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beetlemancy · 4 years

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Anon again: Thank you!! I appreciate you taking the time to answer me because I am kind of active in the community but very very new. I did know your opinions but being new I just wanted to know whether those recent posts held any weight. I want to be socially responsible with my media consumption and I was worried there was something I was missing, given I have seen specific call outs for certain cast members (Travis, Laura, Sam, and Liam) recently. Thanks again!!

Anon pt2: you don’t have to post this but for context the call out posts were as follows: Travis actively supports the military, Laura voiced a black character?, Sam did brown face??, and Liam is fake woke/virtual signaling (or something along those lines). Obviously I can find out information about this for myself but I have seen more anti-CR stuff lately which prompted my ask.

As with everything, I suggest you do your own reading on those topics, and any topic that comes up in regards to the media you watch. Below is simply my opinion. Note: this gets long.

Travis does support the military - but not as an institution. He has family in the military. He supports the soldiers. He works with Operation Supply Drop and I’d encourage you to look into OSD specifically. Whether you agree with the idea that we should even have a military or not, you cannot deny that our veterans and soldiers are given the short end of the stick. We cannot just abandon them because helping them might be viewed as giving money to the military. I have so many military vets in my disability groups. The VA is awful because it has no funding (I know good people who work at the VA too, but they just cannot help everyone like they’d want to). Programs like OSD are genuinely helpful to a lot of hurting folk and the people who shit on Travis and CR for promoting and helping them out have clearly never actually sat down and talked to a vet or a soldier before.

Laura and many many other voice actors have voiced people of color in various shows. Yes, this is a legit problem. However, obviously as with most things, the problem is nuanced. The fault mainly lies with the VO industry as a whole, in that actors actually have very little control over what they do. There was a whole strike about this very topic (though the strike covered other issues in the industry as well). In the case of Laura, for instance, she was never told what her character would look like until after the fact. And that is super common in the industry. One of the things they tried to get in the strike was more transparency so that actors could make the decisions themselves whether to voice characters or not - not just based on race or culture but also based on type of work (stressful screaming vs chill dialogue) and whether the content of the game itself was something they wanted their name attached to.

Sam’s blackface scandal is extremely old news. That’s not to say it isn’t important to note, and in fact Sam made a point to note it again back in 2018. I know people who can’t watch CR because of it, even after his apology, and that’s fine because its not my place to judge others for how they react to that kind of thing. However I know a lot of people who read his apology and the circumstances surrounding it and decided to forgive. To some people, the fact that he was asked to do so by will.i.am changes the situation. To others, it doesn’t. To some the fact that he apologized and has clearly worked to improve his behavior matters, to others it doesn’t. You have to decide that for yourself. You can read Sam’s letter HERE.

Now. Regarding Liam. * sigh * I think, and again this is my opinion, that you cannot proclaim someone you do not know as ‘fake woke.’ I think there are parts of this fandom that have it out for Liam because of a whole bunch of gross reasons, many of which I’ve spoken about before. He is sensitive and a man - that makes people uncomfy. He plays a lot of women characters and tends to embody them in both personality and body language - that makes people uncomfy. He fully embraces the bi energy (this is not to say whether he himself is or not) - that makes a lot of people uncomfy (and angry). He loves theatre and loves to explore the human condition, warts and all - that makes people super uncomfy. Now. There are people who thinks he’s homophobic. Do you know why? Its because his bi character ended up with a woman instead of a man. That is biphobia, no matter how they twist it. Bi people being “allowed” to be bi and not ‘pick the right side’ in the LG (not BT, lets be real) community IS revolutionary because its so very hated.

Another reason they say he’s homophobic is because of the jokes he is often involved in - some gay men in the fandom believe that joking about sex is him ‘making fun’ of gay relationships. As a bi enby, I disagree, and I read many of the jokes he himself makes as the kind of humor I use among my own friends. I think there is a definite disconnect between bi vs LG humor and I’m not entirely sure who would be considered in the ‘right’ on that. However, when LG people in the fandom claim that he cannot talk about gay relationships because he is cishet? They cannot know that. That is an assumption they are making. When LG fans say that he alone is responsible for this issue and not -literally every single member of CR- ? I have to question whether its really the issue and not just that they still hate Liam for deigning to make a bi character bi instead of gay.

Another thing re: Liam. Aside from Marisha, he is the one I see the most hate about. People on Twitter and Tumblr both have legit uttered death threats about him if he doesn’t do exactly what they want his characters to do in the game. Usually this is about shipping. I have seen people claim that they WISH he was ‘like vic mignogna’ so they’d have a reason to hate him more. I’ve seen a certain group of people and one in particular say they have ‘dirt’ on him but refuse to say what the dirt is - and yet continually bring up that it exists, but that they just cannot say. Why would you incessantly bring up information you possess just to say that you cannot divulge such information?

Legit issues about CR that is attached to Liam is the whitewashing issue. Some say that only Liam is responsible here because he controls all the art. I would say that we actually don’t know that for sure. He is ‘Art Dad’ and clearly has some pull. I do think that CR should address this issue, but I’m not sure they can legally do what the fandom wants them to do, which is “call-out” artists by name and denounce them. Now, this too is more nuanced than the fandom makes out because its often way more about colorism vs whitewashing. Many people do not draw Beau as white, but they do draw her as much lighter skin tones than her original art. Colorism is a real problem, but white allies tend to go about talking about it wrong or making smaller things a bigger deal when POC would really rather talk about something more important to them. It was these same white allies that tore Mica Burton apart on Twitter because she liked and enjoyed a drawing of Reani, her own character, that was a few shades lighter than the drawing she herself had brought in, even after she had said that she appreciated the variety of skin tones due to seeing herself in each of them. On the topic of whitewashing/colorism in the fandom, I personally tend to wait to hear from POC over the masses of white allies.

The CR fandom is very big for a niche thing like DnD. As such, there are many many corners of the fandom that can get really jaded, really dark, and really up their own ass in regards to the discourse. There are legitimate issues in the fandom and with CR as a whole. Nothing is perfect, nothing ever will be perfect, and people should absolutely do what they can to do better and to ask their media to do better. That being said, there are also people who think that if you don’t do something exactly like they want, then you’re Problematic by default. There are also members of this fandom who have an active vendetta against certain cast members and will use any opportunity to co-opt legit issues in order to shore up their false arguments. These people are only using the real issues and it becomes clear pretty quickly that they don’t actually give a shit about the people they say they are trying to speak up for.

There is also some fandom drama that has occurred ONLY in fandom and has absolutely nothing to do with CR other than the fact that the people involved happen to be CR fans. Certain people in the fandom think that CR should arbitrate this issue and involve themselves, call out the individuals responsible, etc. This is, I believe, a GROSS misconception of what CR’s role is and asking way too much of a source of entertainment. The fact that CR has not involved themselves in this issue has led certain members of this fandom to claim that CR is homophobic. I would caution that most callouts of CR as homophobic are directly linked to this first issue, and also a callback to the Vaxleth drama from campaign one, and is incontrovertibly tied to bi and enby-phobia and a seriously sick misunderstanding of the responsibilities a show has versus the responsibility individuals have as viewers of said show.

That’s it for now. I could go way more in depth on this problems, but I’m tired of typing. Suffice it to say, its easy to make a list of things Problematic with CR, but once you actually delve into each topic hopefully you’ll realize how complicated and filled with nuance and Different Opinions going on back from the first episode of Campaign One... Listing problems without actually addressing them head-on isn’t a good way to deal with the problems that are true anyway, let alone tell them from the false ones.

#no fandom tags we die like passive aggressive chipmunks #Anonymous #cr discourse

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your-brilliant-lady-m · 3 years

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South Korean music industry at a glance: an outsider perspective

I watched one particular AMV last week. The song used for the video was “I’m afraid” by Korean rock band DAY6. I was pleasantly surprised as someone who values lyrics in song first and foremost. The music itself was great. I’ll listen to their songs again. It’s a nice fit for my music taste. Naturally, YouTube’s algorithm decided that I’m a fan of everything Korean after 1 video and started spamming my recommendations with k-pop songs, documentaries and everything in-between.

I watched a couple of videos, listened to some songs and discovered fascinating patterns. So, I went down to the comment section. And it was rather interesting experience, should I say? The concept of entertainment industry in South Korea simply begged to be explored more after this. I dug deeper and visited Tumblr k-pop tags and briefly glanced upon Instagram and Twitter. And, oh...

I am a big picture person and I enjoy both studying and creating systems. This one was particularly fun to explore. I discovered a lot of new things for myself. Perhaps, you can discover something new for yourself too or take a step back and look at this from a new angle.

Disclaimer: it’s impossible not to offend someone on Tumblr, so keep that in mind. That being said, I do NOT intend to insult of offend anyone. It’s just a little research done for fun, because I love research with a purpose. This post is NOT A HATE post. No hate intended for fans, artists or other people involved. It’s meant to be a discussion, nothing more and nothing less. If it sounds like hate, it’s just my sarcastic sense of humour.

Content Warning: I mention suicide, death, depression, rape in a couple of sentences. There’s nothing major or graphic, but it’s there.

In this long post I decided to share with you my opinion, a so-called outsider perspective, on the world of music entertainment industry in South Korea and people involved in it on different levels. I use the word “outsider” mainly because, that’s exactly what I am in this case, as someone who is in no way involved in k-pop community. I can’t name you a single band or their members. I don’t know any solo artist and can’t neither sing nor name you any song.

And to be completely honest, I don’t think I will set my foot into k-pop fan-circles ever again after everything I saw.

Think of this as “In this essay I will...” meme, except there’s an actual essay.

As far as I know, in South Korea “k-pop” refers to all music produced in SK, including solo artists, various bands, singers-songwriters. It doesn’t even have to be pop music. Koreans include in this definition all genres of music. However, around the world “k-pop” means primarily music made by idol groups and bands marketed for children, teenagers and younger people. In this post I use the latter definition, because that’s how most people understand “k-pop” in other countries. Therefore, my statements, opinions and conclusions here would concern only idol music.

The music industry in South Korea is heavily influenced by culture and traditions of the country, just like all things are. And there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, different backgrounds are what makes people so interesting and unique. However, when combined with consumer mindset, desire to generate profit at any cost and fast-paced nature of modern life these neutral cultural elements could produce something concerning, and it can lead to disastrous consequences.

1. Idol

These people are called artists, musicians, singers, bands, groups, performers. In South Korea and in Japan, however, people call them Idols or Stars. I’ve also seen Muses, Princes and Queens. Interesting, isn’t it? The terminology used to describe these musicians in South Korea is one of the key elements in this whole entertainment system. You’ll see why.

But who or what is an idol exactly? Let’s take a basic definition from Wikipedia.

“In the practice of religion, a cult image or devotional image is a human-made object that is venerated or worshipped for the deity, person, spirit or daemon ... that it embodies or represents. In several traditions, including the ancient religions of Egypt, Greece and Rome, and modern Hinduism, cult images in a temple may undergo a daily routine of being washed, dressed, and having food left for them. Processions outside the temple on special feast days are often a feature. Religious images cover a wider range of all types of images made with a religious purpose, subject, or connection. In many contexts "cult image" specifically means the most important image in a temple, kept in an inner space, as opposed to what may be many other images decorating the temple.

The term idol is often synonymous with worship cult image. In cultures where idolatry is not viewed negatively, the word idol is not generally seen as pejorative, such as in Indian English.”

Cambridge Dictionary defines idol as follows:

And here’s the definition from Oxford Dictionary:

This is a centrepiece of this tapestry. Surely, you have noticed by now what these definitions have in common.

Idol = a cult image of a god, a deity

By calling these musicians “idols” industry makes society and audience treat them in certain way, namely as gods. What characteristics do gods possess? They are beautiful, talented, funny, confident and graceful, blessed by eternal youth of immortality. Gods have no flaws, they do not bleed, they are above human concerns. They are an embodiment of perfection. They are stars, you could not reach.

But real people are not like that. They can be sad and angry, insecure. People don’t have perfectly symmetrical faces. They can’t dance in sync without preparation. They can’t sing like angels at any given moment throughout the day.

What happens when idols accidentally reveal their humanity? What happens when people see, that they make mistakes and do stupid things, that they need to train hard to appear graceful on stage?

I will tell you. And it’s not pretty. But, first, let’s look at other elements of this system.

2. Y/N and Self-insert fantasy

Aside from the music, K-pop sells the self-insert fantasy to the audience. It’s carefully arranged to appear real, where the cracks are masked and every word is scripted. The reality is so vivid that one doesn’t even have to use imagination all that much, because all scenarios and decorations already exist. Countless interviews for TV and magazines, fan meetings, talk shows, reality shows made sure people are privy to all juicy details of personal lives and opinions of musicians. And also one word - merchandise. Some of that merch made me question my life choices. Some of it is, ah, creepy or has weird vibes. All of this provides plenty of material for people to work with. Fans can effortlessly imagine themselves beside their idols or even in their place.

In a highly competitive society, where people throw themselves into studying and work since young age, forming deep and lasting connections with others is very hard, sometimes impossible. As a result, people long to have a group of close friends with similar interests, a loving partner who would cherish them endlessly. People want to be rewarded for their backbreaking efforts to succeed by the carefree life of fame and music, everlasting friendships and love. And in a way you can’t really blame them for his.

Does this dream life sound familiar? We are looking at K-pop bands here. It doesn’t really matter if their members don’t always get along or that they can live in debt, that fame is fickle and adoring fans can tear your self-confidence to shreds. Audience wants the glamour of fantasy and the industry is more than happy to cater to these desires.

Perhaps, knowing that even for idols this fantasy is sometimes unattainable makes the whole set up feel just a little cruel.

3. Fans, stans and fandom culture

We’ve already established earlier that idols are gods in the eyes of people and listed traits they must possess. So, what else do gods need to exist? Worshippers. Because a cult is worth nothing without its followers. Gods need a group of people to worship them and spread their beliefs. The role of worshippers is performed by a fans in this case.

Apparently, there is a running joke that girl groups need to win a general public popularity and boy bands need a big passionate fandom. It seems to be true according to my observations.

In k-pop fandom people use the word “stan” to state that they like or support particular group. Now, I am sure everyone here knows that in other fandoms, dedicated to movies, shows, books and games there’s an important distinction between being a “fan” and a “stan”. What is it?

A fan is someone who likes a ship or character, creates and/or consumes fandom content, supports certain ideas, discusses things they enjoyed and disliked, criticises canon. Stans, however, are a different breed. They engage in all typical fandom activities, but their support and enjoyment becomes obsession. Stans believe their favourite characters and ships are immune to criticism, that they are superior no matter what others say. Stans start shipping wars, send anon hate, death threats over fictional characters and hurt real people. Stans are considered toxic fans. And majority of normal civilised people don’t like them and try their best to let stans hang out in their echo chamber by themselves.

In other fandoms and communities, to be a fan means to love, support and enjoy something, while to stan means to obsess over and hyperfixate on these same things. Words “I stan” rarely mean “I support” for most people, and if they do mean that, it’s only used in a joking manner (”We stan procrastination legend!”, “I stan our miscommunication kings”).

Everywhere else “stan” has only negative connotations, except in k-pop. But what has changed? What’s the difference? Why do international fans scoff at “shipper stans” and then turn around calling themselves “stans of X k-pop group” at the same time? Does it make you wonder?

And this is another core theme of k-pop, in my opinion. In fandom where stan = obsession = support, you can see interesting patterns.

Fandom loves their flawless gods. But watching them from afar is not enough for some people, because unlike deities in different religions, these gods live among us. People are very much aware of that. Industry has created a cult and laid the groundwork for worshippers to express their adoration in every way including personal contact. And who wouldn’t want to meet their god? Who wouldn’t want to know more about them or tell them how much you love them? In talk shows and fan meetings there is only so much one can do after all.

People desire to know more, to have more so much that their obsession transforms into concerning stalker tendencies. These crazy individuals follow idols, stalk them on social media, in hotels, research flight numbers, bribe security. Musicians were attacked and poisoned. I strongly suspect there were cases of rape that no one knows about. There is even a special term for these fans - “sasaeng”.

Is there a definition for stalkers of actors or musicians in western world? No, I’m pretty sure there isn’t. They are just called “invasive/obsessive fans” or “stalkers”.

Also, there are sasaeng memes. Yeah, you heard that right. I enjoy some classy dark humour as much as the next person, but there is a fine line between normal and questionable.

Back to the topic of stalkers. Do you realise how disturbing that is? Such behaviour is so common that there is a term for it. You create a fandom-cult, encourage people to worship k-pop idols as gods and then act surprised when members of said cult become fanatics and their adoration becomes obsession.

And it’s so easy to step on this slippery road. The system makes it ridiculously easy. Lines begin to blur. How much is too much? Where do you draw the line?

While sasaeng fans engage in extreme real-life obsession, people online aren’t that far off, to be honest. I’ve seen it all: imagines, headcanons, fanfiction, real-person shipping, reactions. Real person shipping is a controversial topic. Some people support it, others don’t. I suppose I’m among those who don’t get it. I’m not exactly against it, but I find it strange. Mainly because it’s based on assumptions made by fans about personalities and behaviour of real people.

