Tong Lin – AYO! GG

December 9, 2018

Video Analysis of “Into the New World”-Tong Lin

The existing gender ideologies in Korean continues to influence manifestation of masculinity and femininity in the production of music videos, specifically in the shooting techniques utilized and corresponding choreography to the songs. Sexual objectification of female artists in music videos has been one of the “most overt ways that K-pop reinforces sexist attitudes” as Lin and Rudolf pointed out (2017:31). Common issues include gender disempowerment in aspects of music videos and songs, as well as performance of winsomeness known as “aegyo”, and the perpetuation of gender inequalities. Though the production of many girl group music videos is merely an act of conformity to the existing societal hegemony, the influence on youth about gender ideas should be considered. Girl’s Generation’s debut music video, “Into the New World”, possesses uniqueness in its representation of group members, music video shooting, as well as its lyrics by steering away from common gender disempowerment traps in production pointed out by many scholars, and offers an alternative for girl group music videos to convey positivity and femininity at the same time.

First of all, the representation of members in the music video has avoided “dollification”, a sexual fantasy of presenting females as non-threatening, submissive dolls tailored to the male viewers’ interests (Lin and Rudolf 2017: 31) by assigning members with individuality. At first sight, the members are each presented as individuals with different strivings for life, and they participate in a variety of activities, some of which may not necessarily be conventionally viewed as very feminine, such as repairing and flying a jet, and graffiti painting underground. Viewers follow through with their strivings, and their encounters with difficulties is accompanied by confidence and positivity, unlike other videos in which idols show clumsiness to perform hypergirlish femininity. Moreover, the video does not include a day-saving male figure which enables females to use “aegyo” as a way of asking for help or negotiating their imbalance of power within patriarchal environments, thus perpetuating gender inequalities (Puzar and Hong 2018: 5).

Secondly, the shooting of the video is derived from non-invasive angles without the use of multiple exposures, and the focus of the camera is mainly on expressions on the face, rather than parts of the body. Though Girl’s Generation’s many other videos include substantial leg-focused shots, which are argued to be evidence of K-pop’s increasing investment in “corporeal qualities” through images of exposed flesh (Epstein and Joo 2012: 4), “Into the New World” centers around non-sexually appealing body movements and cheerful facial expressions.

The lyrics of “Into the New World” is also unique in its composition because it does not conform to gender disempowerment like many other songs. In their analysis of girl group songs, Epstein and Turnbull highlighted the overt appeals to a male listener with the excessive use of oppa, a way of referring to an older male by females, as well as a perpetual theme of desiring male attention (2014: 319-21). They argue that success of similar songs contributes to the increased sexualization of female idols through lyric compositions (2014: 331), which has potential negative influence on gender beliefs among younger consumers (Lin and Rudolf 2017: 29). However, “Into the New World” has a lyric composition in which no older male figure is referred to, and the theme pf positivity and support conveyed, though including the word love many times, extends beyond romantic relationships between a petty, submissive female and the dominant, strong male she desires.

“Into the New World” has significance in offering an alternative way of music video production because it does not objectify nor disempower females and shows how positivity and femininity can be healthily portrayed.

Bibliography

Epstein, Stephen and Rachel M. Joo. “Multiple Exposures: Korean Bodies and the Transnational Imagination.” The Asia Pacific Journal, no.1 (2012): 1-24
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10824-018-9327-3
Epstein, Stephen and James Turnbull. “Girl’s Generation? Gender, (Dis)Empowerment, and K-pop.” In The Korean Popular Culture Reader, edited by Kyung Hyun Kim and Youngmin Choe. 315-36.Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2014
Lin, Xi and Robert Rudolf. “Does K-pop Reinforce Gender Inequalities? Empirical Evidence from a New Data Set.” Asian Women, no.4 (2017): 27-54
Puzar, Aljosa and Yewon Hong. “Korean Cuties: Understanding Performed Winsomeness (Aegyo) in South Korea.” The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, (2018): 1-17
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rtap20

December 9, 2018December 9, 2018

Literature Analysis-Tong Lin

The appropriation of English language in Korean popular music has been present since as early as the 1990s, adaptive to an increasingly international market. By examining how degrees and forms of appropriation developed and changed throughout album concepts and lyrics by Girl’s Generation from debut to present, we uncover an emerging pattern of hybridization representing an acculturation process for Western acceptance in need of change. The group has transitioned through distinctive stages in which the appropriation of English has been manifested differently, mirroring greater phenomenon in the K-pop industry overtime. At first, there was minimal English mixing besides using English as song titles, with the debut single not including English at all from title to lyrics. Girl’s Generation transitioned to the next stage with their 2009 hit song “Gee” in which English lyric mixing began to serve important purpose of creating catchy hooks. The releases of hit songs following “Gee” such as “Run Devil Run”, “Oh!”, and “The Boys” perpetuated such use of lyric mixing in all the repetitive hook lines, and mixing reached its prime from brief, common words like baby to full sentences like Girl’s Generation make you feel the heat. Girl’s Generation has gained substantial international popularity from then to present, with abundant appropriation of English as well as mixing Western genres, for example hip-hop in “I Got A Boy” and lay back, semi-organic music styles of the 90s in “Lion Heart”, yet most of their songs have deficit in Korean cultural identities. Such lack of “Korean sentiments and social milieu” is rather representative of the greater K-pop industry’s effort to self-re-acculturate for foreign popularity (Jin&Ryoo 2014:128). It is eventually diminishing for future international strivings if success is built off self-acculturation, and the industry should begin considering culturally sensitive hybridization as a future direction.

