Amber & Alexa talk about the dark side of K-Pop (TW: mention Sulli and Hara)

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

K-pop is taking the U.S. by storm. Heartthrob boy band BTS is one of the top musical acts in America, racking up more than 1.2 billion audio streams in the U.S. in 2018, not far behind Taylor Swift. And last spring they also reportedly made more than $44 million from just six U.S. stadium concerts.

But the apparent suicides of two female K-pop stars in less than two months have revealed a darker side. First, in October, 25-year-old Choi Jin-ri, known as Sulli. Then, in November, her close friend, 28-year-old Goo Hara.

Together they amassed hundreds of millions of views on their music videos. But despite their international fame, both women were long-time targets of cyberbullying.

In K-pop, perfection is a must — in discipline, performance and in looks. No one understands that better than K-pop artist Amber Liu, who says there is an expectation in the industry to be perfect.

"If you aren't under a certain weight, you can definitely get cut," Liu said. "You're told what to do, what to say, what to think."

Liu was Sulli's former bandmate and friend. She says she's seen the toll the cutthroat industry, combined with cyberbullying, can take.

"When [people] hear you're getting help they're like, 'What? Why are you getting help? That's weird.' And that stigma against mental health is just so strong," Liu said.

There's a nationwide mental health crisis in South Korea, where the subject is still taboo and there's limited resources for those seeking help. According to the World Health Organization, South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates of any country, nearly double the U.S.

Sulli, who died in October, was an outspoken mental health activist and feminist, an anomaly in the industry.

Aging is yet another stress. K-pop stars already have a short shelf life — retirement age is 30 if not earlier.

And young rising idols, like Alexaundra Christine Schneiderman, who performs under the stage name Alexa, can add to that.

"They're called idols, because they're put on this pedestal of kind of like untouchable perfection I guess in the public's eyes, in the consumers' eyes," Alexa said.

The 22-year-old Korean-American from Tulsa, Oklahoma, debuted her first single "Bomb" in October. It has 9.5 million YouTube views and rising.

"The music video took two days to film, 24 hours each day, almost," Alexa said. "With like six costume changes. Six or seven set changes. And whenever I'm performing, I always get this adrenaline rush."

In two days, CBS News followed Alexa's busy schedule, from hair and makeup to her late-night filming of a Christmas video for social media.

"I myself have struggled with self-confidence for years and finding the capability to love myself, but I have recently stumbled upon that," Alexa said.

South Korea society is slow to change, but there's hope.

After Sulli's death in October, the Korea Entertainment Management Association announced its plans to try and stop cyber violence, saying it will "root out malicious commenters" online and seek to have them punished.

Liu thinks that's a good start. She says sometimes she thinks about why she's still in the business, but keeps going, for her friends who are now gone.

"I feel like the easiest thing that we can all do, everybody can do, is just try to be kind to one another," Liu said.


Bonus clips of Amber talking about her struggles in the industry and the difference between boy and girl groups

Talking about Sulli

source: CBSnews.com, CBS This morning yt, fx amber yt, Rea Park yt

Comments

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

I'm glad they acknowledged things are different for women in the industry.

It was really shocking to me when I first got into K-pop how obsessed everyone is with aging, because although girls and women all over the world are pressured about somehow avoiding aging I had never seen it at that level before. Like it was weird being a student and seeing idols my age scared of aging. But I'm also not in entertainment and my career growth isn't based on my looks or youth. It must be horrible for them to be constantly told they're worthless or expired once they turn 30.

Also I'm really glad Amber talked about just starting out and thinking "if this is what I have to do to be successful, I'll do it" - it's easier to pressure teenagers into thinking that way because they don't have the experience to really understand what they're agreeing to. And now she understands how harmful it was.

"You can't expect the same thing from the same person constantly" - this is so true, a person is not a concept. We all have different sides to us. Watching those clips of Sulli was really hard but it made me happy to hear Amber talk about her.

Thanks for posting this.

[pwrpuffgrl.livejournal.com]

retirement age is 30 if not earlier

This truly upsets me since we're having a BigBang comeback, not only because of age but also because they're pos.

[goshipgurl.livejournal.com]

Obviously this only counts for men. Women are expected to retire,get married and pop out babies once they're 30.

[jasmineakaiumi.livejournal.com]

reminds me of how SJ keeps having comebacks as well despite being older (which is fine ignoring things they've said/done, but I'm more pointing out the double standard)

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

It's really... nice, if thats the word, to hear someone talk about Sulli in light of her suicide. Korea tends to keep mention of these idols on the hush hush because the topic is so taboo and that always feels angers me.

[kippeun.livejournal.com]

She spoke of Sulli so beautifully.

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

Sulli <3 i still find it hard to describe how much i miss her and i still can't believe she's gone. it must be so much more incomprehensible for her friends and family. amber spoke of her very beautifully

good to see the double standards between boy and girl groups was addressed. also having idols start out at such a young age must also make them even more malleable - easier to have them act, look and think in the way they think the audience wants to see them. supergross

[volume1995.livejournal.com]

She said some really beautiful things about Sulli. I miss her and Hara a lot and it still feels some sort of... surreal. I hope she's happy, wherever she is right now.

I'm still pissed off at the end-of-the-year shows now paying some sort of tribute to Sulli and Hara. Both made an exceptional impact on the kpop industry with their groups but they get paid dust.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Yea the shows were unprofessional to begin with but the no acknowledgement at all just reinforced how disposable these idols are to this industry - these were women that sacrificed their time and health to bring their best to shows like these, and it’s like their hard work and dedication, fuck just their lives in general didn’t matter :(

[seishin.livejournal.com]

I don't watch the end of year shows. If they never do inmemoriams I can see why they didn't this year. For the record, I don't like it; think it's disrespectful af. But I can see why they didnt.

Now, if they honour people each year, and omitted Sulli and Hara? WTF. That is just beyond.

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

Didn't they honor jonghuyn at the golden disk award?

Maybe the artist who could have honor them weren't able to because they're still grieving? Lee hi almost broke down singing breathe

[volume1995.livejournal.com]

they honored jjong when he passed away which was only a couple of days before the shows started. it was a couple of pictures with some nice words, but it was better than nothing.
lee hi did sing breathe but was almost unable to, so i could get if no one wanted to sing cause of the emotional rollercoaster but the least they could’ve done was put up a couple of pictures with some nice words cause these two groups definitely helped the hallyu spread more through their nation and across the world

[hiimgosu.livejournal.com]

it really does feel surreal..i havent fully processed that both of them are no longer here? i think i've just compartmentalized it all.

and the no tributes to these two women was expected because then that would mean that the industry would have to acknowledge that there's a problem and that it's THEM (and society, of course).

[thebloomroom.livejournal.com]

Getting back into kpop has been a mistake for me bc I am feeling hypersensitive about my skin and weight nowadays. Especially skin, and mine isn’t good. I can’t imagine the actual pressure of being in the industry when it has this much impact on me just as a consumer.