Assumptions. Dear me! K-pop fandom has this thing with video compilations. I’ve never seen this phenomenon being so widespread in any other community or fandom. Basically people edit together a collection of short clips from talk-shows, interviews, Instagram stories, some YouTube videos, etc and then proceed to analyse every gesture, word, facial expression of idols and provide both audio and on-screen commentary. These videos and many other forms of similar analysis allow people to imagine what kind of personalities idols have, what kind of life do they live. It’s the source material for fanfiction, imagines and headcanons.

But it’s not real. It’ll never be real. It’s an illusion, an image, a stage persona. They fall in love with a face and made up personality. And I think that when people create this content they can forget this. Fans can develop certain emotional dependence and unhealthy attitudes in the long run. In some YouTube comments even supportive and encouraging words sound whiny and obsessive. And semantics of being a “stan” of certain group or individual doesn’t help.

4. Industry, companies and liars

At last we arrive at the most important aspect of music entertainment industry - its creators.

Have you seen “The Road to El Dorado”? It’s one of my all time favourites. It has iconic characters, adult jokes that I didn’t get as a child and iconic soundtrack. I’ll quote “It’s Tough To Be A God” a lot here.

In South Korea music industry is a factory, the production line to be exact. This kind of set up affects everything in the grand scheme of things. Companies and agencies play the role of training centres and record labels. And there are so many of them that a whole new scamming system developed based around fake idol agencies. It implies that there are people who fall for offers of these agencies and continue to do so. I suspect that victims must pay a fortune upfront before they realise their mistake. Are there any kind of legal protection against such scams? How can people verify the authenticity? Because a well masked scam can exist for a long time before someone discovers it and calls them out on their nonsense.

As far as I understand legal companies work like this. After high school, which is often focused on performing arts (and private schools can get away with using talents of students for personal gain, which is totally not surprising), young people can audition for an agency and become an idol in training or idol-trainee. And passing audition is hard. But good recommendations can help, connections too.

During training you don’t get paid. Only a few companies pay aspiring musicians. People can spend years in training and don’t debut. But rent, necessities, clothing and food (not that you need much of it, but more on that later) cost a lot. Where do you get the money to live then? Support from parents, one or two part time jobs at most and bank loans. Surprise! We found an unexpected (just kidding, it’s very obvious) party, who reaps benefits from the system.

You need skill to be an idol. Natural talent helps too. The more skills you have, the cheaper and faster your training is. To level up your game you attend classes every month offered by your agency, which are not cheap (dance classes range from 400$ to 1000$ per month, sometimes more). There are four main categories in evaluation process: vocals, rapping, dancing and visuals. Idols are multitaskers, to have a chance on stage one must be perfect at everything. And people are ready to invest thousands of dollars into their kids training so that they could have a chance in entertainment industry. South Korea thrives on revenue k-pop industry generates every day.

Let’s pause here for a second and think about what kind of people come to these agencies. The answer is easy. People who have a dream, a desire, a real goal. You don’t wake up one day and decide to become a k-pop idol. Sometimes people get invited by agencies (after prior acting, modelling career or any other form of exposure). These people are usually very young. Some start straight after high school, some after university, but 25 years old is considered a late start. Compare that to western musicians who start singing at any age and still become famous.

But why this age limit? Because idols are eternally young. So that in public eye musicians are remembered as 20 year old gods. People would listen to their music and imagine a young attractive face. Career in k-pop is short, it lasts 5-7 years, rarely longer than that. It’s even less than modelling or acting can offer. And professional sportsmen retire in their late 30′s. Some play longer, but usually, that’s it.

If you live in Los Angeles and say that you want to be an actor or performer, no one would bat an eye. It’s like saying that you want to be an engineer or accountant. Similarly, in South Korea becoming an k-pop musician is a real career. Because part of the self insert fantasy that the industry sells is the idea that anyone can be an idol. It’s easy after all. Anyone can pass auditions and become a trainee. A trainee with no guarantee of debut. But one should never underestimate the power of idol-dream. After all, idea is the most resilient parasite.

“My friends started training in kindergarten. They have wanted to become idols since young”

“A lot of young kids get interested in Korean music”

A 6-year old child sees the performance of k-pop group for the first time on TV. Let’s say it’s a girl. She is enraptured and decides that she will be like that too someday. She grows up, while being part of the fandom, just like all idols are in one way or another and whose fan-obsession transforms into desire to succeed. Her parents spend time and money to find her tutors, to fund dancing and singing classes. Perhaps in high school this girl decides to fix the shape of her eyes and make nose straighter. She trains hard and passes the auditions in her dream agency. And during training this girl faces the reality of behind the scenes life in music industry.

“Why are you crying? I’m not even pushing you”

“How many times have I told you? The rest are doing it perfectly”

“She is dancing like an elementary school student“

“I watched your performance as a spectator who bought a ticket to your concert. I want a refund“

“You make my ears hurt. I don’t want to listen at all”

“Listening to you was tiring”

“I’ll kick you out instead. You won’t debut”

“I thought I was going to die. That’s how determined I was”

While I do understand that keeping a high quality standards in media industry is important, there are more productive and healthy ways to motivate someone to improve and be more passionate, you know? Constantly insulting people with sadistic glee and putting them down at every opportunity or calling them ugly to their face doesn’t do much.

Do you think that children know about this? Do they know about soulless teachers and belittling managers? Do they know about friends who are really your competition, so you shouldn’t get attached? Do they know about living in debt? Do they know any of this? No, I don’t think they do.

Children dream about the stage, about the sea of lights and crowds who chant your names. They want adoring fans and photoshoots. They want to appear on TV and magazine covers. Teenagers want the thrill of performance, they want to share their music and dancing with others.

“I don’t know how many times I cried alone”

The truth is cruel. But they won’t give up easily even if it means sleeping 4-5 hours and consuming no more than 500 calories per day. Because giving up means that your whole life was a lie. One can’t afford not to be good enough. Giving up means admitting that all efforts and money your family invested into your dream were in vain. It means losing face before your family and friends - a fate worse than death. Imagine living this idol dream and building your whole future around it and then being told that you’ll never debut because of the circumstances outside of your control or something minor, like face shape or 1 kg of weight that your body refuses to lose. It can break you. Especially if you are like 18 or something.

5. “And who am I to bridle if I'm forced to be an idol If they say that I'm a God, that's what I am”

“I don’t think there’s anything a tough as being a trainee in Korea”

Once you are a trainee at the agency your personal life does not belong to you anymore. You can’t go out without permission of the agency. You phone is taken away. Your diet and weight are monitored. Bad habits are not allowed (no smoking, drinking or drugs). Oh! I think I found the good thing in the system! Unfortunately, it won’t last. Trainees can’t date or meet with family without permission of agency. Dating is very taboo. Even established idols can’t openly date.

Why is that? Because gods can’t belong to anyone. Their lives are property of the fandom. Because openly dating idols destroy the self-insert fantasy. There was a former idol girl who dated another musician. She was called a whore by her fans, her loving and adoring stans. You might know who I am talking about. Would you call an American actor or singer a prostitute for dating someone?

Trainees sign the contract. And how can a young person straight out of school or university know much about what makes a good contract in entertainment industry or what makes a good contract in general? Even if you do understand the terms fully you would still sign it because if you have come so far, you can’t let your dream slip this easily. There isn’t a choice. Not really. If you want to debut, you will agree to anything.

What about life after debut? You have to pay off your loans. And company takes 60-70% of your group’s earnings. Artists themselves get 30-40% and split it between themselves. K-pop groups have from 5 to 10 members or more than that. Each person gets less than 6%. Idols are not filthy rich. They are not. These earnings are practically nothing compared to the work you have put into this.

Idols are musicians, who often don’t even write their own songs, music or create choreography. But if public doesn’t like the song and musical number the company created, they blame idols for the failure. Such an amazing logic we see right here. But people say that sharing music is the best part of idol life. But whose music?

Models on catwalk are not there to demonstrate their physical beauty, they are blank canvas for works of clothing designers. Same with k-pop musicians. They act like puppets in a way, whose faces and voices are used to show audience someone’s music and songs. Some groups do write their own music and lyrics and it’s nice to know that. But those, who don’t are rather unfortunate. It’s a nice tool of psychological control and pressure for an agency. They can hold it over group and use the following rhetoric: “We gave you everything! Why can’t you follow the simple instructions” or “Where would you be without us? It’s not even your music!”

I called k-pop industry a factory. That’s true. Dozens of people become trainees every year. These talented young people are fully prepared to do anything to achieve their goal. They are ready to practice until they collapse, starve themselves and pour themselves into every song. Companies know that. Tell me why would they value their idols as individuals, as people, as human beings if they always have a replacement? Why bother with mental health of their artists if next year they could have a fresh set of people, who are younger and prettier? Why try to improve relationships inside groups if you could fire any member and replace them within a month or two?

In western countries famous bands have different stories. Some were friends since high school, who played in bars and during festivals and then they were noticed by some representative of label company, who offered them a contract. Some groups were formed by like-minded people who bonded and decided to share their music with the world. There are many stories, but ultimately the have one thing in common. Bands in the West often form themselves. These people had time to bond, connect, discover each other, solve some disagreements and learn to work around their differences.

K-pop groups are formed by their agencies. They are their property in a way. Company selects the best and puts together these total strangers, appoints the leader with marketable face and personality and then expects them to work together like a well-oiled machine. No one has time to bond during training, because other people are you competition, not friends. And then you must learn to work as a team and be best friends on camera for the audience to support the self-insert fantasy. It’s no wonder that k-pop groups don’t get along sometimes. And every member knows that they are replaceable. It doesn’t help in forming connections. Groups can’t just terminate contract and go to work with another agency. I heard it happens sometimes, but it’s not a done thing. Unlike in other countries where bands just sign the deal with a different label and release their music under their name if they don’t like the old conditions.

“It's tough to be a God But if you get the people's nod Count your blessings, keep them sweet, that's our advice Be a symbol of perfection Be a legend, be a cult Take their praise, take a collection As the multitudes exalt Don a supernatural habit We'd be crazy not to grab it So sign up two new Gods for paradise”

But is it really a paradise?

Idols are expected to act cute, to match personalities created for them by fans or media. They have to act according to the concept of their group. They have to be a symbol of perfection: skinny, single and with a face perfected by surgery. They are allowed to mess up, but only in a cute way. They can break down and cry, but only if it’s “aesthetic”.

Weight issues are a separate topic. Sometimes I wonder whether managers in companies understand how weight loss or human body in general works. To be honest, I think that scales in agencies are rigged. And only managers know that. I know it can be done from personal experience. Some beach resorts tweak their scales and make them show 4-6 kg less than actual weight, so people wouldn’t get upset if they gain some. There is no way a girl as tall as I am (173 cm) could weigh like 47-50 kg and be able to perform complex choreography on stage and sing without being out of breath, visit the gym on a regular basis and generally function as a normal human without fainting every other day.

“I developed a lot of eating disorders”

“I think I consumed about 300 calories today“

“Someone, please, trim the fat off her arms”

If you grow up thinking of idols as gods and then, when you become one of them you think that you must act as one too. But being an easily replaceable god is a heavy burden. The industry, companies and audience want you to be perfect, to always be on your best behaviour. And the thought of not being good enough or divine enough terrifies you, because stans have no mercy (black ocean concept is the most stupid thing ever by the way). This kind of pressure can destroy even the most resilient. And it does.

Almost everyone knows that situation with mental health in South Korea is not the best to put it lightly. In many ways it’s a cultural thing. But in k-pop mental health issues are treated with even less care. Gods are not supposed to be depressed or suicidal. They are not supposed to have fears or insecurities, can’t be upset or angry. They try hard to be this deity, this image. So, even when they realise they need professional help or even a friend to talk to, they either won’t seek said help or reach out only to be met with silence. Some agencies disapprove or forbid therapy altogether.

Sometimes fandom becomes self-aware.

“Don’t forget that idols are people too!”

“Your favourite idols are running out of breath just to keep you entertained“

“They are humans, who have feelings!”

Oh, but here’s the thing, my friend. The industry doesn’t want you to think of them as people. Companies and media repeatedly reinforce the idea that they are not people, they are your idols. And strangely enough, the audience supports this idea. People continue to call them idols, developing worshiping tendencies in the process, imitate them, scrutinise their flaws and triumphs. Because, you know, only “real and ordinary humans” can have flaws, not “idols”.

So people who say “they are human too” and people who say “wow, this concert was amazing, but vocals in the beginning were so off-key, I simply can’t” are one and the same.

This thought process would have been funny if it wasn’t so disappointing. But that’s just my observation.

And here’s another thing about sexualisation. I said before how appearances are everything, marketable face and body could drastically improve your chances to succeed. Companies know about this too and concepts and aesthetics of groups are designed accordingly. Girls are dressed in skimpy outfits, their dances are unnecessary suggestive, they wear heavy make up and try to have “mature” vibes. Boys don’t avoid such objectification either: suits, tight pants and dress shirts along with make up and hairstyle to give audience a promise of the things to come. Grown adults are not supposed to lust after 15-17 year olds. You can’t just create a sexy stage persona for teenagers. Do you remember my earlier words about creepy merch? Yeah. All of it neatly plays into the self-insert fantasy and encourages obsessive behaviour.

This happens in western countries too. In some way that’s understandable. Beautiful and sexy image with a hint of innocence attracts more people and sells, because it caters to one of the base human instincts. But some things make your skin crawl.

Sponsorships are another topic. Some k-pop bands seek out sponsors to provide financial aid and cover expenses, when earnings are not enough. Sometimes these sponsorships are fine, perfectly civil. But sometimes it’s a prostitution. Girl groups receive money and provide sexual favours to their patrons. It’s a way for the group to gain financial support and even find new opportunities in the industry. Companies can encourage such deals. Let that sink in for a moment.

6. “Any advice to those who want to become a k-pop idol?”

A lot of former idols and trainees have similar responses to this question.

“I don’t want to discourage anyone, but think twice”

“You only see the glamorous side, but don’t see all the hard work that goes into it”

“It’s not what you think”

“They think ‘Since I am good looking and can sing and dance really well, maybe I should become an idol?’, but there is much more to it“

“They think it’s something that is easy and will keep their family set for life financially”

And this implies that most people don’t know what kind of lifestyle k-pop stars truly have, despite the amount of information available online about “behind the scenes” proceedings.

7. Moving on

I am a practical person and every decision I make is subjected to scrutiny. And after seeing everything I can't help but wonder whether idols believe it's truly worth it. What keeps the industry alive is the idol-dream, the wilful ignorance of its reality and youthful idealism, the beautiful naïve belief that it'll get better, even if it never does in the end.

Sure no one would ever admit it out loud, because it's one of those things you never say on camera, no matter how sincere you have to be. It's the matter of professionalism after all, and idols have it spades. And also, because admitting this would equal admitting that you spent your best years doing something you both loved and hated, admitting that this was a mistake.

When you grow up in a society where appearances matter the most, where saving face and being polite is more important than staying true to yourself, where individuality is tolerated only to a certain point, it takes a lot of courage to admit that you need a break. I greatly respect those who decided that idol lifestyle is not for them and moved on.

8. Conclusion

To sum up, I hope you enjoyed my small research and this perspective, since you have read it all the way to the end.

You have noticed that entertainment industry is an intricate system and its every component makes sure nothing changes. Companies have power over idols and audience, fandom has power over idols and their careers, and musicians themselves have fame and their music, but not always the promised fortune or happiness.

It’s important to understand the big picture to draw your own conclusions and encourage positive and heathy attitudes in fandoms. Being open minded and allowing people to make mistakes and live their lives the way they want to is a part of being a decent person. People don’t owe anything to others. Art is about sharing your thoughts and feelings, promoting ideas and spreading beauty. It’s not always about money. And I think that this is what k-pop lacks as an industry. It turned dreams and human need for self-expression into business. Here everything is turned into a product. Everything idols touch can be sold, sometimes literally. Industry created problems, which can’t be solved anymore, because doing so would topple the system. And I find it tragic. Trapped in an endless chase after perfection creators of k-pop forgot that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.

If you take a look at comment sections and posts on different platforms, what will you see? What kind of things resonate with audience? What makes people laugh and cry? When people start to appreciate the substance?

“Everyone needs to hear this song in their darkest moments”

“Thank you for your music!”

“They always deliver! These guys can’t make a bad song!”

“It inspired me to write again!”

“Their songs brought me and my sister together once again”

“This is what happens when you let groups write their own music - they make incredible things”

“They really are legends of k-pop! I love that they are not afraid to show their inner strength”

“Stay strong! You rock!”

I believe that the answer is quite simple: when it’s real, sincere. It’s all about the message you choose to send to your audience, because only superficial things cause obsession. When you say that the sparkly façade is all that matters, then that’s the only thing people will ever care about. Your audience will never give a damn about the meaning behind dancing, music or lyrics, if you tell them that performance is more important. No one would praise WHAT k-pop idols sing, instead they would prefer wasting breath to criticize HOW they sing or look or move.

