2016 in Review

Even with 2016 being the year of celebrity deaths, thankfully virtually no tragedies struck the K-pop industry this year. The only one I can think of was this 10 or 12-year-old kid named Jun Min Woo who was known as "little Psy" and had a brain tumour. The fact that he was just a kid made it even sadder. Thankfully, it was nowhere near as bad as 2014 with the Ladies Code accident, Shin Hae Chul's death due to medical negligence, and the Sewol Ferry tragedy that put everything on hold for a month or so. 2008 and 2009 were bad as well as there was a whole string of celebrity suicides in those two years.

What 2016 will be remembered for in K-pop, however, was the sheer number of disbandments of beloved groups. The four most notable ones are KARA, 4Minute, Rainbow, and 2NE1. With KARA there's still some hope as member Gyuri opened up the possibility of them collaborating again in the future even with all of them in different companies. Rainbow also ended on a good note with the seven members taking a farewell trip after disbanding.

 I was only really bummed by 4Minute and 2NE1. 4Minute was actually one of my favourite girl groups, and initially it seemed as though the members had left on bad terms with each other, which made the situation even worse. As for 2NE1, they actually hadn't released anything since 2014 and after Minzy left YG there were all these rumours of the remaining three members coming back. Sadly, that never happened. We were all left hanging with their unreleased tracks forever unheard. But CL and Dara are still at the same company, so if they ever collaborate in the future that's already half the group...?

Running Man isn't a K-pop group but it was recently announced that they're ending their run... in 2017. So in that sense, the cast is "disbanding" as well. I'm actually happy they're giving us two-ish months to say goodbye instead of just cancelling the show right there and then after the Jihyo and Jongkook scandal.

But thinking about it, we are simply witnessing the coming and going of groups. Even with all the disbandments, there were many new amazing groups debuting, including Cosmic Girls/WJSN, IOI, NCT, and Blackpink. We also saw the rise of groups like BTS, Seventeen, Twice and G-Friend, as well as the reformation of disbanded groups such as Sechkies and SES (so that gives us hope for some of the more recently disbanded groups). And we can't forget the groups like Girl's Generation, Big Bang, Super Junior, TVXQ (albeit 40% of their former selves), and Shinhwa that have lasted so long. Disbandment actually doesn't do that much harm if the members do well on their own afterward, it's just that we don't get to witness the chemistry between group members as often or see the group as a whole rather than as individual parts.

 And as for the celebrity death epidemic back in Hollywood and the music industry in general, sure, more legends are leaving us but there are even more new talents being discovered waiting to become legends in their own right. In that sense, the net number of household names is staying the same or even increasing.

So if we look at "2016, the worst year ever" through that lens, suddenly it doesn't seem like such a horrible year after all.

Except for Donald Trump winning the election. The States is gonna go through a rough time during these next four years...

We Need More Women Like Song Ji Hyo

One thing that set Running Man apart from similar shows like Infinite Challenge was that there was a female there to balance out the men. Now that Ji Hyo's leaving, I really wish the Running Man producers will make one thing right with the new season and add another female. Obviously not to replace her entirely since Ji Hyo is a unique human being, but any new woman who is added has some big shoes to fill, and here's why:

1. Jihyo has a totally different image.

Most girls and women in the Korean entertainment industry are rarely seen without makeup, and often take extreme measures to make themselves thin. Jihyo on the other hand usually wears sporty clothes and no makeup on the show, and was filmed several times sleepy, groggy, or wrestling in the mud. All of these make her so much more relatable as a human being and not just as a pretty woman and I really hope we continue to see that side of her in her future shows. I'm sick and tired of seeing the typical K-drama trope of clingy girl squealing "oppaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!~" or naggy, manipulative, and possibly evil mother-in-law/stepmother/auntie. If a new girl joins, she has to be willing to put aside that glamorous image and show the human side of herself.

This, my friends, is the real Song Ji Hyo.

2. She's like one of the guys but has her own feminine charm. 

There have been a few times where Jihyo has dressed pretty and the guys were genuinely impressed, but they don't sexualize or objectify her like they do with young female idols who are 20-30 years younger than them *cough* Seolhyun *cough* TWICE. Now this is the type of relationship I'd like with my platonic male friends - they'll mostly see me wearing casual clothes, so it's all the more beautiful and refreshing for their eyes when I dress nice occasionally.

