[AJ] Netizen reaction to TOP’s overdose was about as deluded & worthless as expected

[PromiscuousBunny]

* Original article has k-netizen comments, but I put these in spoilers

 

 

While I was covering the mess of TOP‘s overdose and subsequent hospitalization, I didn’t get the chance to complain about people being absolute dicks about this.

 

Netizen comments shouldn’t matter, but I feel it’s important to highlight some as yet another reminder of why you can’t take these translated netizen comments as anything credible to base your opinion on.

——

Netizens reacting to TOP being hospitalized basically read like convincing themselves they didn’t do anything wrong, like a guilty conscience.

 

 

1. [+34,476, -1,081] What are you doing? You need to be showing that you’re reflecting for all the kids who had dreams because of you
2. [+17,465, -469] Hul
3. [+16,219, -645] Was this a suicide attempt…?
4. [+10,302, -347] Hul…
5. [+8,894, -331] We told you to reflect, not kill yourself
6. [+6,827, -198] He seems to have a weaker mentality than GD… anyway, stay alive and work hard to pay back your crime…
7. [+6,066, -107] Drug use always comes with such a tragic end… don’t do drugs
8. [+6,194, -221] If only he apologized with the same bravery he had to attempt suicide
9. [+5,558, -145] Seems he’s really weak mentally… pay the price of your crime, not with your life though
10. [+5,465, -182] Idiot, you committed a wrong but it’s not like you killed someone. Just pay the price of your crime, apologize, and reenlist in the army. Don’t kill yourself over it.

 

 

Then because TOP’s mom was upset by her son almost dying, they had the classiest of responses.

 

 

 

 

1. [+2,052, -155] His life is not at risk and he’s even responding so why do they keep doing this ridiculous media play… be embarrassed of yourselves!

2. [+2,012, -163] Don’t give him sympathy. He did drugs.

3. [+1,811, -163] Never give him sympathy. These are fake tears.

4. [+139, -7] With the way she’s acting, you’d think someone force fed her son drugs… He broke the law and he’s being dealt the consequences that he deserves, what is she feeling so gretful over? It wasn’t even a one time mistake, he smoked it four times…

5. [+127, -4] With every update we’re getting, it all feels like a planned out scenario… they’re taking it too far

 

 

1. [+2,861, -382] Please be enraged over the crime your own son committed

2. [+2,495, -93] We should all just wait for a briefing by his doctor

3. [+1,764, -195] Mother, please stop lashing out at the police and worry about educating your son properly

4. [+169, -16] This is such a joke

5. [+156, -10] Obviously people are going to believe the police, why would they believe the mother

 

 

 

That last comment is amusing, because even after it was revealed she was correct in her assessment of the severity of the situation, comments didn’t improve.

 

 

1. [+1,739, -291] What’s wrong with his mother? Does she not get that her son did drugs? She should be reprimanding her son for doing drugs, not acting like this
2. [+1,567, -104] The infamous OSEN
3. [+1,561, -155] Will she faint if the media reports that he grinds his teeth in his sleep too?
4. [+115, -11] Yeah well the public laughed 10 times at hearing that he snored in his sleep ã…‹
5. [+106, -2] Oh wow… if it isn’t YG’s loyal dog OSEN ㅋㅋㅋ f*ck off

 

 

Humanity was a mistake.

 

Somehow though, that straight-forward stuff wasn’t even the dumbest thing about this. As I updated the situation, people kept speculating the stupidest shit, at least in my opinion. It wasn’t the clear hateful comments from trolls that bothered me, but the people who seemed to genuinely believe that this was all fake or a conspiracy or something. Look, I’m cynical as hell and I certainly am no fan of YG Entertainment at all, but jumping to conclusions in a matter as serious as this that was constantly changing? Just foolish.

 

It didn’t help, of course, that the Korean media and sites like Netizen Buzz did what sites like that do and played up the narrative that TOP and YGE somehow faked the severity of the situation even though he was in the ICU.

Inevitably, that led to netizens believing that this was just a “druggie†that was sleeping and trying to get out of duties or something, and that the overdose and all that was media play.

 

 

1. [+24,488, -277] The police sound mad ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ he was basically just sleeping and the media kept saying he was in critical condition
2. [+17,052, -276] Gotta give it to the media for hyping things up unnecessarily
3. [+16,646, -426] This article should be on the front page. The media play that was involved in exaggerating everything to get sympathy for him was just amazing…
4. [+14,135, -293] Well that’s good news then. Hope he recovers and gets punished.
5. [+13,277, -314] Enough’s enough. Just pay the price of your crime.

