you know what it is too? i think they gave up a long time ago. they came into this shit knowing it was all late stage capitalist content and they enjoyed it Ironically. they enjoyed all the stages and title tracks but also thought "ah, i know this is exploitative trash." https://twitter.com/jinmyfeels/status/1321293596260261891

and they feel morally superior on that level bc yea they like k-pop, but -wink wink-, they Know.

but then when they see ARMYs express genuine feelings of love and connection with BTS and other fans, they take it as us being ignorant. "oh. those dumb ARMYs just don't Know."

so all the success BTS and ARMY have, they think of it as a capitalist scam. an example of a group and a company using aesthetic tactics to convince dumb fans that this group actually cares, that they're actually free, that they actually love their fans.

but this viewpoint completely ignores the types of journeys and concessions and nuances within fandom. the fact that multiple truths can exist; that something can be a big capitalist entity, but can also be less bad. that healing, groundbreaking things can emerge from it

they have closed their minds off to reform entirely. they solely look at a bottom line--thing capitalist, thing wealthy, thing bad--and don't recognize that some things can be less bad. that good things can come out of them. that people can create positive change through them.

to acknowledge that would be a negative reflection on their own fan experience. bc the whole time, they never took an active role in applying their socialist ideals to k-pop fandom. they sat back, depressed, and enjoyed their capitalist meal, and reconciled it with cynicism

they thought to themselves, "well, as long as i'm cynical abt this and recognize it's Bad, it's ok for me to enjoy it." but then they see others seeing real Good in their fan experience, or creating good through text analysis, media criticism etc. and that hope infuriates them.

so they just continue to argue against these fans, bad faith or otherwise. "maybe they take an active role in fandom and make actual good things happen, but they're naive. they think Company Good. they think Capitalism Good. they don't truly get how all this stuff works."

but in reality, who raised more money for important global causes? who supported and uplifted music about exploitative education systems, about spoon theory, about resisting meritocracy narratives? who's out here organizing to fight corrupt media industries in america? it's us

these dudes are armchair communists. their entire experience of what it means to be leftist is figuring out what popular leftists are doing, then figuring out how to sound even More radical than them. they don't raise money, they don't organize. they're sad, insecure kids