In Rain’s hip Song live performance music video, we see the display of sexual objectification of his body to channel his fame to stardom. In K-pop, the body is portrayed as a means to develop significant traction in the music industry, and Rain’s live performance of Hip Song is no different.
Rain’s choreography purposefully emphasizes the male torso to sexually attract fans. For example, during the dance breakdown of the song, Rain’s choreography displays a significant movement of his pelvis, an obvious hint to the sexual objectification of his own body. Rain’s reason behind his body exposure can be seen as as “The naked torso and exposed legs thus operate as consumer fetish, encouraging desires to both gaze at and possess the “perfect” body.” (Epstein and Joo, P.8).
Rain is able to use the objectification of his own body to transcend other kpop idols, becoming a significant presence all around the world. Sexual objectification is often seen as negative and inappropriate, however, Rain uses sexual objectification to his own advantage, by developing his image through the exposure of his own body and therefore his stardom. For instance, “stardom is a characteristic of the person”(Auslander, 18), where Rain has used his body as a characteristic to promote himself to stardom, shaping his image through the sexual objectification of his own body.
Rain’s sexual objectification of his body works because he has manipulated it to his advantage by creating a image where fans look specifically for his masculine exposure and physique. Rain
“Satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking… likeness and recognition: the human face, the human body, the relationship between the human form”(Muvey, P.9). His fans desire to observe the peak human physique, hence the “relationship between the human form. In this case. Rain wants to be used by his fans for pleasurable looking, although objectifying himself, enables an accelerated increase of his star identity and power, separating himself from any other celebrities in Korea.
Additionally, Rain’s performance is hosted on a live TV music show broadcast, and in South Korea, television is a major contributor to success of K-Pop idols. Because television “Distinguishes from mobile media platforms” (Kim,P.1137), Rain is able to expand his exposure to different audiences, making it much easier to find fans that are attracted to his tendency for sexual exposure. From watching Rain’s hip song live performance, we can see how he utilizes
the advantages of live broadcast TV to develop his image, and propel his stardom through the sexual objectification within his performances.
In conclusion, Rain’s Hip song performance presents his body in a sexually objectified manner that actually works to his advantage. Rain uses his body as a tool to exemplify his stardom, creating an identity where he is seen as a sexual but strong and masculine image, emphasizing “pleasurable looking” in order to attract fans and further this image. As we see Hip song through the eyes of a live broadcast performance, we are able to get a glimpse of how he is able to expand his audience, and develop his fame through his sexually objectified mannerisms on the stage.
References:
Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Feminisms, 1975, 438-48.
Epstein, Stephen, and Rachel M. Joo. Multiple Exposures: Korean Bodies and the TransnationalImagina, 1st ser., 10, no. 33 (August 13, 2012).
Auslander, Philip. “Everybodys in Show Biz: Performing Star Identity in Popular Music.” The SAGE Handbook of Popular Music: 317-31.
Kim, Suk-Young. K-pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance.
Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2018. (1137,1209)