GD & TOP: Sudden foreign woman obsession.

Yes! Someone wrote about it! Mixtapes and Liner Notes puts a bit of consideration into what I also found to be a strange development in the recent GD & TOP music videos, which I briefly mentioned before, as it can also be seen in the new "뻑이가요" video.

Re-post of the videos in question, for those who haven't seen them:






I don't know what to make of it, really, so I'm glad someone else is trying. It's definitely been a trend with this album, as there are also foreign women featured in TOP's "Turn It Up":



Now. Unlike what happened earlier with UKISS's horrific "시끄러" video, my interest with GD & TOP has been piqued. UKISS did exactly what you would expect an immature, underdeveloped group to do with the image of a foreign woman, which was place her in a position that no decent Korean woman would be seen in. The title of the song translates as, basically, one of the rudest forms of "shut up" -- it doesn't just mean 'be quiet'. Literally, it implies that you are making an annoying noise. It's also dealing with a "나쁜 여자" -- a bad girl. Her job is to stand outside in dark alleys, leaning on cars looking sexual and objectified, while kissing the band members full on the mouth seemingly at random. Nothing much new to see there. I mean, pretty faced young Korean guy rolls up to a foreign girl on the street and shouts, "Hello.... hello!" Anyone ever been to Hongdae on a Saturday night? Predictable.

Trashee:



But.... I don't know. Maybe it's because Big Bang, and in particular G-Dragon and TOP, are some of the only Kpop artists I put genuine value on. I expect them to be more global. And I don't, at the moment, have too much objection to how they've handled the foreign women in their videos thus far. The one video where the foreign female presence is overwhelmingly dominant is just girls dancing in a club and having a good time. Which is what music videos are designed to showcase. It's interesting to note that in the other two video, when it comes time for the boys to actually be feeling up on the girls, it is the foreign women who are selected for the job, however.

I dunno, I dunno. I want to have faith in these boys, and believe that they're just trying to open Kpop up to the world a bit. But I am keeping my eye on it. It's a fine line in the music industry, which is chock-full of objectification -- particularly of the female form -- as it is.

One thing I will say.... in male Korean company this weekend, the subject did come up of naivete, and Korean women, foreign men; Korean men, foreign women. When I divulged a few telling stories about foreign women who had been taken for some pretty severe rides by Korean men, the reaction was this: "Wow. I cannot imagine a naive foreign woman." It wouldn't hurt to push the boundaries on the expectations people have, based on stereotypes, a little... if you are going to go there. Ahem. Boys.