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Israel has not honored the ceasefire for a single moment.

Me: I mean depends on your tolerance for this type of racism, but like I said it's my favourite show, it def has some great parts if you're up for it.

Them: Oh so it's not racist.

Me: It absolutely is.

Them: So you're saying racism is ok??

This is the relationship I have with kpop. It's not just when you become sufficiently woke, but also when you become more knowledgeable and entrenched. The unethical aspects of the kpop industry are myriad, complicated, and fascinating. Kpop provides not only case studies in racism, but sexism, geopolitics, and more- there's so much material to dissect and dig into there that it's almost absurd.

I got introduced to kpop when I was 8 years old because of my Korean-American friends. Would I get into kpop today? Honestly, I'm not sure. The exploitation in the industry is obvious and an understandable deal breaker for most. I still try to be intentional with where I spend my actual money on this hobby, though maybe that's a moot point since I'm complicit via this blog. But it was a lot less obvious in 2009 to a western white little girl with no access to subtitles that the industry was sinister. Back in the day, kcon didn't even exist yet- kpop fans had to go to anime conventions and got teased by jrock/jpop fans.

I've watched kpop evolve over the years and it's actually incredibly interesting. It's funny, coming from a punk background (punk dad) I've always heard how kpop is so manufactured and artificial, how could I want to listen to music like that? But that's precisely part of the appeal. Of course, kpop is diverse, not everything is produced in the same way. But why wouldn't it be interesting to see what a team of several professionals put together as an art piece marketable to a global audience? It says a ton about Korean culture, international culture, etc.- what's safe, what's bold, the precarious dance between different socially held values across the globe. It highlights what human emotions are palatable and easily packaged for song lyrics and which aren't. Dare I say it- it can be even more interesting than more "authentic" punk music that's just some suburban white boy angry in his garage in rather uncomplicated ways. That music may be more real or honest, somehow, but that doesn't mean that "manufactured" music can't have any value or interest.

Back in the day, the appeal was totally different for me. Kpop used to be far more tailored to a Korean, or at the most East Asian audience. I learned so much about this culture on the opposite side of the world. I learned about where my friends come from, how their parents were different from mine. My world was cracked open super wide for a little 8 year old. And now I've been watching this industry and genre change and grow over nearly two decades at this point.

There's a lot that's fucked up about kpop, and I'm not even sure I'd say I "like" it. It's not that simple. But it's been a huge part of my life and social development. There's a lot of wonderful music and projects in the genre to support that I'd have real trouble giving up if I had to. There's songs like "Into The New World" that capture my entire childhood heart. Honestly, it's easier to say that I love kpop (emotional attachment and connection that I feel to it) than that I like it (think it's good). Would I go to bat for the trainee system? No, never. Is the colorism okay? Not at fucking all. Will I let those things go, excuse and drop them? Also no (and those are just a couple examples, not even close to an exhaustive list of all the issues I have with the industry).