# BTS-have you heard of them? The ads have officially turned sentient **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2019, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426 "2019-05-03T16:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/81 "2019-05-07T21:45:32Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I’d heard _of_ them, but never seen / heard them until the SNL appearance. I’m certainly not their target market and I also realize that the cycle of life dictates that at some point most of us wonder at "that crap those young whippersnappers are listening to (on my lawn!)! That being said, I tried to view them as I would have when I was 12. My first thought was “no way in hell”. There’s no way to say for sure; when you’re that age and everyone is into something, it’s pretty hard not to get swept up also. But, I mean, are they supposed to be attractive to girls? Do Korean tastes in what makes a heartthrob differ from western tastes? Maybe a better question for those who like them or have kids who like them is are they perceived as “sex symbols”? My son, age 9, loves them. They’re his favorite band now. That’s why I’ve heard so many of their songs. As I’ve said, I can take them or leave them. They have some good songs, but many mediocre. He’s not into girls (or boys, in that way) yet, by way. He just think they look and sound cool. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/82 "2019-05-07T22:23:58Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > If we’re going Asian bands, try Mongolian metal with The Hu Band. I like the j-pop girl band Perfume. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/83 "2019-05-08T11:20:54Z")
Not until this thread. I originally opened this thinking it was about a serial killer in the Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/84 "2019-05-08T11:47:51Z")
I’ve heard of them and indeed heard them (on television). They’re just the latest in a long line of generic, overproduced, overstyled, overmarketed heartthrob bands churning out immediately-forgettable music and a metric shit-ton of merch. They’re the NKOTB of a new generation. This too shall pass. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2019, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/85 "2019-05-08T14:42:57Z")
BTW, as much as I love K-Pop, I’m sure this is just a fad that will be forgotten year from now. As mentioned upthread, while BTS (and Blackpink) are good, there’s nothing that really makes them all that different from any number of other Korean acts, and they’re not the first to attempt to crack the U.S. market. I remember seeing Girl’s Generation appearing on Letterman, and CL on James Cordon, for example. (I don’t count “Gangnam Style”, since that was never really more than a novelty song that went viral.) BTS just happened to be the ones on top at the moment K-Pop finally stuck in the West. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/86 "2019-05-09T00:12:15Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Do Korean tastes in what makes a heartthrob differ from western tastes? Maybe a better question for those who like them or have kids who like them is are they perceived as “sex symbols”? This whole thing is fucking stupid. (The OP, not your post.) They are obviously Asian men. Pretty boys, with some makeup but no worse than countless other popular singers. Prince, David Bowie, and Boy George, to name a few, were far more androgynous. They are wearing male clothing. They have male haircuts. They look like young Asian adult males. The only thing is a bit of makeup, something that’s been part of popular music only for the last 50 years. I asked some of my students, middle school and high school age kids, if they looked androgynous. They looked at me like I was crazy. They are males. Period. Here are a few voice actors from Japan as examples of Asian performers. [https://honeysanime.com/top-5-seiyuu-perfect-for-male-protagonists-japan-poll/](https://honeysanime.com/top-5-seiyuu-perfect-for-male-protagonists-japan-poll/) I wouldn’t discount casual racism as a factor. By causal racism, I mean that the OP may not think himself as racist and possibly doesn’t intentionally look down on Asians. However, I first lived in Asia almost 40 years ago so I’ve talked to or read thoughts concerning Asians from thousands and thousands of Westerners over the years, and I see lot of racism. Mostly mild, like this. Sometimes worse. It’s pretty easy to mock Asians. They’re shorter, usually with smaller physiques. They don’t even have much facial or chest hair. I’m not surprised at all to see them thought of as not human. That’s pretty much the history of the interaction between the West and the “Orient” from the very beginnings of direct contact. At least this time we didn’t get the squinty eyes thing. Unfortunately, while there has been a lot of progress in getting rid of racism, or at least driving it underground, some people get super defensive about it. Unconscious bias is something which plagues us all. Hell, I grew up as a very conservative Mormon with the traditional beliefs in the superiority of white males. It takes a lot of work to identify and eliminate bias. As far as the taste in music. I’m not into k-pop, j-jop or whatever-else-pop. I’m not really into recent pop music from America either. I’m just another middle-age man approaching becoming an old man. I’d tell you to get off my lawn, but we don’t have lawns here. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/87 "2019-05-09T00:29:50Z")
