What Girls' Generation left behind for contemporary women and K-pop
Original article by 이숙명https://www.vogue.co.kr/?p=291074 (alt link)
Translation by @itnw0628 https://twishort.com/wZooc
Their 15th anniversary promotions are historical events regardless of the music chart rankings.
Girls' Generation is a team which has broken prejudice against girl groups, female celebrities, and women's organizations. In addition, their comeback is also a sign that K-pop and management systems have grown to the next level. Whether you’re a fan of Girls' Generation or not, watching their comeback in 2022 is witnessing the scene of history.
Girls' Generation debuted in 2007. And in 2017, several members left SM Entertainment. It was a de facto disband, but the members left room for team activities at any time, saying it is just that they were able to engage more in individual activities. It would have been considered as empty words to keep their fandom alive if it was from other groups, but Girls' Generation was different. Girls' Generation was such a successful team that all of the members were treated as top stars without anyone falling short while doing group works, and because of that, there were rumors competition within the team would be fierce. However, they proved their friendship by consistently producing contents with forming small units, or supporting each other's activities even under different agencies. They also made it clear that there was no conflict or resentment with their former agency. It was a course of action which dispelled the prejudice that women's organizations are full of envy, jealousy, full of wiles, amateurism, and the entertainment industry is the field which maximizes such characteristics. Girls' Generation was not a team that emphasized girl crush with music or styling concepts, but it was a team that inspired contemporary women by proving high level professionalism and femininity are not contradictory by the relationships and history between members.
As they themselves have often said, their relationship hasn’t always been strong since the beginning of their career. There were fights behind the scenes and there was a process of adjusting to each other, but when they were on stage, Girls' Generation showed a perfect smile as if there were no such problems. Through that, people in the industry praised SM's training system and the professionalism of the members. In the meantime, they gradually grew into artists who had the right to speak on their own. The fact that girl group works together for 10 years, keeping friendship while maintaining their commercial quality, was a phenomenon that has not been witnessed before. In the process, Girls' Generation fandom went beyond simply admiring them. They grew together while getting older, and as they experienced social life on their own, they reached a level which they can guess and respect the time and effort Girls’ Generation members had gone through.
There are mainly two reasons why successful K-pop groups cannot reunite after disband. It is common for a member to be kicked out due to making a trouble, and the next most common case is that some members have succeeded significantly as individual, group activities are not needed anymore. However, as many as eight members of Girls' Generation have successfully built their careers in their respective positions. There are four members with main actress class in movies and dramas, and others are also active as solo singers, MCs, CF models, and musical actress. None of the members came back here by missing the glory days of Girls' Generation. They are top stars who each have a say and have the ability to produce themselves, and they have reunited to understand and complete what Girls' Generation as a brand means to the music industry and fans. This would be a great counterargument to the prejudice that K-pop idols are not artists and only products by the companies. And you can also see the maturity of SM from the attitude of them supporting this comeback, that they recognize idol groups as a resource for the fan community, not a temporary profit product of the agency. By the comeback of members who have succeeded in other fields, you can feel the pride that idols are not the clowns of a young age, but the core part of the Korean cultural industry, which is completed with fierce efforts and professional consciousness. There would be no better example to explain the status of K-pop in 2022.
The music video for Girls' Generation's 15th anniversary song "Forever 1" reflects the current appearance of each member and unfolds in a plot where they stage together. At the same time, it also features homage to the debut song "Into the New World." Of course, there will be no bigger gift for Girls' Generation fans. But there is more meaning to it. Let's say you're a fan of any idol group that's currently at its peak or just debuted. Can you imagine that their 15 years from now will be better than this? Girls' Generation presents a new ideal of K-pop groups. This is something no group has done so far. This alone gives you enough reason to be enthusiastic about Girls' Generation's comeback.
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