I honestly feel bad for anyone who knows me, because I tend to go through phases of hyperfixation on different topics. And right now, that topic just so happens to be K-Pop. I don’t actually know too much about K-Pop and fandoms within this genre of music, so I’ll try my best to not only talk about the one group that kickstarted my appreciation for this music. As you probably know, like many other things, K-Pop has an enormous fan community which is split into different fandoms of each group. For example, BTS has Army, Blackpink has Blinks, and Stray Kids has Stays. While there are fandoms throughout different forms of entertainment, it seems as though K-Pop has become quite notorious for how… passionate some of the fans are. And when I say passionate, I don’t necessarily mean it in a positive way. Now, I don’t want to sit here and write about everything wrong with the cult-like side of this fandom community because, as I said earlier, I like this music. So instead, I’ll discuss both sides and leave the choice of whether or not people are downright crazy up to you.
There’s a lot of good things that K-Pop fandoms have going for them. Their love and support for idols can be quite beautiful to see. From fan projects and concerts, to spreading love across all platforms to counteract the hate idols receive from others, it’s safe to say that there are and will always be good people around. What I love most about these types of fans (who I hope are the majority), is that they appreciate all members of a group. Of course not all K-Pop artists come in the form of a group, but many do, and in this case that is what I’ll be talking about. It’s typical for a fan to have a bias in a group, meaning that there is one member that that fan usually gravitates towards, whether it’s because of their personality and/or talent. These fans however, don’t only show their support for that single member; they see the group as a unit and love each idol even if they aren’t their bias. It’s these fans that should be more recognised when talking about K-Pop fandoms, however they are most likely overshadowed to people on the outside by the crazier type. Regardless, these fans are something special. From TikToks to Instagram comments, it’s easy to see the kinds of fans who spread love, as they should. It’s even better to know that these fans don’t spread hate to other groups/idols/fandoms (which is very common), and instead appreciate K-Pop as a whole.
Now that I’ve talked about how good some fans are, I’ve realised I have a lot to say about those that are… extreme. I’ve sorted these types of fans into three groups, although I’m sure I could do a lot more than that. First, we have those who are deemed “Koreaboos”. That basically refers to someone obsessed with South Korean culture in an alarming way. Now, if you like K-Pop and K-Dramas because you actually think they’re good, this isn’t against you. This is for the people who try to act South Korean when they clearly are not. If you look on TikTok, #asianfishing has up to 415.9M views, and while it can be debated for some, it’s clear that there are people who take their “appreciation” for asian features and language to a disturbing level. Honestly, it’s giving Oli London.
Next on my list of weird fans, we have those who are just shitty people. Split into two sub-categories, we have the solo stans who only support one member of a group and disregard the rest, as well as those who hate on other groups for no reason other than claiming to defend their own group (or they’re just underage weirdos who need to get their phones taken away from them). Coming from both groups, I’ve seen one too many videos and comments spreading hate, to the point where it’s just cyberbullying to the max. Did these people not go to primary school and get that chat about treating people the way you want to be treated?
The next group of fans honestly scare the fuck out of me. I wouldn’t even call them fans because they’re fucking psychos. This is where the term “sasaeng” comes in. This shit is so disturbing. These are the people that are obsessive and stalk certain K-Pop groups and idols. Now I know we shouldn’t be using Wikipedia, sue me, but this is what the site says when describing the actions these “fans” take: they “commit what in some cases may amount to borderline criminal acts in order to gain attention from celebrities. Examples of such acts include seeking out celebrities at their dorms or homes, spreading rumours, stealing their personal belongings or information, harassing family members, and sending idols gifts such as lingerie”. What. The. Fucking. Fuck. These people have no regard for privacy and honestly, I think they should just get locked up because that’s some crazy shit. I can recall an incident of this that I’ve recently seen on TikTok which you could even say is a mild example of this behaviour. During Music Bank in Paris earlier this year, a girl who was so delusional in her head took a video of the leader Bang Chan while waiting outside the hotel Stray Kids were staying at (why was she there?), and really said he “did a double take”. Like girl, I would too if someone was waiting outside my hotel in case I showed up and recorded me while I was trying to get in a car. People out here are really trying to get their Y/N moment when really they’re just stalking celebrities. You know what’s crazier than this though? There are worse encounters that not only invade an idol’s privacy, but also put them in harm’s way.
There’s a shit ton more I could say, but I’m trying to not make liking K-Pop sound like a bad thing, because it’s not. In every fandom of anything ever created, there are going to be people who are really fucking weird. But if you’re a normal person, you’ll be like the first fans I told you about. The nice ones. I can’t even wrap my head around being anything but that. Those who belong to the other categories, well, you’re just tragic. I don’t know how some of you are allowed to roam free. Anyways, that’s it from me. I hope you find my useless information enlightening.
Also, stan Stray Kids. Heh.