 

 

You still have to be a piece of shit to be so callous about an overdose, but okay, the police said it so it’s understandable perhaps to believe them (even if the situation was evolving by the minute and it was stupid to make final judgments).

 

But even after the police backed off their statement completely and their ‘nothing to see here’ act was proven horseshit, people showed that the truth didn’t matter, just what they wanted to be true.

 

 

1. [+13,389, -522] Basically what the doctor is saying is that he overdosed on the sleeping pills to the point where he wasn’t able to breathe properly and fell into a deep sleep but is still in a state where he will wake up if given strong stimulation. The police came yesterday when they saw that he was awake and didn’t think anything was wrong. So TOP’s current state is that he’s not in critical condition but the medication is still in his system so it’s going to take a couple of days for him to completely wake up. His body is in a deep enough sleep where his breathing was affected.
2. [+10,072, -332] So his mother was right and the police were right. He was in a critical state but he’ll be fine with recovery with the proper treatment.
3. [+9,044, -357] Glad to hear that he’ll be okay. Recovery healthily and get the punishment he deserves.
4. [+7,538, -426] Glad that he won’t have brain damage… Wake up for the sake of your parents please.
5. [+6,504, -398] Fact of the matter is that he’s laying in the hospital after doing drugs. He needs to wake up and take responsibility for his own actions.

 

1. [+572, -32] So basically his life isn’t threatened at all, he’s just sleeping. He doesn’t respond to normal stimulation because of the sleeping pills but he will respond to strong stimulation (which means he’s there conscious wise)
2. [+538, -34] So the police was right, he’s just drowsy ㅡㅡ
3. [+433, -27] YG: Wait, this wasn’t supposed to happen…
4. [+33, -7] YG manages to even make the police their enemy ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹ã…‹
5. [+32, -0] Basically means that he’s asleep because of the sleeping pills ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 

 

Christ. Police were emphatically spewing bullshit.

 

1) Police said he wasn’t carried there. He was.

 

2) Police said nothing was wrong after the test results. Tests showed high blood pressure, high heart rate, high carbon dioxide levels, low oxygen levels, and unstable breathing. He was at risk of respiratory failure, was deemed in critical condition and moved to the intensive care unit as as result.

 

3) Police said he was just in a deep sleep. Doctors said he’s essentially unconscious, which is why he’s still in the ICU, and that his breathing has not returned to normal yet.

 

4) Police said he would be back to normal in a couple days. Doctors said he would need at least a week of recovery, that they believe he has avoided brain damage, and that he needs psychiatric treatment.

 

5) Police said he was only in the ICU for privacy. Doctors said he was in the ICU due to his unconscious state and threat of respiratory failure.

 

I wanted to explain all that in bullet points given that basically their entire statement was false, but I was just wasting my words, because the police themselves backed down…

 

Click here to view the Tweet

 

…and then the doctors themselves characterized the police statement as false.

 

Click here to view the Tweet

 

One basically can’t take all this information in and rationally or logically conclude that the netizens are being reasonable about this, which is kind of expected because they are generally antis or trolls or tweens who usually don’t represent the Korean public at large (“netizens†is just a nice way to generalize the idiots that leave comments on these articles). So why then on other issues do international netizens frequently take their input as credible and let it affect their opinions on issues? It makes no sense.

 

Yet one of the popular arguments internationally, here and elsewhere, is about TOP’s use of marijuana. These Korean netizen comments have been flipping out about drugs from the start, and some international netizens feel like they have to cape for Korean netizens feeling that way. But why? Their screaming about it is meaningless, it only matters if what they’re saying makes sense, and I haven’t seen a quality argument justifying the Reefer Madness yet.

 

My stance on marijuana use in Korea is the same as it has always been for him or anybody else: It’s dumb to use marijuana in Korea because it’s against the law, and thus if caught one needs to deal with the consequences. However, morally it’s a complete non-issue and anybody getting up in arms about it looks absolutely silly.

 

It’s only especially amusing considering the drinking and smoking culture in Korea.

 

——

Everybody has been guilty of taking some netizen comments too seriously (me included), but it’s events like this that serve as a quality reminder that we absolutely shouldn’t use them for anything but fodder. Unless the comment itself contains some kind of new information or explanation of their opinion, it’s as relevant as a YouTube comment, so to see people continually be influenced by them is disturbing.

