K-Pop Craze

         Looking into the american industry, we see one thing that is apparent. The lack of Asian Americans in the american entertainment. If we go into a movie theatre, almost 70% of the time, it's a White main lead with supporting roles from the minorities which includes Asian Americans. WHY?! Why is it difficult to find an Asian actor and or actress with a main lead? Any reasons? Simple, because of the "barrier" that's built around the American entertainment industry. Movies such as "21," "Avatar," "DragonBall Z," all consisted of ASIAN ethnic story plots. However, with the American entertainment, it's evident in how they want to conceal the media through a minimum amount of Asians as possible.

   Why is that Asian centered series are white washed into movies where there are no trace of any type of Asians involvement? Not only with movies, but Asians are forced to become a minority when dealing with the entertainment business in general. Even K-Pop stars such as Boa, Wonder Girls, Girls Generation all tried in breaking the American entertainment business but failed miserably. What exactly is the cause behind this? Language barrier, inability to open up the American industry with foreign power or maybe even simply because it's out of the norm. Koreans have been constantly trying to persuade the American viewers that, they too have the ability to become entertainers and to break into the American entertainment bubble.

 What's for sure is that everyone will recognize Psy from "Gangnam Style," and my job is to find out why. Not being the typical Korean idol cookie cutter image, Psy was not just any Korean who made it into a overnight star in the States. The way Psy used his cool and nonchalant techniques to his language efficiency, Psy was prone to making it big in the states. I will be trying to understand the idea and concept of the Korean Pop fandom and seek the answers in why some stars make it big where as others are not even recognized.

Works Cited 

"Gangnam Style’s U.S. Popularity Has Koreans Puzzled, Gratified." Speakeasy RSS. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/08/28/gangnam-style-viral-popularity-in-u-s-has-koreans-puzzled-gratified/>.

"Hallyu 2.0: The New Korean Wave in the Creative Industry." Hallyu 2.0: The New Korean Wave in the Creative Industry. Web. 3 Dec. 2014. <http://quod.lib.umich.edu/i/iij/11645653.0002.102/--hallyu-20-the-new-korean-wave-in-the-creative-industry?rgn=main;view=fulltext>.

Michel, Patrick. "Does Korean Pop Actually Have a Shot at Success in the U.S.?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

<http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/01/does-korean-pop-actually-have-a-shot-at-success-in-the-us/252057/>.

 Heewon Kim

Convergence 

Professor Cacoilo