What EXO Can Learn From Shinhwa About Overzealous Fans

[tothechangmin.livejournal.com]

EXO has been all over the news lately. They just released a new single, "Growl" and the song has gotten praise from not only critics and fans, but other artists as well.

The members are busy with their promotional activities and have a long list of appearances scheduled throughout the summer and into next month.

Recently they have been gaining a fair amount of negative press, however - though it is no fault of their own.

Rather, a number of overzealous fans have been excessive in the way they show their love. Stalking behavior, dangerous antics, and unabashed invasion of privacy seem to be the norm for these fans and their inappropriate antics have gotten the entire fandom banned from the Inkigayo studio.

However, EXO is definitely not the first idol group to have such intense fans. They follow in the tradition of other popular groups like H.O.T, TVXQ, and Shinhwa.

These days, Shinhwa has a very special and respectful relationship with their fandom, but the now-pleasant atmosphere is after the group members spoke out to their followers directly - an example EXO can probably learn from.

During a fan meeting for their first album, Dong Wan spoke directly to the fans saying, "Shinhwa isn't responsible for your lives."

The now famous, and often repeated, quote lost him and his group a fair amount of fans at the time who were offended by his words. Looking back now, it is clear to see that the true fans are the ones who took his message to heart and the group still boasts one of the largest fandoms in K-Pop.

Even a decade or so later, when it seemed like fans were getting out of control again, Eric addressed the Changjos in an online message. On July 7, 2011 he wrote:

Shinhwa has always lived joking around without too much arguing, but we couldn't have gotten this far without some seriousness, to be honest. I feel a certain kind of responsibility over our younger fans.

This might be all over the place, but I'm going to say some things that you might not like, but it's all for your own good so don't be too shocked~ It'd probably be about the same things your parents tell you, but it would be more convincing if the words came out of your favorite oppa, won't it?

Getting first place and being popular - these things aren't our goals anymore.

Though on television or on stage, Shinhwa might just be another entertainer, we want Shinhwa, our very own stories that we tell to our fans directly to affect your fans positively so that when you all grow up to be successful, you are able to say that Shinhwa was your favorite idol group when you were young and the things they said and did influenced you to get that far.

If I see an interview like that in the future, I think that is the success that Shinhwa is striving for.

So please let Shinhwa succeed. We will lead you to a good road to the best of our ability, and we will try our best to give you happiness like the entertainers we are when you're tired and down.

Though this post might be all over the place, I hope you understood my meaning~ While having fun, I wish you do the things you're meant to do well and be successful, strong SHCJs~ Hwaiting!!

Looking back on their behavior, a lot of fans realized the error of their ways and have sine chosen to express their feelings for the group in more productive, respectful ways.

Maybe because they are still new to the scene and their success depends on album sales which, in turn, depend on their fans, but the EXO members have yet to give their extreme fans a talking to.

Doing so may lose them many supporters at first, but in the long run they will end up weeding out the crazy ones and be left with a fandom full of honest supporters who really do just want the best for them.


Source: kpopstarz.com

Comments

[bauci.livejournal.com]

...yeah, I'm not sure EXO is at a place where they can comment on it. Who would even make that comment? I think the leaders are too soft and polite for that. And Tao, who has spoken out before, has already had a fair share of backlash.

[hearttaek.livejournal.com]

afaik, Dongwan made that comment around their first album which was released on their debut year.
Shinhwa wasnt even popular then and their first few singles and album tanked.
DW also received a lot of hate for his comments, lost a lot of fans and DW fans apparently had to keep defending him from other shinhwa fans.

Maybe Kris could say something, he seems serious enough. If he puts his foot down against this behavior maybe people will listen?

[nudecolors.livejournal.com]

people should get their shit together and stop acting like this towards stars. they are only people which happen to be known by many others, some of them even are idiots. stop defending them for everything they do, stop stalking them, stop trying to get to know them, stop thinking they'll eveeeer fall in love with you.

[missaoki.livejournal.com]

Your words oppa. Your words.*TEARS*

[lysblack.livejournal.com]

for exo's crazy fans situation i don't blame only the crazy kids, but SM has most of the blame, because they are the ones who market their groups in such a way, that more than in any other fandom in another company, that the fans feels completely entitled over their favorite group's lives as if they owned the members and the group.

i mean, let's look at the insane fandom, i won't say that other companies don't have sasaengs and all that crazy shit, but you step back and take a look, SM had the worst fandoms in level of batshit crazy, in the story of kpop, that still goes on.

yes, these fandoms are amazing for their pockets, i mean look at the insane number of physical copies that exo sold, but are incredible unhealthy for the group members, the amount of power that they give to the fans is not safe at all.

