Sacrificial Lessons Learned
If you’re here from twt to read my ramblings, then welcome. It’s so great to have you here🥰
I am a veteran Jikookie from 2015, so sometimes I see their relationship a little bit differently than others. I decided that for 2022, I was going to try harder to document more of my thoughts about these two very special men.
You can probably determine based on the pictures above, what I am going to talk about in this ramble. Saipan. But that is not where I want to start. I have opinions (they are ONLY opinions) that go beyond what we saw in Saipan. I want to talk about what I believe led us to this point.
Let’s get into this quickly because I don’t want to take up too much of your time. This post is going to be broken into two parts 1) My thoughts on this episode from a Jikook perspective and 2) My thoughts on BH and the self implosion that almost occurred bc of their inherent voyerostic nature and disregard for privacy, especially where the Maknaes are concerned.
Let’s start with the latter- my hot take - and get that out of the way. There is no denying that we love BTS and we cannot get enough of them. There is not a single second of content that I won’t happily consume. BH knows this about the fandom and they thrive on it.
When the guys first started out, there was a narrative that BH needed to promote. They wanted us to fall in love with them and get to know them and understand what amazing souls they were. They wanted us to be a part of their lives, almost like an extension of their family. They wanted us to grow with them, live with them and share experiences. And it worked. Because 24 million twt followers later, we are a fiercely dedicated fandom who is in absolute love with these seven men. They are in essence, our family. Our resolve is sound and our loyalty cannot be shaken. Some outsiders call our connection voodoo, brain washing, or other derogatory terms because they don’t understand the dedication. But if they would just do their homework, they would see that the truth of how we fell so deeply in love with these seven is quite simple.
BH adopted us as a family and pulled us into every single second of their lives - through video.
When our seven started, they were just kids. Few exceptions, Jin was in his 20’s and Yoon and Hobi were not far behind, but they were mentally and physically (appearance) young. They needed care and a lot of supervision and rails to keep them focused and coralled.
With the need for “management” came a perception that I often see when adults are dealing with children, the perception that children don’t really NEED privacy; nor have they earned the right to expect it. Stop. Let me help emphasize the point. It was not uncommon for these boys to have a camera on them 24/7, even as they slept. Which in my opinion was borderline in appropriateness but bc the contracts probably covered this level of exposure, it was allowed.
Remember this shirtless pic of Hobi? Good example of the type of access we were given at the time bc they were looked upon as children, even though they were much older. This is a still shot from camera footage that was actually shown.
Remember cameras were how we grew with them and learned who they were. We loved watching their snoring and sleeping habits. Right?
This was particularly prevalent in the 2014-2016 years. Soon however, this 24/7 access began to become problematic bc as most teenage boys and young men do, they began to step away from the innocence of playing hide and seek and Rock Paper Scissors in their hotel rooms. Even in interviews, and VLIVES, some of the true happenings behind the scenes started to come to light.
Remember this - Jin and the condom scandal?
Jin was about 23-24 when this dropped and it was the first time that army got a dose of what may REALLY be going on behind the scenes. The 24/7 camera access that ARMY adored, was likely a big pain in the ass for BH because of how much damage control they constantly had to do.
My original comment was that some adults don’t feel that children really “deserve” privacy. But what happened when BH’s metaphorical children started acting like adults? (Naughty children 😏)
Let us not forget the time when they openly admitted to watching porn.
https://twitter.com/btsRODC_100/status/1434317600339734528?s=20
So if this sticky little widget was happening - imagine how much needed to be edited out of the “24/7” access to keep their real activities a secret. And if they had to edit large volumes of material, were they really being authentic?
Authenticity is what made BTS so when they had to re-evaluate access, we saw a real turning point. These guys, particularly the older ones, were probably starting to really explore sexual thoughts and desires and just like all young men that age, they sometimes made those thoughts public. I mean WHO CAN EVER forget this Namjoon tweet from 2014? BH never deleted it either btw.
Well BH had to pivot. And suddenly we started to see BH scale back on some of the raw footage especially around the Hyung line. Seemingly the Hyung line stepped out as adults and therefore “earned” a bit more privacy.
