BLACKPINK draw criticism for alleged cultural appropriation

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

BLACKPINK have come under fire recently for alleged cultural appropriation. In the newest episode of their "Blackpink Diaries" series, Jennie and Rose can be seen dancing and laughing at the set of the "Kill This Love" music video. Many fans have expressed their disappointment as they believe Jennie is making fun of the Indian dance "Bharatnatyam".

Watch the scene in question in the video below at 10:00.

I suggest the blinks who doesn’t know anything about the culture please know that it’s wrong and you don’t have to say anything about it but just don’t defend anything you’ll make it worse and it’s not good for jennie like at all

— ً (@pastellalisa) April 27, 2019

i was quiet on this matter till now but as an indian, i am highly offended. this ain't it. i learnt bharatanatyam as a kid and it was taught to me that this dance is sacred to us and connects us to god. mocking mudras is beyond limits now and is fuming me.pic.twitter.com/oQ5rJayrGN

— ruru (@listenbts) April 27, 2019

She had done it a few times and it’s not okay, she needs to be acknowledged of what she did and why it’s considered wrong. So blinks with vip tickets and are willing to send the girls letters, pls reply to this tweet and i’ll make a list to make it easier for people to dm you 💞

— ミラ (@kwoniverse) April 27, 2019

since idk if i’ll come back to this acc i have nothing to lose and i’m just gonna say it....i’m indian and to see ppl blindly defend j*nnie for mocking and appropriating desi culture multiple times has hurt me a lot. the jewelry she’s worn is not part of buddhism it’s hindu

— rosé pics (@archivesrosie) April 27, 2019

Bharatnatyam was formed in temples. It's the most hardest dance. Your facial expressions, your hand posture, your legs position.... Everything should be perfect.and It takes years to make everything perfect. each and every dance step has a meaning.
And this moron REALLY just pic.twitter.com/yXADZDcbgy

— 🐨 [hiatus] [will be back for bbmas] (@ORPHICJOON) April 27, 2019

sources: BLACKPINK yt, @pastellalisa, @listenbts, @kwoniverse, @archivesrosie, @ORPHICJOON

Comments

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I find the use of "alleged" in the title quite hilarious tbh. Had this been done by a non YG girlgroup people would go harder on them. But more often than not, we're so used to YG group doing this shit it's almost a non-issue. "Oh it's YG, cultural appropriation is to be expected".

Here's the thing
I do think there's a lot of instances in which the girls have no control or choices over it (they're, imo, not established enough to say no and YG is probably the shittiest and one of the most misogynistic label around)
So unless someone purposely chose to do something I usually blame the label, choreographer, makeup artist who came up with the idea, management... Which doesn't mean the girls shouldn't be called out, just, let's acknowledge it's a collective fuck up.
Basically unless it's an instance like that one T-ara girl personally requesting to be called "Curry Unnie" I think the blame should mostly be put on the higher.

BUT if people come out with the "they have no control" excuse, said excuse needs to be applied to everyone and not just your fave.

This is by no mean BP first time being in hot water for such an issue, it's been recurring since their debut, and yet...

[sciencebottle.livejournal.com]

I agree. I think she is really ignorant on what copying that dance means to those are from South Asia and have trained in that specific dance style. While I think her intentions were harmless (I don't think she meant anything negative necessarily), its still something she did do intentionally (the 'indian' style) and she should be held responsible and educated.

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

No one is surprised.

[torontok.livejournal.com]

Cultural appropriation isn't the term here, more like yet another kpop group mocking traditional indian dances

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I agree.

[oh-folk.livejournal.com]

This.

[miyozari.livejournal.com]

mte

[modestgoddess79.livejournal.com]

Is it wrong to feel like I dodged a bullet because it wasn’t African Americans this time?

Indian fans, I believe you and I empathize. It’s the reaction of the racist fans that hurts the most.

[rockerista03.livejournal.com]

And it’s the usual “be thankful they did it because they exposed your culture to the world” BS. Like not even just BP fans but the K-Pop fandom in general.

[onlylexy.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Black voices are stomped all over by every non-black person in the kpop fandom. I realized something though. People are more likely to be sympthetic to the claim of appropriation of non black cultures because most people (including some black people) don't beleive that black Americans have a culture of our own. Most people who take and use black americans dances, AAVE, and hairlstyles don't see it as black-american culture but instead see it as American culture -as in everyone in the U.S created it. This makes non-black people feel entitled to the things we create without crediting it to the the people who created it.

Sorry I orginally had a one word response but it triggered a whole train of thought.

[scionofawhisper.livejournal.com]

no wai

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the late reply, just saw that you already posted it. No problem 😊

[921227.livejournal.com]

I hope more and more Indian/Hindu call her out on it -- and the member behind her too. Stupid

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Mfte

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

There's been like 3 comebacks at this point where Jennie's been wearing some type of appropriation jewelry related to Indian cultures.

maybe YGE's styling team has bequeathed each of them a culture to vulture from like fucked up sailor scouts. Jennie with Indian culture, Lisa with Black culture...Rose is on some Avril Lavigne cosplay nonesense lately maybe they gave her white culture.

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

I’m dying at your last bit omg

[rockerista03.livejournal.com]

I’m seconding everyone in this thread and hope more people call them out for it. This just ain’t it.

