This reminded me of this reddit post about idols debuting very young and how it affects them
I doubt this is unpopular but i have some shit to say, because i made them mistake of checking Twitter and now im pissed the fuck off. This is really just about male idols, female idols is a whole other mess that im not in the mood to get into.
There is this thing called Arrested Development Syndrome. Basically if someone goes into prison at 17 gets out 30 years later mentally they are still 17. This is the most literal example. We've all seen the headlines of child stars going "crazy" or going "off the rails". And of course they had their entire developmental process halted when they where young so when they finally get to this point where they have some version of freedom, they do all the immature stuff they would have when they where younger. Basically what im saying is the entire Kpop industry is a recipe for Arrested Development Syndrome (ADS)
EDIT: this is not a mental disorder its a by product of living in a very restrictive environment. It's common in teen parents, prisoner, and child that was an interim parent for their siblings, and in entertainer, really anything that has disrupted the typical course of development a person goes through when growing up. IM NOT DIAGNOSING ANYONE WITH ANYTHING.
When you throw these literal kids, some who haven't even entered high school yet, when they debuted into an environment as intense as Korean entertainment, you are basically just guaranteeing that these kids will all have some form of ADS. They put bans on normal life experiences these kids are supposed to have when growing up. You y'all are surprised that their mentality is so fucking screwed up they are told how to act forced into molds of what the proper idol is supposed to look like. And i have great example of how this is damaging.
Jungkooks over all mentality and the way he seems to look at life is super fucking messed up. I've noticed it and it's honestly sad. He's always just seems guilty about completely normal things. I remember hearing him say he didn't deserve of be happy on a trip because he upset some of his fans ( this was the dating scandal with his tattoo artist). And the fans where upset over literally nothing.I feel like in a lot ways he's still that 15 year old kid that debuted 7 years ago. And he wasn't able to have proper life experiences, because they weren't allowed.
It's not just Jungkook literally almost every person in Kpop has this mentality. I see it come out when people get injured they just feel this pointless guilt, like they are humans, for fucks sake you are allowed to get injured, they shouldn't have to feel guilty about it. I see it when they get caught in a quote on quote scandal, when let's be honestly unless it's something that's actually illegal or immoral then it's not a fucking scandal. These quote on quote scandals mainly dating scandals are literal normal life experiences they are supposed to have.
Another thing growing up is already hard enough, i can't even imagine how much worse doing it in the spotlight is. But there's another thing, whether y'all believe or not these company's are gonna force these kids into some sort of mold that they need to fulfil. And this can be damaging especially if they begin to question whether they are actually themselves or just a by product of some company. And that thought just in theory is enough go piss me off and make me feel sad for them. Something about the way all of this is set up is just a recipe for disaster when it comes to mental health.
The problem with have these kids debut so young is they are thrown into a system that seems to teach them not to stand up for themselves and to not call people out on their bullshit, they are complacent, when they shouldn't be. They are being forced to skip important life experiences. But at least they have those 2 years of military service where they can be treated like actual human beings for once in their damn lives, and not just like a means of entertainment.
People are gross and they will always be sexualized because we live in a society that puts sex on this pedestal, there's not much we can do about that. But it probably wouldn't be as bad if they where ALLOWED TO CALL PEOPLE OUT ON IT they shouldn't be taught to just take it. And the industry itself doesn't help. FOR FUCKS SAKE DO NOT ASK A MINOR TO DO A SEX DANCE YOU SICK FUCKS. All in all this industry is creating a whole lot of ticking time bombs. And it'll and interesting when the people finally explode.
The irony is it really doesn't even matter because they have restrictions when they become trainees as well so even if they debut when they where an adult they are still gonna have been banned from having those life experiences.
I completely agree with this and I believe this is what happened with Michael Jackson and Britney spears too they were thrown to the industry too young and it stunted their growth and I fear jeykey is gonna go off rails too when he gets free and that's why hybe keeps him in the "Golden cage" I fear for what will happen to these guys when they go to the military if any one of them goes to active duty we are gonna see a huge storm break out in the military infinitely worse than what we've seen with GD or Taemin's experience