In actuality, I think BH was probably scared to death that something would show up on film that they would miss in the editing room. Whatever the true reason, Hyung line seemed to escape the barrage of cameras always in their face. By no means am I saying it stopped, I’m just saying it was greatly reduced for the older members and restricted to more professional or public settings where there was scripted control. 2017-2018 saw much less of their private adhoc exposure. If there was a lesson to be learned, it was that teen boys were unpredictable.
But…here’s the problem. Cameras were such an embedded part of the culture of this fandom that they couldn’t just pull back on showing us those private moments. So they decided to balance it while under exposing the Hyung line and overexposing the Maknae line. Think back, how often did you see video of NJ, Yoon or Jin sleeping post 2017? Not often. But how often did we see the Maknae’s? Pretty consistently. This video below from 2017 seems like the last time we REALLY saw Hyung line in more private situations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm5V0uArTZQ
Never did this become more prevalent in my mind than when the guys went to Malta. We were given glimpses of where the hyungs were sleeping but it was always a quick drive-by with limited access. A glimpse of Yoongi but not much more
But for the Maknae’s it seemed as if almost none of their stay was off limits.
The cameras were trained on JKs room. So much so that many of us were able to conclude that JM and JK were secretly sharing a room. We got just that much footage. We even saw the cameras follow JK out of the shower. He was still wet and still getting dressed when we were invited in. Hobi was the catalyst but the footage could have been cut by BH. They chose not to cut it. Once again it felt like there was an attitude of, “it’s just JK, he’s a kid so it’s ok to show him in this state of dress.”
If you watch the full footage, you’ll see that JK wasn’t exactly comfortable. He was caught last minute trying to button his buttons and he was rushing to get dressed. This footage was not planned, it was unexpected, but still BH allowed it. They also got another little surprise- JIMIN. Who was also coincidently wet and emerging from the shower at the same time. Maybe one day I’ll talk about that. (Naughty Children 😏)
https://twitter.com/kmgoogiemin/status/1416806869876846592?s=20
Even though JK is clearly uncomfortable, they still aired this and that was when I started to see the problem. The younger members even though they were all well over 20, were not being given the same consideration as the others. I don’t need to remind you how much footage we saw of JK, JM, and Tae (once he arrived.) Most of the time, we only saw the hyungs private spaces if the Maknaes were visiting them.
Yes we are told they could turn the cameras on and off at their leisure but do you really believe that? BH needed footage so I doubt cameras could be shut off at anytime other than when they were straight up naked. In case you don’t remember, here’s a reminder of how much the Maknaes were exposed.
The issue that I have here is that IMO, there should never be a time when a camera is on you while you are sleeping. I am also NOT a fan of cameras in the bedroom; not for young men who need their privacy. Yet we were given so much access to them in these vulnerable moments that it just felt kind of wrong. Even though the guys KNEW there were cameras there, I still felt that some of the things we saw, were probably not meant to be seen (Jimin cuddling with JK in the bed and both of them automatically assuming the spoon position before catching themselves.). What we saw what was the BH editors kept. But can you imagine what was captured on camera that was edited out? If you have to do that much editing to protect their privacy, maybe you shouldn’t have been filming in the first place? That is the question I ask myself. BUT, BUT, and more BUT - in the end - I was still comfortable with BV3 and almost all of the summer package videos because the men were fully aware of everything going on and knew when they were being filmed - even if they were sleeping.
So that brings me to Saipan and the entire point of this rant. Saipan marked the very first time (that we know of) that cameras were placed on them and they WERE NOT TOLD. Not only were the cameras on them, they were in the hotel rooms. THE HOTEL ROOMS. This IMO was a complete betrayal of trust and decency. The guys didn’t even know they were going to be filmed. If you don’t believe that the guys were caught off guard, go back and watch the summer package on YT. You will see they were all shocked to see the cameras because BH does camera sweeps before the guys enter their rooms. So when they saw the cameras in there, it didn’t take long for each of them to realize they were from the company. They were probably labeled cameras as well. Watch the expressions, especially Yoongi. They all have WTF faces when they first see them.
BUT, BUT and more BUT, here is the poetic justice of it all and this is why I say BH screwed themselves. BH learned a very important lesson that day. Shall I explain? I shall.
