Hollywood Zenith

Chapter 446 The Harsh Reality

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For outsiders, idols were always treated like gods. But in fact they were nothing more than a highly manufactured star system that were produced by and debuted under a parent company.

Their charm laid with their tendency to represent a hybridized convergence of visuals, music, fashion and dance. They usually work for a mainstream entertainment agency and had undergone extensive training in dance, vocals, and foreign language.

Idols maintain a carefully curated public image and social media presence, and dedicate significant time and resources to building relationships with fans through concerts and meetups.

For this world tour, SK corporation had invested a lot of money. Their flagship team also known as SK Team were a band of five different group travelling together for this event.

Of those five two of them were very famous, the boy band KR Juniors and girl band Grace Generation who were set to perform at the finale together. They each had five main members but Juniors had many extras who were in the process of training to debut as a branch for the main group.

Leeteuk, Yesung, Shindong, Eunhyuk and Siwon were main members of KR Juniors, Leeteuk being the leader of the group. Yoo Soo-jin, Red, Kim Bo-mi, Ningning and Yoona were members from other group with Red being their leader.

It had already been three years since they debuted and the corporation finally started to make money off of them. Many reports stated that training single member from these groups cost the company somewhere north of three million dollars!

It was not out of the question that they were being pressured by the management to perform together. It had already been this way, Kpop inspired by other entertainment region was heavily influenced by a single man who was also the founder of SK entertainment their current boss.

Mr. Lee as people called him, was the one that popularized the trainee business model from Japanese idol industry and because of it hundreds of candidates each day attend the global auditions held by Korean entertainment agencies to perform for a chance of becoming a trainee, a part of a concept labeled cultural technology.

The trainee process lasts for an indefinite period of time, ranging from months to years, and usually involves vocal, dance, and language classes. It was also mandatory for trainees to live together with their fellow team members and often time they even attend school at the same time. However, some trainees drop out of school to focus on their careers.

Once a trainee enters the system, they are regulated in multiple aspects, including personal life, physical condition, and visual appearance. The survival, training, and regulation take precedence over natural talent in the production of Korean idols. The system requires trainees to maintain a "wholesome image" while remaining "private about their lives and thoughts".

It was not prevalent now but in the future they were many former trainees that have reported that they were required to go through plastic surgeries, such as a nose job or double eyelid procedure , in order to adhere to the acceptable Korean beauty standards.

Further criticism towards the trainee system would arose regarding the companies' harsh weight restrictions, which often caused trainees to pass out from exhaustion or dehydration in an attempt to reach the required weight for their desired program.

It was not well known now but with each passing year these standards would only harshen going out of control so much so that many well known figures in the entertainment industry would choose to forgo their lives instead of living through such misery.

For groups who made money these conditions were many times more harsher because it was in companies best interest to protect their 'properties'. It often depended on what type of corporation was managing them. 

When trainees were finally chosen to debut in new groups, they would face a new set of personalities created by the company to cater to the entertainment market. Each member of an idol group had their own character to play, and therefore an important part of their job duties is to maintain that temperament in any kind of exposure they may get.

One way to build the personal image of idol groups is through social media services with content managed by the company to ensure the consistency of these personal characteristics. It was only being implemented recently but it would become a norm in the future.

But the most toxic aspect of being an idol was their own fans.

The relationship between Korean idols and their fans could be characterized as "parasocial kin," which meant for fans to create a familial connection with their idols rather than just being a "look-from-afar" fan.

In some cases, within and outside of fandoms, fans also created familial connections with other fans through similar interests or just to make friends. These interactions can be initiated by the fans, the company, or the idols themselves, where they would most likely still have to go through their company to be approved.

Some projects or activities created by fans for the idols must also be approved by the venue or the idols' company to minimize any harm to the idols and fan participants. Interactions and fan connections can be seen through events like fan meetings, also known as artist engagements, concerts or fan-sites, and artist cafés.

There was also an annual even organized like comic con to keep them satisfied.  Even before debut, some trainees would already have their own fans. This leads to the "kinship" starting out early, and building that up is very important for the idol as an artist and the fan as a supporter.

Once debuted, fans grew alongside their idols and idol-fan relationships become deeper. If anything happens, fans have their own unique ways to show their attitude and opinion on issues concerning "unfair" actions of management companies. Under this situation, fans often appear to be protecting idols from company mistreatment due to the familial connection built between both sides.

But it was a poison eating away their own idol. If they deviated even a little from their fan's expectation many people would flock to the scene to criticize them openly either through social media or by making false reports. It was not one or two idols that got hit with false accusation leading to end of career.

But there was a catch to that too, with immense popularity idols themselves could get drunk on power to commit several crimes. As long as it's not public they could exert their dominance over ordinary people through manipulation. 

But these fans were essential, they helped promote Korea in a way no one thought was possible. With them learning the country's language, often with the help of romanization, to comprehend the profound meaning behind songs and to strengthen the connection with the artist on a personal level.

In the Korean entertainment industry, there was a prevailing notion that idols were loyal to their fans. Due to this, many companies had implemented policies that prohibit any sort of dating. The reason for this was that reputation was crucial for idols, and any type of scandal could tarnish and ruin their image and negatively impact their careers. Fans also believe dating may be a hindrance to an idol's success

But the most exploitative were the companies managing them. Several Korean idol groups and solo artists had resented the contracts issued to them by their management companies, claiming that the decade-long contracts are "too long, too restrictive, and gave them almost none of the profits from their success."

People often rebuked these claims, a director of South Korean entertainment agency DSP Media stated that the company did share profit with the performers, but often little is left over after paying costs.

Korean entertainment companies such as SK Entertainment have been called "factories" for their unique method of mass-producing stars. Members of groups are frequently retired and replaced with fresh trainees when their age or musical inclinations begin to pose a problem. There was even a lawsuit filed by well known XTRA against S.K. Entertainment for unreasonable terms in their contracts with the company last year.

With fans being prone to overly clingy in their personal lives and Entertainment companies hitting them with unreasonable demand, there was very slim possibility for idols to live a fulfilling life. If they didn't succeed in making a name in their twenties, they would be replaced by young blood without any hesitation.

Giving their all for the industry it was hard to follow through normal life with normal degrees and half baked knowledge.

Either way no one could deny the popularity of these people, they might live a harsh life but the fame that came with it was in their eyes well worth it. Some might not even succeed but those that were able to want to climb higher to cement themselves as legends.

Which was why instead of stopping the rehearsal, KR Juniors and Grace Generation suffered an unexpected blow right before the even officially started.