I dare the k-pop industry to prove people that it’s not just about looks or perfection, or laser shows, or being a branding machine. Prove to your fans that k-pop artists are also passionate people with big dreams and talent, who love every moment of their job, who live and inspire, who are human just like us and whose humanity is real!

Do it, you cowards!

And now, I’m finished. I can hear the raging crowd of k-pop fandom in the distance, which means it’s time to hide. See you some other time!

#k-pop #korean music #k-rock #k-pop idol #k-pop meta #k-pop discussion #k-pop fandom criticism

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blancheludis · 5 years

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A/N: @iron-man-bingo square: Morgan Stark

Fandom: Marvel, MCU Characters: Tony Stark/Pepper Potts, Morgan Stark Tags: Family, Fluff, Dad Tony, Tony Lives, post-Endgame Words: 2.284

Summary: Morgan Stark is seventeen and smart. She could have followed in her father's footsteps and skipped some grades to go to college early. Other than her father, however, her home has never felt like something she needs to flee from. She has always been loved. Sometimes that makes telling the truth all the harder.

"I don't want to go to MIT."

---

Morgan loves her father without doubt and she has never had reason to assume he does not love her either. Yet, Morgan has been standing outside his office for ten minutes, unable to go in.

It is a silly thing, to be afraid of a conversation. She carries the blood of both Starks and the legendary Pepper Potts inside her. Fear is not something that suits her, not without doing something about it.

“Boss is asking whether you plan to come in at some point,” FRIDAY speaks up, making Morgan flinch.

Considering that she grew up with the AI being a constant presence in her life, she should not be taken by surprise by a disembodied voice talking to her. It is all a question of focus, she guesses.

Instead of answering, Morgan gathers her courage and knocks on the door to the office.

“Come in,” comes the slightly sarcastic response from inside.

Her dad sits facing the door, immediately smiling when she comes into sight. He has gone completely grey over the past years, but his eyes never seem to grow old. They are still filled with the same kind of boundless love she has always seen in them. The same kind of inventive spirit, too. Her mum has bemoaned the fact that he has yet to spend any less time in the workshop. That is not entirely correct, Morgan knows. She stumbles over the two of them cuddled up on the porch often enough to know that her dad has learned to take breaks.

“Dad,” she greets, not quite able to pull up a smile of her own. The nerves in her stomach are making that impossible for now. “Can we talk?”

He sits up straighter but otherwise looks no less willing to listen. “Always,” he says and means it.

He points at the couch facing the desk, but when she does not move, he gets up and guides her to it, sitting down right next to her. Being this close to him does not actually make it easier to begin talking. Like this, she will see every bit of his reaction on his face, unable to hide from it.

Morgan Stark is seventeen and smart. She could have followed in her father’s footsteps and skipped a few grades to go to college early. Contrary to her father, however, her home has never felt like something she needs to flee from. She has taken her time, grown up loved with her entire extended family around.

But now she is seventeen and smart and afraid. Courage and rationalism are in her blood, but some things are harder to face than others, and the possibility, however small, of disappointing her father is the hardest of all.

Staring down at her clenched hands, Morgan takes a deep breath, then forces herself to look up.

“I don’t want to go to MIT.”

There it is. The words passed over her lips as if she has not been churning them over and over for weeks, months even. Now they are hanging between them, untouched for a long moment.

She looks very hard but does not see her father’s face changing. His eyebrow twitches a little in surprise, but his smile stays in place, never wavering.

“All right,” he says with the same nonchalance he uses when a design did not work on the first try and they have to try again. “I can imagine it’s daunting to think the professors might compare everything you do to your brothers’ work. There are other good colleges.”

Morgan does not think it matters where she goes. Everybody knows the Stark name. If not for the company then for the fact that her father saved the entire universe. That tends to be a recognizable feat.

“I know,” she says, then hesitates again and hating that she does. Her mother raised her better than this. “I don’t want to study engineering at all.”

The words feel like projectiles even though she speaks them softly, not wanting to hurt her dad. Although that seems impossible to avoid at this point. She knows he has had dreams about Peter, Harley and her pushing Stark Industries to new heights, to shape the future into something better than he ever thought himself capable of.

Well, Morgan is sure that Peter and Harley will still do that. They are already doing most of the work for the company, leaving Tony to tinker with his own projects, only speaking up when he thinks he has made something worthwhile for them to put on the market.

Only Morgan has yet to join their ranks – and she does not want to. She has known that for a while too, but thought the feeling would pass, leaving her not in the unfortunate position of bashing her dad’s dreams.

Tony looks confused for a moment, forehead crunched into a frown. “You don’t?”

He sounds so lost there that Morgan’s stomach cramps into a tight ball, threatening to steal her air. “I’m so sorry,” she presses out. “I didn’t know how to tell you, but now with you getting all the college applications for me I’m just –” She stumbles over the words, has to pause to swallow. “I mean, I can do a minor in engineering, but it’s not what I want to major in.”

Her eyes drop, ashamed of the way her voice has grown so weak, and unwilling to watch the heartbreak on her father’s face.

“But all the time we spent in the workshop together,” Tony says, trailing off. He sounds not yet hurt, just like he is still not understanding what she is saying.

“I know. I loved it,” she says hurriedly. Of all the things she had anticipated, she did not think of her dad immediately zeroing in on the fact that he has wasted hundreds of hours of guiding her through the work in the lab. “I really do, and I don’t want to stop building things with you.”

Some of her fondest childhood memories were made down in the workshop. Then again, she will remember her entire childhood fondly. That is the magic of having a loving family. Only now she is about to crush a big part of that.

“Morgan, honey,” Tony says and reaches out to tip up her chin so she has to look at him again. Even when his hand falls away, she keeps looking. His eyes are wide, not angry as much as almost afraid. “Are you telling me you were just coming to the workshop with me because you thought that’s what I wanted? Not because you liked it?”

All Morgan can do for a long moment is stare. The terror in her dad’s voice has her paralyzed. How is this what he took away from her refusal to follow his career choices?

“No,” she exclaims, too loud in her need to get it out. Softer but no less firm, she tries again. “Dad, no. Working with you is wonderful. The workshop is my favourite place in the house. It’s just –” She shrugs, feeling entirely helpless. “It’s not what I want to do with my life. I didn’t want to disappoint you, so I never told you.”

The ensuing silence is as absolute as it is short-lived. The worry does not disappear from Tony’s face, but his smile is back, less brilliant but just as honest.

“You could never disappoint me, honey,” he says, carefully intoning each word. Her doubt must still be visible on her face, because he shifts closer, takes her hand and holds them with an urgent gentleness. “I wouldn’t be disappointed even if you became an artist like Steve and spent the rest of your life drawing the same picture with the same three crayons. I mean, you’ve inherited my lack of artistic talent, so I’d recommend you reconsider, but I want you to do what you want.” Without dropping the smile, Tony’s face becomes serious, leaving no room for misinterpretation that he does not mean what he is saying. “You’re the most important person in my life, and I will always be proud of you, no matter what you’re doing.”

Moran believes him, but she is not sure whether that is because she so desperately wants to.

“But –” she tries to argue, not sure what she is going to say but convinced that she has to offer him a way out of the absolute statement he has just made.

“No buts,” Tony says, squeezing her hands. “I’ve got the boys to build crazy new things for me. And even without them, I’d never force you into a life you don’t want.”

“That’s – I’m –” Morgan stammers, but there is no escaping the fact that he means his words. “Thank you.”

Tony nods and lets go of her hands but looks anything but happy. “It feels like I’ve failed as a father if you worried about this.”

Her dad, Morgan knows, is full of doubt, second-guessing his every step. It never felt that way when she spent time with him because he was always her safe place. Growing older, though, there was no more hiding from the fact that he has a lot of regrets, a lot of untraveled paths he thinks about.

Uncle Happy had reassured her once that, no matter what regrets her dad might have, he would not change anything since it brought her into his life. Morgan is her father’s ultimate gift. As far as reassurances about being loved go, this left her with little to no doubts about that. At the same time, it also brought its own kind of pressure.

“You’re the best father,” Morgan says and she has never meant anything more than this. She cannot imagine she could have had a better life with anyone else.

“Well,” Tony says, his smile turning brighter again, “you’re the best daughter so you made it very easy for me.” They share a smile, and it is only when he keeps talking that Morgan realizes that her reasons to worry are not quite over. “Now, do you want to tell me what you’re going to do? I need to know whether I have to buy crayon stocks.”

Feeling heat rush into her cheeks, Morgan bites her lips. She hesitates, even though there is still nothing but warmth on her dad’s face.

“Medicine,” she says quietly, almost as if she hopes he would not hear it and not ask for clarification either. “I talked to Dr. Cho and she has agreed to let me intern with her over the summer.”

Medicine is a respectable field, she knows that, but it is one of the squishy sciences, or so she has heard her father and brothers joke. It feels like she is trading up the chance to save the world, one genius invention at the time, for helping individuals on a much smaller scale. She has been taught to think big and it is like she is regressing from that.

She need not have worried, for her father’s face brightens further.

“That’s great,” he exclaims as if going to medical school has been the plan all along. “Helen does so much good. You will learn loads from her.”

He sounds genuinely excited for her, and yet Morgan has to ask, “You’re not angry?”

“Never.” Tony says, leaving no room for argument. Morgan wishes she had that much conviction for anything. “Well,” he then amends with half a grin, “who knew before me?”

“Mum,” Morgan replies sheepishly. “And Peter. They both told me it’s stupid to worry about your reaction, but that was easy for them to say. It’s just –”

Tony looks like he is going to have a serious conversation with his wife about this later, about letting him run into this without warning. But when he looks at Morgan, his face is filled with nothing but love.

“You will be the best doctor, just you wait and see,” he says, sounding like she has already done something to be proud of. “You will do more good in the world than I ever could.” It does not seem to matter to him that he brought half of the universe back from the dead, a feat that is hard to top. “Now, do you already have a college in mind? I’m afraid I’ll have to do some research before I can offer a meaningful opinion.”

“You’ll help?” Morgan asks before she can stop herself. Her dad does not look any less excited about the prospect of medical school than he was about engineering colleges.

“See if you can stop me,” he sniffs but keeps a close eye on her. “I want you to be happy. That’s all. The rest will fall into place.”

Finally, Morgan feels the worry sitting in her stomach dissipate. There is no doubt that her dad means what he says. Later, she will tell Peter and gladly suffer his litany of I told you sos. For now, she shifts forward, sinking into her dad’s embrace, his arms opening for her immediately.

“Thank you, Dad.”

Without seeing his face, she knows he is smiling. There is a warmth to his embrace that has her feeling like the entire world is rearranging itself to accommodate her, like nothing can go wrong.

“Promise me you’ll never be afraid to tell me anything again?” he murmurs into her hair. “I love you, Morgoona. I’ll never love you any less. Only ever more.”

There is nothing to do but believe him. It is the same for her, after all. In this family, no one gets left behind. They might be chaotic and messy and loud, but they all love each other.

“I love you too, Dad.”

#iron man bingo 3000 #iron family #tony stark #morgan stark #marvel #post endgame #tony lives #fanfiction #fluff #my writing #ao3

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denimini · 5 years

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2018 recap: Part 1

Hi, guys! A little late but here's the first part of my 2018 recap series that I promised a while ago. Please note that these posts are not intended to serve as a summary or a time capsule of the last 12 months but as my personal reflection on the changes and issues I observed as I closed my second full year as a BTS fan. Feel free to comment and give your personal opinion. This is a discussion! Here we go:

THE SUCCESS

2018 was BTS's most successful year yet in whatever way you may define "success". Statistically speaking, they charted the highest in their careers, got their most views and sales, some amazing sponsorship deals, had their biggest spike in the gp's recognition, no doubt earned a lot of money, received a lot of home and international appreciation and attention. On a personal level, you can say they're very successful, as well because they have the opportunity to earn their (substantial) living doing what they love, the means to take care of their families' needs and the joy of reaping the fruits of years of very hard working.

Sounds great, right?

Well, sort of.

The thing with success is, though, that a lot more often than not it is a very unforgiving ride. You get one thing given and three things taken. In terms of BTS, this was a year that truly challenged, rewarded and challenged them harder again. No-one can say if it was their toughest yet except for them, but it sure wasn't easy at all.

There's a lot that happens behind the scenes that we will never know of. That is something never to be forgotten. By now everyone should be aware that the beginning of 2018 was awful for the group and its members. Although no details have been given, multiple times we've heard they struggled, suffered and even contemplated disbanding. The pressure of their increasing popularity, as well as the recently discovered inside staff betrayals, combined with (I believe) personal issues we are not privy of, resulted in a tremulous beginning of the year. The extent of the severity of the situation then has only become known.

Thank you Kim Seokjin (and the rest of the group) for being brave enough to bring this issue to life in an industry where a lot of the problems are the same, yet no-one talks about them. Partly, because kpop is a dog eats dog world and any blood in the water is a call to the sharks but also, because of the fairytale, sugary, all is well in paradise image kpop likes to uphold.

In the second and third parts of the year, things seemed to have looked up for the group. Two comebacks, high chartings and a world tour made for a very busy time for the members. Privacy became increasingly hard to obtain, injuries happened (and who knows what more) and one of the biggest scandals they had to face in their careers - the sh**t issue (please sensor!). Much has been said about it and it truly was an awful period for the group, Jimin, and the fandom, so I’m not going in depth about it but make no mistake, what happened was as much political scapegoating as it was a deliberate try of defamation coming from malicious rival sides. On top of all - death threats, slander, using for clout, media play, crazy sasaengs.. you name it, BTS got it.

Success is a rotten apple, indeed.

Still, the past year brought a lot with it and signified an important change: BTS made a very big step into being seen as real artists and becoming known to the general public, especially in the US market. As 2018 statistics recently came out, we got the chance to see exactly how much BTS sold and were streamed worldwide and USA-wise, namely ranking next to enormous names in the industry in the likes of Imagine Dragons, Taylor Swift, Drake etc.

They really are on a global level now which must be a lot of pressure for them, as they're the first Koreans to achieve such position, the first foreigner even in a long time and moreover, the first who don't conform to the "sing in English" previously set condition.

It cannot be overstated when we say they're making history, they are a phenomenon and be sure that anyone who is anyone in the global musical, financial and marketing world keeps a close eye on them (and us).

The group and the fandom are being watched and studied from all sides and it all comes down to one thing - MONEY. For a long time, it was perceived that in order to break into the global music market and truly rank up the cash you have to be, look, sing and act a certain way - the industry's rules. Then these seven boys came - looking differently than the perceived ideal, wearing make-up, dancing like a storm and most importantly - singing in KOREAN. And yet, they have the power of an industry giant and an ability to sale, bigger than many many known "stars". It is no exaggeration when we say that whatever BTS touch, turns to gold now - stocks rise, cars get pre-ordered, stadiums get sold out.

BTS are a business wonder and all eyes are on them.

(Which they perfectly know, hence the pressure and struggle to "fit the titles".)

No doubt one of their biggest challenges in 2018 was adjusting to this new role they had to fit without losing their core values and themselves. Many people would let the success go to their heads or stray from their direction but BTS seem to be doing fine. They stick to what has always driven them - making sincere music that touches people and are painfully aware of the fleeting and temporary nature of said success. Which is good because it means they don't take it for granted and hopefully, get to enjoy this (historical, really) ride.

Make no mistakes, though, the road is far from finished. They may be more internationally recognized and perceived more as the artists they are than “another boy band teenage girls are crazy for”, but the attacks against them won't stop, the fandom is getting bigger and more chaotic by the day (we'll talk about it more in an upcoming part) and the xenophobia against them is real. Two #1 Billboard albums and a Top 10 Song yet so little radio play? Well, welcome to the incredibly closed off and money ruled music business. It's definitely not helping that they're Asians, too, the minority with probably the least representation in the entertainment industry, in the USA at least.

So, gear up, nothing is finished and nothing is over yet. A lot of work is yet to be done.

Upcoming: Part 2: The Company

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emisonme · 6 years

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Hopefully my last Tyren post....

Some of you, really need to take a deep breath and calm down a little bit. I am just as irritated about this whole Tyren mess as you are, but there isn't a damn thing we can do about it. It's business, and they'll put an end to it, when they are ready.

Some of you are pissed, that Lauren is publicly defending Ty, and his actions. Do you all honestly think Lauren Jauregui was fine with basically being called a whore, on the air. They made Lauren sound like his fucking bitch. Like she wakes up every damn morning and fixes his ass a fucking breakfast burrito. The girl who said her damn Label treats her like a slave, is going to be fine and dandy being paid in inches, instead of dollars, I don't think so.

So, why did she defend him? To make it "real", and probably because it was all part of the deal. This fandom is well known for being quite brutal, when something is happening they don't like. There's also a really big chance, it's not Lauren doing it, at all.