We can presume that everyone on BH staff knows that Jikook are dating. Sorry, for those who don’t believe that…you should stop reading this blog now because from hence forth that is going to be a major assumption in my hypotheses. I believe these two date and probably are physical. I also firmly believe they share hotel space when they travel. Period. If you can conclude nothing else from this fiasco in Saipan, you should conclude that Jimin and JK share a hotel room. SO back to my thought, everyone at BH should know that right?
Not necessarily. As the guys travel and film in different locations, it is not out of the norm to assume that there is a rotating staff of camera men, editors, executive producers, etc. Possibly even some of the locals help with production. It is my theory that whoever had the bright idea of placing cameras in the rooms UNANNOUNCED, had no idea of what could possibly happen. They were either local staff OR BH film crew that was outside of the BH inner circle - hence them not knowing that Jikook are prone to share hotel rooms. Again, I believe that everyone at BH in the inner circle of BTS know about their relationship. Accordingly, someone who knew about the relationship would have given them a heads up. Plain and simple. I imagine that a producer would have pulled them aside and had a conversation that sounded something like this…. “Hey my dudes, they snuck cameras in your room and they are going to be filming, so Jimin go that way and JK go the other way. But DON’T GO TOGETHER.”
But in the case, they were NOT given that warning. So what did Jikook do? They did what the always do, they went to JK’s room. They busted right into that room together and ran straight into the camera. You can watch the analysis video below. It does a pretty good job of explaining everything that happened and showing the footage. But you can clearly tell by Jimin and JK’s faces that they did not expect a camera to be there.
If you believe they are dating, as I do, then you also know that what they were doing when they walked in could have been much worse. We could have seen a kiss or hand holding or nuzzling or any other things that would have busted them. Thank goodness we didn’t because BH would not have been able to justifiably cut that footage. WHY DAWNIE? Why do you say BH couldn’t cut the footage? Why did they not just edit out the scenes where Jikook walked into the room together?
Q). Why didn’t they just cut Jikook the scene only?
A). Because it would have been way too suspicious. They showed each and every member enter their rooms and discover the cameras. The scenes of them entering the rooms were the main “story line”. They couldn’t justify cutting it all out. Then what would they have done? Well what if they had just cut Jikook scenes out? Don’t you think it would have been hella’ suspicious if they showed everyone EXCEPT Jikook entering their rooms? We would have all assumed they were fucking at that point. That would have been NO good for the show.
Q) So why not just cut ALL of the footage of the room reveals to get rid of the jIkook footage
A). They couldn’t cut ALL of the room scenes because it was part of the overall theme of the show. Jin won the suite, the others had smaller rooms. The room reveal was an EPIC part of the episode. They couldn’t cut it and they could not cut Jikook. Even if they had just shown Jimin when he entered HIS room alone, we still would have been missing JK and that would have been suspicious as well. They had to keep the footage.
Q) Why didn’t Jimin just leave as soon as he saw the camera?
A) Because it was too late. He had already been spotted, standing very close to his boyfie. If he had just left right away, it would have looked weird. I know the footage is cut to make it look as if he left immediately, but in actuality, he stayed for about 15-20 minutes and hung out. We don’t know what they did because they appear to have turned the camera off. But he had to make it look like his visit was perfectly normal, even though it wasn’t. There is an analysis video that explains how long JM was in the room, but I can’t find it.
Q) Why did BH take such a chance by placing secret cameras in the room?
A) I honestly don’t think the RIGHT people at BH knew that hidden cameras were planned. I think it was the production crew and the storyboard artists who put the concepts together. As I mentioned before, although there are probably rumors around BH that the two of them are close, there are probably only a very, very few in the inner circle who actually know it for a fact. Stylists, make up people, immediate managers. Why would any of them be told about the storyboard and the concept for the shoot before the fact? They probably wouldn’t. Therefore the people in charge probably didn’t know what a risk they were actually taking.
Q). What does all of this mean Dawnie, what is your point?
A). My point issssss, BH’s insatiable appetite for footage is what led us to this moment. Keeping cameras trained on the guys 24/7 was a flawed concept from inception. Even though it brought us fans closer to them, it was at great sacrifice to the members themselves. The one thing that BH always did in the past was show respect in the form of transparency. Even if the guys didn’t like what was being filmed, at least they knew about tit. They could take up the issue with management or maybe alter their behavior for the camera because they KNEW they were being filmed. But as soon as BH crossed the line into “hidden cameras” for clicks and likes, that is where they screwed themselves. Let me detail that out for you and then I will stop typing and hit enter.
