:
I was also thinking of Snoop‘s collaboration with Big Time Rush even before I read the whole article. What people have to understand is, Snoop has already established himself and gained respect in the hip-hop community. But hip-hop is a youthful genre, and older artists tend to get pushed aside after a few years (sound familiar?). And keeping up with newer rappers can make an established artist sound dated and forced. That is why artists like Snoop, Ice-T, Ice Cube, Dr Dre, Jay-Z etc., branch out into other areas (acting, songwriting, producing, clothing design).
Snoop is now a businessman; more importantly, he is a husband and father of children who are around the ages of the Disney/K-pop fanbase. He knows what’s selling and that to stay in the public eye, you have to market yourself to a younger fanbase and that requires cleaning up your image. Working with SNSD will be good in that respect, just as it was with Big Time Rush, because parents (the ones who are really paying for the CD’s, concert tickets and merchandise) will see him as less offensive than he was when he made Doggystyle. And chances are the only place they’ll play The Boys MV is on TeenNick, Disney channel or MTV Iggy’s website. All in all, it will be interesting to see how it turns out.
As far as quality is concerned, I read an article around the time BoA was promoting here that said American producers tend to give K-pop singers their C-list music/tracks. American producers and artists may be willing to work with foreign acts, but I think it’s more for the money than for helping them expand in the Western market. If a Korean artist does make it big in the U.S., then it’s just a bonus for those involved. The Latin Pop wave is a good example. Hispanic artists have been making music in the U.S. for years, and a few acts made it big (to older audiences/different genres), but Latin music didn’t explode in the pop music scene until Ricky Martin’s Livin’ La Vida Loca. It helped Shakira and Enrique Iglesias. Hell that song even helped Jennifer Lopez’s fame (and own up to being Puerto Rican*cough*). So producers will continue to throw these K-artists sub-par material until a Korean ‘Livin’ la Vida Loca’ comes along.
zhao jun wu on Are K-Pop stars responsible for the luxury craze?:
The people in these countries who can afford to buy such luxury goods are not in the same demographic toward which Idols and K-pop celebrities cater, which is often a teenage/pre-teen group. I do not believe celebrities’ consumption of luxury items overwhelmingly influences South Koreans’ fixation with luxury goods.
The luxury craze has been going on longer in China and it has nothing to do with Idols. Luxury goods have long been a status symbol and on a continent obsessed with “face,” sporting luxury items gives the facade of both wealth and elegance. There is also a great deal of conformity within South Korea so trends are taken very seriously and many people will purchase items simply because they are popular. These items may be popular because of a celebrity or perhaps because it’s just in fashion.
I guess, yes, celebrities play a role in luxury good consumption just like overly photographed celebrities everywhere, but I don’t think it’s the main factor in Asia’s “luxury craze.” The fact is that many developed Asian countries now have more money to spend and purchasing expensive designer goods is one way to spend it.
Oh Ji’s Ho on “Letters From Angels”: A Matter of Korean Pride and Prejudice:
I don’t understand why country of adoption is an issue. What does it matter which country adoptive parents are from if the child is going to a good and loving home? I’ve never once thought less of Korea or that it is ’embarrassing’ for their children to be adopted internationally, I’ve actually had the opposite thought and would like to adopt from Korea if I ever have a chance.
I think it is more embarrassing that they are working toward ceasing international adoptions. I am not sure which other countries bar international adoptions, but when the need for good adoptive homes is not met within a country, then why not be open to other people from foreign countries adopting their children – not just for Korea, but all countries. As long as it is a safe, happy environment children should be able to go to it.
The real issue here seems to be the treatment of unwed/single mothers in Korea. I’ve read articles on how they are viewed and treated and it is not very well to say the least. There may have been some slight improvements recently, but there still seems to be some ways to go. According to the article above, 90% of children waiting to be adopted are from single mothers? That is a alarming statistic and one that could be rectified with a few societal changes; therefore, taking care of the majority of children needing to be adopted. I understand that societal beliefs place a lot of emphasis on family bloodlines and the like, but when those beliefs come at the expense of innocent children then there is a problem.
So there you have it, that is our pick for the best comments from this week! Stay tuned for another Seoulbeats Comments Of The Week, next week!
