its so common to see kpop stans hyping up every little thing that their idols do, praising them for basically existing. and while the idols taking the fame to their head is their fault, the fans should reflect on their own behaviour that keeps feeding their egos, and this system.
when idols make mistakes, terrible ones too, its rare to see a greater mass of the fanbase holding them accountable. you'll often find these "fans" babying these k-celebrities, justifying their wrongful actions and trying to cover the situation up.
in other cases, the kpop fanbase (usually the k-fans themselves) blow up small situations (which are considered humane). examples of these would be how san(ateez) got bullied over sweating, hating idols for putting on weight, and over other situations where they might have zero control.
it's honestly refreshing to see people cancelling mark for all the disgusting things he has done and im glad i havent come across any fans defending him in this matter so far..
another common occurance in the industry is when companies make the idols (who've done wrongful things) post letters, apologising (none better than the youtuber apology videos) just to quieten the rage online. none of it ever sounds genuine. always deeply scripted.
but, i also want to talk about jungwon of enhypen. he is the best example of if you really want to do it, you can do it. in the past, he has shut down dating rumours, protecting his own integrity and respecting the female idol involved. he has directly rebuted smoking allegations confidently. he spoke up about the group's transition from 7 members to 6. he has done this all by himself.
and this wasnt apoogising, because he hadnt done anything wrong. he was setting the record straight, proving to the public that he was a man of principles and ethics.
yes its true that companies in the kpop industry control what the idols say in public and diverging from these rules can cause serious consequences for them. but jungwon has always stepped up for his respect and his group's identity, even when the company stays silent. he speaks up. even if he knows he'll get into trouble at the company, he'll get hated by his own fans.
he has always been direct and genuine with his fanbase.
recently, he filmed a tiktok dance challenge where he wore an offensive borat movie t-shirt. i expected fans to come to his defence
"his company wont let him say anything" "it was the stylist's fault, he doesnt have a say" "hes from korea he might not know" "its just a tshirt".
i havent seen many such comments, but jungwon still made the right choice. he accepted his fault.
yes he wasnt aware of it before this, but as soon as people pointed it out, he took accountability. he went live, apologised, was transparent about the situation. he timed his live appropiately so that the kazakh fans could watch. he respected the choreographer of the dance (who happens to be from kazakhstan). and the videos of the challenge were taken down immediately. he apologised this time. and he meant it.
he educated himself because he chose to. this is the standard. hold your idols accountable when its necessary.
im not trying to put jungwon on a pedestal here or ignore that he has his own flaws. all im saying is that, he has always been passionate about what he does. and he does it rightly. he respects himself, his members and his fans. thats truly admirable.
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