I listen to music all the time. When I’m working on Day Job, writing the next thing that’ll make nerds frothy mad at me (because I’m right), or even now as I rewatch Love O2O for the millionth time, I’ve always got music playing somewhere. Last year, I did a similar list and I wanted to start a tradition by uh… keeping that energy.
Enjoy!
Title: Body
Artist: Megan Thee Stallion
What Had Me Hooked: I love Megan Thee Stallion. I shamelessly and publicly have called her “my baby” when talking about her. I adore so much of what Megan does, how she carries herself, and how hard she leans in to having fun and being herself. “Body”, the lead single from her first studio album Good News, is a fun and sexy song where Megan and a bunch of beautiful dancers and celebrities basically celebrate their fine physiques. Every time I hear this song on one of my playlists, I have to dance!!
Think of the “Ask an English MA Anything”/”Hire The Stitch” feature as you paying me to do [at least] an hour of work on something you’re working on yourself. You can email me at [EMAIL] with your task (and the subject Hre The Stitch – [THE MONTH YOU’RE EMAILING IN]) as well as if you want to talk via Google Hangouts or Discord and what times would work for you!
Silencing is a real issue, let’s get that straight. In fandom, however, it’s something that happens to people who don’t actually go with the established fandom order – and if you think talking about racism in fandom aligns with what fandom wants… I can only assume that you’re a gullible one.
I don’t love seeing BLM in folks’ display names and social media bios at this point of 2020. It feels like it’s all a quick and handy way to signal care… without having any. There are people harassing, insulting, and harming Black people in and out of fandom that think the cute lil BLM covers their bases.
Instead of thinking that this is just a form of fandom that’s confusing to you because you’re not in it— one that’s still very valuable— Groszman seems to be pointing out that this fear of being seen negatively as fans, and as fans study scholars, keeps folks in the field but outside of the idol-academic complex from engaging with the very idea of Kpop as a fandom because they think that it’s so negative, because they think that these companies have us all by the purse springs, purse strings, and that we are being exploited by an industry that exploits idols.
And I think that is a very simplistic way to look at this 30 year industry, by people in a 30 year academic field, you know?
Imagine having the nerve to try and silence someone talking about racism on their own twitter account or blog because you think your (similar) identity somehow trumps theirs. Wild!
I have a lunchbox I bought from Gamestop, stickers, a bunch of tees from various nerd stores, and essentially okay, I was that person who bought Kylo merch back in the early days of the sequel trilogy.
Also, this is a thing these Korean bloggers (her and TK Park aren’t the only ones) do repeatedly when people are talking about antiblackness: they bring up violence against migrants and women in Korea. But only ever to dismiss antiblackness.
Setting: There is not much to say about the setting of this video beyond how this looks like the filming budget was light. Like I remember seeing a twitter meme asking for folks to name videos that looked like they cost $10 (an exaggeration, of course) and I honestly thought of this video immediately?
Sound: Written by Big Bang’s leader G-Dragon and with music/arrangement by Israel Dwaine Cruz, “Ma Girl” is a smooth R&B track that sounds like it was ripped from the 90s. It’s a love song with Taeyang crooning about missing a love that he fears that he’s in the process of losing, and I mean… in the end it is basic. It’s comfortable in its familiarity though, sounding exactly like something I could imagine hearing on the radio as a younger adult or teenager.
A high point is the feature where G-Dragon and T.O.P pinged that part of my brain that had imprinted on the group back in the day before I went back to being a casual fan for the better part of a decade? They’re so YOUNG here!!
Styling: Yes, I see those cornrows. In “Ma Girl”, Taeyang really showcased the Light Skinned Energy TM that he’d become known for in some circles of international VIP and wider K-pop fandom. (Okay, look… it’s largely the Black parts, but still.) It’s not enough that he sounds like Omarion in this track… he has to look like him too. Back in 2008, while Black fans of K-pop (they were there, trust me) undoubtedly caught themselves kekeing over the visuals in this song and praying for Taeyang’s poor scalp with those tight ass braids.