Jesus Christ. Look, I meant the OP to be in good fun. I had never seen the phenomenon of kpop before and i found it humorous. And I likened them to alien-like sentient beings, not to girls, boys or “androgynous males”. I honestly meant no offense or mockery. If anything I mocked _myself_ for becoming a old, has-been who doesn’t “get-it” and wants these young’uns to turn that racket down! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/88 "2019-05-09T01:04:39Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Jesus Christ. Look, I meant the OP to be in good fun. I had never seen the phenomenon of kpop before and i found it humorous. And I likened them to alien-like sentient beings, not to girls, boys or “androgynous males”. I honestly meant no offense or mockery. If anything I mocked _myself_ for becoming a old, has-been who doesn’t “get-it” and wants these young’uns to turn that racket down! 😉 Clearly, the solution is for you to stop getting old. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/89 "2019-05-09T10:00:44Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Jesus Christ. Look, I meant the OP to be in good fun. I had never seen the phenomenon of kpop before and i found it humorous. And I likened them to alien-like sentient beings, not to girls, boys or “androgynous males”. You say that, but… > [@Ambivalid](#): > > Watching that damn video, I had no fucking clue whether i was watching a boy band, a girl band or a clay band. Look, I’m not going to beat you up about this but they’re clearly boys. Horribly overstyled boys, but boys. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/90 "2019-05-09T10:46:37Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > You say that, but… > Look, I’m not going to beat you up about this but they’re clearly boys. Horribly overstyled boys, but boys. I didn’t mean for that to imply that i thought they were “girly boys” but rather _neither_ girls nor boys, hence my “smooth everywhere” remark. I was trying, and failing, to paint a comedic picture of genderless, sexless sentient advertisements that had evolved from normal ads that couldnt get past things like adblockers, tivo, etc. If I had intended to make fun of their “girliness”, it would have been an entirely different thread. I was making fun at what i perceived as their “genderlessness”. If this in and of itself _is_ actually the problem, then I apologize and maybe I do have some unconscious bias that I’m not in touch with. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/91 "2019-05-09T11:33:00Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > That’s true of pretty much any band, though. Heck, some of the Beatles work was mediocre, and they filled basically the same niche. K-Pop is just generally popular these days, as parts of the world that have only recently had the ability to reach large audiences start developing their own musical traditions and phenomena. This isn’t my cup of tea, but even I can recognize that it’s light-years better than, say, “Gangnam Style” or that weird Chinese Apple Tree song. The only meaningful difference is that the Boomers (aka TPTB) have declared their own crappy boyband “special”. “But, but, this is really awful” is what every generation ever said about the next generations taste in music. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/92 "2019-05-09T13:06:53Z")
I wish Led Zeppelin would go back on tour (w/Bohnam’s son). _THAT_ would teach these damned fool kids what real music is. :: pulls on grumpy shirt and cranky pants :: You could substitute Van Halen. Hell, I’d even take a KISS or even the Ramones. Anything but this “BTS” dischord, cacophany, and din. Tripler “Trip, what about an REO Speedwagon?” Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s not get too hasty here. . . ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/93 "2019-05-09T13:59:23Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > […] > As far as the taste in music. I’m not into k-pop, j-jop or whatever-else-pop. I’m not really into recent pop music from America either. I’m just another middle-age man approaching becoming an old man. I’d tell you to get off my lawn, but we don’t have lawns here. I would love it if you told us all to get off of your lawn to [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIpvUJ5VAaw) tune. I hope this does not come across as ageism 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/94 "2019-05-09T15:52:14Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I’d heard _of_ them, but never seen / heard them until the SNL appearance. I’m certainly not their target market and I also realize that the cycle of life dictates that at some point most of us wonder at "that crap those young whippersnappers are listening to (on my lawn!)