Bibliography

Jin, Dal Yong and Woongjae Ryoo. (2014) “Critical Interpretation of Hybrid K-Pop: The Global-Local Paradigm of English Mixing in Lyrics.” Popular Music and Society, no.2 (2014): 113-131

November 3, 2018

Cover Video Reflection

Tong

As a nine-year SONE (fan of Girl’s Generation), I have only watched and admired the aesthetics and remarkable performance in the girl group’s music videos over the years. However, this project offered me an opportunity to simulate the production process of KPOP music videos. I decided to maximize my participation in different roles to gain holistic experience. Being a photographer, a dancer, and the only editor of this cover video provides me unique insight of KPOP video production and elevated my respect and admiration for producers because our experience was only a simplistic simulation.

After choosing “Lil’ Touch”, their latest video, our member Shuwei Zhou has spent several days figuring out the choreography. We spent days learning it and shot our cover dancing and lip-syncing at Rose Garden, the Nest, and Life Building. From the filming process, I have acquired skills in setting angles and capturing the motion of dancers, as well as creating adequate video composition to maximize visual attractiveness. Since I also danced, memorizing moves and blocking was challenging for a physically disoriented person like me, not to mention displaying appropriate expressions when dancing, but the choreography was my glimpse into how girl groups display physical attractiveness through body movements. Editing was the most insightful for me because I learned basics of Adobe Premiere Pro without previous knowledge. I adopted skills in accurately chunking and matching video clips to sync dancing with music and organizing raw footage onto a smooth, aesthetically pleasing timeline. Without blending in variety of shots, plain dancing would be less attractive. As an editor I realized the importance of kaleidoscopic transitions in KPOP videos, and I appreciate such extensive hard work behind each production. I am grateful to participate in this meaningful project with helpful and motivated teammates.

September 27, 2018

Finding Balance: How Idols Appeal to Both Nationalism and Foreign Interests

Since the boom of the Korean Wave (Hallyu) in the early 2000s, Korea has been making tremendous transnational advances of popular culture across Asia with its movies, TV shows, and most significantly, its idols. This growing fervor for Hallyu not only made a large cultural imprint in many Asian countries, rising foreign interests also boost tourism in Korea, resulting in both cultural and economic reverberation, as pointed out by Joo Jeong-suk in “Transnationalization of Korean Popular Culture and the Rise of ‘Pop Nationalism’ in Korea” (2001: 493). Such success has resulted in the Korean government’s appropriation of Hallyu influence within a nationalist discourse. Idols, in particular, become promoters of nationalism due to their influence among the Korean audience, especially among the younger generations. Collaborations between idols and the government aim to foster nationalism in ways such as music videos incorporating Korean traditional elements, or performances of Hallyu idols at nationalistic or diplomatic events. Since the government has funded the development of Hallyu and its transnational influence, which has very much aided Korea’s globalized cultural advances across Asia, artists often have to consider demonstrating nationalism in return. However, dilemmas arise when they try appealing to the Korean consumers and attracting foreign audiences simultaneously, because the two groups’ interests sometimes clash. Such struggle becomes serious if the conflict relates to postcolonial sensibilities in Korea, or its continuous political disagreements with neighboring countries. While the local market requires idols to first be patriots, Hallyu stars are in fact “pledged to global capital”, as Olga Fedorenko explained in his article titled “Korean-Wave Celebrities Between Global Capital and Regional Nationalisms” (2017: 498). This means that their values as celebrities are tied to the diversity and size of their audience, hinting at the importance of attracting as much foreign supporters as possible. In this discussion, I will propose several ways in which Hallyu idols can find balance between nationalistic and foreign demands.

First of all, Hallyu stars should be more sensitive of the existing political tension between Korea and other nations, while they expand their popularity in these countries. This can translate to being selective when accepting offers from production or advertisement agencies. One example of lacking sensitivity would be the advertisement scandal of the stars Jun Ji-hyun and Kim Soo-hyun. The brand originated from the Changbaishan, or Paektusan in Korean, a mountain chain that has been a century-long territorial dispute between Korea and China, thus the two Hallyu stars were strongly condemned by Korean audiences, despite their increased popularity in China with this advertisement. Korean idols should also maximize artistic input when producing pro-nationalism materials. While their local audience can resonate with the message, foreign supporters can divert their attention towards the artistic value of the work. Diversity and hybridity in their production enables a larger audience to pick and choose what they can enjoy. This is similar to having idol groups with many members; there will always be one for everyone. Despite the necessity to demonstrate nationalism, idols should not feel restricted when it comes to performances and productions, because being able to gain foreign popularity is another manifestation of nationalism. As long as the artists are sensitive about political issues, freedom still exists for them to demonstrate the unique charm of Hallyu in the midst of globalization.

Tong Lin