[bauci.livejournal.com]

IA, the article should have mentioned SJ as well. The pure entitlement that manifested with only13 drove me nuts.

[torontok.livejournal.com]

Pssht as if SM would let them say anything. their still a fledgling group in many ways and SM wouldnt want to risk depleting th efanbase

[hearttaek.livejournal.com]

SM wasn't able to stop DW from saying anything.
And i believe at that time, shinhwa had a smaller fanbase and were earlier in their career too.

[nrafx.livejournal.com]

Shinhwa was always a bit different tho, and their fandom was never as huge/intense as H.O.T/DBSK/EXO.

I do think speaking up in response to fan behaviour can be helpful, but most people are probably too worried about backlash/alienating fans. That's why you need someone like Heechul in your group really.

EXO kind have reached the point though where it's getting v necessary for them to try do something about the fandom. I know the problem is with the fans and SM, but SM doesn't really give a fuck and the fans are just going to get worse, so I think it's kind of left to the members to at least try say something. It's only going to keep affecting the group (and others too).

[anconeous.livejournal.com]

Agree with everything!

[caramelorchoco.livejournal.com]

dongwan~~~ <3

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

"Shinhwa isn't responsible for your lives."

Yes omg. Overzealous fans who are all "you owe me cuz I'm your fan" are full of crap. Here's what they owe you - nothing really. Yes they are expected to do their jobs (sing, dance, etc) but it's not the same as putting up with all your bs. Respect is a 2-way street. And maybe I'm just jaded from living here for so long, but I often find that is an ignored view here in Korea (though mostly that's with older folks to younger folks).

[guitarchic11292.livejournal.com]

mte. The fans pay for music and performances. That's the transaction, they aren't owed shit.

[guitarchic11292.livejournal.com]

"excessive in the way they show their love"

Um, no. These people are obsessed and out of touch with reality. Something needs to be done about this kind of behavior before someone dies.

[peachie-ego.livejournal.com]

LOL oh so this is who EXO stans are trying to compare their bias to now...L-O-L! Talk about reaching! They really need to get a grip and stop trying make a name for themselves. Their dumb, boring, attention-whoring cray cray tactics will never be remembered in Kpop. NEVER! Like come back to us when they can out crazy DB5K tainting drink controversy, Black Ocean extravaganza, or 2PM Bloody-Pad Gate. Until then they need to sit their severely thirsty asses down somewhere and shut up.

[walkin-siesta.livejournal.com]

antagonistic,delusional fans like this one are what make fandoms go bad

[yeolcarp.livejournal.com]

but the thing is tho is that most of exo's fandom is made up of young girls, like middle school age. there's no reasoning with people at that time and unfortunately the only way is to let them grow up, but more and more people will be hopping onto that bandwagon of fans, at the same time. so it's a really poor funnel. and shinhwa's fandom is so calm, right now, is because they have older fans, too. just my two cents.

[a-cheshire-grin.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but that's not an excuse.
As soon as somebody hurts another person (and EXO has been hurt by their fans more than once; other idols too!), it doesn't matter how old the offenders are. Violence is wrong and there is also no guaranty that these kids will ever "grow out" of said behaviour!

[gigabytexx.livejournal.com]

well most of exo fans are those who were dbsk & suju fans so..... they're just continuing the tradition. Unless someone/something changed during the crazy time, sasaengs will never go away and move on to the next group after exo

[mingsunni.livejournal.com]

Why does everyone keep saying this? Most EXO fans are middle school/high school (some elementary kids too, but they're too young to be involved in this mess really). They most likely were not SJ or DBSK fans before. I think that's true with international fans though (intl ELF and Cassies jumping to EXO) but they aren't the ones in Korea causing problems.

[a-cheshire-grin.livejournal.com]

These "fans" scare the life out of me (and I'm NOT scared easily). You can't even argue with them rationally.

I mean, for me it's like: When I support an idol group (and I mean ANY idol group), WHY would I want to hurt the members in this group? BUT those cray cray fans see it like: Idols belong to US! We own THEM! Their hearts, their souls and their bodies! And this shit makes sense to them!

Idols own us fans nothing, except doing what they're supposed to do (singing, dancing, smiling and waving at events, though it's not a drama if they don't!). I can't even watch airport fancams of EXO anymore, because I just want to jump into them and protect EXO from those crazy people!
And I wish Tao would get more support from the other members, whenever he speaks out about these horrible things, because he has done so in the past and I'm so totally on his side!!!