Full Thoughts:
“Ma Girl” looks and sounds like this for a reason.
Back in Cultural Appropriation in the Age of K-Pop Part One, I mentioned that:
As talented as Big Bang was when introduced to the Korean pop landscape, they were still functionally a Korean B2K cover group. Voice, visuals, and styling all pointed to the same conclusion: that Yang Hyun Suk clocked that Korean audiences wanted popular Black music… but not from Black people.
Winding down 2020 with a HEFTY list of links to stuff that I found interesting between November’s second collection and now! Enjoy!
Edward Said on Orientalism
I first read Edward Said’s Orientalism in a class I took for my history degree on British cultural artefacts and colonialism. Edward Said’s views on the ways that culture was used as a tool of imperialism have helped me understand the ways in which literature – and later, fandom – is used to shape a dominant cultural narrative (that does shift depending on where the culture is coming from). I’m fascinated by Said’s work and I think it continues to have stellar applications across a wide range of fields because he’s still right!
Even as the number-one pop group in the world, even with their hard work day in and day out, even with tens of millions of adoring fans redefining the concept of “adoring fans” by literally healing the planet in their name, these guys still suffer from impostor syndrome. RM explains, “I’ve heard that there’s this mask complex. Seventy percent of so-called successful people have this, mentally. It’s basically this: There’s this mask on my face. And these people are afraid that someone is going to take off this mask. We have those fears as well. But I said 70 percent, so I think it’s very natural. Sometimes it’s a condition to be successful. Humans are imperfect, and we have these flaws and defects. And one way to deal with all this pressure and weight is to admit the shadows.”
I really freaking love BTS. You may have missed that… somehow. In case you have, this fascinating and well put together Esquire feature serves as a stunning first look at the group – but also works if it’s your fortieth. I chose this segment of the feature because RM’s words about the “mask complex” and while they have the fear that someone will unmask them… They’re going to keep going and admit to their shadows/flaws. Unless you’ve spent the past 2-ish years living under a very large rock (or you don’t follow me on social media, which is… plausible) while I love BTS a unit, I have extra adoration for RMbecause of how he carries himself and the way he expresses his hopes and fears. This was, overall, an incredible feature that gave us tons of brilliant moments that will either spark your interest in BTS or rekindle the embers of your interest!
The recording this is from on Patreon (out 12/10) is uh… 20 minutes long and this is kind of a segue away from the thing I was actually focusing on and therefore not super relevant. But I wrote and recorded it so… here it goes anyway.
Transcript
In Haeryun Kang’s NPR piece “’Hitman’ Bang Si-hyuk, The Brand-New Billionaire Behind BTS”, there are two parts that stand out to me when it comes to thinking of how people misunderstand and, to an extent, misrepresent, the parasocial relationship as it exists between idol and fans.
One of the things that we all have to learn is when to block in silence. It’s very easy to get caught up in engaging with someone who is vocally a bigot. Because you think “Oh, I can change them, I can show people not to be like them.”
But at the end of the day, they want the engagement, y’all.
Escapism in fic and fandom is great, but as a Black person, I find it impossible to escape into fandoms and fanworks that treat Black people (fictional and real) as burdens to be left on the side of the road and complained about.
I’d love for fandom to be a space where I can leave isms behind and just focus on the squee but as a Black person?
Today I have the absolute honor of talking with Eva Marie, the creator of Reverie: The Album, a work of fannish love that’s currently taking backers over on Kickstarter! I absolutely adore Eva Marie as a creator, a fellow fan, and someone who makes absolutely gorgeous music so if you’re looking for a new and cool opportunity to get fannish, check out our interview and then go head on over to her Kickstarter to become a backer!
Stitch: Eva Marie! Would you mind introducing yourself for my readers?
Eva Marie: Hi everyone, thanks for having me! I’m Eva, a singer-songwriter and composer in my mid-20s. I listen to almost every genre of music, but my specialty is R&B pop with hip hop vibes. When I’m not working, I’m watching anime, golden age Disney films, or old cartoons. I’ve been in online fandom since I was 14 years old. Over ten years later, I’m still a huge nerd! Nice to meet you.
