There is obviously a huge power vacuum here that very easily leads to these kids being exploited and abused, especially in cases where companies control everything. Additionally, it is standard for K-Pop trainees and idols to leave home and live all together in one large dorm-style apartment, as opposed to at home with their families - and they usually sign on at these companies around the age of 13-15. This control extends to the companies preferring for idols to keep their mouths shut on any and all social issues, which is a small part of why K-Pop is seen as being so racist - because when these idols do something racist, there is (usually) no apology or even acknowledgement. This is because the companies specifically want their idols to be ‘blank slates’ who their fans can project onto and imagine themselves dating, and they want the idols to be seen as “pure” (no tattoos, look and act perfect, no social views for fans to disagree with, etc). Everything from their clothing, skin, hair, the food they eat, etc are all strictly controlled by the company. Most K-Pop companies infamously have a “dating clause” in their contracts, saying the idols are not even allowed to date, or they’ll be fired (and they do get fired if they get caught, no matter how famous they are). Almost every K-Pop act you’ve ever heard of, besides BTS, is from a big three company. The big three are extremely wealthy, prosperous companies, and they train their idols for years, with everything from dance and vocal lessons to acting and English classes being supplied. In the K-Pop industry, there is what’s known as “the big three” recording companies: YG Entertainment, SM Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. (Also, people say that Namjoon studied abroad for a while in New Zealand while in high school and therefore he should know much more about non-Korean cultures and racism, but he was only twelve years old and it was for less than three months.) I’m not at all trying to bash him or say he’s dumb in any way (being self-taught and trilingual is obviously extremely impressive), just pointing out his and the group as a whole’s fluency level, which has improved over time. Namjoon is the leader (all K-Pop groups choose a member to act as the spokesperson/team leader), and he, Yoongi, and Hoseok (the three rappers of the group) write and produce almost all of BTS’s music.Īdditionally, Namjoon is the only English speaker, though his English is self-taught and was a little rough for the first few years - still in 2020, he sometimes skips words while speaking, doesn’t know slang terms, etc. There are seven members (listed ages are how old they were during their debut):
Some people may think I’m being too hard on them, while others may think I’m not being hard enough on them, since with a lot of the big ones I’m also going to try to provide more context/background. I’ll just try to list everything as thoroughly and unbiased as possible, listing all the facts, and I’ll let people come to their own (hopefully nuanced) conclusions.īTS debuted with Big Hit Entertainment in June 2013. Either way, I just request that you read all of it beforehand for a complete picture. This could be used as both a callout post and a compilation of how great they are. I was out sick for a couple days, had some time off, couldn’t get this off my mind (we love fixations), and I like pretending to be a sociologist, so: here’s a chronological list of everything BTS has ever done related to all social justice issues (racism, misogyny, LGBT issues, mental health issues, etc), both good and bad, compiled just to have it all in one place. I find it absolutely fascinating how so many different people talk about BTS in such different ways, with some of their fans saying they’re among the most progressive celebrities on the planet while others say they’re the prime example of racism in K-Pop.
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