Nowadays, Korean culture is dealing with some social issues. TVXQ, a famous group in Asia, had a feud with their director relating to an unjust contract. A member of 2PM left suddenly, and so on. The latter half of the year had a lot of bad news. The people concerned, who lead the culture, are so hard, but what about the hearts of their fans, who support entertainers and give them credit? Recently, 'Fandom' ('Fan' of 'Fanatic' and 'Dom of 'Dominion') is changing. Why are the fans changing, and how can we reflect on their influence on society?
The origin, called 'Groupie', is Cho Yong-pil, in the 1980's. Next, Seo Tai-ji, who is an idol of teenagers, helps to create ‘Fandom’. Also, H.O.T and Sechs-Kies, who are idols and icons of our culture, have an effect on the music industry. Fans, fascinated with their performances and appearance formed a fan-club, so they act as a group, such as when purchasing an album. When some idols declared dissolution, they assemble themselves to the director and so on, and make references to the press. Consequently, their force exerts an influence on society.
Also, they were branded as only teenagers, so fans roused people´s antipathy.
In the 2000s, a second-generation of idols is rising, but many people say that they only have a nice appearance, but don't have singing ability. However, there are exceptions. For example, one TVXQ member can do the main vocal, so their singing ability is embossed. Therefore, idol groups are breaking from their stereotype. Also, fans are changing. They donate using their entertainer's name, and grant fans’ applications for volunteer work and campaign to help unfortunate neighbors. This helps to improve the image of fans and the entertainer.
It now appears that fans of 2PM can boycott an album, hold a silent protest, return an album, and so on. Moreover, fans of TVXQ presented a petition to important Korean organizations for TVXQ, who instituted a lawsuit relating to their unfair contract. Additionally, they spread a signature-seeking campaign for helping TVXQ. Fandoms now have a great influence in culture, society, and politics. In the case about the unfair contract, the after effects were amazing because of the calling of some entertainers to witness, in the inspection of the administration conducted by the National Assembly. We can say that most fans were teenagers in the 1990s, but now it is expanding to include older generations.
In the past, we can say that fans only followed and obeyed, but nowadays,
fans are very important. Right now, it is a period of prosperity for fandom culture. Fandoms have become very influential. However, excessive loving and cheering to an entertainer, along with unqualified protecting can be a target for criticism. There aren’t any fans without entertainers, and there wouldn’t be any entertainers without fans. As fandoms are now able to influence our society, politics, and even the press, we should keep an eye on their activities.