! That being said, I tried to view them as I would have when I was 12. My first thought was “no way in hell”. There’s no way to say for sure; when you’re that age and everyone is into something, it’s pretty hard not to get swept up also. But, I mean, are they supposed to be attractive to girls? Do Korean tastes in what makes a heartthrob differ from western tastes? Maybe a better question for those who like them or have kids who like them is are they perceived as “sex symbols”? That’s the perplexing thing to me (a 46 year old man)- these guys not only look young, but they look girly and effeminate. Most Western boy bands just have young, not overly masculine, but not overly feminine looking members, and usually that one older, more masculine looking member. I mean, look at BTS [here](https://www.grammy.com/sites/com/files/styles/news_detail_header/public/bts_red-carpet_2019_grammys_1097513762.jpg?itok=6jbGWPbi), versus NSYNC [here](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/41400000/-NSYNC-1997-2001-nsync-41418124-559-560.jpg). Neither band is going to be confused with a biker gang or squad of Marines, but there’s just something more fundamentally girly about BTS that baffles me as to how they could be considered sex symbols or heartthrobs. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/95 "2019-05-09T15:58:00Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > You could substitute Van Halen. Hell, I’d even take a KISS or even the Ramones. KISS is touring this year, as are The Who and Queen. The Rollings Stones would have toured except for Mick Jagger’s surgery. You may be getting AC/DC and Def Leppard as well. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/96 "2019-05-09T17:42:31Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s the perplexing thing to me (a 46 year old man)- these guys not only look young, but they look girly and effeminate. Most Western boy bands just have young, not overly masculine, but not overly feminine looking members, and usually that one older, more masculine looking member. > > I mean, look at BTS [here](https://www.grammy.com/sites/com/files/styles/news_detail_header/public/bts_red-carpet_2019_grammys_1097513762.jpg?itok=6jbGWPbi), versus NSYNC [here](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/41400000/-NSYNC-1997-2001-nsync-41418124-559-560.jpg). > > Neither band is going to be confused with a biker gang or squad of Marines, but there’s just something more fundamentally girly about BTS that baffles me as to how they could be considered sex symbols or heartthrobs. I don’t completely understand it myself, but believe me: They are considered huge sex symbols among the teen girl crowd. Times have changed. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/97 "2019-05-09T22:53:51Z")
Keep in mind, they’re from Korea. It’s a very different culture with a different aesthetic. Now I’m not in their target market, but it seems that part of the appeal of the current K-Pop wave is that they aren’t trying to mold their image to adapt to the U.S. market. And really, I’m not so sure it’s all that different to the glam rock and hair metal styles I grew up listening to. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2019, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/98 "2019-05-09T23:49:04Z")
Of course there is an earlier Asian band that [managed a hit in the US](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3QSDh9Vf-Y). Sadly, they were a one-hit wonder. > [@Jet\_Jaguar](#): > > Keep in mind, they’re from Korea. It’s a very different culture with a different aesthetic. [Kkonminam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kkonminam) [seems to be](https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&tbm=isch&q=kkotminam&spell=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiazr6Cz4_iAhWhIDQIHYLDDOQQBQg9KAA&biw=1408&bih=703&dpr=1.36) the proper term. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/99 "2019-05-10T03:29:25Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I don’t completely understand it myself, but believe me: They are considered huge sex symbols among the teen girl crowd. Times have changed. The aesthetics may have changed, but teen heart-throbs have always been less than overtly masculine. There were complaints about Elvis’ big eyes and wavy hair (there’s a reference to that in Moore’s “Watchmen” series), and that continued through the long-haired, tight-jeaned 70s and onward. The K-pop guys have worn some (to me) laugh-out-loud get-ups in their videos (watch “Fantastic Baby”), sure, but so did Prince and Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426/100 "2019-05-10T15:26:42Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Neither band is going to be confused with a biker gang or squad of Marines, but there’s just something more fundamentally girly about BTS that baffles me as to how they could be considered sex symbols or heartthrobs. I, for one, am shocked that your taste in men differs from that of a teenage Korean girl 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bts-have-you-heard-of-them-the-ads-have-officially-turned-sentient/833426.md?page=6)