In recent years, the colorful bubbles in the Korean entertainment industry seem to be blowing bigger and bigger, but the water inside is getting muddy. In 2024, a girl group named ILLIT will show its face, and the new song they released has a "shaking bed sound" in it, which is unacceptable. The sound that shouldn't be there, but it appears in the song of a group of underage girls, is this the new trend of Hallyu?
Minimum member 08 years
The name ILLIT is no longer unfamiliar among Hallyu fans, and they have made quite a splash among teenagers with their delicate appearance and fresh singing voice. But lately, their new songs have been uncomfortable to listen to. The reason for this is that the song is mixed with the sound of a shaker, which is usually associated with adult content, but now it is associated with a group of girls who are no more than sixteen or seventeen years old.
In the music video for the song, the members of ILLIT are dressed in childlike costumes, pumpkin pants, puffy skirts, and white socks, as if they have returned to their childhood. The contrast between the deliberately childish styling and the bold sound effects is uncomfortable, and some viewers are even reminded of the appalling Nth room incident in South Korea.
恋童资本化
In fact, this phenomenon of "pedophilia capitalization" is not uncommon in the entertainment industry. It has been pointed out that the members of ILLIT are actually used by the capitalists as pawns to earn eyeballs and profits. But what's even more worrying is that this marketing method has unwittingly created a new group of followers, many of whom are underage fans.
On the Internet, some fans analyzed this new song in depth, and even found the sound of suspected chains and shutters in the arrangement. These voices, coupled with the symbolic images in the MV, make people wonder, what kind of hints are hidden behind this song?
New Room N Incident?
At the beginning of the MV, there is a scene of a little girl sitting on the bed in her pajamas, and as the song and picture progress, under what background will the lyrics of "baby, don't say no" be broadcast, and how will it affect the hearts of the listeners?
This is not the first time that this kind of operation in the Korean entertainment industry has been exposed to the public eye. Do you remember the lessons of Lisa and Jenny Kim before? Their behavior more or less reflects the Korean entertainment industry's flattery and follow-up to the European and American markets. And when this model is intertwined with pedophilia capitalization, there is this jaw-dropping phenomenon that ILLIT is exhibiting today.
With the spread of the song and the music video, the members of ILLIT, especially the 16-year-old member, became the focus of all kinds of discussions. Their images and song content have caused an uproar online, and people have begun to question whether such large-scale creations are really suitable for them.
Every beat of the song, every picture of the MV, is like telling a story silently. But it seems less clear whether this story is the one we want, whether it is the one that these children should be involved in.
Moral decay, human annihilation
This is not only a challenge to the physical and mental health of these underage girls, but also a challenge to the bottom line of social morality. Behind a song, a MV, is a reflection of the attitude and values of the entire industry. In this magnificent Korean wave, we see its sparkling surface, but we also have to face the hidden undercurrent.
Behind the stage of singing and dancing, ILLIT's new song allows us to see a lot of potential problems. In this era of putting profit first, the entertainment industry seems to have invisibly crossed certain boundaries. I would like to ask you, who is this kind of entertainment for? Through these young faces, do we see innocence or a whitewashed, distorted innocence?