Analysis of the Ex-Members’ Departure (Part 3 - Tao)
For the past two weeks, I talked about Kris and Luhan’s departure from EXO and how it impacted fans and members alike. Lastly, we have our EXO-M maknae, Tao.
TAO (Left in ~April 2015)
Tao’s departure was as controversial as Kris’s, if not more so. With his strong reaction towards Kris’s departure and how he seemed to interact with EXO members more than the other two who left, we would think that he would be the last person to leave. But we were wrong. He lasted around a year more than the other two, his dad brought him back to China due to his injuries, and he never returned.
Before I continue, though, I would recommend that you watch the video on Tao’s interview addressing his issues with SM, Kris, and some of his other controversies. From this interview, we can really see how he has grown out of his whiny maknae self in 2013. You can take this as a pinch of salt, but I do trust him to a large extent, because much of what he said was pretty justified.
There is so much about Tao that I want to talk about and i have no idea where to start. Let’s start with his Weibo and Instagram post about Kris. So back when Kris left, he put up that post online, telling us how betrayed he felt. Some people felt it was immature of him as a celebrity to post something like this, but there were many others who empathised with him and supported him. It was not until 2015, when he decided to pursue a solo career in China and left EXO, that the post resurfaced. People were saying how he was contradicting himself, talking about betrayal, and subsequently doing the same thing. Well, the only thing that was wrong about the post was that he posted it despite being an idol, a public figure. I mean, we constantly see 21 year olds ranting about inconsiderate people, about the weather, everything. Tao was just another 21 year old who wanted to express his anger at a friend’s betrayal. In fact, it was a much more mature post compared to many other irrelevant and unnecessary rantings on the Internet. As evident from the interview he did (the one I linked above), although those were his true thoughts, he did ponder over whether to post it or not, and the manager encouraged him to do so. And about him contradicting himself. People’s thoughts change, people grow up over time. He learned a lot in that one year, he understood Kris more, so I don’t see why people had to lash out at Tao when he left. People’s opinions change, it’s just a part of growing up as a person.
However, the post did cost him his friendship with Kris. I mean, this was Kris’s reaction when the interviewer asked him if he contacted Tao after the incident:
I don’t know, you decide.
From what I see, Tao was really affected by Kris’s departure, mainly because he Kris was the member he was closest to, and he thought that feeling was mutual. But he ended up having to find out about such a shocking news through the media. It probably felt as if all his love/friendship for Kris was totally one-sided. I, for one, would be mad if I were Tao.
If anything, leaving EXO could have been especially difficult for Tao, considering how happy he was when he was with the members. I mean, there is only so much you can do to pretend that you like a person, and Tao was constantly joking around and laughing with the members, he was evidently close to at least some of them. Yes, there were times when members appear to be annoyed with him, because of his whiny personality, which can rub people the wrong way. This was especially evident when it came to Kyungsoo, who doesn’t bother hiding his anger and irritation. Nonetheless, Kyungsoo did have interactions with Tao which didn’t end up with the former getting annoyed. It’s just like how in a class, you have that annoying classmate whom you sometimes just want to slap, but is a nice person to talk to or interact with most of time.
Although I do empathise with Tao, I don’t think he is entirely not to blame. Yes, it’s true that he suffered injuries and his dad brought him back to China, but that doesn’t give him the right to just decide to have a solo debut in China all of a sudden, just a few months after he went back. Not to mention he decided to use the SAME lawyer to file the SAME lawsuit against SM as Luhan and Kris, it did seem like a convenient way to start a solo debut and cut off ties with EXO. However, we do know that his dad’s opinions did matter to him, for all we know, his dad might be the one who wanted him to do that. But his departure from EXO was just plain messy and confusing.
For him, I do feel that though mistreatment was one of his reasons for leaving, deep down in his heart, the deciding factor that made him want to leave was his family. As we can see from the interview above, when he talked about his mum in the later part of the video, he was smiling, and he did seem happy. He could have decided to file the lawsuit just to stay by his family, or like I said earlier, leaving EXO might have been his father’s idea. The mistreatment was just one of the reasons, and a reason that would be much more credible and acceptable when brought up in court. This might even apply to Kris and Luhan as well.
For Tao, he did say in the interview that there were times when his dad told him to quit EXO, but he stayed. Therefore, it appears that the reason he endured the mistreatment was because of EXO members and his passion for music. However, after he went back to China, he spent time with his family, and he realised that he couldn’t bear to leave them again, which was why he filed the lawsuit and left EXO. Because honestly, if he wanted to leave SOLELY because of the mistreatment, he would have left long ago.
Well, he did seem satisfied with being with his family and I’m glad that he continued smiling despite all the ordeals he went through. I do wish him the best in everything, but I still stand by my opinion that Tao’s departure from EXO isn’t exactly the most transparent thing ever.
izzy806
ellievsbear
vaporwave
dededos
discoholicmusic