Let's focus on something here. Ty said he didn't have to pay Lauren to feature on his song, IYP. Lauren's twitter account said she paid herself by writing her part. That you don't charge loved ones. The fact is, she's in a 360 contract with Syco/Epic. They are not going to let Lauren feature on someone else’s shit and not get something out of it.

Let's go back a bit to find a possible answer. Ty $ featured on the first single of the 7/27 album. Ty was brought on courtesy of Atlantic Records. In fact, he was one of three artists from Atlantic to feature on the 7/27 album, Ty, Fetty Wap, and Missy Elliott. So, it would seem, there was some kind of deal struck between Epic and Atlantic, to use their artists. (Let's not forget, that Roger's 300 Ent. is under Atlantic as well)

Now, if he didn't have to pay Lauren, that means, a deal was made, quid pro quo. Something for something. Ty announced in mid 2016 that he had started production on BH3. I'm going to speculate here and say the deal was a feature for a feature. It didn't have to be a member of 5H, but an Epic artist. BUT, with the major success of WFH, and the amazing power of a unified Harmonizer fan base, WFH got Ty a major hit, his first awards, and more name recognition.

I'm pretty sure in my thinking, when I say, the extent of the Harmonizers like and support for Ty, was limited to WFH. How many of you would have rushed to purchase or stream Ty's music? I'm thinking probably NO ONE! So, how do you get the Harmonizers to keep supporting him, and his music. You give the Harmonizers a reason, LAUREN!!!

Why Lauren? Well, a few reasons. She was coming out as Bisexual, Camila was leaving, and Lauren was fixing to be the new "it girl". I said before, THEY needed a boy for her to parade around with after she publicly came out as Bi. Ty fit the bill. Plus, being "connected" to him, is getting her a more mature image and fan base.

Ty is not a household name. Though, he has been in the Industry longer than the girls, his music is not as popular as 5H's and hasn't really sold well. Definitely not as well as 5H. He is better known for his features. That's just the truth. WFH got him more notoriety. They hoped a "relationship" with Lauren and a song on his album, (that may or may not be a single) would make the Harmonizers come out for his music and improve his album sales. It really is that simple!!

People are pissed, that Tyren is "destroying" Lauren's image. THEY are not all that worried about her image, if I'm being honest. I said it before, I'll say it again: THEY love to build people up, to tear them down, just to build them back up again.

This fandom has witnessed them do it once already, with Camila. THEY built her up, to be the most popular in the group. THEY, then destroyed her image, within the fan base, and then, built her back up, again. They are doing the same thing with Lauren. Same tactic, different method.

They, unfortunately, did have Ty publicly "confirm" his "relationship" with Lauren. Not only that, he put a time frame on it. All that does, is make the "break-up" when it happens, more dramatic. The media will eat it up.

Putting the time frame of February on it, was also productive. It's meant to curb the Lauren cheated on Lucy crap, because it was obvious there was "trouble" in Laucy land in January. Remember, they both attended the Women's march, but not together. It also boosts his Ex's story line in her reality show, that he cheated on her with Lauren. He was seen still hobnobbing with the Ex in February, as well.

They start filming those reality shows months in advance of their airing. So, they had to get the "plot" out into the public for her story line for the show. No one would have known what she was all pissed off about, if she hadn't tweeted out that tweet, how ever long ago it was now.

It could just be the way my mind works, but the fact my mind was able to connect these dots, tells me all I need to know. All the dots connect into a nicely planned PR stunt.

When will it end? Only they know. I can say, tomorrow wouldn't be soon enough, for me. I'm getting tired of seeing Lauren mistreated by her own damn fandom over this stupid shit.

P.S. Before you come at me, again, calling me a fucking racist, my opinion on Tyren being a PR stunt has nothing to do with Ty's race. I have written two posts now, connecting the dots that show that it has all the tell-tale signs of a PR stunt. Nothing more nothing less.

For those of you who come at me saying, if I think Tyren are a PR stunt, do I think it's possible Camren was just a PR stunt, too. The answer is quite simple. You don't try and hide a PR stunt. You don't forbid the Ship name of a PR stunt, from being mentioned. You don't limit the public interactions of a PR stunt, to interviews and award shows, and you definitely don't put a stop to social media interactions, of a PR stunt. So NO! I don't think Camren was just a PR stunt!!!!!

#tyren #pr stunt #fifth harmony #camren

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projectalbum · 6 years

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First 100 down. 96. “Rockin’ the Suburbs,” 97. “Ben Folds Live,” 98. “Songs for Silverman,” 99. “Way to Normal,” 100. “Stems and Seeds,” 101. “Lonely Avenue,” 102. “So There” by Ben Folds

I owe Nick Hornby for the introduction.

The High Fidelity author’s collection of essays on pop music, Songbook, made the case for Ben Folds’ contributions to the canon in a chapter on “Smoke.” Hornby writes so persuasively, in a deceptively casual style that I’m perhaps a bit too pretentious to ever approach with my own pop culture writing. There’s a lot of music covered in his book that I failed to investigate on my own. But that particular passage must have triggered something in the back of my mind, some residual impression of “Brick,” perhaps, which sent me to the Web for those first BFF tracks (none of which were “Smoke,” by the way, though I agree with Hornby’s appraisal of its lyrical strength).

It quickly became a total fandom— I now have all the official LP’s, band and solo, and the EP’s are floating in the digital ether of hard drives and burned discs. I even bought the soundtrack to the little-remembered Dreamworks quirky CG animal picture Over The Hedge, to which Folds contributed several original tracks (a soundtrack that marked his most recent collaboration with William Shatner, a pairing that also yielded a full-length, Has Been, which is a simultaneously ironic AND unironic great listen.) No one is going to bestow the crown of ultimate Ben Folds fanboy on my head— I’ve ONLY seen him live twice, and neither time was even with a symphony orchestra! Nevertheless, I’ve been following his output for a good decade, and my record is solid.

His records are also solid (as is this excellent segue), exploring the outer limits of musical flavors available to a largely pop-oriented guy with a piano and an ear for harmony. Rockin’ the Suburbs (#96), his first post-Five record (exempting Fear of Pop: Volume 1, an experimental doodle from the era of the Messner recordings, which I only mention to smugly show off my bonafides yet again), incorporates synthesizer squeals, a Korn-parody guitar breakdown, treated keyboards, and strings, but his ivories are still at the forefront. His lyrics here are the ultimate template for the rest of his career, featuring: the irreverent humor of a class cut-up (like “Rockin’ The Suburbs’” self-aware chorus or the climactic, harmonized shout of “Motherfucker!” that ends “Fired”), the incisive character sketches of a short story author (“Fred Jones, Pt. 2” is a mini-masterpiece of well-observed details, but I think “Carrying Cathy” is downright shattering), and the delicate balance of sentiment any memoirist must strike (“Still Fighting It” hits the bullseye, but “The Luckiest” is a bit too goopy for me).

I have always had a big soft spot for Songs for Silverman (#98), which has been painted by some critics and BFF fans as a turn into mopey adult contemporary. There are a couple of skippable tracks, for sure, but it doesn’t sound as far from the old days as the doubters believe. After handling most of the instruments on Suburbs by himself, and doing a quite literal solo tour- just the man and his Baby Grand- as documented on the superb Ben Folds Live (#97), Folds missed the sonic chemistry that came from having a band in the studio. Though Jessee and Sledge had followed their own paths (the former touring with Sharon Van Etten, the latter adopting an existence of a lower key than the music business), Folds assembled a more than capable bass/drums duo to pump up the jazzy breakdown in “Bastard” and the chorus of “You to Thank.”

“Landed,” even without the orchestral strings that he later decided overwhelmed the melody, has rightfully earned its place in the classic Folds firmament. Hearing the introductory notes at my first Ben Folds show was enough to conjure a lump in my throat. Seemed weird for me to get unduly emotional about it: the chorus is upbeat (complete with signature “Ba-ba-ba-ba”s) and the story of a man emerging from a controlling relationship is not something I’ve experienced or even witnessed, so I can only interpret this as a reaction to the beauty of hearing a masterful pop song.

As the Web became more of a presence in daily life, and piracy was taking huge bites out of the music industry, Folds ably kept pace with the evolving relationship between an artist and his fans. That included embracing the nascent social media networks- which by the mid-2000s meant MySpace- and posting new music before it hit the streets. During my first couple years of college, I had one of these tricked-out profiles myself. This may have been the way I first heard, in 2008, the “fake” tracks.

Alternately crude and tremblingly earnest, they were a collection of “leaked” songs ostensibly from Folds’ forthcoming album, Way To Normal (#99). There was “Bitch Went Nutz,” a 1st person narrative about a Republi-bro scandalized in front of his peers by his Anarcho-Socialist fuck buddy that plays like the most profane “Weird Al” Yankovic pastiche ever. And “Cologne (Piano Orchestra Version),” a stunningly pretty concerto-ballad that gets absurdly overblown with a chanting male chorus and a dozen keyboards playing at once. And a handful of winkingly self-serious social justice ballads. All written and recorded, it was later revealed, in about a day, and launched into the bootleg blogosphere as a prank.

These were eventually officially released on Stems and Seeds (#100), alongside alternately-mastered versions of the “real” songs. The legitimate tracks found on the official LP are only slightly more tasteful, with a somewhat explicit Divorce Record vibe on kiss-offs like “You Don’t Know Me” (with Regina Spektor lending her magic) and “Brainwascht” (about the battle lines that can be drawn between mutual friends of split couples). When the lyrics are slightly regrettable (like the stereotype-mining “Bitch Went Nuts”), the melodies usually carry it. Exceptions would be the intentionally-grating “Errant Dog,” and the limp celebrity satire “Free Coffee” (skippable on record, but in live shows, Folds illustrates how he gets the treated piano sound by placing Altoids tins on his strings, which is a bit of nerdy fun).

Things came pleasingly full circle when it was announced that Folds was co-writing an entire album with Nick Hornby. The mutual appreciation society of these two artists had become a collaboration outlined right on Lonely Avenue's (#101) cover art: “Ben Folds Adds Music and Melody to Nick Hornby’s Words.” It’s a magical working relationship mirrored in their biographical tribute “Doc Pomus,” about the irascible musician who penned classic rock standards like “This Magic Moment” and “Save The Last Dance For Me” alongside Mort Shuman. This sense of pop history permeates 70’s-influenced arrangements like “Password” and “Belinda,” the latter about a Manilow-esque crooner reflecting on the love that inspired his greatest hit, who he callously abandoned for a fling with a flight attendant sporting “big breasts, a nice smile, [and] no kids, either.”

My 2 favorite tracks are a study in tonal opposites: “Claire’s Ninth,” a delicately affecting portrait of a young girl in the middle of a chilly but courteous divorce, and “Saskia Hamilton,” a gleefully nerdy ode to the most phonetically pleasing poet’s name ever. Their musical commonality is that neither one is a slow-tempo plaintive ballad, which have their place, but are the Folds tunes that I tend to skip in his later releases. “Claire’s” chords are jazzy and gently driving, with gorgeous vocal harmonies in the chorus; “Saskia” is frantic, driven by old school Moog synthesizer, with quirky flourishes like the female opera singer making a vocal cameo in the breakdown— it feels like a mutual homage between the song’s authors to “Weird Al”’s more esoteric original compositions.

So There (#102), while technically reaching full-length status with the inclusion of a real-deal “Concerto For Piano and Orchestra,” feels oddly slight. It was hyped by the artist himself as a unique new collaboration: pianist and new classical ensemble making pop songs together. He had experience with performing full-orchestra arrangements of his older songs (as on the excellent DVD “Ben Folds and WASO Live in Perth”) and overdubbing strings on new recordings, but this he advertised as a from-the-jump co-written project with yMusic, a sextet of players bringing strings, woodwinds, and brass. The Chamber Pop tracks that result have their delicate beauty, but the album resists falling into a snoozy easy-listening trap by alternating the ballads with the kind of sprightly, pazz and jop numbers that similarly kept Silverman moving.

It’s all just so… pleasant, and it seems to slip out of my mind and soon as I’ve heard it. If you were to strip-mine it for a Ben Folds playlist, I would pick out the title track for one, with its trilling strings, burbling brass, and father/daughter harmonizing. The instrumental section after the first chorus- what it might be appropriate to call the 2nd Movement- gets closest to fulfilling the promise inherent in the album’s Chamber Pop experiment. I might sound overly harsh on this release— re-listening to it while writing this post, there’s nothing that’s a huge turnoff, or a waste of time (except maybe the metaphorically one-note novelty track “F10-D-A,” which, granted, doesn’t outstay its welcome, running a second under 2 minutes). However, nothing there really sets my heart on fire like the first time I heard the swirling arpeggio of “Zak and Sara” (first through the raucous solo piano version on Live, then the filled-out studio recording on Suburbs), or the chorus of “Landed,” or first “ba ba BA ba ba ba!”ed my heart out as a human “Army" trumpet in the crowd of my first Ben Folds show.

#Ben Folds #benfolds #cdcollection #cdcover #pop music #piano pop #Nick Hornby #Zak and Sara #Landed #Annie Waits #Rockin' The Suburbs #Songs for Silverman #yMusic #classical #chamber pop

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kihyunswrath · 7 years

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Visual holes in kpop

... Seriously do y’all have the faintest idea how fucked up it sounds like when people are like “there are no visual holes in group x”?

Just encountered one post saying it, but I’ve seen it way too many times in every fandom I’ve encountered recently and it’s getting real problematic real fast.

You do realize that when you say your favourite group doesn’t have “visual holes” it implies not only that there IS such a concept as a visual hole, but also that there are those in some other kpop/you-name-it groups?

Visual hole quite literally means that someone doesn’t quite reach the standards of beauty and that their existence somehow “punches a hole” into the group’s visual appeal. As if it’s a “flaw” to the group that one or two of the members are not as “stunning” as the rest.

In what world do you think naming (directly or indirectly) someone as a visual hole is the right thing to do? Do you really dare open your mouth and point out an idol in any group and say that they are the one? No kpop idol I have ever seen has been ugly "for real” (go figure what that even means), because kpop as a concept literally consists of beautiful people sold as a brand. Beauty, sex and wealth sells, and kpop, consisting of all those three, sells Korean products and the image of Korea as a fresh, colorful, healthy and rich nation to the outside world. But would it matter if they were ugly in the eyes of every beauty standard possible? Maybe marketing-wise, if we stoop to that level with the industry. But then again, choosing any member to any group is undoubtedly a well-thought-out, manufactured project that sorts out the most competent people out of a big pool of candidates, so those that have already debuted in a kpop group have undergone a massive revising process anyway, unlike normal artists, let alone us normal people. Saying out loud that one of them is actually “ugly” is fucking nit-picking and like - have you ever seen real people at all? I think it’d be about time to lift your face from your fantasyland and start looking around yourself.

Yes, some people are more beautiful than others, even though I personally object sorting actual living, breathing human beings into that kind of shallow categories and rankings. Beauty, as a concept about proportions and arbitrary standards, still persisting among us and having such a strong effect on our decision-making, is bad enough. We should stay careful when we rank people by their outer appearance, because we unconsciously often make a connection between beauty and other socially accepted qualities such as goodness, purity, wealth and health, and that’s where it gets super shady. And when you say someone is super beautiful, that in itself implies someone else is not. (Sometimes it’s healthy to even ask yourself this: What do we even need beauty for? Why does aesthetic attraction have so much power, so much that it is painfully often mixed with romantic or sexual attraction? Some people, and I’m afraid especially many kpop fans, literally can’t tell those things apart from each other and that says a lot about how deeply ingrained this shit is in us.)

You might think kpop is all about innocence and artsy things and food for eyes and aestetics and shit, and guess what, I don’t care, but even then no one should be called a visual hole. Not one person on Earth should be given the hint that they somehow break, diminish or weaken the aesthetically pleasing view by popping up next to their more beautiful fellow members. That’s just morally wrong.

It’s not bad that you think all your bias members are beautiful - of course they are. Every person on Earth is beautiful if they’re dear to you, and some people catch your attention faster than others. And just about every person on Earth can be turned stunning if enough fancy makeup and clothing is added on to them. Every person on Earth also turns fucking unappealing real fast if they stop washing their hair and teeth, eat junk food for several weeks and stops sleeping. It’s that simple, and there’s nothing more ethereal about any beautiful model-like angel baby you have ever seen in your life. But you don’t get to define who’s actually ugly. You don’t have a say in that. You don’t get to categorize actual people like objects.

Kpop industry is shallow as fuck and it’s marketing tactics are sexualizing, objectifying, oppressing and discriminating real, actual human beings and we all are part of the problem. We all let it happen and happily enjoy the results. We let them to create us standards and social pressures, we let ourselves to be compared to them. We’re all a little bit of hypocrites when we say we’re there to “support” the idols. So the least we could do as a community is to stop talking about beauty like the lack of it can somehow bring down a group’s reputation. You’re not supposed to be fucking proud that your favourite group doesn’t have “any of the uglies” in it. You’re not supposed to feel bad that someone in your favourite group doesn’t “quite add up” to the smooth visual line you’d like to brag about.