Because how often do Jong Kook and Jihyo get to see each other dressed as nice as this?

Pretty woman indeed.

More fab than you'll ever be.

3. Jihyo holds her own against the guys. 

In fact, she's even shown to be stronger than most of the guys save for Gary and Jongkook. One thing that bothered me a little though was she's won so many times that sometimes I wonder whether she really is that overpowered or whether the guys give her an unfair advantage because she's a woman - I think it's a bit of both. What's surprising is that I find her and Haha to be the most evenly matched in terms of brute strength. They're around the same size so that's a factor. Here are some of my favourite Jihyo vs. Haha battles:

Ep 285

Ep 167

And let's not forget about the time she took on MMA fighter Choo Sung Hoon, being the only one left on the Running Man team. Sure she didn't really have a choice but she gave her all and lost fair and square. Most girls would probably either give up or attempt to seduce oppa to let them win. Jihyo doesn't do any of that.

Bad. Ass.

4. Jihyo isn't afraid to show her vulnerability. 

For a show as funny as Running Man, there have been a few emotional moments, at least on Jihyo's part. Meanwhile I don't recall seeing any of the guys ever crying except for Kwangsoo and Song Joongki when the latter was filming his goodbye. This is probably because, as mentioned in my first article, men are socialized to hold back their tears, while women are more free to display their emotions. As tough as Jihyo is, it's good to see her human side.

 

When she cried in fear during ep 285. 

Crying after she and Gary finish their couple lifts. (ep 301)

Voicing her doubts to the younger brother she "bullied". (ep 295)

A more recent pic of her saying goodbye to Gary (ep 324)

Of course, it's going to take a long time for the new woman, if there is one, to reach that same level of trust as Jihyo did with Kwangsoo, Gary, and the rest, to be regarded as a member in the whole and not just a pretty girl, to set aside that image of beauty and perfection and show her vulnerable and weird side. Hopefully the new season will last long and give the new members enough time to create similar tight and lasting bonds, and then maybe I'll have faith in Running Man again.

2017 already looks very bad...

Let's see... IOI is disbanding, Big Bang is enlisting, Running Man is undergoing MORE member changes, more great Kpop groups are gonna disband...

First, let's talk about IOI. They said they were gonna promote for a year, so I thought they meant one whole year... turns out they're disbanding after only 9 months (beginning of May-end of January), which I'm a bit bummed about, I wish they could stay as a group for a while longer. Inevitably, we're all sad that this amazing group is temporary. I actually really love them as individuals and as a group. I hope we'll get to see pictures of their annual "IOI Day"!

Let's switch our focus to Big Bang now. Their new releases "Fxxk It" and "Last Dance" are their last before T.O.P enlists, and people on YouTube are making it sound like these are their last releases forever. I really don't think they'll disband, they'll probably be like Shinhwa and come back after everyone finishes their military service, albeit less frequently. Even g.o.d is still considered an active group (they released another song in 2014) and member Park Joon Hyung is almost 50 lol

Unfortunately, I don't think that'll be the case with groups like Secret, After School, and Miss A. I predict that they'll disband sometime in 2017. The members of Secret and Miss A could probably all fare well on their own, but I'm not sure what E-Young and Kaeun of After School would do once their group disbands. Or make the group a duo of just the two of them? :P

Finally, more bad news from Running Man as Jong Kook and Ji Hyo are gonna leave at the end of this year, as if Gary leaving a month ago wasn't bad enough. I accept Jong Kook and Jihyo's choices but I personally believe they should've waited a little longer so that we could get used to the 6-member arrangement without Gary. Now they'll have to film another sad episode for the two of them, and doubly sad to boot. Jong Kook is one of my faves along with Suk Jin, so it'll be hard to get used to Jong Kook's absence. I'm also hearing that Kang Ho Dong is joining and I've heard a few bad rumours about this guy, but again we just have to see how it goes, maybe it'll go really smoothly. After all, Kang Ho Dong could probably fill in the "strong guy" spot that Jong Kook is leaving behind. I'll just really miss the OT7 arrangement, nothing can replace the OG 7012 squad in my heart. Maybe they should just rebrand Running Man as X-Man the Reboot and at least old fans of X-Man can be happy. As long as Yoo Jae Suk continues, Running Man may be able to achieve the longevity of Infinity Challenge even with all the member changes.

But even when Running Man eventually ends (I dread the day!), that won't stop me from my annual tradition of playing the nametag game with my friends hehehe.

