Like when i first heard about kpop, i never had any pre conceived notions about it being "manufactured" or "bad' or a "dark industry"
maybe its because i'm not from a western country but my assumption of kpop was that it would be similar to folk songs and regional music where it will have specific attributes from that region for eg.- that they wil use traditional music instruments belonging to that region etc
of course that was not true. kpop was very modern and had catchy music you can groove to and i loved this about kpop
it makes me wonder if there is a difference in how fans from different parts of the world view kpop before delving deep into it and if the way the media captures kpop in their country plays a part in it
what about you? did u have any negative impressions about kpop? was it because the way it was shown in your media or because of kpop stans etc? i'm curious