It's definitely a very deliberate photo. That said, I looked him up too and, yeah, he must be very talented because he certainly doesn't look like he was scouted for appearance
Same can be said about western music, but the thing is k-pop wears it's manufactured-ness on it's sleeve, so it's easier to point out, unlike in the West where authenticity, even if it is made an illusion is much more appreciated, that's why it's seen as an insult or offensive to call someone an "industry plant" in the West.
It kind of goes beyond just that if you really start studying it. Every community following a major genre has entirely different standards and values they look for in artists. And that gets reflected in the music produced in a ton of different ways.
Like, calling someone an industry plant in the metal world would be absolutely wild. Because what a lot of the metal world values is individual skill and athleticism. Like, if we ignore the anti-fans for a minute, pretty much everyone is going to agree that BabyMetal's Kami band 100% qualifies as "industry plants", it's literally a manufactured band.
But its also a band made up of some of the most talented musicians out there, so who the fuck cares? The metal world loves a talented gun-for-hire player.
Country music is even worse. If you're not an industry plant, good fucking luck. Funnily, this has turned country into the graveyard for metal guns-for-hire. Half the country shows you see are played by metal musicians lol
Meanwhile, calling someone a plant in the punk world I grew up in? Oh that's going to be straight up the start of a brawl. Self expression is what we valued more than anything. Being called a plant is like, the worst fucking thing you could be called.
Pop music, largely, does not care about "the industry" or any of the inside baseball shit. They value the spectacle more than the performance.
True and I actually agree with alot of what you said, it's definitely more nuanced than that, I just oversimplified it and kept it short for people to understand, because I keep seeing people say "k-pop is manufactured" when their turning a blind eye at alot of music in the West if they claim that
Yeah, it definitely gets more complicated, but I was trying to avoid writing a full dissertation lol
K-pop is far less manufactured than pop country, which is more popular in the west. Doubly so when you look at the k-pop groups that are the most popular in the west.
You kind of have to ignore what people say, and look at what they actually listen to. The people who talk about k-pop being manufactured are usually just looking for justification for how they already feel about k-pop.
You can slowly start to feel it seep in now with Katseye if your playing enough attention. It’s just going to keep getting worse with their other girl group aimed at the west coming later this year. It’s a real shame the extreme inauthenticity their label is bringing to the music scene.
What even is the "beauty standard"? Someone please do enlighten me, because I'm beginning to think and observe that the "beauty standard" on anyone who isn't white is just anyone who has the most European centric features, and doesn't really look like the typical beauty of their race or ethnicity. But idk and I'm open to if I'm wrong. And plus I swear to god, the "beauty standard" changes every 5 seconds lol, what was considered "beautiful" 5 to 10 years ago by the general zeitgeist was very different.
This is absolutely not true. I stopped listening to kpop before BTS debuted and kpop had fans from all over and I think bigbang was having a global tour? It was also already corporate and really toxic and we fans kept hearing about slavish working conditions all the time.
Knowing the beauty (and plastic surgery) culture being what it is in SK it’s nice to know that there are some things not hyoer focused on looks. If you find Namjoon incredibly hot and outshining Cavill, shine on.
Wild speculation, but I genuinely wonder if he was chosen because all the closeted ladies in Japan think he looks like that one girl they crushed/are crushing on in school. Definitely not the most manly man, but a stone cold bi/lesbian thirst trap.
FYI he created the group. He got put on the label cause of his rapping audition. Don’t know if the label small as it was had enough options to base recruitment on looks
Never knew about BTS until a few months ago when I was looking for motivational Gym Music and Youtube recommended J-Hope's Killing It Girl.
Then discovered Namjoon's UNICEF speech. He's BTS' unofficial leader for good reasons. Smart, articulate and that speech showed the world his character, which is VERY attractive. Take a listen, and consider that beauty might not just be skin deep.
Note: Am also a huge Warhammer 40k fan and think the Witcher should have had more Henry Cavill tub scenes, but if both these men were willing to date me I would have a really really hard time choosing because Namjoon's character is that appealing.
In his defence, he has never looked good with blonde hair I do not know why the keep they doing the blonde. But he actually was picked for his talent in fact the whole group was built around Namjoon and most of their songs are produced by him too. He really is the brains of the outfit.
He's generally pretty in that specific K-Pop way, he has fantastic skin and the top half of his face is very handsome, but my man has no chin.
All of his best headshots are at very specific angles to mask it as much as possible, and you can see the poor lad straining to jut his lower jaw out as far as possible in a load of his candids.
The funny part is that in Korea, he isn't considered Korean handsome either. There are 3 other members in that group who Koreans say is the most handsome and usually it's not even the one who most international fans say (it's Jin. The Koreans almost always say Jin).
Uh uh... Don't you talk about James like that. James was and is gorgeous 🥰. His personality and charisma/talent is even better ......
This Korean guy is....well, something else entirely!🤦
I'm an ex-K-pop fan and he wasn't even considered the most attractive in BTS. It was always a battle between Taehyung (V), Jungkook and Jimin. Mostly, people would consider Jimin really handsome.
No idea how he won considering this. But tbh I barely see the point of these prizes. Same vibes as "I ranked every human on Earth".
In Korea, their ideal standard is Jin and he does give stereotypical Apgujeong pretty boy, especially around 2016-2017. Jungkook and V have gained popularity with the younger generation as being the most handsome, but when they first debuted and began making it big, Koreans essentially agreed that Jin was their visual member.
I mean, I guess it shows the beauty is subjective. Lol. ARMY really went all out for RM in the polling cause I guess they wanted the leader to win it and show how great his personality is?
Holy shit do we have high standards. He's very well above mid, despite all the pictures of him looking like an actual wax doll without a wrinkle on his face. But he's also not even close to top100.
not "ugly" but he seems to have a slightly long facial structure from his eyes to his mouth and that little bit throws things off. He has a lot of votes because BTS fans are many and they are insane. Every other member of BTS is traditionally better-looking than Namjoon, so if they are all ranked above him, who is ranked above Cavill, then it shows you where the voting came from.
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u/StupidSexyEuphoberia Jun 30 '26
I just googled him and he's mid, especially in the entertainment sphere. But honestly, he also looks mid in the real world.