 

source

 

 

Also, kudos to AJ not milking this for clicks and for posting relevant updates.  As well for the site having the most sane commenters out of all news sites

 

[Rohan Kishibe]

Everybody has been guilty of taking some netizen comments too seriously (me included), but it’s events like this that serve as a quality reminder that we absolutely shouldn’t use them for anything but fodder. Unless the comment itself contains some kind of new information or explanation of their opinion, it’s as relevant as a YouTube comment, so to see people continually be influenced by them is disturbing.

 

This 100%  

[eunjo]

 

5. [+8,894, -331] We told you to reflect, not kill yourself

6. [+6,827, -198] He seems to have a weaker mentality than GD… anyway, stay alive and work hard to pay back your crime…

7. [+6,066, -107] Drug use always comes with such a tragic end… don’t do drugs

8. [+6,194, -221] If only he apologized with the same bravery he had to attempt suicide

9. [+5,558, -145] Seems he’s really weak mentally… pay the price of your crime, not with your life though

10. [+5,465, -182] Idiot, you committed a wrong but it’s not like you killed someone. Just pay the price of your crime, apologize, and reenlist in the army. Don’t kill yourself over it.

[rananicolee]

"it's as worthless as a Youtube comment"

basically.

[l�l��]

Korean netizens are one of the most ruthless snakes 

Not surprise though I watched some movie about them and many of them live to hate ..It's like they feel pleasure in hating. 

[Teru]

AJ is the only non-OH kpop site I read these days. whether I agree with a given opinion of theirs or not, I always appreciate their measured approach and honesty. refreshing in an oversaturated quagmire of gossip sites fighting for clicks and views and relevancy lately

[ros]

Beautifully written. We are not sheep, we are allowed to have thoughts of our own. Those 30k or so people can start by recognising that the police indeed lied about TOP's condition. No need to defend them over something worthy of critique. Yes, we shouldn't take those people too seriously but it's definitely a reminder that at least 30k people have this type of mindset. That's disturbing and, as such, we should call them out on it.

[PockyAddict1989]

I have have always thought that many knetz comments about celebs that get translated internationally, are basically the korean versions of yahoo news comments and youtube comments. I bet probably made by people who just troll disgusting and tasteless crap. I don't get why some ifans try to parrot shit from them.

[TRBL.Mood]

Dont let those comments ruin ur life...

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920I using OneHallyu mobile app

[King Jaejoong]

I wish someone pointed that during Yoochun's scandals as well. I'm ashamed that I didn't do it myself , it's because at some point I didn't understand how these sites work and I was astonished at the amount of ignorance and cruelty in the comments. I've always thought it was fishy the way some comments were selected and translated. At least VIPs now are attacking that worthless site and unveiling these trolls bullshit. I'll never ever forget that Netz comment that wished for Jaejoong's sister to get raped because of a joke Jaejoong told in his concert that was mistranslated and taken out of context. It was shocking I nearly changed my opinion about the korean society as a whole , fortunately someone explained the situation to me.

[PromiscuousBunny]

AJ is the only non-OH kpop site I read these days. whether I agree with a given opinion of theirs or not, I always appreciate their measured approach and honesty. refreshing in an oversaturated quagmire of gossip sites fighting for clicks and views and relevancy lately

 

Same.  It's the only site I trust out of all the Kpop news/translation sites.

[Prompto]

It didn’t help, of course, that the Korean media and sites like Netizen Buzz did what sites like that do and played up the narrative that TOP and YGE somehow faked the severity of the situation even though he was in the ICU.

Inevitably, that led to netizens believing that this was just a “druggie†that was sleeping and trying to get out of duties or something, and that the overdose and all that was media play.

 

 

Yes, good,  drag Netizenbuzz for always demonizing idols and making the scandals worse than they already are, like they did to T-Ara, Bom and now TOP

[Teru]

Same.  It's the only site I trust out of all the Kpop news/translation sites.

 

I class it as more of an opinion blog with updates than a news or translation site, but pretty much. I also guess the casual nature of it makes it more comforting too

[PockyAddict1989]

 

It didn’t help, of course, that the Korean media and sites like Netizen Buzz did what sites like that do and played up the narrative that TOP and YGE somehow faked the severity of the situation even though he was in the ICU.

Inevitably, that led to netizens believing that this was just a “druggie†that was sleeping and trying to get out of duties or something, and that the overdose and all that was media play.