[zuluuluz.livejournal.com]

mte bb!
this whole situation is just making me love tao even more but i hope he just stands up for himself and the group and that the rest of exo supports him omg i have so many feelings rn
why must people be such dumbasses

[zutterwacke.livejournal.com]

i understand speaking up in the position they are rn might be detrimental to their reputation among their fanbase and in the end to their sales, too - BUT imho it's wrong not to talk about it when the problem's so obvious an, because you're basically scared of the fans' reaction and probable repercussions. this is not a very valid reason to me, as with this justification for not stepping up you're giving the cray cray fans even more power and are almost admitting to be intimidated by them. it's already gotten out of hand several times, so i think they should try to calm down their fanbase a bit, otherwise it can only get worse and might even culminate in some tragic and weird incident which will forever be a dark chapter in the history of exo, to put it melodramatically

[dorawa.livejournal.com]

honestly, something needs to be said. when members are getting pushed down in airports and extremely hurt (luhan, kai and lay come to mind automatically) and barred from entering inkigayo, you KNOW you have a problem. i know they're a rookie group so you have to tread lightly but... they're a rookie group. if all of this has happened in about 1 year, imagine years down the line. it's only going to get worse because not saying anything is wordless reassurance that they're in the "right" when they're not.

[zuluuluz.livejournal.com]

i need kris to say something tbh
or tao with kris supporting him
idek

[cagallisakura.livejournal.com]

I know everyone says that SM groups generally have the most insane fandoms, but does anyone have their own answer as to why this is? Cuz I think this way too but I don't have a reason, my reason is: it just is :/
like what/how is SM marketing their groups that just make people OBSESS over them?
would really like to know people's opinions :)

[devilstay.livejournal.com]

I think it's because sment strike a great balance between time and distance.

In terms of timing, I'm talking about how sment kinda ups the ante and desperation by just revealing things whenever they want, this is a small example but they say 'so and so's mv will be up at so and so time' and then it's actually up 5hours later. They do this consistently and it's on purpose, they know fans are anxious and staying up late/early to see, and that by the times they upload whatever they promised we're all just pleased they did it at all. sment stans in general aren't used to having their opinions/views listened too, because we've all learned that they do what they want/when they want, so when they give us something, we usually take it, and run with it. I think this can to some extend apply to fans reactions at airports/concerts/music events.

All of sments groups are about anticipation, and build-up tbh. Will they/won't they etc. It's what creates the hype, there is a narrative to how they sell their groups, and if you get into them, you basically want to follow the story to the end.

I think sment has always gotten the idol personality thing just right. Their groups always have a variety of personalities, and one for pretty much everyone, not to mention their idols tend to toe the line when it comes to 'real' personalities/idol personalities. They show enough of what they might be/could be in real life, and supplement the rest with fan-service, so fans are kept pleased but also rather fascinated with these idols who they imagine they could actually know in real life. It's easy for a lot of fans to forget to keep a distance between themselves and their idol, when they are so thoroughly convinced that 'hey! we could be friends/boyfriends/girlfriends' etc.

Also, sment picks the people that will be in a group carefully, so that they send of a dynamic that keeps fans wanting to know more about them as people, and about their relationships. sment sells not just music, and dancing, they sell an entire narrative.

I mean all idols work this way, doesn't matter if they are kpop idols are not, but I think sment has stricken the balance better then most.

/I spend a lot of time thinking of this, sorry for the essay, but that's all I've got.

[stephantasm.livejournal.com]

ugh god.

[bauci.livejournal.com]

I think it's about the group mentality too. There are always people who are more intense and if you tolerate their crazy ways people who are coming into fandom later will think it's the norm, esp if they don't have prior experience (and considering the age most fans apparently are...).
I think exochoco is a nice example of how things could be. I've been in several fandoms over 10 years and I'm genuinely enjoying the experience there. It's still flailing and caps but at the end of the day it's chill and supportive of the whole group.

[baeby-bloo-skys.livejournal.com]

i think one of the factors in this is that exo doesn't seem to have a member who is normally very reserved/serious who can take on that role of speaking out against such irresponsible behavior, and who people will take seriously. suho isn't the strict leader type, and neither is kris. he was incredibly sweet to fans when he was traveling alone, and that was very nice of him, but technically unnecessary. i feel like he's more of a person who will put up with people because he's that nice.
b.a.p has yongguk as that kind of figure. idk if he's had to speak against fans directly, but he's always stressing how he wants to inspire people to have good morals, etc. so fans already know what kind of behavior is looked favorably upon. vixx has leo who rarely tweets but then he tweets chastising people for coming into their waiting room.
maybe it's because i'm not as immersed in the exo fandom, but generally in regards to fans, the boys mostly seem like "we love our fans! you're the reason we exist blah blah blah" which lbr prob is sm's coaching. once they grow a bit more as a group, and their fans mature a bit, hopefully it'll change but for now... :[
though getting banned from inki and the statement from sm were pretty good warnings, so maybe the fans will learn from that

[obeytheempress.livejournal.com]

ugh i hate that the members of the group themselves have to take responsibility for this shit. like why can't SM speak up on their behalf and protect them? why can't they take responsibility for THEIR group's insane fans? the members of exo are practically kids for ffs

[turtles-tszx.livejournal.com]

MTE, i cant really blame the members when they're practically under SM tight control especially now with t-ara and secret incident when anything you say or do can jeopardize your career. Besides, all SM's artist are so manufactured and idol like when they first debuted.

