The recent uprising of bullying allegations towards K-pop idols; a phenomenon resemblant to Weinstein effect?

[SLY]

Quite a long post ahead!

First of all, I would like to clarify that I don't intend to compare bullying to sexual harassment nor say whichever of the one is worse. What I'm talking about is how people coming forward may have inspired other people to do so as well, by the way which is NOT mob mentality 'cuz that's completely different. If this offends anyone (in relation to Me Too/Weinstein Effect), I'm sorry and please tell me and I'll change the title. If there is a more applicable term, please do tell me as well.

Anyways...

With the recent influx of allegations towards idols claiming that some particular idols who are quite popular used to be bullies when they were younger, many speculations are made. Based on my observation, there are some fans who are very quick to guard or defend their idols using the circumstances as proof to debunk whichever allegations. For example, for TOO's Woongi's bullying allegations, some were quick to say that those may be all made up by people who don't like the positive image Woonggi got through his acts of promoting Covid protocol and LGBT awareness. I would like to stress that at this point I don't believe that s/he is guilty/innocent unless sufficient evidence surfaces. As a fan of Lovelyz, Jisoo was entangled with rumors that ultimately ruined her debut and scarred her career (which then turned out false).

International fans are somehow also very quick to defend their idols based on the images they built. XX is such a kind person, XX can't do that! XX won't bully anyone! What I  observed is that they are also very quick to reflect the allegations claiming that they are just false reports to ruin an image.

Now, if you are a member of r/kpop, you may have already seen this thread:

Basically, it's about what may have caused the current uprising of people coming forward with their sentiments against who they claim to be their bullies when they were younger. In a nutshell, these are:

1. To take advantage of Naver's most searched bar before it gets removed.
2. There was a bullying claim involving volleyball players where the allegations turned out to be true and the volleyball players faced consequences.
3. Koreans had always been keen and sensitive with bullying.

More emphasis onto the 2nd matter, it's what made me feel like this could all very much resemble the reasoning behind #MeToo. Since some of the people involved are affiliated with rather big entertainment labels and rarely if pointing out the truth which can defame someone still can incriminate the victim, they may definitely be wary and scared. But then, with the case of the two volleyball players where we can say they suffered the consequences to their actions, this may have sparked something inside the other people keeping all the pain within themselves that there is hope. Notice how the list just gets longer?

However, a big but (bigger than Kim Kardashian's), is that these may all be used just to tarnish someone's reputation by haters. It's a sad world we're living in right now and evil is always there. This may even impede the cause of those who are actually looking for justice. Makes me realize how the animal I despise the most is human.

Now, what should people believe in? I'll be Catherine Obvious and say that I personally believe that we should all wait to see what this unfolds into before making judgments. As a mental health advocate, I believe this situation may cause grave scarring to both sides. If the allegations are true yet the majority won't believe it because the idol is known to have a kind image, then the victim of bullying will only get more hurt, however if the allegations are false yet the public believes it, then the idols will be the ones getting scarred. Although it's already a given, I believe that we should all refrain from making remarks that discredit any of the sides to prevent further damage and wait for concrete or actual evidence. People think that remarks such as a plain "LOL" is harmless but putting that into context, commenting those three letters to something where a person is depicting hardships and pain or an explanation letter by an idol who's claiming to be wronged by the allegations does ridicule and discredit the accounts. What's also destructive is claiming that what's happening right now is something that targets only popular/rising idols done by fans of their competition or other groups. Saying "I fully support bullying victims" but then proceed to defend idols is a passive-aggressive way of saying "that's not true". 

Personally, I'll keep my opinions reserved this time. I'm a fan of some whose rumors popped up (HJ, WG) but at the same time, I was bullied witnessed with my own eyes bullying victims losing life (figuratively and literally) even years after the bullying has been done. As a volunteer in a mental health NGO, I encountered some people who are already in their twenties and thirties who are still carrying the pain of the bullying they experienced back when they were teenagers. I fully understand how some can quickly defend their idols, I would have done so if it were years ago. The dilemma is there, but now I understand that there are two sides of the coin and we should wait for definitive proof before we make judgments. 

"Hasty judgments begets remorse." - German proverbs

I may have written this long post but I'm still somewhat conflicted one one thing or two but it's something I'm already working on within myself, please just go on and don't mind me. Stay safe everyone and go stream Panorama by IZ*ONE.

[SLY]

3 minutes ago, satoori said:

Basically everyone should read all sides carefully before automatically jumping to conclusions. 

It's difficult to tell what's true and what's not. 

I agree. Hence why we should not make hasty judgments which can discredit accounts of explanation or allegation.

With "most allegations being hearsay', I don't have the extensive knowledge about the bullying allegations dating from before but some that I know of are barely hearsay and most are personal experience. I know some by which a settlement has been reached and of course those who are proven false but I don't have the evidence to prove that most are hearsay. Nevertheless, it means that at least some are true and we still should be careful of the remarks we make.