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omonatheydidIf you’re like me, the public outcry that ensued when Janet Jackson flashed her nipple for all of half a second during a performance with Justin Timberlake at the 2004 Super Bowl seemed like much ado over nothing. But if you think Americans are overtly prudish, they have nothing on the Koreans. Last month, Korean pop star G-Dragon (of Big Bang fame) was accused of “dry humping” a dancer on a stand-up bed during the song “Breathe” at his “Shine A Light” concert.
Once pictures like the one above hit the internet, the outrage was almost instantaneous. It’s become such an issue in the country that this month, the South Korean government decided to step in and is investigating the incident. If he loses the case, G-Dragon faces a fine and up to a year in prison. His fans, including those who were at the concert, have started a petition in support of the pop star and the case is still pending. YG Entertainment, G-Dragon’s label, released an apology but otherwise no one involved with the incident has spoken about what happened. Until now.
The dancer being “dry humped” on stage by G-Dragon is Aimee Lee Lucas who happens to be a friend. I admit I know next to nothing about the Korean pop scene, but when I saw the stories and “offensive” photos of Aimee popping up online, well, I had to find out what really happened. Aimee was kind enough to hang out with me at a Starbucks on a rainy afternoon and talk publicly for the first time about the now infamous incident.
Although Aimee works as a dancer/choreographer for YG Entertainment, she’s not Korean. In fact, she’s a Filipina homegirl from the Bay Area, now living in L.A. Aimee studied ballet for 14 years before transitioning to hip-hop. And though she took her dancer training seriously, when she moved to L.A., the plan was to go to school and find a “real” job that had nothing to do with dancing. But when she tagged along with boyfriend Shaun Evaristo (also a dancer/choreographer) to a commercial audition, she ended up booking it herself and was soon dancing in an iPod ad.
Then, two years ago, Shaun was hired by YG to work with their artists in Korea and once the execs saw Aimee’s talent, they hired her too. Since then, she’s appeared in numerous concerts and videos with artists like Tae Yang and Big Bang. Here she is as the lead female dancer in Big Bang’s “Number One” video:
Video source: YGEntertainment
So when Aimee performed the “Breathe” number with G-Dragon and the aforementioned stand-up bed, it was just another normal bit. She flew back to L.A. the morning after the last concert thinking all was normal but by the time she landed, the controversy had broken out all over the internet in Korea.
“I was shocked when I heard what was happening,” Aimee says. “We performed two shows on a Saturday and Sunday. All the VIPs and big people came out on Saturday and no one said anything. During rehearsals, no one told us we were going too far and should hold back. So the reaction was surprising.”
Initially, the internet comments directed at “the dancer in the number” were critical (“what is that girl thinking doing that?”), but once Aimee was identified as the dancer, most of the negative comments stopped. In fact, during the whole controversy, everyone associated with the number from G-Dragon to YG has been targeted and vilified—except Aimee who is not facing any of the charges, fines or jail time. “I think it’s because I’m American,” she says. “I’ve been told from the start that I’ll be treated differently because I’m American and that’s been the case.”
Here’s a clip of the offending bit shot by a fancam. Judge for yourself if you think it’s obscene:
Video source: damjes07 credits for daum TV
ETA: Clearer fancam:
Video source: TYPICALpocky7
When she first started performing in Korea, Aimee was surprised by the rabid, (very) young and female fan base of the K-Pop acts who would appear in the form of large mobs everywhere she and the musicians went. “When I became the lead dancer opposite Tae Yang, people joked with me that they were surprised I wasn’t dead,” she says, “that the fans didn’t come after me with pitchforks for doing what they all dreamed of doing with him.”
To understand the controversy, one must first understand the K-Pop scene. If Big Bang is like the Korean N’Sync with its more innocent and tween friendly music, G-Dragon is its Justin Timberlake—pursuing a solo career to explore more “adult” subject matter. His first solo album “Heartbreaker” was deemed inappropriate for children because of the lyrical content of several songs like “She’s Gone” (sample offensive lyric: “If I can’t have you, I’ll kill you.”). The songs are pretty tame by our standards; the content of an American pop song like Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body” is downright pornographic compared to G-Dragon’s music (and I’m sure G-Dragon won’t be doing the Korean equivalent of this anytime soon). But because of the concert controversy, a new “investigation” has also been launched regarding the appropriateness of his album.
So here’s Aimee’s explanation of what happened:
Before the first creative meeting for the concert, Aimee was already thinking of ideas for the different numbers. Since the imagery of a bed was so strong in “Breathe,” she thought it would make sense to incorporate that into the piece. “At the meeting, G-Dragon had pretty much the same idea to do something around a stand-up bed,” she says. “He likes to let loose and push boundaries. Everyone agreed so that’s what we worked on.”