If you think it’s absolutely necessary to mention, you can say you think all your bias idols are good-looking and you can say you think one idol has especially caught your attention because of their ethereal looks, but that’s where you draw the line. That’s where the discussion ends. The term visual hole needs to be burned in a bonfire (and the term visual line goes so awfully close that, fuck, let’s burn it too for the same reasons) and we need to seriously re-evaluate our thought processes to realize why we created terms and concepts like these in the first place.

_____

TL;DR: Don’t you dare use the term visual hole because it’s derogatory, objectifying and fucking rude. Don’t you dare use any other term that comes close to it, either.

#kpop #k-pop #visual hole #bts #monsta x #got7 #seventeen #u-kiss #vixx #exo #nct #well ok i maybe should list every group ever existing but these groups are the ones whose fandoms i've seen using this term the most #text #mine

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jaeurus · 5 years

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That post you reblogged about Jimin not knowing how big the billboards are, makes me want to rant about something that I've been thinking about for a while. It's not directed towards anyone and nothing inspired this thought other than myself. Here goes... BTS don't think about things that we obsess over. They don't google things and spend their time on social media seeing what's new in the kpop world... some of us as fans do that, they as a HUGE part of kpop don't. Rant not over, one more ask.

okay i’m gonna reply to all your asks in this individually. please don’t think i’m judging you but since you dropped this in my ask so i get to tell my perspective, right? don’t get me wrong kay.

okay for the confused people reading, this ask is about this post.

‘BTS don’t think about things that we obsess over’ - well that applies for everyone in this world honey, no two people think the same nor do they feel the same. one might think, in fandoms people obsess about the same things but again, that is hardly ever the truth. people like and think about different aspects of everything in this world and bts are no exception.

‘They don’t google things and spend their time on social media seeing what’s new in the kpop world.’ - frankly, do you google about everything? for me, i don’t look something up unless i see like a lot of people talking about it. and by ‘people talking about it’ i mean my tumblr feed mostly. similarly, for bts it’s the people around them and that’s their staff, managers, the rest of the members. they look up stuff which they are talking about. also, in every industry, every artist is busy with their own stuff and unless the other artist is their personal favourite they won’t be having day to day release information about them. same applies for you really, you know and are talking about bts cause they are your personal favourite.

part two : llollofagirl said: When I said that I inspired this thought, I meant it. I say this to myself as a reminder before I say it to any of you out there. They have a schedule that we will never in a million years understand. They are actually busy and quite honestly I think they don’t care about most of the things we think they care about. Whenever something is released in kpop I wonder if BTS have seen it and if they are watching it on repeat like I am. As time went on I realized that they aren’t. Not done, sorry 😅

everyone cares about different things in general. it’s not possible for anyone to keep track of everything. just like you can’t name every kpop act out there, they can’t tell who recently had a comeback (unless they’re also having a comeback). but i bet the rapline will know if epik high release something new work, gguk will be blasting iu’s new song through every speaker he owns and so on (but them knowing about their favourite artists too is subjective to a lot of factors which applies to all of us, a lot of us miss award shows every day cause everyone has things to do also timezones should ch0ke).it’s so evident from the music they recommend to us too. you can’t tell me that you’d heard already of every single artist they have recommended till date.

part three : llollofagirl said: They don’t sit around and talk about the latest twice/BP/RV video like some of us believe. In one award show one day after the release of “Yes or Yes” most of them didn’t know there was a new song. I just watched their reaction to Chungha from the GDA and only Jin knew some of the lyrics to her new song and Jungkook seemed surprised there WAS a new song. I was surprised because for some reason I was sure they had seen it and was waiting for a killer reaction. Which brings me to shipping.1 more.

i’m not sure why you only mentioned girl groups. hey they might be talking about them or not. your post is kinda self contradictory. you made this post to talk about how we always overanalyze everything they do but you’re doing the same really. and i’m not saying it in any kind of condescending tone bls bby.

part four :llollofagirl said: After realizing this which I’m sure a lot of you have realized way before me, the way I view kpop life has changed, which again brings me back to shipping. I think a lot of us think that idols are just a bunch of teenagers waiting to date the new big star. What if they’re not? What if they really do want to focus on their career and don’t care about dating? What if they do care about dating and are dating right now? We will never know because we don’t understand that life… las one I promise.

i’m a pre- law student and although i shamelessly hit around on hot guys but i don’t have time for any relationship so them not wanting a relationship is literally the most normal thing ever. if you’re talking about twt stan, yes some are really wild but most people here on tumblr are old and mature enough to understand the different natures and possibilities of relationships. and if any of them are dating, i only wish them a happy time with each other because they deserve it.

part five: llollofagirl said: I don’t think we should try to understand that kind of life. I mean I can barely understand mine! So let’s just enjoy kpop for what it is… music, and try to lay off of analyzing idols and their love lives because it’s not what we think! I am not trying to belittle our bond with our idols, but let’s not act like we have them all figured out, because we don’t. And believe it or not we have an impact! We make videos that sometimes gain millions of views!! Let’s realize that! Sorry and thank you ❤

honey no one can ever understand the hardships you’re going through in life. it might look easier to an outsider but only you truly know what an obstacle in life puts you through - both good and bad things. everyone has it harder and so do the kpop artists. there will always be people who overthink every little move, and take the smallest thing seriously (the jimin and jeongyeon thing, i swear till date i never found what the fuck they talking about like what is it that you delulus are seeing and am not and i absolutely love twice). about creators writing fiction or making videos which garner a lot of views, you cant filter it out completely at the thought process you know. both good videos and bad (negative) videos gather millions of views, it’s all newton’s third law.

in conclusion, i’m not really exactly sure why that post induced this response in you XD XD but it was a nice debate haha. i mean i ain’t american so lmao i gotta laugh at that post.

have a great day / night ahead of you bls, stay safe and hydrated

#bts #jimin #llollofagirl #asks #omg when your first ask came through it was like 2200 for me and at first i was all condusion #cause i don't really get asks here cause this is like just a reblog blog lmao and i've a writing blog too #then i waited for all your asks but i started watching a movie shortly and finished it at 0300 hours #and then checked my phone and read all the asks and i'm like no wait lemme grab my laptop imma reply today ahah no procrastination #so it's like 0355 and i've a class in the afternoon fuck sleep is for the weak

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putris-et-mulier · 7 years

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I have a big announcement and I'm going to get really emotional, so heads up

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! But I think this will be for the best

Some of you guys have been following me for years and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. You guys have been so kind, it's because of you I haven't had to buy toilet paper in over two years. I've been through a lot while running this blog and some of you have watched and supported me throughout the whole journey.

I thought I would be dead by 30, everyone did, but I just turned 32 and although my health has always been declining I'm not at risk for dropping dead this second. I also am running a household and taking care of my mother who has very severe Alzheimer's. My family has gone from simply not helping to beginning to scheme to get things like mom's Social Security number for reasons I haven't figured out yet. I've been in the hospital a lot since I started this blog, I was officially hospitalized twice and lived in a home once. I've broken my ankles, knees, wrists, nose, broken teeth out of my face, torn half my face off, I became anemic multiple times because there's times I simply didn't have any money to eat for a few days, I had to sell my car and because I can't get in one unless it's wheelchair acceptable I am as good as confined to my neighborhood unless I want to take public transit but things like today happen, I couldn't go see Logan for my birthday because the transit simply wasn't running this weekend. Because of a mistake with IHSS the first caretaker I got earlier this year stole $7,000 from me. Things keep happening so I can't even attempt to bring mom's medical bills down.

I'm just so tired.

And unhappy.

I started this blog right after I lost my ability to write or type and I don't think I could've dealt with how big of a loss that was if I did not this blog to hang out on and talk to you guys about comic books with.

I need less responsibility, if not off-line then certainly online. I want to create things again. Fully formed things I can take pride in. Because none of this is going to get easier, it's just going to become different and if I want to make it work I have to live differently to accommodate it.

This sounds dramatic, like a suicide note, but this is actually about something I'm excited about and think some of you will be too but I know a lot of you will feel a bit betrayed.

About when I stopped writing a friend and I created a publishing company. It's actually extremely easy to do, especially if you only sell digital books which we don't, but it would've be easy. I'm not legally allowed to have anything under my name so my friend put it under hers and has her taxes all complicated up because of it. My friend put in a $1000 nest egg and we use the company to try to find unpublished and marginalized writers, artists, and models. We had seen firsthand the inequality that goes on in those industries. So, we made Good Mourning. It's run by me and my two best friends that I've known since we were children. Recently we developed something we are calling The Discourse which is where we will be doing a lot of what I do here, talk about pop-culture stuff and get academic or open a discussion on social justice, but the other two are involved which means the same thing but with a bigger variety of fandoms. It's a podcast, soon to be an ezine, blog, and we are going to publish a line of discourse books which are going to be like social justice handbooks with a fandom theme.

I'm excited about this. It gives me new opportunities to try writing in different ways, it consolidates a lot of things that I do already, I'll get a chance to be a fan again instead of a web mistress, and my friends will be so closely involved that if there are some days I just can't get in my wheelchair I know everything will be taken care of.

The only problem is, if I left I would miss all of you. Even the ones who hate me. Maybe it's childish to not want to let go of things but this is the Internet and if you're going to be childish, you should do it here.

I am turning this blog into The Discourse (the blog version)

I'm still going to be posting all the new Deadpool stuff but now it's also going to be more of the same things with other fandoms as well like all of X-Men and K–Pop and other hyphenated things. I suppose it won't be that much different, just no reposts from the archive of Deadpool stuff all day, I'll just be putting my favorite old posts in the queue by hand so it's all good.

None of the current content will be removed, all of those info op-ed posts like about Deadpool sexuality they will still be here and I will still update them but now I'll be doing them about different characters as well.

The name won't be the same, but it actually hasn't always been the same. This one's just become infamous. I hope you do decide to stay with me at least for a while, I'm going to do my best for all of you.

Good Mourning has taken over the financial responsibility of this blog and we are now The Discourse.

Are you a sellout if you sell out to yourself?

And you have to put up with a new moderator, cosmic. But if you guys have been here for a while you probably have heard her on the podcast. Quick bio: she's terrified of everything and loves Doctor Who.

Obviously I'm going to be changing things around here a little bit but it's nothing you'll see from your dashboard. Also, we plan on coming out with the first issue of our ezine next month and since is the first one it's going to be all us but we really want you guys to participate. Maybe you have a short poem about your asshole or, perhaps preferably, your favorite character's asshole? I can promise you, your poem is getting in the very next issue. I'll have more details for you soon.

And since I'm not solely responsible for anything anymore I'm going to get to do some really cool things, like giveaways here. Even for people who just follow the blog. I get to borrow the business card to get the prizes so you guys could even choose what you want. And I could go to Party City and get some of those participation trophies for the losers. Or we can behave like responsible adults, unlike the generation before us, and giveaway fandom merchandise that is not toys it says so on the box.

I'm excited, I hope you aren't disappointed. I have to think of my health. My physical health can't take all the responsibility and my psychological/spiritual health needs me to keep investing myself in fandom shenanigans.

My personal blog still is genoshaisforlovers.tumblr.com

and if you want to get to me somewhere else you can always go to christyleighstewart.com I always direct it to where or what I'm doing at the time

If you send in an anonymous ask here about this I won't be able to answer you but I will answer everyone privately about this.

It's still me here. Things are going to be different but I swear to God I am sitting in my seat the exact same way and "typing" this the same way I usually do.

If this whole Discourse thing isn't your…thing but if you love me personally I am also at my personal blog. The me talking openly, that's all moving over there. Over here I am working as your game master or… Alice in Wonderland would be a better metaphor, right? So I'm working as your Mad Hatter?

It's a cliché but I am selling out so, yeah, I am now the Mad Hatter.

And I'd like to welcome you to this tea party just give me a second and

so now that we're seated comfortably, all of this remains free as does the podcast but you don't get the rewards unless you subscribe at least $1 to The Discourse

As the Mad Hatter I can tell you, specifically the blog members, without embarrassment that this whole project is and act of love, as everything we've done always has been and always will be, because the profit goes toward me as a paycheck and as I can only make so much money within a year without losing any of my benefits and I get to decide what goes on my paychecks and she is totally mens sana in corpore sano, officers, so it's cool as long as the stuff I do is worth anything to people. I just set it at $1 to join because that dollar has a president on it with the least value and thanks to the election George Washington will be the second least valuable dollar.

– Christy

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misterbitches · 3 years

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Im not intelligent at all. In the conventional sense. The ramblings of a girl who just has sooo much going in in her head it's constant. But im not a genius. Or that confusing.

It just sounds like I am bc fandoms have this issue where they can JUSTSO point out the issues in soletiing. They can pick and prod and go oh problematic! But then you go to name the problems and the difficulties within society like for ex: the idea of representation in general. Salivating over it. How fucking sad that is. How we are trained to accept it. So in a BL and also RACE in the bl genre they exploit viewers naivete both domestically and internationally. Ive seen tons of people liken being asian to being a person of color. However, in their predominantly homogenous society (or intentionally publically homogenous society), they are not "poc" (also name the of color; i dont use bipoc idc if u do but it's called being asian guys cos yall aint talkin about black ppl lmao)

They as humans seeing other humans who look like them everywhere, engage with the world differently than an american in asia or asians living outside of their home country (like bae doo nanwhen she worksnin the US is not the same as the bae doo nanworking on a korean program) I dont complain about it in everything i see bc ppl say it ALL THE TIME. but it is NOT the same. Being a person of color is very distinctly an american concept. This is all stuff people will get to know on their own if they choose to dig more.

I do my best to underline what my ugly little eyes process. How i figure things out as a black female american artist too! Im hard on shit cos i should be. I take it seriously. And even if i dont take it seriously bc THEY dont then thats their problem.

I know this is a complaint that I am not alone in. I know it's the internet. I just don't get how people can write really heavy analysis but they refuse to actually probe the underlying issues. Not everyone is me, or like my friends, but if there's way fewer people talking about this stuff it seems absolutely glaring when theres few people engaging in the way i do. It seems like im the glitch but I am thinking just as much just differently.

I really loved where your eyes linger but there was little deep class analysis. I remember few convos a bout it. I know a lot about korea (sigh being a black ex kpop fan lol mess) and i love the history but all ofnit matters! Korea's relation to labor!

People bringing up thai actors snd actresses leaving the industry and doing acting as something quick. As an artist~ who went to film school with insanely wealthy ppl and isnin tons of debt you have to understand how shitty that is. People have monetary access and they just fucking do whatever just because they want to. Meanwhile you have young people being coerced into this bullshit mainstream life to LITERALY just make money bc they dont come from a rich background. The wealth gap in thailand is BAD, theres a dictatorship, they had a fucking coup. The governments like here do not respect their people. Their marginalized groups. Trans thai women, black thai ppl, poor thai ppl. And it LITERALLY CANNOT DO ANYTHING EFFECTIVELY IN CAPITALISM. No nothing can be perfect but if it's going into our eyeballs and we can view the worlld critically then why the fuck not!???

I dont say the things i see are wrong always. I reply when i think i need to. I try and engage with others but not to kuch avail. I just want to rb stuff and tdhink lajfhhdjwhjej.

But like yea theres a lot of just wrong or misguided stuff. A lot of the times it is just historical inaccuracy in framing or idk. A refusal to think outside the box. I dont care. Theres more to life than just sort of looking and not thinking especially for othrr artists.

Idk im sorry. I dont see how i can change how i view things. I really wish people would expand their palettes too and go deeper into other means of art from places! Things not in the mainstream! Theres a lot of good thai artists and a lot of them critical as fuck about their country as they should be. Authority, austerity, patriarchy, capital, racism etc like that is central to a power thats interested in growing gains and fiscal and social power. Theres rly radical or left leaning etc ppl out there in the world and these countries in these communities. So they exist. No people in these countries dont have NO clue whats going on. Cultural relativism is alsos something people should understand. I had a good talk with ppl on here a while ago about that. Talking about shit, critiquing, but being respectful to a group. Part of thay is realizing these groups CLEARLY know their own issues and all our cultures share the same goal. Guess what it is. It rhymes with acquiring wealth. Money means you hurt people. In the post, we talked about use of "wife" and "husband" which is a stupid joke that has been "explained" a billion times and yet the explanations still dont seem to answer or justify a minor problem (it's very funny to me that a language that doesnt have gendered pronouns is now very specific about two men. Hmmm wonder why. It is annoying.)

So im not the only person on the planet doing this. Or the few ppl ive seen that do. Im not new my thoughts arent new. Ive gotten to see another side to a culture i knew not much about and that means i can put the context of my beliefs and life and try and understand thheirs. For ex i learned from ITSAY because of a sign that said 'french food' that they were the only country to not be colonized back then. Do you know how integral that history is to their region? That was an interesting detail (i didnt finish itsay bc ihad a lot going on and i was rly upset that i would see hownrich they are and i hate that.)

