Browsing by Subject "Idols"

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    From Co-Production to Broken Relationship: Agencies, Idols, and Fans in the Making of K-pop
    (2020-05-28) Gu, Jiahui
    In this thesis, I argue that idols, talent agencies, and fans in K-pop constitute a triangle where idols and agencies, agencies and fans, idols and fans each has a double-directional relationship. I look into the relationship between agencies and fans, and idols and fans. In Chapter 1, I focus on the mutual effect between agencies and fans in the YouTube era and discusses what influence it has on K-pop music. I use the notion of “primary” and “secondary” production to talk about how agencies and fans of K-pop produce content on YouTube and how their productions are mutually constitutive. I also discuss that YouTube provides platform for K-pop and changes the listening experience of K-pop. In Chapter 2, I focus on the mutual relationship between idols and fans and reveal the dark side of K-pop which led to two tragic suicides. I argue that K-pop creates a fantasy to fulfill young women’s desire. It serves as a safe space for female fans to temporarily release their pressure due to the oppression of reality, thus sustain the highly stressful reality in a patriarchal society. In the establishment of fantasy, female idols in the K-pop industry are shaped to represent perfect images of women and function as the mirror for their female fans, thus enabling the fans to obtain a sense of satisfaction. However, the seemingly mutually beneficial relationship can be disrupted when “scandals” appear to destabilize that relationship. Whereas the agencies can borrow and adopt from fan’s secondary production, the idols’ real-world conducts become a site for disdain and disapproval from the fans. The two tragic suicides of K-pop stars point to the idols’ unwillingness to maintain this false sense of mutuality, or the fantasy world. It is more than just a scandal since by killing themselves, they refuse to participate in the fantasy world. The collapse of the fantasy world is a symptom of the larger problem of patriarchy and social hierarchy in South Korean society.
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    ItemOpen Access
    More Popular Than Jesus: The Prophetic Messages of Bob Dylan and The Beatles
    (2018-03-31) Chatelaine III, D.J.
    The Beatles and Bob Dylan can be found in every music genre, from hip hop to country. Because their influence is everywhere, albeit indirectly at times, no person in western society is unaffected by their words, lives, actions, and cultural inspirations. John Lennon recognized this in 1966 when he infamously stated, “We’re more popular than Jesus Christ.” Arousing evangelical backlash in the United States, the burning of Beatles’ records seems ridiculous and somewhat comical 50 years later; however, it also speaks to a recognition that The Beatles were something more than four lads from Liverpool. A year before, Dylan toured England with his band (The Band) and, upon breaking away from his folk identity into an electrically charged sound, was met with a concertgoer’s shout, “Judas!” Comparing the five to Jesus’ betrayer and seeing them as a threat to the status quo, masses wished for the idols’ demise. Yet, many stood behind their icons. The fervor unleashed in these moments raises the questions: Was there anything religious about these reactions? How has the reality been morphed into legend? And above all, can we equate celebrity transfixion with devout worship? This thesis will present answers to these questions and more in tracing the trajectory of the five from aspiring teens to questioning young men, who became cultural icons as well as prophets for a generation.