its honestly crazy how everything in kpop seems to be a facsimile. no real tattoos, but they can paint fake tattoos on. no skin imperfections, but they can add fake cuts and bruises and bandaids when it fits the aesthetic theme. nothing should look dirty unless the concept is "just road here on a morotbike and my shoes and pants are full of fake dirt and mud". they use different genres and aesthetics just for the performance with none of this historical significance behind it (hip hop, punk, rock, afro, funk, etc).
It's all about concept, about theme, about the aesthetics of it with none of the experience bc for the most part these idols arent even allowed to experience much of life at all bc they have to be overworked to become really, really, really good at performing, at playing the part. they have to hide their real selves and their humanity and imperfections and the ironic part is that that experience could even be good for creation, for writing lyrics inspired by this performing-perfecting machine that is the industry bc ofc they're not allowed to talk about it, not in any way that matters or makes a difference, at least.
another thing that is ironic to me and was so confusing when I first got into kpop was how important these "concepts" seemed to be, but at the same time they don't really fully come through in albums. "cute concept" and maybe the title track is cute but the rest of the songs have nothing to do with it, mostly because in kpop most albums arent really conceived as actual, whole, concept albums, they're just thrown together with a bunch of random songs they have lying around, some a few years old they've had on shelves for a while, others brand new, etc. They're barely considered as a whole, integral thing, they're just held together by this vague definition of "album" and the photoshoots and visual identity they slap on them a posteriori.
and then the photoshoots themselves also have no real cohesive identity, they just do a bunch of different ones so they can have different album versions to sell.
When I first got into kpop I would watch the album trailers and teasers like ohh, rock concept, or sports concept, or horror concept, and then the album itself was like... none of that. maybe a few aesthetic elements in the main MV would remain. and then it's the fans who come up with theories about how the album's are connected, or there's a storyline throughout or how the songs are in fact all connected through something and like... we're really doing much more heavy lifting than what the reality is, the reality is that there's no line or real concept, it's all aesthetics
this is probably what makes kpop so good for fanfiction, they give us the looks of it (really well done, really convincing) plus all the fanservice and it's just so easy to want to fill in the blanks, to come up with the real meat behind the flimsy mask, to make at least something real.
and i guess disclaimer to just say that i am not saying kpop is evil or idols are bad people and im not blaming any idol or group personally for this, these are just very talented, very overworked people doing a very difficult job and working for a really impressive facsimile and performing machine. these are just some thoughts I have on the whole thing. anyway.
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