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I’ve decided I want to get my thoughts out on the Make A Wish controversy. I wholly acknowledge my privilege as a white person and the limited knowledge I have on international cultures as a white Canadian.
As this has been unfolding, I’ve been doing my part in trying to become educated on the matter, the cultural references, and how the behaviour exhibited is problematic and harmful.
I full-heartedly believe in others being allowed to feel offended, hurt, or targeted by the actions of others, in idol groups or not. I don't believe anyone can tell you how something ISN’T harmful to your community if you feel it is. This still stands.
As a gay woman, I would also want folks outside of my community to hear me when I say something is offensive or harmful to me or my community.
Let me emphasize that I am rather new to the NCT fandom, so I may not be aware of the many offenses or controversies members have been in, though I hope this would also highlight that I am not sharing this from a bias perspective or to protect a group due to nostalgia or fandom.
I am not making any excuses for any member of any idol group; I believe accountability should be dealt. I just think blame is being pointed the wrong way.
I feel I have a unique perspective on this because I got into Kpop in 2011, when I was 13. My group was Big Bang, bias G Dragon, and I was YG Entertainment biased. (Let me also acknowledge stolen aspects from black culture Big Bang was often guilty of)
I watched Kpop evolve from companies rarely acknowledging the global market, to directly targeting it. When Kpop was overall acknowledged to have a global market in 2012 after Gangnam Style broke out, companies shifted how they looked at the market.
There was an increase in globally marketable groups as companies were trying to tap into the global market, but more specifically, the North American market. Pre-Gangnam Style, companies would try to break into the North American market with little success.
Those that intentionally attempted often failed or saw little progress outside of already international fans.
What needed to happen was for groups to be intentionally formed, marketed, and aimed at these international audiences.
What needed to happen was for groups to be intentionally formed, marketed, and aimed at these international audiences.
Companies needed to identify a formula that worked and stick with it. Artists needed to be able to relate to international fans and build a bond. To do that, for example, groups needed to be able to communicate with vast groups of fans in various languages.
Removing the need for subtitles makes groups and concepts more digestible to not-already Asian pop fans. In the 2011 Big Bang era, I used to rewatch a video of G Dragon over and over because it made him feel more relatable and connected to me.
SM Entertainment, whom at the time, were notoriously famous for terrible English phrasing slipping into videos or songs, began to take a different approach. Make no mistake: a global group is intentionally formed and structured to cater to this market by the companies.
SM wasn’t just tackling the North American market; they went full global. In NCT’s case, having members from multiple countries who speak multiple languages and increasing the member count to 23 makes the unit so painfully marketable.
Each member is almost treated as a cultural gateway into the unit, which is honestly genius. On top of that, if you show NCT to anyone, they’re bound to find at least one member they like or find attractive. This is intentional.
SM Entertainment can make bank on this dynamic. And as a company, I can’t blame them. And that’s why NCT splits off into so many subgroups and units; they can change a groups’ concept or members structure to cater to a different audience.
Ex: I started as a WayV fan, but found myself interested in Shotaro because of Make A Wish.
And SuperM is the most evident of the lot which is why I personally don’t full-stan them. The “avengers” concept translates to “most-marketable” which, although genius for gaining a large audience, reads as disingenuous to me.
Now that I’ve established that, let’s return to the topic of the controversy. If SM is purposefully catering to a global market, they need to acknowledge that this encompasses many cultures and they need to be aware of who they’re catering to.
A unit, a song, a concept, a choreography, styling, sets, and shows are no longer for a national audience with a cultural structure they're familiar with. It’s many cultures, languages, people, backgrounds, and histories they need to take account of. They should be accountable.
If they’re brainstorming outfit concepts, it is the company’s responsibility to consider every item they adorn idols with and their cultural significances for global audiences. That’s why I respected when WayV's comeback was delayed bc offensive articles were worn for ATW.
Ex: Don’t put an idol in a durag unless you know what it is, where it’s from, the cultural significances, and possible racism associated to it in other countries, because you will, and should be, blasted for it. Same applies for any article of clothing or hair styling choice.
And if that seems to be too much, hire international stylists/staff to make sure these fuckups, esp with global groups, don’t happen. Simple point: If you are intentionally targeting an audience, take that audience into account in every decision you make.
I want to address why the footage of Yangyang being confronted made me uncomfortable. I understand the rationale; the main issue concerns Xiaojun (a fellow WayV member) and Yangyang is pretty fluent in English.
I can appreciate fans taking their chance meeting these idols to talk about a topic of great concern to the fandom; that’s admirable and not an easy thing to do. But it was misguided.
I think fans feel powerless because of the repeated racial and cultural offences from SM and NCT (and they are valid in being upset), which is why they took it to Yangyang. But the incident and controversy do not concern Yangyang.
I can’t speak to how he felt, but he appeared uncomfortable and unprepared, which made it uncomfortable to watch. These idols have limited control on their lives and how they’re portrayed. They are meticulously monitored and told what to do.
Many of them do not have the cultural and racial context dealing with a global audience requires them to have. And that’s SM’s fault and responsibility for their staff and idols not being better equipped for their intention.
Behind the faces of NCT is a company. As fans, please hold SM Entertainment accountable. If you are offended by what’s happened, past offences, futures offences, concepts, etc., contact the company.
Remind them that a global audience = a need for cultural and racial awareness. Because they are the ones bearing the strings.
Despite this, I understand members exhibited the behaviour. So, if you feel NCT or SM owes you, your community, and the fandom an apology, I encourage that you ask for that from the company. But it’s an expectation they may not meet bc reality is, we may never get an apology.
Feel free to deal with this situation how you see fit in a respectful manner; stop streaming, stop watching content, share your upsets respectfully, grieve, get angry, etc. You are allowed. I just ask that you direct it to who is responsible.
