Persona and Fandom as a Method of Predation
A Rant
This past weekend BBC released, “Burning Sun: Exposing the secret K-pop chat groups”, a documentary about the Burning Sun scandal that rocked Korea and the world in 2019. The documentary featured never before seen video, detailing the depths of abuse and the brazen conduct of the perpetrators. While the reaction to the documentary has been swift, little is being said regarding how they were able to get away with their crimes for so long. Or about how the fandom that formed around them and raised them up, became their hunting ground.
For some context, the Burning Sun was a popular nightclub owned by former Big Bang member and eternal poser Lee Seung-hyun, better known as Seungri. He had fashioned himself a reputation of being the ultimate partying playboy, and the club attracted many patrons during its brief existence. However, this club was actually a trap for it’s women patrons. Women were drugged, sexually assaulted, and filmed at the Burning Sun, sometimes being “procured” specifically for rich investors. Seungri also ran in a circle of other prominent male idols who engaged in the drugging, assaulting, filming, and sharing of those videos to a shared Kakao chatroom. Idol soloist Jung Joon-young and former F.T. Island leader Choi Jong-hoon were found to have committed sexual assaults both together and separately, then uploading videos of their crimes to that chatroom with Seungri. This also, horrifyingly, included at least one woman who had previously attended a fan sign meeting for Joon-young. In this, a modus operandi emerges.
Every single male idol involved in these chatrooms had been marketed specially to women. Some portrayed as strong and protective leaders, others portrayed as sensitive and thoughtful artists. All were cast by their companies as heartthrobs and coached to act as such publicly. This was typically done, at least in the idol world, through variety shows. On these shows, idols are made to do aegyo (cute, childish posing) to make them seem sweet and approachable or sometimes they are asked about their “ideal type” and give answers designed to endear viewers. Even the songs they released aided them in the extension of the illusion, with lyrics such as “Show me all your scars, Its what makes you beautiful” and “My heart ached, I only loved you, I was happy” (translated to English). In turn, women were lured in, primarily so that their companies could make as much money as possible. However, when you create a parasocial bond like that you prime audiences to be less suspecting of their idols, which these men then took advantage of. This phenomenon doesn’t stop at K-pop however.
So far this year, we have seen several lawsuits alleging a number of crimes committed by music mogul P. Diddy. Or Brother Love. Or whatever name he is currently using to dodge accountability. The crimes he’s been accused of allegedly committing include but are not limited to sex-trafficking, sexual assault, drug trafficking, attempted murder, fraud, intimidation, blackmail, and threats of violence. As far as we can tell at this moment, many people in the industry knew and looked the other way. Fear of getting involved cited as their reasoning. However, it is clear that fear of persona played a massive role as well. Diddy has maintained a reputation as a “mover and shaker” for about 3 decades now. He is regarded as someone who has changed the face of an entire genre all while being a no-nonsense business titan. A persona like that makes Diddy larger than life. So large that his word can’t be challenged or questioned. Years and years later, there are countless victims in his wake and an undisclosed number of celebrities who have been pulled into his alleged crimes, as both willing and unwilling participants. On the other hand, his years of public fame have given him a sizeable fanbase of people who aspire to his lifestyle. These fans serve as a pool of victims, unfortunately lured in with the promise of being able to access glory for themselves.
We can not do away with fandoms. As long as there are musicians, they will have fans. As long as they have fans, musicians will seek to create alluring personas for themselves to ensure they keep those fans. This isn’t ideal but in a capitalist system, it’s what we can expect. This however doesn’t mean that fans should be at the mercy of the artists they support. This doesn’t mean that their personas should act as a shield when it comes to prosecuting their crimes. I don’t purport to have the answers but I believe that each and every artist we’ve blindly propped up deserves to be looked at with a scrutinizing eye. Deserves to have their actions questions and any “complicated” scandals revisited and when we find out they’re preyed on people, they deserved to be permanently removed. It isn’t “cancel culture run amok” to ask questions. The main perpetrators in the Kakao chatrooms have all been released and are out today, slowing making their way back into the K-pop scene. For that to even be an option in 2024 is nothing short of shameful when it should be preventable.
Creepy.