 

 

Yes, good,  drag Netizenbuzz for always demonizing idols and making the scandals worse than they already are, like they did to T-Ara, Bom and now TOP

 

 

This so much, stuff like this makes me glad that i adblock the shit out of her site so she won't get money from my ass ever.

[Teru]

I wish someone pointed that during Yoochun's scandals as well. I'm ashamed that I didn't do it myself , it's because at some point I didn't understand how these sites work and I was astonished at the amount of ignorance and cruelty in the comments. I've always thought it was fishy the way some comments were selected and translated. At least VIPs now are attacking that worthless site and unveiling these trolls bullshit. I'll never ever forget that Netz comment that wished for Jaejoong's sister to get raped because of a joke Jaejoong told in his concert that was mistranslated and taken out of context. It was shocking I nearly changed my opinion about the korean society as a whole , fortunately someone explained the situation to me.

 

unsavoury netizen commentary aside as I also dislike it, what happened with Yoochun is not comparable to TOP's situation and I for one don't appreciate parallels being drawn between them

[King Jaejoong]

unsavoury netizen commentary aside as I also dislike it, what happened with Yoochun is not comparable to TOP's situation and I for one don't appreciate parallels being drawn between them

In what way they're not comparable? I need to know what you mean by that before answering.

[Trinity]

 

 

It didn’t help, of course, that the Korean media and sites like Netizen Buzz did what sites like that do and played up the narrative that TOP and YGE somehow faked the severity of the situation even though he was in the ICU.

 

Um, this site is still hates NB over nonsense yet is using her translated comments for its articles

 

NB just translates the negative comments

 

i do think she should at least translate the highest upvoted positive comment but oh well

 

 

its sad theres a segment of the kr population that thinks like those comments

[SAUCY]

Everybody has been guilty of taking some netizen comments too seriously (me included), but it’s events like this that serve as a quality reminder that we absolutely shouldn’t use them for anything but fodder. Unless the comment itself contains some kind of new information or explanation of their opinion, it’s as relevant as a YouTube comment, so to see people continually be influenced by them is disturbing.

 

 

^^^

 

it's ridiculous that a website like netizenbuzz is as popular as they are. they don't even translate the article so you're not really getting "news." it's big now purely for translating COMMENTS. as if that's important. 

[Teru]

In what way they're not comparable? I need to know what you mean by that before answering.

 

TOP is catching shit for having a mental health issue and ODing after committing a minor crime that involves nobody but himself, Yoochun was accused of a serious crime involving the potential assault of multiple other people with many loose ends.

 

you may of course disagree and I'm aware we don't see eye to eye about the details of the case so I don't care to talk about it, but especially given the vague nature of it I feel the latter rightfully deserves a degree of judgment from the public, and there is nothing sinister about people finding his accusations unpleasant and expressing as such regardless of the outcome of the case or how any of us may otherwise feel about it. yes, there are netizen comments that go too far, and I don't support that, but plenty had every right to feel disgusted or shocked or aghast or whatever.

 

TOP is in the hospital recovering from something that could have killed him after getting lambasted for breaking the law in a relatively small way, Yoochun is getting ready for his wedding and getting on with his life as if nothing happened after a huge case that left many feeling bewildered and unsure what to really think. to me they just aren't comparable.

[Trinity]

 

It didn’t help, of course, that the Korean media and sites like Netizen Buzz did what sites like that do and played up the narrative that TOP and YGE somehow faked the severity of the situation even though he was in the ICU.

Inevitably, that led to netizens believing that this was just a “druggie†that was sleeping and trying to get out of duties or something, and that the overdose and all that was media play.

 

 

Yes, good,  drag Netizenbuzz for always demonizing idols and making the scandals worse than they already are, like they did to T-Ara, Bom and now TOP

 

 

 

How did the NB make those scandals worse??

 

so intl community supposed to just stay in a delusional bubble n not find out whats going in korea regarding those artists? 

 

some kpop fans need to not be so sensitive

 

 

every time i saw 40k upvoted negative comments about jessica, i didnt blame whatever site for translating that cuz its informing me what a segment of the populace is thinking about jess 

 

Smh

[Prompto]

How did the NB make those scandals worse??

 

so intl community supposed to just stay in a delusional bubble n not find out whats going in korea regarding those artists? 

