Tag: video essay

[Video (Re) Post] Cultural Appropriation, Choice, and Some Cornrows

Stitch

In this video, we’re looking at the recent dustup with ATEEZ Hongjoong’s cornrows, KQ Entertainment’s statement in response to criticism, and how even here fandom is full of people who CHOOSE to be antiblack *to their fellow fans* in the name of their idol favorites.

Links:

ATEEZ Parent Company KQ Entertainment Issues Apology for Hongjoong’s Cornrows (https://www.teenvogue.com/story/ateez…) – My news coverage for Teen Vogue The statement from KQ Entertainment on the Daum fancafe (http://cafe.daum.net/ATEEZ/n62e/173)

“K-pop’s online activism for Black Lives Matter is complicated” – Vox’s Reset Podcast (https://open.spotify.com/episode/0fix…) – Start at the 16-minute mark for Miranda Larsen’s incredible segment!

The Cultural Appropriation Conversation So Very Hairy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vidw…)

Appropriation, Appreciation, and Good Ole Chicken Noodle Soup (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yXnC…)

What Fandom Racism Looks Like: Antiblackness in the K-Pop Industry and Its Fandom Spaces (https://stitchmediamix.com/nonficpost…) – The masterpost for my ongoing project!

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[Video] So They Think They’re Talking Black

Stitch

There’s an error in this video that I did actually catch before it posted…

I wanted to open with that because it’s honestly hilarious. I copied the original introduction for this video – which I had originally drafted and recorded last year before the world was Like This – which means that I didn’t update it to include how much work I’ve done across this project.

At this point in 2020 after a solid year of working on this project, we’re at eleven articles, twelve related articles, two Spotify playlists, nine videos including this one, two pieces of Patreon-exclusive content, countless twitter threads, and two podcast appearances.

That is a lot of work, y’all.

And I am honestly maybe only halfway done. Two thirds if I squint.

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[Video] Appropriation, Appreciation, and Good Ole Chicken Noodle Soup

Stitch1 Comment

Video Description:

One of the recurring comments when K-pop fans talk about cultural appropriation as performed by idols is “so and so isn’t appropriating culture, they’re APPRECIATING it”. The idea that appreciation renders conversations about cultural appropriation null and void is clearly a belief that many of these people have and the thing is –

These idols probably genuinely appreciate what they know about Black culture, but when they go to take it into themselves and perform Blackness, that appreciation becomes appropriation.

This video talks about that appreciation often leads to appropriation in these circles, how j-hope’s appreciation in his and Becky G’s version of “Chicken Noodle Soup” sparked conversations about cultural appropriation and antiblack backlash in BTS’ big ole fandom, and why intent doesn’t matter when the impact is kind of harmful.

If you want to know more about my thoughts on the way Black hairstyles are appropriated within K-pop and why that matters, check out my video from August.

And of course, I’ve got my lengthy article on cultural appropriation for y’all to check out!

Cultural Appropriation in the Age of K-Pop
Part One: https://stitchmediamix.com/?p=8351
Part Two: https://stitchmediamix.com/?p=8361

Thanks for watching!

This isn’t entirely tied to the video’s content, but it’s related to what inspired me to put together this video:

The end of September, j-hope from BTS came out with “Chicken Noodle Soup” with Becky G. It’s an updated take on the 2006 song which was apparently one of his biggest inspirations as a dancer.

In the initial images that he shared (via BTS’s twitter account), j-hope appears to have some kind of twists in his hair that are clearly reminiscent of the kind of twists that primarily are associated with Black hair – as in, Black people‘s hair.

I’ve been in my feelings since I saw those photos.

But then, I am always in my feelings about Korean idols wearing hairstyles they think are necessary in their quest for authenticity in hip-hop. Every single time it happens – and it happens often – I find my feelings… bruised.

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