Is K-Pop Too Perfect?
4-4-16
Lee Soo Man, chairman of one of the biggest record labels in the K-pop industry, SM Entertainment, basically has diarrhea of the mouth when he talks about how efficient his methods are. According to Lee, K-pop is a well oiled machine that will soon take over the world because it’s the got music method down to a science of success. These portrayals of perfection often lead to a false sense of belief in idols. This is evident when many male idols are almost never seen without their shoe lifts, and K-pop girls are never debuted without a breast augmentation. But what does this mean for the young impressionable youth of Asia? Will it cloud their vision with what it means to be Korean?
When idols portray false images, it leads to legions of insecure followers getting into the mindset that they’re in a league lower, even though they’re really not. Most end up looking the same after undergoing plastic surgery for the ideal look – big eyes, a high nose, and a small chiseled v-line chin. When people start changing themselves, they lose the very thing that made them unique. Why would anyone want to portray just one standard of beauty when it’s not even natural? What happened to variety being the spice of life?
It all goes back to how idols are chosen, trained and “manufactured”. Trainees go in as a blank slate but come out as a product that can sing, dance, and sometimes act. It bothers me that the industry thinks idols can be formulated like a math problem. It’s like they’re building a super army of performers instead of just getting naturally talented individuals and perfecting their craft. But this building of talent isn’t just a Korean problem; it is a world-wide epidemic thanks to reality television and increasing numbers of plastic surgery across the globe. We're continally never satisfied.
Group images and celebrities are extremely formulated. I’ve notice that in K-pop, artists always look so well put together. Even when they take on a non typical look for a group, like a rap group, it’s extremely theatrical in presentation. It gives off an unauthentic and highly polished feel. Their perfection is boring to look at. They all look like they’ve visited the same plastic surgeon, their music sounds like they’ve been to the same producer, and they’ve been styled by the House of Zoe. What is the Korea’s youth supposed to benefit from after seeing this kind of perfection 24-7? Will the idea of being “unique” leave the Korean society if its music and pop culture don’t celebrate it?
A previous version of this article appeared on Third Culture.