I got y’all tea!!!
So, I was just thinking about this topic for some time now and my thoughts boil down to this.
Don’t encourage or feed into extreme parasocial behaviour towards your fans (especially K-fans) and then pull surprised pikachu face when they end up dragging you every time you do something that they don’t agree with.
I know we all like to support idols in their own choices (as we should they are human so of course they are allowed to date, make mistakes and end up doing something incredibly human) but… that doesn’t absolve them of being held accountable for the shit they pull sometimes (or majority of times in some cases).
I don’t know much about every group who feeds into those fantasies but they are in for a reckoning if they don’t think it’s a double edged sword hanging on their necks. I believe certain idols are going to regret doing that when the time comes.
And it’s not like I blame them!!!! Imagine you spending all your time in practice rooms while other kids are in school or outside. Imagine spending your teenage years not freely enjoying but building your skills, honing them to become a singer and realise its battlefield out there. If you’re distracted, you’re done! I get that. And I also get why younger idols do feed into those. They work well, albums get sold, tour tickets sell out, their followers are increased, money flows in… trainee debt (if any) gets paid off.
But is it all worth if your career takes a hit every time you fall in love publicly (or worse in private, but it’s exposed)? Is it worth it in the end? This is a complex topic, no one is to be blame here (I know lot of people are going to blame fans and rightfully so, some them are deranged)…. But ask yourself this… what would you do if you were an idol?