It gets so tiring
after a while browsing Korean videos, noticing the number of comments attacking
Korean celebrities and people in general as "plastic" or
"fake" when the video has nothing to do with beauty or appearance. I
noticed this after watching a number of videos about a Filipino girl group
called "Mica" who were featured
on Superstar K. This group did not make
it to the final round, so there were a number of comments from largely Filipino
viewers that it was due to discrimination for being non-Korean as well as for
not being "fake" like Korean stars, both of which are preposterous if
you recognized the talent that was displayed on that show. I don't know of any
contestant on that show that had plastic surgery and I will not assume that
someone has had plastic surgery just because they are beautiful. That is
offensive and degrading. Unless there are obvious surgical scars or you have
seen before pictures that contradict this, you really can't say that. There
were a lot of average and natural looking Koreans who made it further, so the
claims about favoring "plastic" contestants were unsubstantiated. And
the notion that the Filipina group was discriminated against for being
non-Korean was unfounded as well. I thought the judges and the show in general
were pretty generous with how far they let this group go into the competition,
considering the fact that they were kind of awkward in their stage presence,
messed up the pronunciation of Korean songs, and over sang a lot. Being a
talented performer is not about showing off and belting as much as you can, but
knowing when to pull back and be subtle. They
also could have worked on their presentation because the way they dressed was a
bit shabby. The other contestants didn't wear flashy clothes necessarily, but
they were clean cut and presentable. Perhaps it was a budgetary problem, but
they could have done a better job without spending a lot of money. As a
performer, you need to take responsibility for how you present yourself,
including how you dress. There were people who have shown up for Superstar K in t-shirts and blue jeans, but
they were clean and presentable, so money is not the issue. I was amazed at how
un-objective some viewers were in evaluating their performances just because
they were from the same country as the singers. If those girls had gone to a
non-Korean country, they probably wouldn't have gotten translators to help them
through the competition. I believe that they were given a lot of accommodation
by the judges and the show in general despite the fact that the producers would
not make a lot of money from having them on the show as Superstar K does not really broadcast in the Philippines, so
there would not be much revenue from that audience. Some Filipino viewers were a bit culturally chauvinistic, saying
that the show should just name those girls the winner after their first
appearance, never considering that it's a talent competition and a show that
needs to create revenue. National ego does not supersede the fact that Superstar K is a business that people rely on for work and
revenue. There are other contestants in the competition that deserve a chance
and your desire to have a fellow countryman be named the winner does not negate
any of that. It is a bit self-serving and arrogant as if to say, "Korea,
you should bow down to the talent of these Filipinas because they are better
than any of the Korean and other contestants will be."
It's ironic that
people can be this nationalistic because these women, formerly known as the Gollayan Sisters, have been on talent shows in
their home country, the Philippines, and yet they only went so far there
despite having won a number of singing competitions in their home country like
"It's Showtime" (ABS-CBN News).
They went pretty far on Superstar-K, a Korean show, given their performances, yet
some viewers are criticizing that show and Korea in general for not giving them
a place further in the competition. Superstar-K
did not have to accept these contestants into the competition. The show did not
have to hire a translator to assist them during the competition. The judges did
not have to be so generous with them. But the show was generous and yet that is
not acknowledged by these nationalistic commenters because the only acceptable
outcome would be having those Filipina women win the competition. If you want
your singers to go far, why not take responsibility for that in the Philippines
instead of blaming Korea for not giving them the chance? If the Filipino record
industry cannot recognize their talent, why should Korea? The competition was
actually too generous to those women because objectively, they did not perform
as well as the other contestants. There was a lot of victim-whining on the part
of some commenters, saying that the Korean judges should give those women more
time to learn how to sing in Korean. This is a Korean singing competition, so
it should be a given that you should know how to sing Korean well. Actually,
there were other foreign contestants on Superstar K that sang much better than
these Filipina girls, but they were eliminated much earlier, like Greg from the
U.S. and a Muslim Indonesian singer. I don't know if they were on the same
season, but they were eliminated much earlier than this girl group. I believe
that they did not get as far as these women because they did not have much of a
sympathy card due to the fact that they were a little older and came off as
more strong and independent and better off. Those Filipina girls were barely in
adulthood and gave a more sympathetic image due to their youth and hard luck
image. You can't deny the importance of a profound personal story in the
context of reality television. So despite the claims of discrimination and
unfairness, I would have to disagree with the nationalistic commenters and say
that the group was given a lot of favor despite their lackluster performances.
As a side note,
Jessica Sanchez, the Filipina-Mexican American singer who was a finalist on American Idol performed much more skillfully
than Mica. However, even after Phillip
Phillips won instead of her, I did not notice as many negative comments about
America besides the observation that it was due to race that she was not chosen
as the winner. I would have to agree with that assessment as the talent level
between her and the other contestant was large. She also belted too much in the
beginning, but took P. Diddy's advice about holding back and she followed
through with that. Mica also got a
similar note from an established Korean female singer, yet they continued to
belt, showing that they were not willing to learn and work on themselves. It's
not just about having potential, but knowing how to realize it. That is
something that those girls need to learn. Conversely, John Park did not get as
far on American Idol, yet you did not hear racist or offensive comments from
Koreans regarding that because objectively, he was not the best performer in
the group despite being a great singer. I really don't know who it serves to
respond so immaturely to such outcomes, fair or not. It's being part of the
problem instead of working toward a solution. I was pretty disappointed and
amazed that people could be that racist, petty, and immature.
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