Oh, and Donald Trump is starting his first year as president. I wonder how that will go.

I just hope 2017 won't be worse than 2016 and that everything good that happens next year will outweigh the bad. Let's try to focus on the positive, shall we?

Let Out the Beast: Letting Your Emotions Out

I’ve noticed that Korean celebrities are quite comfortable with talking about hardships in their life, and even shedding tears on television. In the world we live in, it can be quite difficult to disclose intimate details about ourselves, and more so for men who are taught by society to hide all their problems and maintain a macho front.

In my Health Science class, I learned about the concept of hegemonic masculinity: the culturally dominant idea of what it means to be male and how masculine, “manly” men are supposed to behave within patriarchal society. I also realized that boys and men tend to keep all their problems to themselves, even denying that there are any underlying issues, until they finally explode, and in serious cases, do something violent and/or stupid.

From what I’ve seen in the K-pop industry, the men are just as open as the ladies to expressing their emotions and discussing hardships. The ones that come to my mind first are BTS’s Suga, Super Junior’s Leeteuk, and recently EXO’s Kai. 

First, Suga. The guy is the literal definition of “my mixtape is fire”, because when I listened to Agust D, it really was fire. But recently I listened to “My Last” and you could really feel the raw emotion in his voice, the sheer truth in his lyrics. “Never Mind” and “First Love” have a similar effect. Suga may appear as a guy who says “I don’t give a shit, I don’t give a fuck”, the lazy, carefree one, but that’s because deep inside, he’s holding in all this pain and anger from the past.  Perhaps in his attempt to conceal all that hurt as a member of the fun group BTS, he finally exploded, but thankfully he did it through his music and not through something dangerous. He seems like an emotionally volatile guy and I’m glad he showed us his mental health struggles in his mixtape. And seeing him break down in tears recently at the MAMA Awards after not showing that weakness for three years hurt me a bit inside. Suga’s brutal honesty brought him near the top of my BTS bias list (although he won’t replace my first bias, Jin and his heavenly voice) 

 

Next is Leeteuk, the leader of Super Junior. I know he’s doing a lot in the entertainment industry, which is really good because at the same time he’s continuing to promote Super Junior even with their less frequent group promotions. I can’t imagine the trauma and the heartbreak the man went through when he discovered that his father had killed his grandparents and then himself. When it comes to grief, every man should be entitled to cry and mourn. But learning that he had depression (even before his family tragedy) and that all his activities are meant to distract him from his condition… it was almost relieving to see that Leeteuk is taking action to help himself cope with those losses. But you wouldn’t expect the guy to hole up away from society for the rest of his life, would you? Most heartwarmingly, he doesn’t resent his father for abusing him or for killing his grandparents. I’m not biased towards Leeteuk, but I can really see why he is so admirable. Kudos to you, leader-nim.  

Finally, not long ago I discovered that Kai of EXO is also going through depression…? Before, I knew Kai as the really sexy dancer… just everything about him screamed “sex appeal”. Even when watching EXO on variety shows, I didn’t pay as much attention to Kai so I couldn’t see that he was just a playful young man who loves to dance and has the best stage expressions. But at the same time, Kai admitted that he likes to be alone, and that he cries a lot at home. Unlike most men in modern society, Kai “[doesn’t] make an effort to ignore or try to escape these emotions”, and I’m glad he acknowledged this human side of him that makes him more than the feisty sex bomb of EXO. Come to think of it, Kai’s story sounds like mine and if we were ever friends, we’d probably go to each other’s houses and just cry away XD 

 Bonus: 

And they say men don’t cry… not only is Hoshi crying, he’s fricking BLUBBERING. As bad as I feel for him, I can’t help but smile. He’s so cute and squishy and I'm sure all of us would have wanted to hug him in that moment. 

 Ah, the classic solitary man tear.

Thankfully, attitudes are changing to this day. A study at Penn State showed that several people consider a man’s tears a sign of honesty, not so much emotional weakness. Learning about Suga’s, Leeteuk’s, and Kai’s mental health struggles didn’t break my heart more so than it did bring some humanity to these highly admired artists. And knowing that they are fighting through these issues every day makes me want to persevere through my hardships as well.

http://www.itechpost.com/articles/58652/20161125/super-junior-s-leeteuk-makes-shocking-revelation-struggling-depression-idol.htm