“There was no humping,” she continues. “If you watch the (footage), the whole bit lasts only a few seconds. He straddles me for a bit, we do some ‘acting’ and then we’re done. I had to lift myself (on the stand-up bed) and hang there and support all my body weight with my arms. I could only do that for a couple of seconds so there wasn’t any time to do any humping.”
Aimee thinks the controversy erupted because the first images to be posted online were photos of her hanging from the bed straddling G-Dragon with her legs wrapped around him which could be misinterpreted when seen out of context. By the time video footage from the concert hit the web a few days later, the damage had already been done. Since she left for America right after the concert, she hasn’t talked to G-Dragon about the incident but has heard from others at YG that he seems to be doing fine.
So is it just me or is this a ridiculous attempt by an artist-unfriendly government led by President Lee Myung-bak (who derogatorily referred to filmmakers as “hippies”) to make an example of a pop star in the name of family values? Aren’t there more pressing issues in the country to be worried about?
Source: Philip @ YouOffendMeYouOffendMyFamily
Once pictures like the one above hit the internet, the outrage was almost instantaneous. It’s become such an issue in the country that this month, the South Korean government decided to step in and is investigating the incident. If he loses the case, G-Dragon faces a fine and up to a year in prison. His fans, including those who were at the concert, have started a petition in support of the pop star and the case is still pending. YG Entertainment, G-Dragon’s label, released an apology but otherwise no one involved with the incident has spoken about what happened. Until now.
The dancer being “dry humped” on stage by G-Dragon is Aimee Lee Lucas who happens to be a friend. I admit I know next to nothing about the Korean pop scene, but when I saw the stories and “offensive” photos of Aimee popping up online, well, I had to find out what really happened. Aimee was kind enough to hang out with me at a Starbucks on a rainy afternoon and talk publicly for the first time about the now infamous incident.
Although Aimee works as a dancer/choreographer for YG Entertainment, she’s not Korean. In fact, she’s a Filipina homegirl from the Bay Area, now living in L.A. Aimee studied ballet for 14 years before transitioning to hip-hop. And though she took her dancer training seriously, when she moved to L.A., the plan was to go to school and find a “real” job that had nothing to do with dancing. But when she tagged along with boyfriend Shaun Evaristo (also a dancer/choreographer) to a commercial audition, she ended up booking it herself and was soon dancing in an iPod ad.
Then, two years ago, Shaun was hired by YG to work with their artists in Korea and once the execs saw Aimee’s talent, they hired her too. Since then, she’s appeared in numerous concerts and videos with artists like Tae Yang and Big Bang. Here she is as the lead female dancer in Big Bang’s “Number One” video:
Video source: YGEntertainment
So when Aimee performed the “Breathe” number with G-Dragon and the aforementioned stand-up bed, it was just another normal bit. She flew back to L.A. the morning after the last concert thinking all was normal but by the time she landed, the controversy had broken out all over the internet in Korea.
“I was shocked when I heard what was happening,” Aimee says. “We performed two shows on a Saturday and Sunday. All the VIPs and big people came out on Saturday and no one said anything. During rehearsals, no one told us we were going too far and should hold back. So the reaction was surprising.”
Initially, the internet comments directed at “the dancer in the number” were critical (“what is that girl thinking doing that?”), but once Aimee was identified as the dancer, most of the negative comments stopped. In fact, during the whole controversy, everyone associated with the number from G-Dragon to YG has been targeted and vilified—except Aimee who is not facing any of the charges, fines or jail time. “I think it’s because I’m American,” she says. “I’ve been told from the start that I’ll be treated differently because I’m American and that’s been the case.”
Here’s a clip of the offending bit shot by a fancam. Judge for yourself if you think it’s obscene:
Video source: damjes07 credits for daum TV
ETA: Clearer fancam:
Video source: TYPICALpocky7
When she first started performing in Korea, Aimee was surprised by the rabid, (very) young and female fan base of the K-Pop acts who would appear in the form of large mobs everywhere she and the musicians went. “When I became the lead dancer opposite Tae Yang, people joked with me that they were surprised I wasn’t dead,” she says, “that the fans didn’t come after me with pitchforks for doing what they all dreamed of doing with him.”
To understand the controversy, one must first understand the K-Pop scene. If Big Bang is like the Korean N’Sync with its more innocent and tween friendly music, G-Dragon is its Justin Timberlake—pursuing a solo career to explore more “adult” subject matter. His first solo album “Heartbreaker” was deemed inappropriate for children because of the lyrical content of several songs like “She’s Gone” (sample offensive lyric: “If I can’t have you, I’ll kill you.”). The songs are pretty tame by our standards; the content of an American pop song like Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body” is downright pornographic compared to G-Dragon’s music (and I’m sure G-Dragon won’t be doing the Korean equivalent of this anytime soon). But because of the concert controversy, a new “investigation” has also been launched regarding the appropriateness of his album.