 

some kpop fans need to not be so sensitive

 

 

every time i saw 40k upvoted negative comments about jessica, i didnt blame whatever site for translating that cuz its informing me what a segment of the populace is thinking about jess 

 

Smh

 

It does as far as intl fandom goes....Also the fact that netizenbuzz translates negative comments only and one can't entirely judge what's going on with only negative comments. Soso many netizen comments contain misinformation and biased opinions and a lot of inetz who are gullible or biased against an idol will believe it and spread the incorrect information , thus, obviously making things worst as far as intl fandom goes.

 

May i also remind you that NB never translated the truth of what happened to Bom and didn't translate the clarifications of the T-ARA scandal until years later when it was already useless to do so?

 

you might think what she's doing is only translating negative comments but it does have an influence on people who will believe anything they see on sites like NB without researching, those people tend to be more vocal than the people who make their research before believing anything on sites like koreaboo , NB or allkpop.

[King Jaejoong]

TOP is catching shit for having a mental health issue and ODing after committing a minor crime that involves nobody but himself, Yoochun was accused of a serious crime involving the potential assault of multiple other people with many loose ends.

 

you may of course disagree and I'm aware we don't see eye to eye about the details of the case so I don't care to talk about it, but especially given the vague nature of it I feel the latter rightfully deserves a degree of judgment from the public, and there is nothing sinister about people finding his accusations unpleasant and expressing as such regardless of the outcome of the case or how any of us may otherwise feel about it. yes, there are netizen comments that go too far, and I don't support that, but plenty had every right to feel disgusted or shocked or aghast or whatever.

 

TOP is in the hospital recovering from something that could have killed him after getting lambasted for breaking the law in a relatively small way, Yoochun is getting ready for his wedding and getting on with his life as if nothing happened after a huge case that left many feeling bewildered and unsure what to really think. to me they just aren't comparable.

First it was pretty clear I was only talking about netz who took it too far in the first place I'm conscious of the fact that we are all entitled to our opinions and I fully understand how some people doubt the court's standards . However , as you said, some people took it too far that it was actually shocking given the fact that, the vague nature of the accusation should have given Yoochun the benefit of the doubt . Doubt can never be certain so the way he was treated was taken out of proportion . Specially now after so many details came to light , the harshness of some comments is inacceptable. People should act a little bit more humble and down to earth when expressing mere "doubts",  especially when professionals have shown a rather certain position regarding the issue ( a judge went as far as speaking openly about it to the media , which implied putting his integrity as a citizen and as a professional in a very risky position socially ). 

I don't see what else Yoochun should do in order to satisfy the public. I certainly don't wish for him to live a horrible life or overdose in order to have people apologizing for their shitty behaviour. He's carrying on his life the way he's supposed to as an innocent person. whether people believe he's guilty or not, it shouldn't matter to him, he knows he didn't break any law what so ever , so , if you consider the possibility that he might have been innocent the whole time, it's rather silly to expect anything else from him other than carrying on with his life like nothing happened.

For me they're not comparable because , TOP is being criticized for something that he surely did : he did break a law and if in korea it's a trivial matter , it's surely not the case in many other countries ( in Singapore it's worth the capital sanction for example. It's may be trivial for you or for me but for some international netz at least , it is that big of a crime ) . Compared to someone who seemingly did nothing , the amount of backlash Yoochun is STILL having is unfair to him  .

[sancor26]

PromiscuousBunny

Why you manipulate, these comments were the day before the press conference of the doctors. There were two informations and the public decided to believe the police, because YG manipulates to the means for its benefit and to go out free of everything.

[ros]

PromiscuousBunny

Why you manipulate, these comments were the day before the press conference of the doctors. There were two informations and the public decided to believe the police, because YG manipulates to the means for its benefit and to go out free of everything.

 

 

Not sure what you're trying to say but OP didn't manipulate anything..

 

They got the article from this website: http://www.asianjunkie.com/2017/06/07/netizen-reaction-to-tops-overdose-was-about-as-deluded-worthless-as-expected/

[kobayashi.s]

Why are vips always looking for pity party? Acting like netizen comments are irrelevant yet still actively reading them.

The only people I feel sorry for through this whole thing is TOP's family, especially his mother and his close friends, especially the BB members. TOP himself is far from blameless. The guy LIED about using drugs at first, that should tell you how much he "regretted" his actions, he only regretted that he got caught. If he didn't get ratted out this time, he'd surely continue with illegal drug use after military. To make it worse, his poor mom got dragged into this because he's too scared to face the consequences of his actions and chose the easy way out with alleged suicide attempt. This guy is used to get treated like a special snowflake all his life that the moment he gets called out on something, he freaked.