Chapter 4: Konderland? - My K-Pop Experience

In just a week, YouTube became not only my best friend but a teacher.

2 PM, Big Bang, Super Junior, EXO, B.A.P, BTOB, SHINee, GOT7, VIXX, Seventeen, Monsta X...

There’s way more than that on the list but it is just to show how far and deep the recommended videos on YouTube led me.

The only boy groups I was familiar with at the time were Westlife and One Direction (excluding Japanese pop-rock groups).

So, when I saw the amount of care being put in the cinematic, storyline, members’ appearance, the lyrics..., the music, the dance, not forgetting the little “we are....” preceded by the group name...wow. I had never seen so much in one package.

I was so amazed.

It seemed like I was on the road to recover from my K-pop trauma.

All I needed was to see boy groups perform.

Still, something didn’t feel right....

Despite the excitement of this new discovery, I was not really at peace.

Watching the music videos was nice.

Watching fan-made videos was hilarious.

Watching groups on variety shows was fun.

Watching the process on how their songs and MVs were made was informative.

But...

Some years prior, I had deleted most of the Japanese and western songs I liked. Why?

I had come across a documentary called “An Open Secret” telling the story of victims of sexual abuse while being in Hollywood as children. I had also learnt about the different symbols and words used in the entertainment industry to share a specific message to specific people.

Most of the music I had downloaded were advising me to follow a lifestyle that was contradictory to the bible studies I was taking each Sabbath. At first, I had taken the comments about the illuminati and freemasonry as a joke, but I could not deny seeing their symbols being used by so many celebrities in the entertainment industry.

In the end I had decided to delete my downloaded songs. I cried while doing so saying “God you’re so harsh. Being a Christian is too hard” ...

Fast forward, while watching these groups, I could see the same things.

Alongside, their comments about “dark skin” being disgusting, the glamorisation of being under-weight and the mean comments and actions being justified with being the eldest or leader of the group.

None of that was sitting well with me. I tried to ignore them but nah...

After nearly two weeks of being re-introduced to K-Pop, I was ready to close that chapter forever but not before clicking on a video with a familiar name.

*click*

~ My K-Pop Experience: How My Experience Shaped My Personal Journey as a Christian (#4) ~