[sciencebottle.livejournal.com]

Hmm. As a south Asian fan (who did train in Bharatnatyam while growing up), I’m not sure how I feel. Maybe it’s been ingrained in me to brush it off when people make fun of South asian culture (since South Asians tend to be the butt of so many jokes). I won’t dismiss others being angry, but I’m going be honest in that I don’t know if i’m offended with the short clip that I saw.

I won’t call her a moron like the tweet, but I hope that fans let her know. Looks like they do read social media, so I hope (hope...)that if enough people tell her, then she’ll learn. The best way to educate those who are ignorant to other cultures is through dialogue.

[radowan.livejournal.com]

I feel it's normal to feel conflicted, but I think you bring up a really relevant point when you say that maybe it's been ingrained in you to brush it off when people make fun of South Asian culture. I've forgiven a lot in the past because of the pressure to not be an angry cliche and let a lot of shitty jokes slide, and it's only now that I can't get over *how* shitty and unnecessary and demeaning many of those jokes and throwaway comments were.

TBH I don't think BP will be held accountable, or acknowledge the guilt. I don't think YG would let them, even if they wanted to.

[vikihpnerd.livejournal.com]

Honestly speaking, I've done this kind of moves when I was a kid over 20 years ago. I didn't know it was offensive until I read this article today. Please excuse my ignorance. We were not taught at school about this in America.

[radowan.livejournal.com]

1. American education is shit. We know. With the exception of a few universities, it's incredibly lousy. So I'm not surprised you guys weren't taught about this at school in America.
2. "over 20 years ago" information was harder to come by.
3. Jennie's been living in Asia, and presumably interacted with people from Asian countries aside from South Korea for a minute. The industry she's been in for years now has been constantly dealing with backlash from different cultural appropriation and racism scandals. (EDIT: so to make this statement more explicit, I mean that the information that was hard to come by regarding cultural appropriation 20 years ago in the American schools, might just be a bit more wide-spread and accessible to Kpop idols these days.)
4. Your inability to infer the implication of disrespect and mockery from imitating another person's culture sounds like one hell of a person problem to me.

Verdict: ignorance not excused.

[oh-folk.livejournal.com]

Ew. Not a good look for Jennie (and Rosé). I know it's YG so this is ~expected~, but it's so fucking disappointing.

[rainstormraider.livejournal.com]

Do YGE stylists sit around looking up countries they can steal from when they run out of black cultural lodestones or something?

I would be offended if I wasn’t tired of YGE and Black Pink’s stans who will gaslight anyone who points this out.

The originators of the cultural appropriation trend in K-Pop created idols who behave in a culturally insensitive manner? Shocking.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

They just love giving me reasons not to support them.

[glokmusic.livejournal.com]

ughhhhhhhh she's not the first but no one ever called them out so plzzzz call her out

as an indian who trained in bharatnatyam for many years this is.... so disrespectful to my art and i'm SO FUCKING TIRED

[mallmouse.livejournal.com]

YG again?
No way I'm giving BP a chance.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

That’s good. Just avoid them at all costs if you can. Imo it’s pretty annoying when people will still keep tuning into their shit when they don’t approve of what they’re doing, which is extremely hypocritical imo. I haven’t heard the song or seen the MV because why should I give this group attention? Same goes for YG groups and artists.

[myungung.livejournal.com]

I don't even know what to say about them. it just feels like South Asian dances are made to be "fun" and "poked at" for them, and tbh it's disappointing when it's the 2 members who have been raised abroad doing it.

[shawarmafordays.livejournal.com]

Lmao, fuck Jennie Kim honestly. I'm so mad at BP and K-idols mocking South Asians, it's so incensing seeing this shit being excused everywhere because it didn't the Oppression Olympics.

All the Indians who are saying they're not offended because they don't find it offensive, can honestly fuck off, lmao. If you're not from the diaspora and have not lived abroad, you will not run into this issues because you're in the mainland surrounded by people just like you. When you live outside your home country and see white people and other minorities mock you for your skin color, food, mannerisms and justify why they think stereotypes are right. You will have no idea what it's like to deal with this on a regular basis.

The worst part of this whole mess is that half of these groups are such culture vultures. They copy bindis/ wear exotic jewelry and mock our food and clothing, but then play dumb when confronted by anyone who asks for an explanation.

Some of the BLINKs excusing it are actual trash. They don't even want them to learn, they just keep telling us to let it go and it's not a big deal. Jisoo is the only girl I give a fuck about in that group. The rest are cancelled, which is such a shame since I just started liking them.

Like everyone is like omg X idol is so cool for wearing a fucking rainbow shirt but when they wear a bindi or cornrows or do black-face, their stylist forces them to do it, right?

Problematic asses.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you. I’m glad you personally told Jennie to fuck off btw, I keep seeing YG being brought up, I get it, but this decision was specifically Jennie’s.

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

I think for most the part I will stay out of BP posts because the group appears very polarizing. You are either super stan and defend them or you are an anti. As someone who only has a mild interest in that I want to see girl groups succeed, this isn't for me.

As related to the post, I would be very interested to see a girl group actually learn from a culture and display it with the respect it deserves. It may be for entertainment because it's kpop but something like consulting experts and having persons with actual connections to the culture included. I think the sharing of cultures is great. The sharing of stereotypes of cultures is repulsive.