Many of us were first introduced to Fu Ya Ning as the girl that came in and dissed the beloved Yujin. With a little help from Mnet we had ourselves a good villain right from the start.
She was someone for the antis to root for, the drama seekers to love, and the CLC fans to rally against. But, really, she was someone to suck all of us viewers in. It worked. We all held our breath as we watched.
The Helicopter performance. This is where you really see her personality for the first time. Her strategy and her skill. She is talented and she knows it. She boldly projects confidence whether this is a front or not we do not know. It seems her plan here was find the biggest kid on the playground and punch her out- so to speak.
When it became known that Yaning’s threats were empty and edited with malice she became much less hated among fans. Although she still left a bad taste in many mouths.
Although, this plan did not work. Clearly she did not “Go up” considering Yujin made it into the top nine and Yaning did not. How this will determine her behavior later on is unknown.
When Yaning (let’s be real here) demanded the role of leader in episode 3, she confirmed her need to be in total control. Her reasoning being age.
“I’m 25. I’m the oldest.” Leaving no room for conversation or debate. Age being an important thing in Asian culture that must be respected by the young. This is not something you go against especially on national tv.
I personally feel Yaning showed her first major fault in leadership by abusing this. She TOOK power and made it about age. knowing very well if anyone younger than her spoke up it would be seen as disrespectful soiling their name like it has many other idols before them.
Let’s talk about You Dayeon
Fu Ya Ning handled this situation poorly continuously showing us her poor leadership skills.
Let’s review what was happening:
Dayeon was feeling confused and discouraged over rules set by Yaning that she felt didn’t make sense. Yaning told the girls they could only try out for one part. If you wanted another one that was too bad.
When Dayeon became overwhelmed it came out through tears, many of the teammates hugged her and asked her what was troubling her. This is where I want to praise Dayeon for not shutting down. She regained herself and spoke clearly explaining her confusion and asking Yaning to try out for more parts.
To this Yaning scolded her and twisted her words as if Dayeon was asking for special treatment. Yaning told her it wouldn’t be fair to the others, but it would, be if they could all try out for more parts. This left me wondering if Yaning feared losing her part since Dayeon originally tried out for hers.
Dayeon, again, expressed her wish to have been leader and regret in choosing Fu Ya Ning as a teammate.
Remember Dayeon not speaking up to become leader is not on her. Many idols have had issues being labeled disrespectful for simply speaking informally to a close friend. What were to happen if she decided to challenge Yaning for leadership who was already using age as a weapon?
After their interim evaluation the judges could tell though individually exceeding they failed to work as a team. Plus, some roles weren’t suited correctly- to this Dayeon nervously spoke up. Shyly, she explained what she was so harshly shut down for by her leader. The judges agreed with Dayeon and explained to Yaning why it’s important each member gets the part best suited for them. It’s not about being fair, it’s about finding how you fit together.
Though this was obviously Yaning’s shortcoming as a leader but somehow Dayeon seemed to take the heat for it. Dayeon ended up getting scolded by the judges and her teammates telling her she should have spoken up before the evaluation. - this was confusing considering she did.
Yaning did not take any responsibility for this mistake but instead blamed her team stating “How would I know if they don’t tell me?”
This was disappointing but not surprising. Yaning also seemed to miss the point. This wasn’t about the members wanting different parts it was about the members not fitting into their roles.
As leader Yaning created an unsafe environment. A place where almost all of the members felt the group was taking a turn for the worst but couldn’t say anything out of fear for the same treatment of Dayeon.
So what is the problem with Fu Ya Ning?
I believe Yaning has become focused on winning and cleared her mind of all others. She has lost the ability to connect and wants only to show her skills.
Though she is talented Yaning will be unable to learn/grow if she refuses to listen and work with teammates. She is still a trainee and has a lot to learn. If she could have befriended Yujin, instead, Yaning might have gained friendship and insight to the Kpop world rather than antis.
Do I believe Fa Ya Ning can be redeemed? Yes. I fully believe that Yaning can unlearn this all for one and one for me attitude. What Yaning is missing is the ability to work with a team.
If she can take a step back from this tough girl persona and learn how to connect and care for others I believe she will do great in girls planet 999.
If Yaning cannot get over herself then she needs to debut solo.
GP999 winners have a responsibility to bond with one another and work as a team. If she keeps going down this path I don’t believe she could fulfill that.