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A thread of what BTS has done for Asian representation since I'm sick and tired of people discrediting them on that front and bashing them for "not doing enough" when I've seen no signs of other activism for Asians from those people otherwise
1. Agust D (2016) being a FREE mixtape where Yoongi opened up about his social anxiety, depression and poverty at a time where Asian culture (in Asia and the west) would rather you pretend it didn’t exist. The model minority stereotype here made it worse.
He’s not the first to release works on it (and it’s not the first BTS work to feature mental health), but having a relatively well-known Asian artist do it and be so blunt was a massive shock. He sugarcoated NOTHING. And that’s why it had impact. https://open.spotify.com/album/6GbiSEYL78RDLpxoxkWavo?si=aEv0p-0nR1StgxQJ2P2rQg
2. This article by a Korean-American writer goes into what BTS's fame has done for the culture, it covers the good and the bad aspects of it but ultimately, the impact is impossible to ignore: https://www.milkmakeup.com/bts-and-kpop-phenomenon.html
3. Challenging stereotypes because as we know, racism isn't just the blatantly malicious and visible kind, it's also being treated like jokes because of stereotypes: https://theconversation.com/how-korean-boy-band-bts-toppled-asian-stereotypes-and-took-america-by-storm-97596
The most well-known k-pop song before BTS's debut, Gangnam style, was treated with the same level of respect as Nyan Cat. Aka, a viral video meme. It was fun to vibe with but didn't really get people to see Asians as people beyond meme potential.
Also, I was a teenager when THIS video was released. It's not malicious and the kids meant well, but the emphasis on the weirdness and stereotypes about the industry are very noticeable and didn't stray too far from how the genre was viewed in general.
4. THIS 2018 collab with Steve Aoki featuring an all-star cast of Asian-American actors. Notably, they had East and South Asian actors, and it was refreshing to see a video with this much diversity garner over 47M views
For those curious, the actors featured are: Ken Jeong, Devon Aoki, Ross Butler, Leonardo Nam, Vincent Rodriguez, Jimmy Yang, Jessica Lu, Jared Eng and Tiffany Ma
6. Also in 2018, BTS was starting to enter the mainstream with LY: Answer. The title track, IDOL, could've been westernized as all hell but it wasn't. They combined traditional Korean and African sounds (to represent both their culture and the one their music is inspired by)
dressed in Hanbok and shoved in a bunch of SK cultural references, like the tiger and nobleman's dry cough. They entered US mainstream by embracing their culture even further (and this is why the "their music is too westernized" stuff falls apart)
On a side note, this guy's really good at explaining cultural references in k-pop songs, so please give his channel some love! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6gf21uAR4aAc0Xeek_4vVg/featured
It might not seem like much, but for people like me, Asian immigrants, we're often pressured into assimilating and neglecting our own culture to get further when we live in the west. And seeing these guys blatantly refuse and still succeed is something that gives us hope.
It's no surprise though since the members have had that kind of mindset for a long time (they also have no shame in letting people know that there's more than just a Seoul dialect in their language) https://open.spotify.com/track/1yFEQO3mOtDAje6rOyj2Cf?si=3e5af1f3482b4f6d
6. (I miscounted earlier) Just the amount of "first asian act" moments they've accomplished. Because when someone who looks like you and didn't even have any privilege in their home country pre-2018 can pull THIS off, it kinda gives hope that you can too. https://twitter.com/queky_/status/1381600587150553094
And that's what's really meant by paving the way for those who are still ignorant. Making it easier for others like you to do the same things, provided that they put in the work themselves. But don't take my word for it: https://twitter.com/ChloeFlower/status/1369539841571053568?s=20
South Korean music critic Kim Youngdae talks a lot about their impact and how they represent Koreans and asian, and he's been doing it for years. Here's just one example:
And let's not forget the President himself acknowledging this https://www.forbes.com/sites/williampesek/2019/10/10/bts-cant-save-south-korea-though-its-47-billion-gdp-boost-sounds-good/?sh=ce923ad2412e
7. (and I'll stop here, there's more but my ADHD is catching up to me) https://twitter.com/BTS_twt/status/1376712834269159425
They posted this statement talking about just what they faced as Asians while traveling abroad. A lot of us have gone through something similar, especially outside of large cities. The nice thing about this is they don't discount the racism happening to everyday
Asian-Americans, and acknowledge that what happened to them was just a small fraction of what they went through and what other Asian people are still going through now. Again, like Agust D, they didn't sugarcoat anything to save face (which is a problem a lot of us have too)
And again, to see Asian people with a huge platform be blunt, yet considerate and take out any vagueness about this was such a big deal. Like everything else they've done for Asian rep over the years. And the fact that they're not selfish and boost others makes it even better.
End of thread! Now some links to what's been happening lately:
How to help people in Brooklyn Center: https://twitter.com/CCMNewmarkJ/status/1381780753508360193
How to help people in Brooklyn Center: https://twitter.com/CCMNewmarkJ/status/1381780753508360193
