Ponderin'

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If there is one thing we can all learn from the Block B misunderstanding, it’s this:

angrykpopfan:

(source: YT video “Block B Thailand controversy” by VanityMr)

As a matter of fact, this applies to every single article you come across, whether it be print or online media… especially if they are a corporate, mainstream source. 

I am assuming many K-pop fans are at the very least aware of the latest controversy that has inflicted Block B, right? If not, allow me to start off by quickly outlining the situation, hoping that by providing you with a bunch of sources I’m being as transparent as I can: 

  • A month-old interview of the boys during their visit to Thailand had all of a sudden resurfaced on the Internet over the weekend. The negative and critical attention that it spurred among Korean, Thai, and international K-pop netizens was ignited by 1) the boys’ behavior, and 2) a couple of comments Zico said in the midst of a conversation about the Thai floods. 
    *Here is the entire interview with no subs, no commentary, so you can judge it for yourself.
    *Here is the snippet of Zico’s comments along with subs and commentary, a video that fans have been circulating around the Internet as an attempt to clear up any misunderstandings. 
    *Here is a translation of Zico’s comments provided by taenacity here on Tumblr. 
  • 2PM’s Nichkhun was evidently not too impressed either. He tweeted his disapproval, which were retweeted with follow-up comments by his members Junho and Chansung. 
  • Allkpop and a bunch of other K-pop news portals has framed the situation to make it seem that it was not until Nichkhun tweeted that netizens started to express their disapproval. What remains uncertain is whether or not it was really 2PM’s response that started the whole shitstorm that ensued among netizens. 
    *Here is a Tumblr post by frhupdates with translations of 2PM’s tweets. 
  • Immediately following this Brand New Stardom issued official apologies written up by each of the boys. 
    *As much as I do not want to post an Allkpop source, I can’t find another set of translations and screencaps of the apologies other than Block B’s international fan forum, from which members are not allowed to take out. But here is Allkpop’s account nonetheless. 
  • On top of that, leader Zico shaved his hair off as an extended expression of his remorse and on behalf of his entire group. According to user Whattalion (I don’t know the forum), “shaving your head is a very important and symbolic thing in Asian cultures, especially in the countries with a strong Buddhist influence/population it means a lot. A basic overview is that hair is a important/prideful thing in Asian cultures; that shaving your head/cutting short your hair in the aftermath of a thing such as this incident shows that someone is lowering themselves/casting away their pride, that they have committed a wrong doing/are feeling great shame and that they acknowledge that and are repenting/cleansing themselves of the perceived sin. It is the want of a new beginning.”
  • On the same post I grabbed the above snippet are the following information:
    “Block B donated money to Thailand before the interview, long before the interview. Each member individually donated an amount that is equivalent to around $200.”
    “Block B donated all of their earnings from their Thailand showcase to charity causes in relation to the flood.”
    “During the Thailand showcase, Block B, with the help of Thai BBCs, donated and distributed books to Thai schools to help in the recovering of the country from damage caused by the flood.” (You can read the rest of this post here, which Block B fans have been circulating around Tumblr). 
  • BNS also released an official statement in which they announced Block B’s intentions to continue with promotions. (Read about it more here). Ever since the release of their apologies, Block B has already performed two stages of their song “NalinA”, and can be seen in the beginning of this video bowing before the audience as an additional expression of their remorse. 

Asides from this, fanwars (especially between BBCs and Hottests) have erupted; anti-cafes, anti-twitters, and supposedly even a petition for a Block B disbandment have emerged; but by far the most upsetting of all is that death threats have been sent to the boys by netizens, as well to some of their family and close friends. 

Despite the fact that I’ve got other issues to write about, I felt that this was an appropriate time to shed light on a very important tool everyone, especially as consumers of (internet) media, need to equip themselves with: critical thinking. Being a huge Block B fan myself, among the things that angered me the most was seeing all these press releases delivering misinterpreted, biased, and loaded accounts of the situation. I came across this Tumblr post by kyupiepie in which a bunch of articles were compared. More under the cut. 

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(via kpoppreorders)

 | Posted at 12:09pm  |  198 notes

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    Seriously. Especially not allkpop
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