Name: The Problem with Huh Yunjin
Uploaded: 2024-08-04T02:08:59.000Z
Duration: 10 min
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Adverbs of degree

Hyunjin is definitely one of the most interesting idols I've ever seen in the K-pop industry.

The reason for that is not because of her looks or her personality or because she's relatable or because she's different, she's so real, she's so Gen Z.

Transition words & phrases

Nah, it's because in her introduction video as a member of Luceraphon, she says something that really intrigued me.

She said, I want to change the idol industry.

She literally said word for word, I want to change the idol industry.

At the time, I was like, yeah, I, I thought she was just talking.

You know, I thought she was just trying to be quirky and shit, but I was wrong because turns out present day, you can clearly see that she's actually trying to change the idol industry.

So far, through her songs, she talks about stuff that I talk about in this channel.

You know, problems within the industry, the fucked up relationship between idols and their fans, the struggles that K-pop idols have to go through.

Basically, stuff that really needs to be talked about that idols never talked about, she talks about.

And you know, I personally find that really interesting because mind you, this girl is a rookie.

She could have just stayed quiet and be a regular idol.

But nah, instead of doing that, she chose to save the day and change the idol industry.

And the common question people ask is, why?

Why is she so passionate about changing the industry?

I mean, is this a persona or does she actually want to change the idol industry?

I think Hyunjin genuinely does want to change the idol industry, but at the same time, there's a reason why Hype, her company, allowed her to literally say word for word, I want to change the idol industry in her introduction video.

It's a persona, and there's nothing wrong with that.

It being a persona doesn't really matter as long as Hyunjin actually wants to change the industry.

And I do think Hyunjin does actually want to change the industry.

Because if you think about it, there's a very good reason why Hyunjin is so passionate about changing the industry.

In my opinion, a lot of it comes from her being a contestant on the Produce 48 survival show.

You know how survival shows are, it's basically all the bad things in the kpop industry wrapped up in one dumb stupid show that, for some reason, a lot of people still watch to this day.

Just by watching one, you will learn a lot about how messed up the kpop industry is.

And Hyunjin was in one, she was a contestant, so you can only imagine the things she experienced were probably traumatizing.

How you have to smile and act happy all the time because if you just express any other emotion other than happiness, you're going to be perceived as a rude bitch villain.

How you have to constantly work work and work without getting any rest.

How you have to go on impossible diets just to fit into a fucked up beauty standard.

How normalized it is for you to get hate for no reason, and etc.

In the end, Hyunjin obviously didn't make it to the final lineup and her mission to change the industry probably started since then.

So yeah, I do think Hyunjin does actually want to change the industry, but it still doesn't change the fact that it is a persona.

And the problem comes in when people focus more on the persona of Hyunjin as the girl who wants to change the industry rather than focusing on the actual message she's trying to portray.

You know, a lot of people say, oh yeah Hyunjin is changing the industry, look at her, oh my god she's so real, queen shit, ah slay.

But I kinda wonder, saying all that, do they actually know what she stands for?

Do they actually know the things that she wants to change?

Do they even understand the message she's trying to communicate?

The thing is, in my opinion, Hyunjin does a very good job of communicating her message through her songs so far especially in Idol and Love You Twice, it's painfully obvious what she's trying to say.

You don't need to do extensive research to understand it, you don't have to be a genius to understand it.

Idol, in this song she talks about expectations, how kpop fans expect their idols to fit a certain image that is literally impossible to fit because they themselves don't even know what this image is.

They want idols to be perfect, but not too perfect.

They want idols to be real, but not too real.

They want idols to be human, but not too human.

And these expectations make a lot of idols lose sense of their real identity.

And basically the whole point of idol is to spread a message.

The message being, let your idols be whatever the fuck they wanna be.

If they wanna be perfect, let them be perfect.

If they wanna be goofy, let them be goofy.

Don't put your idols in a box telling them what's right and what's wrong.

Don't try to control your idols telling them what they're supposed to be and what they're not supposed to be.

But the problem is, when the song first came out, people put their focus more on Hyunjin as the girl who is changing the industry rather than the actual message itself.

Hyunjin fans were more focused on pushing the agenda of, Hyunjin is changing the industry rather than spreading her actual message.

Meanwhile, Kpop fans in general were more focused on saying, oh she's not changing the industry, she's not doing anything, she only released a song, so what, rather than taking the time to understand her message.

And guess what, as a result, no change occurred.

To this day, we still have idols like Wonyoung who is getting hate on a daily basis being judged by Kpop fans for simply being too perfect.

What's so crazy is that some of the people criticizing Wonyoung for being quote on quote too perfect are Le Seraphin fans, are Hyunjin fans.

The same thing happened with her most recent song, Love You Twice.

In the song, she expresses the fear that many Kpop idols have, that is the fear of not being good enough, the fear of losing their fans.

And through the song, Hyunjin encourages idols and people in general to always be the best version of themselves.

Because what's the point of loved by many when deep down, you know this person they loved isn't even you.

This song also encourages fans to stop putting ideal images of their idols in their heads because by doing that, you're basically setting yourself up for disappointment.

Stop acting like you know your idol because you don't.

There's a huge chance that your idols are not who you think they are.

And once again, the message itself is very good.

But unfortunately, the same shit happened.

When the song first came out, people put their focus more on Hyunjin changing the industry rather than the actual message itself.

And as a result, just like idol, no change occurred.

The problem with Hyunjin is that people focus way more on her persona as the girl that wants to change the industry rather than the messages she's trying to communicate.

Hyunjin and changing the industry have become intertwined.

We're at a point now where people actually expect Hyunjin to change the industry.

And the truth is, sorry to break it to you, that's never gonna happen.

I mean, obviously, do you even know what it takes for the industry to actually change?

In order for the industry to change, the fans need to change, the idols need to change, the companies need to change, and most importantly, the parasocial relationship that is pretty much the root of all the problems within the industry.

Not only does that shit need to change, it needs to fucking disappear.

Because although parasocial relationships may be the root of all the problems that exist within the industry, it's also the main reason why the K-pop industry is this big.

It's the thing that separates the K-pop industry from all the other industries.

So, unless it stops bringing in profit, unless it stops working, then the K-pop industry will never ever change.

Look, at the end of the day, this whole changing the industry thing that Hyunjin said in her introduction video is a persona.

Trust me, Hyunjin herself is definitely not sitting in the industry.

She knows that changing the industry is practically impossible.

What Hyunjin is doing is spreading a message, and what Hyunjin wants you to do is to understand the message and help spread the message.

Because what's the point of Hyunjin doing all of this if at the end of the day, people don't actually try to understand the message but instead focus way more on debating whether or not she's changing the industry.

To end this video, to Hyunjin fans, stop only pushing the agenda of how Hyunjin is changing the industry, but actually start applying and spreading the message Hyunjin wants you to spread.

To K-pop fans in general, stop saying she's not changing the industry.