181005 Taehyung VLive

It's the difference between original music and a cover. Singing someone else's lyrics in English (less traction locally) versus their own music in their native language, which can be immediately understood.

And look, I understand that you're not going to be dissuaded about this. But please try to understand. You're bringing western sensibilities to an issue where that can't apply. You're making this as simple as 'this must simply have been homophobia because this sounds homophobic to me', and it's not that simple.

It is not easy to be a queer artist in Korea. The climate is very, very conservative. The construction of identity is different. People have different social responsibilities and attitudes. You just can't apply the same standards you would to an American or European artist. You don't have to like it, but that's how it IS.

Look at Holland. He has to crowdfund his album. Why? Because no company is going to front the money for an openly gay artist to make music. Holland's crowdfunding will--I guarantee--be almost entirely sourced from foreign fans. His fanbase is overwhelmingly foreign. Holland is NOT a success story.

And BTS have far, far more to worry about than Holland. Their profile is orders of magnitude bigger, they have an inordinately longer distance to fall than Holland does if they make a 'wrong' move. You're not clicking to what a worst case scenario any kind of credible gay rumors are for a successful Kpop artist.

SO. If this decision was made with any kind of queer optics in mind, it is extremely likely because the company wants to protect its artists. I'm sorry that you don't like that. You don't have to. But short of changing the culture of an entire country overnight, this is how it'll be. I genuinely think you're angry at the wrong thing.

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