Anyways thats my complaint. It used to feel like a sting of rejection. I left online for months in 2019, i started organizing more, joined a union, trying to do some panther work shit like that. I learned a lot in those months and it changed my life! But when I came back, I felt so isolated. It wasnt my true friends tho sometimes theyre ANNOYINGGGGG (love u) but it was me being like "if we are going to complain guys then lets put our money where our mouth is" lets be fucking serious about it then. No say it with your chest dude. It isnt difficult. Go with the fucking flow, talk about it, critique it, think. You can still fucking like itnor love it.

I am BLACK ok and i love rap. I am a black woman. I will continue to clown black men that cant seem to not clown themselves and listen. No i wont support monetarily: drake is a creep and i hate him but i bump that niggas song. Thats fucking LIFE. I got so sick of hiding myself and it became clear that it wasnt that i wasntthinking well or hard enough. They just didnt like that i said we need to commit class suicide and inspect out middle class sensibilities and middle class wealth hoarding (google it) if thats what we engaged with. Every part of you, antagonize it. I still have my privileges; class, skin color, even my father being a nigerian immigrant, me being cis, im not str8 but not a lesbian and those are differences.

Insecurities in general but some shallow thoughts (?) on discussion in "fandom" space. FYI, this will most likely stay the same. I tend to stay in my own bubble socially IE me and my friends are similar in our views. During this awful year while running my union's account, im surrounded by like minds. Me and my friends? We changed together. We grew up and saw what we didnt like and what we want. We do our best.And i CHOOSE my life to be that way bc it should be. There is no solution. I dont believe in solutions because the solution is to abolish capital or just divest. Abolishing capital and labor are a huge one and i will die before that happens (but so help me as long as im alive? Black women to FREEDOMMMM is my motto!) so making your own path in life is the best thing an artist can do IN MY OPINION.

However with technology and stuff this puts another layer onto things. Tech, social media, this shit....it THRIIIIIIIVESSSSSSS off of conflict and shallow readings of the world. We are literally primed for it. Engagement in bites. Impossible for me with my brain; i got used to it and i paid for it by limiting my scope. Not being encouraged to THINK AND READ before just speaking

(For ex i am in iww, i helped form a branch here. It is a radical union. Unionism is imprative to me-if ur interested u should read up on some. Look up peter cole! Google inthesetimes Ilwu. Gives you some understanding. Ive always been progressive and now i am....very left idk ic ant label myself. But even in my progrssiveness i had the gall to tell my white friend, whoa has her privileges but i had mine with our class disparity, that we dont need unions, i have WORKED retail. Ive done barista work for sonoing and i do gig work. So i wasnt out of touch. I had been stiffed even with a shoot i was working on by rich kids. So i had a frame of reference . But i didnt know what the FUCKa union was and why it is imperative. Then learning about anarcho syndicalism and all these other things. It changed my fucking life but two years earlier i was this idiot spouting shit like that making one of my best friends fucking upset. We DO AND CAN CHANGE. Think!!!!)

So were i a creator for tv id just constantly try and push the buttons if i need big money. Make them sell into me (thank you sonic youth!) theres Endless possibilities guys which means theres SO MUCH TK EXPLORE!!!! When i wanna have fun with it i just have fun. When i want to think i do. I dont understand why we are so dedicated to upholding things and doing mental gymnastics to end up in a space you dont need mental gymnastics for. What about these critiques makes you uncomfortable? Saying we're all part of the problem as spectators? Im sorry but we will always be. Thats LIFE. God fuck. Fuck me. I feel so fucking worthless and stupid sometimes. I know I am not. I know i am talented and intelligent. I know my friends and family. I know how to approach ppl. I know how to tell people if they are rich but want to be progressive whatsup. I choose how i live part of that is being ok to say what i want.

Ironically consrrvatives say this shit alot. But they arent ever alone bc their ideology is default. But yea it does feel shitty. It even feels shitty when ur in left circles but people STILL dont even wanna do that. These perspectives really arent ss many as they should be. I dont want to feel so alone with it. I know there are more. I just love art and the world so fucking much, endless possibility. Endless pain but endless good.

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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INTERVIEW: Roland Kelts On Fantasy Worlds And The Impact of Streaming

Roland Kelts, half-Japanese author of JAPANAMERICA: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S., has made a name for himself covering the unique nuances of American and Japanese cultural-exchange. Kelts recently presented a talk titled "Anime and Race" with Arthell Isom for this year's Virtual Crunchyroll Expo. We had the opportunity to ask Kelts a few questions about the impact of streaming, adapting international webcomics, the appeal of isekai, and of course, Twitter.

English-language and Japanese-language editions of JAPANAMERICA

With Crunchyroll hitting three million paid subscribers as of July, it’s evident that anime streaming is thriving, especially with young adults. Simulcasts now allow essentially anyone access to the latest hours after airing in Japan. How have you seen this constant finger on anime’s pulse change how fans engage with Japanese pop culture, versus the heavily curated experience of exclusively watching whatever made it to American television networks?

Everything’s faster. Fans I meet from Boston to Kansas to Los Angeles now ask me about shows that were just released months or even weeks ago on my TV in Tokyo. And simulcasts have also made the US fans hungrier, more demanding, sometimes even whiny. (“Why don’t we have this yet? When’s this coming out? Where’s that title?”)

At the same time, it creates a zone of delusion, a kind of third universe between the US and Japan where fans think they know everything that’s happening in Japan and what’s right and wrong about the anime industry and how it works just because streaming media delivers the entertainment they want when they want it.

I still call that third universe JAPANAMERICA, neither here (Japan) nor there (US) but some kind of hybrid space, and in some ways streaming has only expanded its borders.

Image via Netflix

Anime produced and released for streaming services have seen major cultural impact lately. In 2018, Netflix released Devilman Crybaby to critical acclaim, and more recently Crunchyroll has begun streaming its own originals shows like Tower of God in 2020. In previous interviews, you’ve described younger animators butting heads against the old guards in Japan’s traditional anime industry, compared to other industries like games or design. Nowadays, you have younger studios such as Studio Trigger and Science Saru signing streaming deals to distribute their shows to a wider demographic. Do you see this pivot to web-original anime as a way for younger animators, producers, and even veterans to exercise new ideas they may otherwise not be able to explore?

Definitely. Masaaki Yuasa told me that if it weren’t for streaming services, Devilman Crybaby would be an old-school OAD collecting dust in the adult video corner of Tsutaya that may have aired once in wee-hour programming on domestic Japanese TV.

Two years ago, Go Nagai, the manga artist who created the original Devilman in 1972, told me backstage at Anime Expo in Los Angeles that streaming was the only reason he’d been invited to Los Angeles. “Hey, I’m an old man,” he said, laughing.

There were always innovative upstart studios like Trigger. The difference is that web-original anime and streaming platforms get Trigger’s works screened in major American cinemas by national distributors like GKIDS, and around the world online, and gets Trigger artists and people like Yuasa and Nagai the VIP treatment at overseas anime cons.

Emilia and Subaru from Re:Zero

One of the biggest trends in anime recently is the boom of a genre called “isekai,” i.e “another world” stories where average protagonists get transported into fantastical worlds. In the last ten years, isekai has already explored virtual reality MMO worlds like Sword Art Online to self-aware “Groundhog Day” stories like Re: Zero. Although portal fantasies have always been present in traditional Japanese folklore and a staple of global speculative fiction, why do you think this particular narrative may have gained so much traction with young adults recently?

One of the trends I write about in JAPANAMERICA is how the constant presence of the internet in our lives can diminish our satisfaction with the real worlds we inhabit.

You’re right, of course: portal fantasies have long been a part of Japanese literature, folklore, fantasy, and spirituality.

But the world-within-the-world of the internet has arguably overtaken our realities. It’s not only ever-present, it’s superior: brighter, freer (we can click on anything and almost immediately see and hear what we want), and faster. It’s also portable and ubiquitous.

Many of us greet the morning not as sunlight through our blinds or the sound of birdsong, but as the OLED or LCD light from our smartphone screen. Our sense of “home” is the emails we recognize, the apps we check, our news, our weather, our sports updates. It ain’t called an “I” phone for nothing. Online, everything’s for me.

So it makes a kind of sense to me that young adults might be kind of bored with stories that don’t feature immediate and easy access to virtual realities and other worlds and role-playing lives. Stories without isekai-type narratives might feel outdated, boring, even irrelevant to the way we all live now.

Original creator comics, such as Webtoon series like God of High School, have recently been adapted into series exclusively streamed on Crunchyroll. Series like God of High School feature diverse characters from all across the world in a tournament set in Seoul, a setting we rarely see in television anime. Although many Japanese web novels and amateur projects have since been adapted into professionally produced shows, such treatment is less common for non-Japanese properties. In terms of broadening the horizons for intellectual property, did you ever anticipate the world of Japanese animation and international webcomics to cross paths?

I wrote about it in JAPANAMERICA and thought it would happen sooner, actually. On book tours at anime cons, fan artists and amateur comics artists ask me to sign JAPANAMERICA and hand me a copy of their own work in return. I’d read their work on the plane to the next city and sometimes I’d think, this might make a great anime series or feature.

But I couldn’t generate much enthusiasm when I got back to Japan. Part of the problem was obvious: language and culture barriers.

But also, the Japanese industry is sitting on piles of great intellectual property from decades of manga about every imaginable type of topic and character, plus all the great doujin fan-art that powers the record crowds at the biannual Comiket and fills the floors at Mandarake. Why would they reach overseas to work with someone who doesn’t speak the language and/or understand the codes of cultural and business behavior to take a risk on a property from a foreign land?

Obviously, the increased involvement of non-Japanese producers like Crunchyroll and others are changing that. Also, newer generations of artists from outside Japan have an even greater sense of how Japanese-made anime works, how it gets made, and how to behave in Japanese business transactions. Plus, I do think online translators, as bad as they may be, have helped ease the transition between languages on both sides, Japanese and non-Japanese.

Tokyo Big Sight during Comiket 96 last year (photo by Daryl Harding)

Fourteen years ago, there was no such thing as Twitter. It goes without saying it’s huge now, especially among anime fans. With major events like Comiket canceled this year, alongside dozens of conventions in the states, more fans than ever are converging online. Nowadays, it’s not only incredibly easy to find anime, but also discover a whole community buzzing with activity regardless of what language you speak. How much of a role do you think social media has played in pushing anime from niche to ubiquitous, and what do you hope to come out of this zealous digital convergence for fans everywhere?

I write about the importance of fan forums and chatrooms in JAPANAMERICA. Anime fans were one of the key drivers of Usenet groups and BBS sites back in the day. In a chapter I called DIY (“do it yourself”), I explain how anime fandom is a bottom-up phenomenon, fired by shared communal passion and the sharing of that passion.

But I didn’t know how massive social media platforms would become, or how crucial they would be for Japanese pop culture fandom.

What sucks is that the discourse on social media is so coarse. When you go back and read exchanges between diehard anime fans on Usenet and old chatrooms and forums from the mid-2000s, they read like middlebrow literature compared to what you see on Twitter, Reddit, and Discord. So many social media posts are made just to get hits, not to communicate or share ideas, and the most provocative, cruel, or just plain daft stuff gets liked and retweeted a thousand times.

An ex-friend of mine once told me he was going to market his book entirely on Twitter. I said, well then you’ll get a bunch of responses from people who don’t read a lot of books. But he said he just wanted to sell a lot of copies. He didn’t care about the quality of the people who read them or followed him.

But I guess that’s the state of most things in America right now, politics in particular. Mass appeal is all that matters.

Roland Kelts' blog can be found here. Follow him on Twitter at @rolandkelts!

More information on JAPANAMERICA can be found here. A Japanese-language edition is also available from Kodansha.

Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. He is still thinking about Hellshake Yano. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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yozoramg · 4 years

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Kpop industry and educating artists

I reacted on an up to date Kpop scandal video on y-tube. I decided to post my reaction/rant here also. And this is why we, in the future, have only very restricted kpop music/shows/dramas. Or they just restrict it more for the western culture and keep everything within South Korea. South Korea, where they are certain how most fans/others react. Where artists know what to do or don't. What is and is not accepted.

More and more kpop artists tell us that they are afraid of telling something on whatever social media platform. They are scared to say something wrong in an interview, on vlive, on reality shows, in real life. They are scared to wear the wrong t-shirt, because they didn't know fully 100% what the print on the shirt meant because of an English or whatever language barrier. They are scared to offend a culture (which ever culture doesn't matter), because kpop artists are human (no seriously, they are). And just like you and me, can't know every ins and outs of every culture excising.

- If they cut/braid/color their hair in a specific way they are called racist and are being told to set them selves (and their families, who are of course just as guilty for educated them in this way) on fire. - If they make a weight joke to someone else, something that is accepted entertainment in South Korea and some other countries, people are offended (mostly non Koreans) and they are told to get whatever awful illness there is in the world and die from it. (Yes, I don't like weight jokes either and don't understand them, but that is besides the point here.) - If they make a reference to a dark skinned artist they are immediately in the picture and every sentence the artist said is being dissected, because... maybe he/she said something that could offend whatever culture. And if the 'fandom' 'found' something (even if it is after weeks of searching) it will spread over social media and maybe even the regular news.

Korean artists got even attacked for using a Korean word that sounded similar to a curse word for someone who is black in English. Yes I’m serious. ‘Fans’ even attacked the Korean language and called it racist. And if said artist who made this 'gigantic' offense is unlucky and from (for example) a smaller company, it could be 'bye bye' job. And 'hello' being on blacklists everywhere. (Or maybe they are male and 'lucky' and can join the army sooner than planned and hope that, when they return, everything calmed down and people have forgotten about their offense.)

But of course before said criminal artist is told to off her/him self, they are getting a chance to apologizes. Fans, mostly non Koreans, decide to 'educate' said artist on the culture they offended (one of the 10.000.000 cultures and their rules). They do this by flooding their social media accounts/personal accounts and family accounts with messages about what they think the artist did wrong and sometimes how to better him/her self. That a lot of those messages differ from each other, because a lot of rumors and hearing it from this person, who heard it from the person who has a friend who watched the from Chinese translated Korean interview (and so no one knows exactly what did happen), doesn't matter. Said Korean artists has to listen and has to be 'educated' like a five year old. And has to apologizes afterwards. When she/he did, it's up to the hurt/offended fans/others and all those others who joined the -I am offended because I heard I should be offended because of this and this reason wagon-, to decide if the apology was sincere enough. (I think you could compare it to voting for whatever politic something) If ,say, 30% find the written apology not enough or doesn't trust the sincerity of the apology, like I said, then 'sh*t hits the fan. (And guess what... It's impossible to get a 100% vote for anything.) Humans are humans and human opinions differ from each other.

Everyone knows what happens afterwards. More and more death treats. Old 'crimes' the artist/or the group he/she is in, or the company committed, are getting 'a new life'. And the offended people are getting only more and more offended. Then there is the group that defend and 'defend' said artist. Which results in people talking about the happening for maybe even months to come. Really great. Especially for said artists. Why?

Let me explain to you how the Korean Culture and entertainment industry works most of the time (wish me luck with my limited English knowledge). Even though most rookies have a, for example, dating ban. Lot's are still dating (sorry to break your heart). Why? Because companies are very good in keeping a 'blind eye' to it. BUT, if it is found out and (doesn't even matter if it's true or not) and the rumor is spread and turned into a so called 'scandal', it's a whole different story. Then it depends what actions will be taken by a company. And what action has to do with many different factors of course.

- How important is the artist to the company. How is the artist seen by the public at that moment, Is the company big enough so they have money to cover everything up, how much money will the scandal cost the company, etc, etc. But most important: how big was the damage done to the image of the company. If the last is big enough, you can be almost certain that a company will let an artist go. Or persuade them to leave on their own. The dating ban was an example. But what I said above, goes for almost everything.

LGBTQ artists, pasts of artists, caught smoking, caught having sex, others who find it entertaining to set a Korean artist in a very black light, the artist having debts, artist using whatever drugs, artists who doesn't want to go to the army, artists who bully, artists who's getting bullied (Yep, even them), artists who were found out they had plastic surgery ... (come one! Everyone can see that there are many of them. Some teens get it as present when they finished high school or something similar...), Kpop artists who are from another country/culture and make cultural mistakes. The list is endless.

If it damages the image of a company, doesn't matter if you're 'at fault' or not, you have a big chance to -get nicely told- to pack your bags and leave everything you most likely trained for foryears. Leave your group members (if you had any) Leave your dorm and stand empty handed on the street with nothing. Most Korean artists trained and prepared themselves from childhood for the idol life. Not that many idols have an education that has nothing to do with music or acting or something similar. If they want to go back to the music industry but their name isn't 'cleared', there is a big chance lots of tv programs, companies, etc put them on a blacklist. Which simply means: no work. And even if the artists name is ‘cleared’. Everyone will remember. The artists image was damaged and will stay probably damaged. If a Korean artist is more lucky the company could force them (and their group) to 'take a break' and 'think about what they did so 'horribly wrong'. Those breaks are most likely to last half a year or longer. It doesn't stop there either. If an artist makes 'a mistake' there is a big chance that it affects said artist family as well. Like I said: image is for most a very big thing in South Korea. If the image of a family is damaged the family could go through some very heavy backlash from it. They could be even shunned by their community.