I have always felt that if Jikook ever get exposed without their permission, it won’t be a Saesang or Dispatch or Koreaboo or anybody else. I believe it will come from within, the company themselves will accidentally reveal more than they ever meant to. Because in their quest to continue to grant us authentic access, they will have to continue to invade their privacy. Some unsuspecting intern will catch them kissing and think its cute and film it and put it in a Run episode. (I’m exaggerating) If Jikook really are dating each other, it is a very delicate situation that is not conducive to cameras being with them all of the time. At some point, something is going to slip through the cracks - then what? BH editors can only catch so much and they are bound to overlook things or make bad decisions. IMO, this is exactly what happened in Saipan. When they made the decision to be disingenuous, they got a hell of alot more than what they bargained for and they were stuck with it. They inadvertently gave us the most authentic, unaltered, unfiltered, proof that Jikook exists that we have ever seen. EVER! Guys, we caught them going into the hotel room together even though Jimin had his own room. That is HUGE, TREMENDOUS, GINORMOUS, BIG, BIG, BIG. Remember it was late by the time they finally settled in. Most of the guys went straight to bed. They were on that “4am I was with Jungkook shit.” and we saw it!
Their own company theoretically outed them as a couple. What better revenge for their deceitfulness than to create a fire storm of dating rumors. BH backed themselves into a nasty little corner with this entire situation. One more time, let me go back to how HUGE THIS WAS. We saw Jikook, Park Jimin and Jeon Jeongguk enter the same hotel room with what appeared to be plans to stay with each other for the evening. Need I remind you how lovey dovey they were during the entire Saipan trip? Need I remind you that GCF Saipan was filmed the following day? Need I remind you of JK speaking his love language as he chased Jimin down the sandy shore? Do you really think they were going to the same room the night prior just to hang out and eat chocolate? Nah Bro! I repeat, they were on that “4am I was with Jungkook shit.”
This was exposure from their own company. So did BH learn any lessons from this? Of course they did. So what do I think is different?
1) We have never seen hidden cameras without the members knowledge again since this happened. Even though the Soop gave us more access, it still felt very controlled, where the guys were told “be natural - oh and btw the camera is over there.”
2) BB are few and far in between compared to how they used to be and they are always behind the scenes of captured, controlled events.
3). VLIVES are more at the members discretion than they have ever been. I truly believe that they come to us only when they want to come to us and not on some timed schedule
4). The maknaes have finally been acknowledged as grown men. I guess in BH’s eyes, they have finally “earned” more respect and privacy? Although I do still see more footage of them sleeping than any of the others (thinking back to the Soop where I saw JK and JM sleeping, but cannot remember seeing any of the others, Please let me know if I am wrong on this). But it seems like they are respecting the privacy of all the members more equally.
In my opinion, much of this change is rooted in lessons learned from Saipan.
Now here is the most important part - don’t miss it.
In conclusion, I would like to leave you with Jimin’s face when they saw the camera. Too damn bad we could not see JK. He is not nearly as good at hiding his expressions as Jimin. Both of them did some fast thinking on their feet though and they absolutely got out of this very tense situation. Can you imagine what was going through their heads at the time? Watch the way JK completely stops. I get anxiety just looking at this. Can you imagine how worried they must have been, frightened; realizing that they had just been caught? Also, not knowing if this was a crazy fan or the wrong room or if this was something being streamed live. It must have been horrible. If they are truly dating and keeping this secret, how horrible do you think they felt at this exact moment - not knowing what was happening? Those first 2 seconds had to be a nightmare for them.
Their OWN company did this to them. This is not any BH hate btw, I am just pointing out the misteps the company has taken. As much as I love knowing they cuddle up at night in the same hotel room, I didn’t need to see it. I already knew in my heart. I just can never look at this footage the same way because it was taken without their permission and that’s all I see whenever it plays.
Well I have typed and rambled enough. So - uhh bye and some junk. Come visit me if you get bored
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