bumvirus speaks!
In response to fortyninepointfivebananas’ translation of the conference:
As much legitimacy that poster’s Korean-American background holds among international fans, doesn’t it strike you odd at all that so many Korean fans (nearly 100,000 according to the Daum Cafe count) who too can understand the exact tone and words used during the conference would be so offended? And as many of them have stated in different corners of the Internet, they were not all Jaebeom fans. In fact, some of them were among the most ardent non-Jaebeom member fans. As one fan writes on the Playwares.com board, “진짜 저도 다른 분들이 2PM멤버들 욕할때 쉴드치면서 그럴애들 아니라고 믿었는데 후기들 보니까 그게 아니네요 … 나 진짜 살면서 이렇게 황당한건 처음이다. 나 이제 눈물도 안나옴 지금 부글부글 끓는다. 살면서 친구들한테도 이렇게 큰 배신감 느껴본적도 없었어. 믿 었었는데 이렇게 크게 뒤통수를 치는구나.” (I really believed that when other people were insulting 2PM, that they were not really like that and shielded them. But after listening to the conference, that wasn’t true at all…. This is the first time I ever felt so dumbfounded. Right now, I’m not even crying— I’m simply boiling in anger. I never felt so angered by even friends before. I really believed them, but they really have back-stabbed us.”
I too listened and read the transcripts of the conference. I too wanted to believe and wish the best for 6 members. I, as a Korean raised in a Korean household with expectations on behavior and conduct, too was appalled.
You’re right in that 2PM was polite… most of the time. Of course, they have to be. They know that they can’t rage in the conference without severe repercussions. But despite their carefully selected words, there were lapses in decorum. While I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this reveals their inner deceitfulness, they were —at the very least— still offensive.
Take for the example of the older female fan. Regardless of what you think the proper age of a 2Pm should be, Korean etiquette demands that you treat your elders with respect. And, yes, she did ramble on somewhat incoherently. But while you take this to be a meaningless rant, I take it as a fan who is so distraught by the situation that, when given the opportunity to ask 2PM herself, had lost her composure from her severe hurt.
How did Taecyon respond? “질문이 뭐에요 확실히 못알아듣겠네요 다시 한번 해주세요..” Or, “What is the question? I can’t quite understand. Please ask again.” I think even in English, it’s somewhat belligerent to answer thus without perhaps a, “I beg your pardon,” or an apology of some sort. And without going into an argument over proper Korean etiquette, I know this as much— if my mother or father ever heard me respond to an elder in that manner, they would make me apologize to the person immediately and then apologize themselves for not having raised me properly.
And more than being disrespectful, Taecyeon’s response showed that he was less interested in the pain of a 2PM fan, than getting this Q&A session over. Instead of hearing her cries for help and reason, all he heard was “blah blah blah.” And the fact that Junsu had to step in immediately and respond, “이런.. 결정을 내린 모습을 저희가 어머님께 보여드려서 죄송하구요,” ([pause] We are very sorry for the fact that we had to show ourselves having made such a decision…” only goes to show that even his band mate Junsu was shocked by Taecyeon’s response and felt the need to ameliorate the situation.
This response has already become far too much longer than I expected, so I’ll leave with the other most salient remark. There is no possibly way that you could argue the phrase, “깽판이라도 칠까요?” (should we have made asses of ourselves?) is polite. There is a reason that overnight ChanSeong’s nickname has become Hwang-KkaengPan.
As I said, the boys were for the polite, for the most part. But that’s a given and to be expected. It’s the lapses that reveal more and have far more reaching repercussions.
P.S. Didn’t the 49bananas poster admit that she only listened to a portion? Admittedly, 2PM were incredilby polite the first hour or so, but it’s only as the conference dragged on that they began to lose composure.
reposted with permission.
