my brother, my friends, my extended family all listen to and support CB. are they horrible people? no. they just haven’t thought critically about their actions. BTS are regular people too, and even though i’m bummed i’m going to treat them just as i do my irl relationships.
People seem to be missing the point here. I read Harry Potter. Own the books, own some merch, celebrate the art as a part of my culture and history…but I’m not going to tag JK Rowling in an appreciation post about the books. I’m not going to post a picture with them. That’s the difference here. Everyone one of us engages with art created by people who have done terrible things. To criticize someone for that would be hypocritical and self-righteous. But the choice to platform and celebrate the ARTIST while engaging with that art is deserving of criticism. And you can levy that criticism without cultivating hatred for the members or taking away from their core of decency and legacy of positive impact. My idols, two men I deeply love a respect, made an error in judgment today by publicly hyping a documented prolific abuser. That doesn’t make them bad people, it makes them human. And I’m engaging with their public update to express that disappointment and ask them to consider how this specific action may negatively affect their fans. That is also human. It’s totally reasonable and fair. It’s not hate, it’s not disillusionment about their perceived “perfection,” it’s simply a reciprocal interaction of two humans who happen to disagree about something important. Surely we’re all (including Namseok) old enough and mature enough to open that dialogue and reflect on our choices without escalating it into cancelling or defending without reproach. If my best friend tagged CB in a hype post, I’d text him expressing my disappointment in that choice, too. That’s not me trying to control him or condemning him as evil. It’s just me hoping he’ll take a minute to reflect on his action. No love or respect lost, just a conversation started.
So stop acting like talking about it and criticizing it is hateful and please stop expecting perfection from these normal grown men. Just be a normal human who can acknowledge mistakes while still loving and respecting the good people who make them.
I genuinely think my relationship with stanning BTS went through a change in 2023 where I was like okay they’re like legit just regular people. And sometimes regular people make you happy and disappoint you in equal measure. There is no grand emotional conspiracy behind this
'just unstan just unstan just unstan' idk about you guys but i actually live in a world where people have a right to be upset and to want to change things for the better rather than just abandon ship every single time something is disappointing.
anyway! i just donated to WARM, an NYC-based non-profit dedicated to helping survivors of domestic violence, predominately women of color. i accompanied my donation with a “💜” if you have the means, i encourage you to do the same!
https://t.co/C98ixTSQZl