It's not like the member never said anything to the fans, tao had spoken up about the issue as well.

[soramai.livejournal.com]

Shinhwa are the best.

[kaila-09.livejournal.com]

I just wish Suho could finally man up and do something about this. He should prove how much of a leader he is. SM has always had the cray fans in history of KPOP and somehow the leaders could always manage the fans. I heard about Leeteuk talked to ELF about fighting each other and united them, I believe other leaders such as Taeyeon and Yunho have this ability to talk to fans. They have already established him as the leader of EXO since Wolf promotion and he should do something about this because sad to say, I don't think SM will take an action.

What makes me sad is that there is a possibility of EXO fans still disrupting the shows by showing up and harassing other fandoms (just like they did with fx fans).

[kelliusmaximus.livejournal.com]

it's ignorant and naive to keep insisting exo to tell off their sasaengs assuming a) they haven't already, and b) it's the key to getting them under control

first off, they probably HAVE scolded their sasaengs, to their faces and maybe through other means that we, ifans, don't hear about.

secondly, it wouldn't make them lose fans. it wouldn't stop people stalking them. it wouldn't leave them with a 'fandom full of honest supporters'. their sasaengs aren't looking for approval, they're looking for ATTENTION, even if it means pissing off their idols. they are looking to be memorable to them and giving sasaengs attention by responding to them shows that they ARE being remembered, and that's exactly what they want.

even jaejoong mentioned that talking about sasaengs makes it worse - "Though they'll probably harass us the more I talk about their existence, what else can I do? This is something they have to realize about themselves."

its not fair to put the burden on exo to fix the situation when its not that easy to fix.

[turtles-tszx.livejournal.com]

THIS.

Saesang fans DGAF about their oppa, their main purpose is to make the idols recognize them. One reason why idols dont really do anything is that when you give them attention, you're actually encouraging them to be more aggressive since "oppa" already noticed their existence.

I remembered reading people reporting saesang fans to the police but nothing was done since majority of them are minor.

[hurtmybones.livejournal.com]

just pull the plug on the group and spare every1 the trouble

[peachie-ego.livejournal.com]

LMAO

[theycallmeriz.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's a matter of just 'someone getting their act together and speaking out' because the issue runs much deeper than that.

The problem is that SMEnt manufactures their acts, these boys and girls are taken in and moulded and shaped and trained and produced. They're marketed to us as products. SM deliberately blur the line between fantasy and reality and they teach their artists to do this as well.

Just like when you pay for a doll, you expect it to be yours to play with however you like- when you're marketed these super-human doll-like artists, you project your own personalities and feelings onto them. You expect what you pay for. Dolls and other products like them aren't people like you and me so it's perfectly acceptable to go to extremes and the worst thing about it is that you can often feel like you're doing them a favour or protecting them.


Essentially, what SM does a perfect job of is completely dehumanising their artists.

This is why SM has the most rabid fandoms. They actively encourage the idea of their artists being the fans' "possessions". And dolls don't speak and they don't do what their owners don't want them to do. Their personality is what the owner expects it to be.


The change has to come from within SM themselves. If instead of squashing and manufacturingand controlling their artists' personalities, they encouraged and developed them and just taught them PR, allowing fans to finally start seeing them as human, it would improve the situation immensely.


The reason we think at least one of them speaking out will change things is because them not actively propagating the "We Are Dolls. You Are Our Masters." myth will eventually begin breaking through to the crazies.

These boys need to stop reacting to things unrealistically, like being THANKFUL to the mentals at the airport, and just behave like normal human beings- even something like a casual "Mate, you know if you push us and Kai falls and breaks his leg, he can't dance. Kai needs to dance.". Heechul doesn't speak out, he just speaks and because nobody else does, it seems like he's being sassy.


The international fandom has distance to bring us back to reality, but I've been to Korea- you're SURROUNDED by idol group images to the point that it's overwhelming, and SM artists in particular are literally MARKETED to you like fast food on UK/US tv.

So yes, these fans are insane and something needs to be done, but it really isn't entirely their fault and change has to come from somewhere much deeper than that.

tl;dr- SMEnt artists are sold to us as dolls, not humans. Want to sort out the crazies? SM needs to quit manufacturing everybody's personalities and just allow them to behave like actual human beings. Albeit famous ones.

[ironicmustache.livejournal.com]

this truth right here