The documentaries that were hyped up by BBC Radio 1 DJs on the web and various social media. So how do they fair? Here are some quick thoughts.
The main Kpop documentary is 20+ minutes and goes through a few facts that people may or may not have already known if they followed the Kpop side in Hallyu i.e the diets, the intense schedules and practice sessions, who writes and produces songs (not necessarily Korean folk). Because of the way it was advertised, the Kpop documentary seemed to only focus on Bangtan and that is a blessing and a curse. Not everyone -fan or not- would agree with their heavy focus if you are going to present a Kpop documentary. But then that's when the Bangtan interview in the separate clip comes in. If you want most of Adele Roberts's interview with the guys just watch that. You don't miss much from the main documentary itself.
I appreciated the mention of mental health and make reference Jonghyun and other idols who suffered and no longer live with us. The rather response on the dating rules seemed a bit evasive and I sensed the woman being interviewed was trying to sound as reasonable as possible.
The viewing of the documentary was almost cringeworthy. Focusing on onewhite fan's POV on why she moved to Korea to work and learn the culture - mainly because of BTS. Ignoring the other Kpop fans you briefly showed (I mean there was one girl from China who only got a few seconds to introduce herself). Honestly, why not interview more people of different nationalities and ethnic groups who had a lot of other reasons to why Kpop changed them? Or how Hallyu helped them perhaps. Why not even pay homage to the older generation groups to satisfy purist/elitist fans who have been into the fandom for a longer time?
OK...let's be real here - I didn't have high hopes. You can't have a documentary without mentioning PSY and his viral hits. I wasn't one of those that wanted Kpop artists or any other favourite Asian figure I admired to be validated by the West so they became more popular and more widely accepted. I didn't demand it since I felt these were personal hobbies too much of an alternative niche to be shared with 'normal' society. I liked the secrecy and only shared with kindred spirits if they were worth it. Suddenly people are wanting to hop on the Kpop train (especially with BTS's visit to USA recently).
Maybe if BBCR did a series on the highs and lows of Kpop then you could expand on many things. Not squish everything into 30 mins worth of footage.
Here is the documentary.
Bangtan's interview. Massive thumbs up to Namjoon for acting as the main translator.
The main Kpop documentary is 20+ minutes and goes through a few facts that people may or may not have already known if they followed the Kpop side in Hallyu i.e the diets, the intense schedules and practice sessions, who writes and produces songs (not necessarily Korean folk). Because of the way it was advertised, the Kpop documentary seemed to only focus on Bangtan and that is a blessing and a curse. Not everyone -fan or not- would agree with their heavy focus if you are going to present a Kpop documentary. But then that's when the Bangtan interview in the separate clip comes in. If you want most of Adele Roberts's interview with the guys just watch that. You don't miss much from the main documentary itself.
I appreciated the mention of mental health and make reference Jonghyun and other idols who suffered and no longer live with us. The rather response on the dating rules seemed a bit evasive and I sensed the woman being interviewed was trying to sound as reasonable as possible.
The viewing of the documentary was almost cringeworthy. Focusing on one
OK...let's be real here - I didn't have high hopes. You can't have a documentary without mentioning PSY and his viral hits. I wasn't one of those that wanted Kpop artists or any other favourite Asian figure I admired to be validated by the West so they became more popular and more widely accepted. I didn't demand it since I felt these were personal hobbies too much of an alternative niche to be shared with 'normal' society. I liked the secrecy and only shared with kindred spirits if they were worth it. Suddenly people are wanting to hop on the Kpop train (especially with BTS's visit to USA recently).
Maybe if BBCR did a series on the highs and lows of Kpop then you could expand on many things. Not squish everything into 30 mins worth of footage.
Here is the documentary.
Bangtan's interview. Massive thumbs up to Namjoon for acting as the main translator.
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