Korean Music Discussion - Page 997

On December 24 2010 04:30 WindOw wrote:
Dunno if this belongs here ....



JaeDong next big kpop star? ^^;?

On December 24 2010 13:43 XaI)CyRiC wrote:


Dismissing comments about how Sooyoung and Tiffany's appearances have changed dramatically and in seemingly unnatural ways as "antifan sentiment" isn't anymore convincing than the comments you're complaining about. While it's true that there are a lot of people who hate on SNSD for no good reason, that doesn't mean every person who criticizes them or suggests that they got plastic surgery is one of them. Personally, I am actually a fan of their music and performances, but that doesn't mean I'm going to ignore what is immediately apparent and obvious, i.e. that Sooyoung and Tiffany's faces changed suddenly, dramatically and (in my opinion) for the worse.

I agree that Tiffany seems to get an undeserved amount of hate from people for her appearance, but that doesn't change the fact that something happened to her face that wasn't natural. While I'm certainly no cosmetic or plastic surgery expert, I've seen enough pre-"something" (since "surgery" seems to invoke anger) pictures and performances from back when Tiffany's face looked more natural and had a certain charm to it to recognize the dramatic change that occurred right when the surgery accusations were going around. The changes were too dramatic and sudden to be natural, i.e. loss of baby fat, different makeup, and certain parts of her face even seem to move (or not move) like they did just before the incident.

Sooyoung's changes are even more dramatic in my opinion. While she was rarely discussed as amongst the more attractive members of SNSD, I always liked her for her personality and wit during talk shows, and thought she was attractive in her own way. As with Tiffany, there was a very sudden and dramatic change in Sooyoung's face right when surgery accusations started floating around, and it was quite apparent that something had been done to her. Her smile was completely different and, like Tiffany, certain parts of her face just don't move the same way anymore. What I once considered to be one of her charms, i.e. her smile and laugh, suddenly became something that made me cringe as it looked so odd and unnatural.

Again, I'm not a cosmetic or plastic surgery expert, or even a SNSD expert, but it doesn't take one to notice that something fairly significant happened to both Sooyoung and Tiffany's faces over the past year. While I can't pinpoint exactly where all the changes are, I can say with confidence that the changes make the way they talk, smile and laugh very different from how they did so before. None of this has anything to do with "hating" on SNSD or being an "anti", and everything to do with the fact that I saw a lot of pictures and clips of SNSD before the changes and quite a few after, and observed significant changes which were, in my opinion, for the worse. While some people like to point to the changes as a means to tear SNSD down and talk about how they represent everything that is wrong with Kpop and idols, I only point them out in disappointment.

Bottom line, just because an opinion is negative about SNSD, doesn't mean that it derives from blind hatred. Just because an observation mirrors that of popular opinion, doesn't make it automatically the result of conformity and a mob mentality. Just because something is repeated by many people, doesn't mean that every person is "parroting" others and not reaching the conclusion on their own.

Lastly, with regards to your comment about sticking to discussion about SNSD's "core appeal", I would disagree as to what you believe it to be. Their appeal wasn't and isn't just about being a group of girls singing and dancing to catchy music, as there are plenty of girls who can do that. In addition to that, a lot of what made them stand out amongst the rest is the way they were marketed (brilliantly I must say). For better or worse, a lot of that marketing focused on their appearance and their appeal to the male population, both young and old. A lot of their fans like them for their appearance and the cutesy mannerisms they were taught and encouraged to use. But what is used to promote them will also be used to tear them down, which is why there's so much focus on their physical appearance. So, while I would prefer that there was more emphasis on various kpop artists' performances and singing/dancing abilities, the fact is that their looks are always going to be a point of emphasis because it's a large part of their popularity and success.