When your own group mates find you cringe...

It's interesting that his before and after pictures shows he's just cosplaying. It's obvious what he's doing and it's easily to sense how inauthentic is character is. I don't think they will tone things down with him because the group is starting off strong. I do find it harmful what he's doing because comments in Korea are saying negative stereotypes .

Quote from StanGIDLE

It's interesting that his before and after pictures shows he's just cosplaying. It's obvious what he's doing and it's easily to sense how inauthentic is character is. I don't think they will tone things down with him because the group is starting off strong. I do find it harmful what he's doing because comments in Korea are saying negative stereotypes .

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He looks like Hyunjin in that 2nd photo.

Quote from kahei

And the fact of the matter is, in that last pic, he looks good! Like wtf

Unsure why him and TBL abandoned that look because I think this will catch up to them. At the moment it's very cringy and hard to take group seriously when many can see how inauthentic and offensive he is.

This is why I will never show some friends k-pop lol. I have no idea how Koreans view this type of behavior, apparently they think it's cool? But Tarzann would've already had this behavior either beat or ridiculed out of him if he was an American.

Quote from StanGIDLE

Unsure why him and TBL abandoned that look because I think this will catch up to them. At the moment it's very cringy and hard to take group seriously when many can see how inauthentic and offensive he is.

Because this is what sells in Korea. Some criticism here and there won’t change the fact that Koreans love this “bad boy” image (I put that in quotes because as pointed out in OP it perpetuates harmful stereotypes because there’s nothing particularly bad boy about any of those things)

None the less since the cultural sensibilities are different there’s not much international or western fans can do about this. Other than not consume this content.

YG and Teddy in particular have always profited of this type of BS.

I really love how TBL and YG are basically built on cultural appropriation yet no one has said anything.

Quote from CaraFIMIE

I really love how TBL and YG are basically built on cultural appropriation yet no one has said anything.

What are you talking about international kpop fans complain about this all the time. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean the discourse doesn't exist. Since Westerners discovered that other cultures use rap and hip-hop there have always been think pieces and people who are against it.

I agree they should go back to his look without the braids and grills

#1 He simply looks better like that and even Koreans seem to agree

#2 this will definitely hinder them building a Western fandom.

I think TBL is trying to capture the audience of hip-hop fans in korea/asia who think Tarzzan's current look is "cool" but their strategy is flawed because even if it does appeal to that niche audience, you lose appeal with the general public

He looks much better without braids, and with them he looks like a try hard “street” teenager.

interesting

the group and their music so far hasn't been my cup of tea but different strokes for different folks

I love how not looking the perfect image idol is so offensive when idols are build in fake images anyways.

Obviously his personality is different from his idol image and the same can be said about all idols by this logic. "Oh, he is cringe" so is others idols faking to be something they aren't. That's how kpop works.

Quote from Taemin-Identity

He looks much better without braids, and with them he looks like a try hard “street” teenager.

Braids aside; Like you said, he looks like a teenager who thinks that this kind of attitude would make him look cool and tough. Maybe Koreans think that too? Grills and chains look so cheap. He needs to ditch them.

Quote from doesitneedsaying

Braids aside; Like you said, he looks like a teenager who thinks that this kind of attitude would make him look cool and tough. Maybe Koreans think that too? Grills and chains look so cheap. He needs to ditch them.

In middle school some of my classmates used to style and act this way, which I always found cringe 😬.

They were trying to look as “gagster”, since it was “cool” and “trendy”, but never once I saw a person to pull it off.

I think the style suits him and he pulls it off. He has good vibe and aura and makes the group look stylish and cool.

On a wider note, I don’t see cultural appropriation as something inherently bad, and I don’t think the modern policing of it has made the world a better place. Policing it seems to divide us more than anything.