And don't tell that everything isn't ' this extreme' because it is. If you follow Korean artists for a long time. Educate yourself in the Korean Culture, you'll find MANY examples.

Remember those artists who were forced to go on hiatus and apologize with a shaved head because something offensive they 'said' in another country that also was translated not fully correct in English afterwards? The group that sometimes afterwards got white in the face when the one who took the interview stopped talking or if said person taking the interview asked if they were sure about the answer they gave? Because they were scared they said something 'wrong' again. That traumatized group? No? Because I do. Remember a poor Korean artist who, for almost a week, was being cyber-bullied by bullies from all over the world who spread the rumor that said person was a rapist and should also be sexually assaulted in the most horrible ways possible. Nope? ... Or do you? Remember that Korean artist who lost his/her father and had a difficult time handling it. Fell asleep during an interview and got attacked because of it, because he/she -didn't take his job seriously and was too egoistically.- That girl/guy who everyone said was most likely on drugs (something that is very illegal in Korea. Something that, when being accused of this, will most likely force further investigation by authorities), because she/he fell asleep? Want to know what happened to that guy/girl? He/she left her/his group because of 'musically differences' with the rest of the band. Remember the Korean artist who had someone who spread rumors about the artists past and left his/her group because of the negative image it could give the group? Want to know which case I meant? ... Yeah exactly. That's my point. Remember that artist that was being bullied/educated/threatened/abused/ignored/left empty handed because of stupid rumors and got depressed and eventually committed suicide? You do? Of course you do...

It's up to everyone individually to be offended/hurt by something said. Because of discrimination. Because of a traumatic event(s) you went through which what said artists did or said reminded you off. Because others told you that you have to be hurt of it, because they tell you it was wrong what was said/done.

It's up to everyone individually to take action for said/doing those hurtful/offensive or 'hurtful/offensive' things by the artist. But just know that your actions have consequences for the Korean idol because of all these mentioned above. Be prepared to face the consequences your 'taking action' has on said Korean artist. When you see yourself as an old and wise/a responsible adult enough to educate a Korean idol grownup or even teen, about the wrongdoings this world has, then stay this old and wise/a responsible adult afterwards. Know that, whatever the outcome your actions has, you are also responsible for those outcomes. Accept the consequences and damage your actions maybe did. Don't you dare say "This wasn't what I wanted to happen".

If this information above is all new for you, or you still don't believe it. I suggest you read a bit more about this specific culture and on the entertainment industry in general. Educate yourself more on that, what you find yourself wise enough for to educate others about, and have a say in their way of living and thinking.

First have knowledge about the things you're talking about, before you try to convince others. More people should do this in my opinion. (sorry for all the grammar and spelling mistakes. I'm just a Dutch woman who is no where near fluent in the English language.)

#kpop entertainment industry #kpop idols #kpop artists #kpop #korean drama #korean actors #kpop companies #scandals #'educating' korean idols

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chrismaverickdotcom · 6 years

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Mav’s Big Fucking Oscar Predictions List – 2018 (Why can't my favorite movie win?)

Who wants to do an Oscar pool? I love the Oscars. Everyone knows that. Oh, you didn’t know that? Well, then you haven’t been paying attention… how the hell are you even reading this? To me the Oscars are almost as exciting as the Super Bowl (come on, last year’s last minute buzzer beater by Moonlight was amazing).. I watch them every year and I make Stephanie watch with me so we can fill out ballots and baton the winners. In 2015 and 2016, I posted my “Big Fucking Oscars Prediciton List” for the awards so that people could try to beat me. For some reason I seem to have forgotten to have done a predictions list online last year; I was probably too busy working on a conference paper or something. I’m busy working on papers right now, but you know what… fuck it.

I love the Oscars!

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

So I’ve written at various points about what it means to be an Oscar movie and why something like Wonder Woman, as much as I loved it, doesn’t deserve to be there. It just isn’t “good” enough in an objective sense… at least not in the any of the ways that the Oscars are meant to measure. The Oscars often take criticism for being “out of touch with the fans”and just being “the Hollywood industry just taking a chance to blow itself.” And well, YES! It is! It is totally Hollywood taking the chance to blow itself. That’s why I use the silly sex metaphor in my predictions. It is what it is, and that’s ok. The Oscars are the movie industry looking at the their peers and celebrating their technical and artistic merit. They’re about the artistic statement that the Academy wants to present. The Oscars aren’t about what people like. They’re not about connecting with the fans. That’s the People’s Choice awards and the Billboards. Wonder Woman was hugely inspiring to a great many people who needed that inspiration and will carry it with them for the rest of their lives. Black Panther is doing much the same this year. But you don’t get an Oscar for that. You get a different award. It’s called a billion dollars. And when you compare that billion dollars to a little golden statue that something like Moonlight takes home, well… it’s not that bad a trade.

Movies are a funny art form. Pop culture entertainment is in general, but especially movies. Pop culture fandom often develops such a sense of ownership over the media that it consumes that it feels entitled to demand that others see it the same way as they do. No one ever writes think pieces complaining that Pulitzer Prize should have considered Twilight or The Hunger Games or even Harry Potter series. And when’s the last time you read a hot take on someone being snubbed by the Dentistry Awards? To argue that the popular choice film should get the award because the Academy is out of touch for wanting to celebrate their values rather than the public’s is much the same thing.

That said, I don’t always think the Academy gets it right. Sometimes I disagree with their choices, even within their own metric. Lots of critics do. Famously Shakespeare in Love beating out Saving Private Ryan back in 1999 and the Artist arguably should have lost to literally ANY of the other nominees back in 2012. So this year I figured maybe I’d offer two sets of picks when applicable: The pick I think will win and the pick I want to win when I disagree. It will be interesting to see if any of my wishes for will actually pull an upset.

Steph and I will be watching the show Sunday night and probably drinking a bunch (yay, I don’t have to work on Monday!!!!) so if anyone is up for Oscarsing and Chilling as the kids say (well, the cool kids say… ok… well they should say… whatever… fuck you!) let me know. And one way or the other, I’d love to see your Oscar Picks as well. Post them here, it’ll be fun to see if anyone can beat me. You can get a ballot here: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/printable-2018-oscar-ballot. For extra super awesome points, feel free to comment with your guesses before you read mine. That makes it more fun to compare.

And now my picks… Mav’s Big Fucking Oscar Predictions 2018:

Best Picture:

The biggest award of the night is probably the most obvious place where I’ll disagree, and it’s the place where the common viewer probably has the most problem with the Oscars. It’s where people think Wonder Woman got snubbed. But when you look at the other films there… films, which granted only 5-10% of the Wonder Woman audience saw, and you objectively judge them it doesn’t fit. If anything, the snub here for me was The Big Sick, which really probably should have snuck in here. It is worth noting that the Oscars allow up to ten nominations for Best Picture (instead of the five for most categories). This year they only chose nine, and so there was an open spot which has actually been pretty debated. In some respect, I guess everyone can just assume their favorite film should have been inserted there and was snubbed for political reasons. Or maybe it’s like saving a seat for Elijah? I dunno. Anyway Conventional wisdom is that this is a two dog race between The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I personally actually liked the latter film more, but for Best Picture, I think the visual artistry of former film is going outweigh the storytelling mastery of the latter. Especially since Three Billboards isn’t really “enjoyable” so much as it is “good.” The social issues being so unresolved and so present in Three Billboards is going to leave some voters uncomfortable for this category. Of course, if it were up to me, I’d go with Lady Bird. I do think it was the best film of the year in terms of storytelling and theatrical craft, plus it fit the social message of the time period and it was hella enjoyable. Lady Bird was like the first time you have sex. It was true love or what felt like it. Maybe you don’t totally know what you’re doing yet, but it was sweet innocent and beautiful. You’ll never forget it. But that just won’t compare to the mastery of what is Shape of Water, this year. After all, who doesn’t love the beautiful touching story of a woman fucking a fish. Everyone wants to see that, right? You know you do!

Mav’s wishful thinking: Lady Bird

Mav’s prediction: The Shape of Water

Best Directing:

Much of what I said under Best Picture applies here as well. This is the place where a lot of people thought Patty Jenkins should have been nominated for directing Wonder Woman (she shouldn’t have been). And it’s a place where I personally would love to see Greta Gerwig win for Lady Bird. She won’t. A lot of people are probably also probably pulling for Jordan Peele to get the Oscar for Get Out. He won’t. Hopefully Gerwig and Peele will have future opportunities. But as far as how this year is going to shake down, this is all about Guillermo del Toro. And this is for the same reasons that I think his film is going to take Best Picture. This is a movie that honestly isn’t all that innovative from a storytelling point of view. It was a cute little fairytale, that I’ve seen before (specifically it’s Splash… but if you want to take out specific plot details, it’s just a lot of star-crossed lovers romances), but what made it special was the exceptional craft of presentation and that was all del Toro. Who else could make such a beautiful visual statement out of woman fucking a fish? Exactly!

Mav’s wishful thinking: Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird

Mav’s prediction: Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water

Best Actor in a Leading Role:

I try to see most of the movies that I think have Oscar potential. Partly because I want to make informed guesses here. Partly because I’m like the pop culture weenie guy so understanding the current zeitgeist is sort of my job. And partly because I just really like movies. I’m going to admit that I never got around to seeing Darkest Hour. I wanted to, it was just never the right time. So I’m kind of judging it based on trailers and clips. But I think I have the basic plot down. The story goes like this: Let’s dress up Gary Oldman in a fat suit and win him an Oscar. And something about Churchill too, maybe, but really what can we do to get Oldman and Oscar? That’s the story, and I think it’s going to work. The only thing could possibly fuck it up is that we know Daniel Day-Lewis is giving up acting after his latest movie (Phantom Thread), presumedly to continue to pursue his lifelong dream of being a cobbler (no, really!). And it’s possible that the Academy just wants a chance to blow Day-Lewis last time… you know how it is… sometimes the love of your life is leaving you… you know there’s nothing you can do to make them stay, but if this is going to the last night together, then you’re going to make it memorable and you’re going to fuck the shit out of them! Really work it this time. Suck harder than ever. No orifice is off limts. Maybe call in a friend as well. The Academy wants Daniel to know what he’s giving up. They want him to remember their name. But let it go, Academy. He’s already moved on. I mean, it’s not that he doesn’t care about you. He does. And if you beg hard enough… then sure… he’ll finish on your face one last time. But honestly, he’s doing that for you, not for himself. The magic is gone for Daniel. It’s over. If you love him let him go. But Gary… look at Gary over there in his fat suit. He’s doing that for YOU! Gary loves you. He just wants a little recognition. He just wants to know you love him. You don’t need to do too much. Maybe just a little hand stuff. He deserves it. Don’t make him beg. He will. And you know what that’s like. Besides, Oldman is totally ok with you having a side piece.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Gary Oldman for The Darkest Hour

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

And speaking of being a side piece. Sam Rockwell wants this bad and will do ANYTHING for you and I mean ANYTHING. All the stuff you’re willing to do for DDL plus stuff you’ve never even heard of and wouldn’t know to google. Filthy stuff. Sam’s going reach down your — Ok, I just want to break away from the sexual metaphor gimmick for a second. Same Rockwell, fucking owned his role in Three Billboards. No one else matters here. Not even a little bit. And yeah, there’s a little bit of controversy about “should we be celebrating someone in this day cultural moment for playing such a racist?” And the answer is yes. Rockwell embodied that character perfectly. That was the definition of acting and he did it in a way that made a character that was completely over the top seem very real and tangible. So much so that he caused the controversy. That’s craft and there’s just no question that he deserves this. Ok back to the sexual metaphor gimmick already in progress. — and you’ll both be walking funny for weeks afterwards.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actress in a Leading Role:

So there’s this problem in Hollywood. They favor the young, particularly among women. And really… I get it. Because given the chance I totally would totally fuck both Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan. And if you don’t want to… well, something is wrong with you. But they’re both in their 20s. They’re skinny, white, blonde and pretty. Frankly, even if they weren’t talented (and they both are) Hollywood find something for them to do. Sally Hawkins is 41 and brunette, so she had to do a little something extra and fuck a fish on camera to get noticed (and again, I don’t want downplay the cinematic achievement there… it was beautiful… like, I mean, I’m questioning stuff about myself). But you know who’s willing to really work for it? A sixty year old France McDormand, who like her co-star Sam Rockwell (see above) was good enough that my whole stupid Hollywood orgy metaphor just kind of falls apart. She was just that good. It doesn’t matter who else was nominated. What? There are five spots and we only nominate four women? I don’t know, someone throw Meryl Streep in there for whatever she’s done most recently… because it doesn’t fucking matter. This is McDormund’s year.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Frances McDormand for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

So this is a weird one. Here’s the one place that I feel like there was a serious snub this year. Holly Hunter really deserved a nomination here for The Big Sick. It didn’t happen. Probably just because the movie came out too long ago and no one really expected much to come of it. I’d argue it’s probably the biggest omission in this year’s nominations. She was amazing in it. The only things that come close are Allison Williams not getting nominated for lead actress in her role in Get Out (and she’s young, white and pretty… even without being blonde she’ll get another shot… especially given how talented she is) and Patrick Stewart not getting a nomination for supporting actor in Logan (but that’s a comic book movie… so probably a lot of Academy voters didn’t take it seriously even though he was very good). However, in each of these cases, including Hunter, it wouldn’t have mattered. Rockwell is taking the category that Stewart would have been nominated for. McDrormund is taking the category that Williams would been in. And supporting actress is coming down to one of two people. Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird and Allison Janney for I, Tonya. This one is kind of a steal. Janney is going to take it. And Janney totally deserves an Oscar. But even at 58, she’s going to get another shot. This is a body of work award. She’s paid her dues and she was good in this and she’s going to take it. I personally think Metcalf was better. And she’s 62 and doesn’t do as many movies (she’s a TV actress) so this is probably her last shot. But it’s not going to happen. This is Janney’s year. Everyone else should just be happy to be there. But this is the one place where I would have replaced a nominee. I like Octavia Spencer a lot and she has an Oscar win and another nomination for a reason. Shape of Water was not her best work. Hunter was better. So since they’re all going to lose to Janney anyway, I would have liked to have seen Hunter get a nod here.

Mav’s wishful thinking: Laurie Metcalf for Lady Bird

Mav’s prediction: Allison Janney for I, Tonya

Best Animated Feature:

Animated Feature is probably the one category in all the Oscars where being the super popular movie is actually the best way to guarantee a win. Sometimes this is deserved. Sometimes it’s not. This time it is. The answer here is Coco. Arguably, Coco deserves that 10th spot in the Best Picture race. There shouldn’t even be a contest here really. To continue the Hollywood orgy metaphor that I’ve been doing one last time (it doesn’t really matter for the awards after this) and be quite inappropriate for a film that is aimed very much at children, Coco is like deep sensual lovemaking while everyone else is still waiting for their first kiss. I mean, really… we’re comparing this to fucking Boss Baby. Are you fucking kidding me?

