Although my own previous research revealed that many
non-Korean K-pop fans saw the relatively unsexualized content (including
choreography and lyrics) as one of the advantages of K-pop over pop music from
America, the
English language comments on Youtube clips of Boyfriend's January 12th
Music Core performance demonstrated the international fans' willingness to participate
in objectification of the young men for performing the suggestive dance moves specific to how they were filmed.
Youtube user Lena Ali 1.18.2013
"Cameraman
keeps zooming in [sic] their crotches... not that I mind."
Youtube user Ye5y2003 1.16.2013
"im
[sic] not gonna lie I like those zoom and those moves :)"
Youtube user Nurul Afiqah 1.12.2013
"I
love the cameraman. zomming [sic] in at the right timing. mmmhmmm."
The same phenomenon [clearer if you read the paragraph before the above] can help explain the extreme
objectification of the bodies of the members of Girls' Generation on the
analyzed performance of "Oh!" at Madison Square Garden. Speaking on marketing of K-pop Epstein and
Yoo discuss how the audience is given what they expect. In this way repeated emphasis on the legs of the Girls' Generation members is a "feedback loop," culture producers
(such as SM Entertainment who created the DVD) give the audience what they
expect (leg shots) in an attempt to "achieve brand differentiation," or at least to differentiate Girls' Generation from the other singing
and dancing girl groups.
Running out the door, the Epstein and Yoo articles is from Japan Focus, 2012, and the title is "Multiple Exposures: Korean Bodies and Transnational Imagination"
~~End of excerpt but here are some photos to illustrate my point, all taken from the same song.
Up angles emphasize the legs
Finally why does the camera /editor choose to include the close-ups of them sticking out their tongues? Certainly I have something to analyze here!
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