#kpop has always been conservative and capitallistic but howww is it getting worse

[whatimthinkingaboutrightnow]

honestly it is a bit weird to me how insanely stale all these editorials and photocollections coming from bts members are. i guess the point is that the value is they themselves, stripped down to a raw/nonedited version and not overshadowed by another’s vision or visuals that hide them. but its so conservative. boring, stale, nondescript. maybe the aim is to hide that they are millionaire superstars (”look, they are just men, just like you and i.”) but imo the simple target driven photography only highlights that. "these men are so huge they are beyond the need for art direction!" guess i just miss gd. ”no one can be gd” is true but at the same time i totally didn’t expect that his influence wouldn’t be seen at all in just a few years later... there’s no iconic looks nor high art or fashion.

it's truly sad how kpop becoming the mainliner for korea's soft power made the government's grip on it (and bts) so tight (both literally but also there seems to be a whole panopticon vibe going on). Kpop used to be so wild and fun, now it's so painfully aware of its place as not only an established late-capitalistic media industry (aka it runs on mediocrity. apparently also k-beauty is becoming increasingly homogenic and stale) but also as an upholder of conservative values.