Comments by "oolong2" (@oolong2) on "BTS Joins White House to Address Asian Representation" video.

Not sure if BTS or any k-pop band are the right spokespeople to talk about "diversity" when all k-pop bands, especially BTS, are highly manufactured and groomed for very specific look.
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@nevaladder Sorry you feel that way. My comment has absolutely nothing to do with hating Asians, only corporate PR.
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@hannahholland3313 What "racist generalizations" are you even talking about? Do you even know what it means to be racist?
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@muhammadhaziq8157 How exactly? Do you know what racism even means or do you just like throwing around the term?
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@riashah9419 Yes, all artists are exploited to an extent. But it is especially true when it comes to group bands. The concept is created before there are even any members, and then kids are selected from a young age and groomed and curated into a completely fabricated existence for money and fame. It's not like they are friends who formed a band one day, they were selected by a company and then forced to live together. So when I see these events I really don't know how much of it is them or the machine they're part of. Obviously they have talent and passion, but serious question, do you honestly think that this appearance wasn't setup for PR by their company? For me there is a big difference between an activist trying to actually change policy and a company using an issue for promotion. Fans don't want to see behind the curtain, they're just happy to see BTS.
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@riashah9419 It's hard to say what help or harm is caused by corporations coopting movements for their own promotion. Though generally when it happens the movement is already starting to die and companies are just latching onto something on it's way out instead of taking risks by taking an stance in the beginning. Individual artists will often speak out on issues early, because they actually care about something, however companies do not. They wait until it's safe. Also. I just wonder if it's beneficial for the members of BTS to be forced into these situations and speak on issues they may not know or even care about. They may not have any choice in the decision, but are simply told to dress up, show up and say something anyway.
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@riashah9419 I wouldn't necessarily characterize it as "evil" nor is this type of exploitation unique to Korea. The same thing has been going on with "idol groups" in Japan. The US has also had a few boy bands that followed this model in the past. Currently US companies are taking advantage of social media by creating these "hype houses" where a group of kids are put together in luxury mansions and used to make lots of money off social media. The kids might have a bit more agency, but they are still being exploited and curated in a very similar way.. My main issue was that I if you're going to speak about "diversity" then these types of groups are not the best spokespeople for that, because they are not created to be diverse only to sell an "ideal" look.
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@riashah9419 The tragedy is that there are hardly any American-Asian music artists. Which only highlights the issue when it comes to diversity in this country... Instead it requires large companies to manufacture a band and then target US and international markets through very sophisticated social media campaigns and carefully crafted music. Similar to how Hollywood targets movies to international audiences. Sorry for being cynical, but it's not like there weren't thousands of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, etc. music artists that didn't exist before or exists today. No one knows about these artists simply because they don't have an international marketing machine behind them.
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@riashah9419 Nothing I didn't know all along. Just a lot of people here making baseless assumptions about me. Unfortunately it is something I've gotten used to my entire life. You would think people could look at my username and understand that I'm not "ant-asian"...
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@yhenluchvann6984 Going from "mass shootings" to "all Americans" would be like going from "BTS" to "all Koreans". Which is something I never did. You're simply making up the idea of some egregious prejudice, by creating an example that doesn't fit. I find this theater over very serious issues, extremely sad and very disappointing. You really need to take a hard look at why you think criticizing a band, whether you think that criticism is valid or not, somehow rises to the level of bigotry of all Asians. You may appreciate theater, posturing, and PR stunts, but I do not.
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