The Hallyu wave has been captivating many people these days. A lot of people in Korea, America, China, and even Japan have become obsessed with K-pop stars, and especially Korean actors. The main reason of this is because of the celebrities’ good looks and extremely impressive amount of talent. Although all this fangirling and fanboying may be doing good things for the actual stars, it can actually have a negative impact on the fans, who are mostly middle school and high school students.
When students like them are always listening to Korean pop songs, or watching the extremely addicting and amazingly fun Korean dramas, they usually end up falling behind in their studies and school. Those “activities” and “hobbies” – of consuming entertainment – are really time consuming, leaving very little time and concentration for homework and studies.
The majority of these kinds of students are normally Korean, because it is easy for them to understand the Korean culture. However, some other people that are of a different ethnicity also enjoy the Korean entertainment programs. Many Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, and other ethnic groups love the Korean dramas and K-Pop.
Some extremely addicted students can get a bit too caught up with the Korean entertainment genres. For example, some teens can get caught in the fan club of netizens. They end up spending all of their time researching the celebrities, and organizing fan clubs. Also, they spend too much time conversing on the internet with other super fans.
Money is also a very big factor when it comes to supporting fan clubs, fan pages, and just overall being a good fan. When it is the time of the year for K-Pop idol concerts, an extremely large amount of money is spent on the concert tickets and gifts for the celebrities. Additionally, most people want to be able to sit in the expensive VIP seats, as close as possible to the stage. Being able to sit there is a luxury that most people are not able to receive. For many, being a dedicated fan of Korean idols means spending inordinate amounts of care, love, time and money. Is it really worth it?