So here’s Aimee’s explanation of what happened:
Before the first creative meeting for the concert, Aimee was already thinking of ideas for the different numbers. Since the imagery of a bed was so strong in “Breathe,” she thought it would make sense to incorporate that into the piece. “At the meeting, G-Dragon had pretty much the same idea to do something around a stand-up bed,” she says. “He likes to let loose and push boundaries. Everyone agreed so that’s what we worked on.”
“There was no humping,” she continues. “If you watch the (footage), the whole bit lasts only a few seconds. He straddles me for a bit, we do some ‘acting’ and then we’re done. I had to lift myself (on the stand-up bed) and hang there and support all my body weight with my arms. I could only do that for a couple of seconds so there wasn’t any time to do any humping.”
Aimee thinks the controversy erupted because the first images to be posted online were photos of her hanging from the bed straddling G-Dragon with her legs wrapped around him which could be misinterpreted when seen out of context. By the time video footage from the concert hit the web a few days later, the damage had already been done. Since she left for America right after the concert, she hasn’t talked to G-Dragon about the incident but has heard from others at YG that he seems to be doing fine.
So is it just me or is this a ridiculous attempt by an artist-unfriendly government led by President Lee Myung-bak (who derogatorily referred to filmmakers as “hippies”) to make an example of a pop star in the name of family values? Aren’t there more pressing issues in the country to be worried about?
Source: Philip @ YouOffendMeYouOffendMyFamily
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:01 pm (UTC)but lol you actually realized the pillow just uselessly hanging...XD
(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-23 05:01 pm (UTC)/makes retarded e-40 joke
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
From:no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:11 pm (UTC)Thus to rabid fangirls that are still overreacting to that fancam:
Call me a GD-bias or whatever, but the fact that Aimee agreed to attend an interview to clear this matter showed that both of them did nothing to be ashamed of.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 06:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:21 pm (UTC)Get the fuck over it, Korea.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:22 pm (UTC)I wouldn't tap that, Gd.
(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-23 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-24 12:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:25 pm (UTC)And i love Aimee. This was more or less what she'd been saying on her twitter after it came out.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:35 pm (UTC)the people who watched the fancams had a problem with it. the fans honestly didn't mind it. maybe they were all butthurt they couldn't be her or something idk :/
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 06:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:42 pm (UTC)LOL
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 05:59 pm (UTC)Her saying how YG had told her she'd receive different treatment because she isn't Korean just shows how ridiculous this entire thing is.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 06:10 pm (UTC)since GD's fanbase is small in comparison to the larger population.What I do think the problem with this is, my own personal values and views aside, is that this is a severe demonstration of a really totalitarian system of censoring. You've got one side of the nation telling their story, and everyone has to accept that
or go fuck themselves. I don't think that creates a climate of communication and innovation. While I don't think what GD did on stage was "innovative", this incident with the government cracking down on him discourages other artists or filmmakers or whatever to censor themselves and not develop any new ideas. That, in the end, is a hinderance to the people of Korea, and forces them to remain in a stagnant social climate where there is ultimately no change.Korea has proven itself to be an important avenue for creativity with films like "Oldboy" and "Mother". However, if the government insists on attacking everything that is deemed "not suitable" or whatever, eventually they'll be barking up the trees of filmmakers like Park Chan-wook, too.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 06:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-23 06:39 pm (UTC)How about no.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 07:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-01-23 07:00 pm (UTC)LOL... out of context? that's exactly what they were doing ...
Even if there was dry humping, I wouldn't think badly of the dancer for that... maybe because I'm used to western style dancing and I'm desensitized, but whatever.
Also I noticed a lot of hate stopped when people realised it was, and this is so unusual in this fandom. I've heard of Aimee Lucas before but I have to know! What's so awesome about her?
I hope that didn't sound bitchy, I really am asking!
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 07:09 pm (UTC)Plus she is the OP's friend so I'm sure she(?) also has a dozen other personal reasons she is awesome.
(no subject)
From:(no subject)
From:a recent interview.
From:no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 07:08 pm (UTC)Yes and there we go again. Korea proves again that they are hipocrits.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-24 12:14 pm (UTC)it's okay cause she's american, but gd still has no excuse.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 07:20 pm (UTC)'nuff said
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 07:32 pm (UTC)good. I can't imagine how stressed he's been since he solo activities started, so it's nice to know that he's not freaking out and crying about his problems.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 08:24 pm (UTC)and the bottom line is that aimee is still speaking from an american perspective, and this doesn't really add anything new to the table because she's saying what the majority of what omona-ers have been saying as well.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-23 10:24 pm (UTC)Cept with some: WAIT WHY IS HE MOVING WHY IS THE BED...Niiiiceee lleeeeeggggssss Aimee. And nice ass G. fapfapfapfapfapfapfapfap(no subject)
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