The first setting of the music video – and the part worth clocking and commenting on for me – is a part of a strip mall that looks like something you’d see in the United States with English signs for a tattoo parlor, a corner store or bodega (the store on the right), and a pawn shop (trust me on that one). If I went outside right now, those three things are probably right close to each other in my own neighborhood. They are not anywhere near where any member of (G)I-DLE calls home because of where these businesses are located.
The use of the corner store/strip mall as a locale for the video is to ping viewers’ brains into going “ah, yes, they’re in ‘the hood’ and so this song is authentic”. You see similar attempts to situate Korean (and Korean American) artists accordingly in older videos like CL’s Hello Bitches or Dumbfoundead’s “Mijangwon” where the setting has its own very loud character.
Sound:
Described as belonging to “the boom bap hip hop genre” both the music and visuals of “Uh Oh” were put together to evoke this sense of authenticity in hip hop that always makes my teeth itch. I do think that (G)I-DLE – and Soyeon in particular in the group – are really talented and make interesting and innovative music that their peers aren’t always doing. Like 4Minute before them, this is a hip-hop oriented group and that means a lot of their song stylings lean heavily on things like “boom bap” hip hop or trap or whatever they think will catch an audience that knows them but isn’t familiar with hip hop outside of them.
Styling:
Clothing wise, the young women of (G)I-DLE are all wearing clothing meant to make you think they’re hip hop. Whatever hip hop actually means to them. From them on down to the back up dancers, this is a really good example of “hood cosplay” specifically because it’s the clothing and hairstyles in context. On their own, in a montage of the girls hanging out at an indoor mall or playing laser tag or something… the outfits would literally not have the context of “we’re basically cosplaying folks who live in ~the hood~” and you could handwave away some of that.
Also, at one point Yuqi does have what looks like bantu knots in her hair and even if we reset the video so it was entirely in the desert or they were floating in outer space… I have to say that that doesn’t help.
“I didn’t necessarily plan to make ’90s-style music when I started working on the song, but I wanted to do hip hop. So I thought about what kind of hip hop would be unique to (G)I-DLE and not too cliché, and I thought of boom bap hip hop.”
This was originally posted on my Tumblr in 2018 shortly before the Black Panther film came out and three years into my time running Stitch’s Media Mix!
This is totally for funsies thanks to a darling pal on twitter, so here’s me trying my hand at a type of fandom racism bingo.
The different bingo bits read (in no particular order):
“You’re the real racist”
Sizekink featuring Big Black Cocks
“I’m Black and I don’t think this is racist”
Slavefic
“I don’t know why, but I just don’t like [Black character]”
“[Minor white character] is just… more interesting than [Black character]”
Uppity
“I’m not racist, but – ”
Black character as convenient wingman for white slash ship
“I’d like [White character] even if they were Black”
Civil Rights Movement replaced by Mutant/Omega rights
“darkwashing/blackwashing”
“What if [Black character] was evil/died?”
White ruler of Wakanda
Black character exists only to do emotional labor
“You’re why people don’t like to write/draw Black characters in fandom.”
This lowkey makes me want to do a “fandom racism drinking game” too but I think we’d all die of alcohol poisoning within a few minutes of scrolling through ao3.
However, there’s a difference between me roasting a racist fandom that continues to dismiss and harass Black people they think are “opposite” to its goals on my small website… and someone randomly using their platform on a massive site like The Mary Sue to launch a dismissive and condescending attack at a fandom trying to make sense of a Bad Ending.
He’s why Rachel is in this mess once more – yes, she alsohas poor risk assessment and self-preservation instincts but I will give her a pass for now – so I’m not playing my tiny violin for him just yet. Especially because the reason why Francis is dead-in-the-moment is because Rachel reacted before thinking and swung him in front of her. He took a curse from a ley line witch that was meant for her and, to Rachel’s senses, he died as a result.
Stitch's Media Mix 
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