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Coco

Best Animated Short Film:

And now we’re getting down to the films and awards that most people don’t understand even a little bit. That’s why the orgy metaphor is hard to continue If you’ve got an Oscar pool going, this is where you win it. Animated short films are actually really hard to judge. Partly because it’s sort of like Best Picture in that there are a lot of different ways to win it. Sometimes it’s technical achievement. But it’s just as often to be awarded on grounds of making a really touching story or a beautiful piece of artwork. And sometimes you just give it to whatever random thing Disney or Pixar tossed out there just to win the award (this year, that thing is Lou). This was tricky this year, because I actually would kind of like to see Revolting Rhymes win in any given year. But not this one. Usually, this isn’t the kind of award that anyone that you’ve ever heard of matters at all. Best Animated Short Film is not about star fucking. But not this year. This year, I think it goes to Kobe Bryant’s Dear Basketball. Oh yeah, did you know Kobe Bryant was a film maker now? Well he is. And his short is a gorgeous and touching love letter to… well, himself… but it’s really good.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Dear Basketball

Best Cinematography:

If there is a fucking god, then this belongs to Blade Runner 2049. I loved that movie, and while I acknowledge it isn’t for everyone (and predicted that no one would see it when I reviewed it), if Blade Runner is about nothing else, it is about the beauty of the film medium. This category basically exists for Blade Runner 2049. I would argue that ninety years of fucking Oscars were all leading up to this moment when Blade Runner 2049 wins an Oscar for cinematography. But there is no god… so there’s a good chance that Dunkirk takes this instead. But I’m going against my gut… this is the one place where I’m going to put my wishes in instead and make my official prediction what I want it to be instead of what I expect the Academy to do. It’s the one award I’ll be least surprised to lose.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Blade Runner 2049

Best Costume Design:

Remember how I said that The Darkest Hour only exists to give Gary Oldman an award for best actor? Well, Phantom Thread only exists in order to win the award for Costume Design. No joking… it’s literally a movie about designing costumes. That’s it. I actually haven’t watched it yet (I should) but I mean, this is the most Oscar pandering concept ever. And by all accounts, they did a great job.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Phantom Thread

Best Documentary Feature:

This one is always hard. Generally I never get to see any of these until after the Oscars (if ever) and that’s true this year. A lot of the industry buzz is that this is going to go to either Icarus or Faces Places. But, I’m going with Last Men in Aleppo. The Documentary category is one where traditionally the Academy likes to show just how socially conscious they are. This is not not just culturally and socially relevant in this exact historic moment as a film, but it is notable because it is not only the first film ever nominated out of Syria, and the subject matter of the film itself, but because if it were to win, no one will be there to accept the award because Trump’s travel ban is keeping the filmmakers out of our country. And yeah, maybe you didn’t know that… but the people who vote for documentaries probably do.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Last Men in Aleppo

Best Documentary Short Subject:

Same issue with Documentary Short Subject. Here socially conscious and relevant matters. The two short subject categories (this and animated) are the only ones where all of the voters are required to see all of the films (since it doesn’t take long) and with documentary, this is a place where making a statement matters. I’m going with Heroin(e) purely because people are going to want to address opioid crisis.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Heroin(e)

Best Film Editing:

Remember what I said about there not being a god? If there were a god, then Baby Driver might have a shot here. Baby Driver is a movie that is all about craft. The magic of that movie is the way in which sound and visuals are expertly crafted together. The challenge was not only editing it together in a brilliant way that made for an engaging visual experience, but the technical expertise to make it work with the music and sound mixing. The film is a master class in craft. It is a singular achievement in film editing that absolutely deserves this almost as much as Blade Runner 2049 deserves the cinematography award. But I said I was only going to play that card and go against my gut once and I am sticking to it. So I think Baby Driver gets beat here just because it’s too genre and high concept and voters might never have given it a chance. So this award is going to go to the second best edited film this year, Dunkirk.

Mav’s wishful thinking: Baby Driver

Mav’s prediction: Dunkirk

Best Foreign Language Film:

Like I said, these categories are really hard. I’m going to go with A Fantastic Woman, because it’s the one I am most interested in seeing (I haven’t seen any of the nominees this year). There are a couple others that sound interesting (The Insult is getting some good buzz) but I feel like this one. And much like the documentary categories being a socially relevant can really help in this category. Not as much, but some. And this is a story focusing very heavily on transgender rights. This is something that can also tank it because… well, the Academy is a lot of very very old white men. So it might just be “icky.” But, I expect Foreign Language Film is one of the categories where a lot of the people who would be squicked out by it just don’t bother to vote, so I’m going with it.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: A Fantastic Woman

Best Live Action Short Film:

This is another one of my hard sections because I haven’t seen them. So on this one I’m judging purely on industry buzz and social relevance. I’m going with Dekalb Elementary. Honestly, a big part of this is because it will create a moment for the filmmaker to stand up and give an inspiring speech about gun control and how we have to do something to end the crisis of school shootings. And everyone will applaud and feel great… well, until he gets played off for giving a speech longer than ten seconds, because we have to make sure we have enough time left for the big names to give speeches at the end of the show. We care about school shootings… but only so much.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: DeKalb Elementary

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:

This is usually a hard one. It’s not this time. Remember how I said that Darkest Hour was a movie about getting Gary Oldman his Oscar? Well, in order to that they had to transform him. And that took a massive technical achievement in makeup and hairstyling.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Darkest Hour

Best Original Score:

Original Score is a weird category this year. For obvious reasons, the industry sort of privileges the “Original” part of Original Score. And, so in a lot of ways it sort of makes sense to exclude Baby Driver from the category because the music is from preexisting sources. BUT, in the same way that Phantom Thread is a movie about costuming. Baby Driver is a movie about scoring a movie. That’s the whole gimmick of the film. And to exclude it is sort of the same thing as arguing a DJ isn’t a musician and well… that’s an argument. But in this specific case, I feel like Baby Driver at least needed to be on the conversation. Certainly more than Star Wars: The Last Jedi which I think is just sort of there because legally, Star Wars has to be nominated in this category. But Baby Driver is not there. And so I am forced to pick something else, and while I personally liked the Dunkirk score a lot, I think for what the Academy is going for, we go to Shape of Water again here. If nothing else, because it has momentum.

Mav’s wishful thinking: Dunkirk

Mav’s prediction: Shape of Water

Best Original Song:

The music categories are hard at the Oscars. You have to sort of forget that you’re at movie awards and then apply the logic that you would use for making a Grammy pick. But then you have to remember that you’re picking an award for a movie and you are at the Oscars and it’s just a whole big thing. And also, it’s music so it kinda needs to sound nice. Anyway, for some reason, 21st century Hollywood loves a musical and The Greatest Showman was one.

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman

Best Production Design:

Like I said, there is no god, but there is momentum.

Mav’s wishful thinking: Blade Runner 2049

Mav’s prediction: Shape of Water

Best Sound Mixing:

As I say every year, no one in the world really understands the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Not even the people who do it for a living. I think I understand… and if I do, then this is the one place where Baby Driver has a very real shot at winning an Oscar. And it deserves it. But again, remember, there is no god… and you’re not required to watch all of the movies to vote in this category. I can totally see old Oscar voters looking at the cover for their Baby Driver screener DVD and saying “oh fuck no” and moving on without knowing how much that movie needs this. It is a celebration of the art of film sound. But no… they’ll probably just pick Dunkirk.

Mav’s wishful thinking: Baby Driver

Mav’s prediction: Dunkirk

Best Sound Editing:

Baby Driver was more about the sound mixing than the sound editing… you know… unless I got those backwards… because again, no one really remembers which is which. If I’m right, then Blade Runner 2049 had better sound editing. But it doesn’t matter, because the same deal as with Sound Mixing and the Academy will just pick Dunkirk and move on with their lives.

Mav’s wishful thinking: Blade Runner 2049

Mav’s prediction: Dunkirk

Best Visual Effects:

Do you know why this category exists? This category exists to give trophies to Star Wars. Any year that there is no Star War is just a year that we’re standing around and waiting for a Star War to happen. And I am including the fifty years that the ward existed before the first Star War. And now that we have a Star War every year, you should be able to sort of pencil in the Star War to win this award. Only it hasn’t happened. See, the last time we brought back the Star Wars we were busy giving this award to Matrixes and Lords of Rings. And this time, now that we have a yearly Star War, we keep saying “oh, well, there will be another chance for the Star Wars, so let’s recognize an Ex Machina or a Jungle Book because we’ll totally get to the recognizing the Star War next year.” Well, this is not that year. Because this is the year of Blade Runner 2049. And frankly, there’s probably not going to be another one. In 1982, the original Blade Runner got bumped for this award by E.T. which for all intents and purposes (in this category at least) might as well have been a Star War. Well, this franchise didn’t wait thirty-five years for that to happen again. So you know… lets see how Solo: A Star Wars Story does next year (BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!!)

Mav’s wishful thinking and prediction: Blade Runner 2049

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Sometimes it’s an honor to be nominated. Two of my own personal favorite films are in this category this year. Logan and The Disaster Artist. A movie about the X-man Wolverine and a movie about arguably one of the worst movies of all time. Neither of these things have any business being anywhere near the Academy Awards… and yet, in these two specific cases… they totally do belong. They’re just not going to win. In the past we’ve had a lot of Oscar controversy about things being too white. Too male. Too heteronormative. The Academy is trying to fix that… Moonlight last year was a big part of that. But they’re not going to burn the Best Picture spot on diversity every year. And a good place to do that is the screenwriting awards. So this is going to be the Academy saying “you want diversity? Fine, we’re so woke we’re going to give an award to a gay film that you’ve never even fucking heard of. That’s right, we’re going with Call Me By Your Name. You don’t know it! Not so woke after all, are you! Fuck you!”

Mav’s wishful thinking: Logan (though to be fair, this is partly me being a comic book weenie and I haven’t seen the film that is going to win yet either… though I want to)

Mav’s prediction: Call Me By Your Name

Best Original Screenplay:

And they can consider demonstrating their wokeness with the other screenwriting award. And this is kind of a problem. Because as I said on my very first pick, Lady Bird was probably the best pure film of the year. And it really deserves and Oscar. But it’s not going to get one. It’s going to get shut out, and that sucks. Because it wasn’t the best written film. The Big Sick was actually better, and this is the only places it’s even nominated. And I really would have liked to see that get more recognition. And really, again, if there was a god, it would probably be a shoe-in here. But there is no god… and in the mind of the Academy voter, diversifying means tossing a vote towards a woman, a gay, or a black. But then when the voter looks at Kumail Nanjiani they say “what the fuck is that dude?!?!? Pakistani? Uhhh…. no… no no no… that’s just not going to happen here.” Wokeness only goes so far. But on a good note, it goes far enough that I think you can pencil in Jordan Peele to get recognized for Get Out. Oddly enough, of the three things I’ve mentioned here, Get Out is probably the LEAST well written. But it’s the one that I feel like can really get traction and win here. Of course, this is a tough category… and I wouldn’t be shocked if Three Billboards gets another nod here (and that would be reasonable) or Shape of Water because of its momentum (and this would NOT be reasonable. It’s not as well WRITTEN as the others). But I think this is one where the more diverse pick really can pull it out. Not just because he’s black, but because it’s such a different film than anything else that Academy has ever seen. And yet they liked it enough to nominate it anyway.

Mav’s wishful thinking: The Big Sick

Mav’s prediction: Get Out

So those are my picks… What are yours? And if you’re interested in watching with me an Steph, let me know (we may even say yes 😀).

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Mav’s Big Fucking Oscar Predictions List – 2018 (Why can’t my favorite movie win?) was originally published on ChrisMaverick dotcom

#90th Academy Awards #Academy Awards #Baby Driver #Blade Runner 2049 #Coco #Dunkirk #get out #greatest showman #I tonya #movie reviews #oscars #shape of water #Three Billboards Outside Ebbing

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lt-as-i-see-it-blog · 6 years

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Building Louis Tomlinson a long-term, sustainable career worth following and supporting

Coming from years of negative press and scandals (which went into high gear in Q4 of 2015 as 1D was going into hiatus) - -

Louis’ brand and press needed a massive reboot as he launched “Just Hold On”

Louis’ brand and press needed a massive reboot after the LAX incident (which generated so much negative tabloid press and mainstream press coverage, painting Louis in the worst light possible.)

Louis’ brand and press needed a massive reboot after the Ash London debacle (which created such a big backlash from the Australian music industry and press, and generated so many articles worldwide.)

Louis’ brand and press never got the reboot he sorely needed to anchor his launch as a solo artist, and to anchor any of his singles. Instead, he continues to be tabloid fodder while his music is being promoted. Additionally, his music promo is also deeply entwined with press focus on his personal life — it is never just about his music alone. His team uses his personal circumstances to promote his music every single time, like clockwork. There’s no bigger example of this (and how it was such a disservice to him and his single) than the recent “Miss You” release in which the song’s promo was centred about him missing the girl he loved while partying, instead of focusing on Louis’ new pop punk sound.

The problem is, nothing will change in the way Louis is marketed and promoted as long as he is with Syco and Simon Jones PR. Him being with James Grant Group doesn’t make a difference either, as they are entangled with Syco. He doesn’t get a new start or better treatment with any of these groups because they will always see him as the struggling 1D boy who was has all the stunts, and is better off with tabloid press. It’s not a coincidence that the 1D boy with worst press and promo, and a struggling solo career is the one stuck with the old players.

Best case in point - Liam’s new management team (Doyen) and PR team (Murray-Chalmers) have been able to launch him successfully into the mainstream despite whatever strings (stunts) that exist with Syco/Simon - they have been able to separate him from all of that. Louis, on the other hand, is deeply entrenched in it all — with all of the bullshit seemingly a condition for his solo career to exist.

@theyrereallyawful and @hazlouquitefinished have already written really good posts (here, here, here and here ) on why Simon Jones has failed Louis as his PR manager, and to recap, here all the things Louis is associated with/seen as and the impressions he is giving right now — and this is why Louis needs a massive reboot for his brand and press:

He currently has a very confused audience and positioning - with both his sound and his image not working. He tried EDM, pop and pop punk, with his album supposedly leaning towards the pop punk sound. With “Miss You” not performing well, this isn’t a good springboard to his album - WHICH IS WHY his team should have focused on introducing this sound for Louis and building his brand around it in the first place. But they didn’t, so now we have situation where Louis’ new sound looks unsuccessful — what happens to his album then?

His image has strong negative associations: He went from loved-up hermit to wild party boy and now to a laddy-lad northern England boy who is anti-hollywood, has gotten into scandals (LAX arrest, knocked up someone from a one night stand, etc.) chavvy, swears a lot and loves having beef on twitter. Additionally, he still hasn’t shaken off the image of being the worst 1D boy, “the one who can’t sing”, and worse, he's still referred to as homophobic, racist and a “rat” (insulting his look) to this day. Clearly, his team has a lot to work with, has a lot to address in creating a better image for Louis, and securing new fans and audiences for him.

Unfortunately, we have not seen a positive re-brand happen for Louis at all — not in any great measure. Sure, there have been good articles here and there, but they are far outweighed by the negatives ones.

So what needs to happen?

Louis needs a full PR and press campaign, a multi-faceted one that highlights his music, his personality (they need to make him likeable and loveable), and let’s admit it, his face and his style - because his beauty and the way he carries clothes is truly an asset that should be on billboards and magazines everywhere. This is 100% image-building, celebrity-making stuff. Dua Lipa and Camila had massive press campaigns, punctuated by great photo shoots. Liam, Zayn and Niall (now an actual signed model) had plenty of photo shoots and features as well. (Harry also did but in a more limited capacity, but with great names in the industry such as Harley Weir.) It truly worked to heighten their visibility and ubiquity. This will be helpful in raising awareness for Louis and building his brand. A beautifully shot billboard for Louis will stop traffic, 100%. Additionally, he’s been wearing the hottest street wear brands the past year or so, and he’s hasn’t been on any trend-setter list? He hasn’t gotten any fashion PR? (Meanwhile, Troye Sivan (I think he’s great, by the way) gets a Valentino streetwear campaign to launch his new single - incidentally, the items he wears in the campaign (red tracksuit, black trackpants/white shirt) are things we’ve seen Louis wear repeatedly! This is an example of what a good, brand-building multi-faceted campaign looks like - we’ve seen none of this for Louis.)

The most important part of this campaign is to build Louis’ cred as an artist: Show him in the studio - writing, recording and collaborating with top industry talent. Create buzz for his music by making his visible as a serious artist working with serious names in the industry — make sure to get their endorsement for Louis too. And please, let him hobnob with his peers and with industry execs. Industry relationships and networks serve to strengthen one’s standing in the industry — and Louis’ very public (and contrived) anti-hollywood, anti-celeb stance is not doing him any favours AT ALL. He looks like an angry outcast at this point who thinks he’s too good for the hollywood thing. Him criticizing the songwriters he wrote with Hollywood really just burn bridges as well- what new solo artist does that??

Additionally, get Louis OUT THERE - performing, doing interviews and getting creative bookings on shows he hasn’t done yet. He needs to stop being MIA and yanked out of promo, leaving his fandom to do the work to boost his singles. This makes him appear complacent, uninterested in promoting, and too reliant on his fandom, almost taking it for granted that his fandom will step in and hustle for him. It’s not a good look.

A good campaign like this will be great springboard for his next single and his album. This isn’t a one shot deal — elements of this would have to be executed over a 4 to 6 month period, at least. Remember, we’re addressing YEARS of negative press and some deeply entrenched images of Louis. But all of this will serve to sell him as an artist who has great singles, a fantastic album and a career to support for years to come -- THAT’s what a good campaign should aim to create for Louis - a sustainable music career worth following and supporting.

This fandom has discussed, over and over again, what needs to happen in order for Louis’ career to fare better, in order for him to be successful. I have extremely low confidence in his current team (Syco, JGG, and SJPR) and only hope that the new people he’s working with at Epic Records give him a chance, and view him with fresh eyes - seeing his potential as a solo artist and his true talent as a songwriter and performer. We’ve seen what Epic can do for people they support, and with their leadership seemingly supportive of Louis, here’s hoping that we get better people on Louis’ team and better promotion and opportunities for him.

Louis’ brand and press as it is right now is unsustainable - it doesn’t lead to growth and it doesn’t lead to breakthrough success - it truly needs a massive reboot to counteract all the negativity and focus on building Louis as a genuine solo artist and musician.

Will his team give him this chance in 2018?

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All these of are my thoughts and opinions - which I am entitled to 100%.

#Louis Tomlinson #LTHQ #solo campaign #brand PR and press #@theyrereallyawful #@hazlouquitefinished

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