“Semenesh and Haven are their own individuals with very different personalities, yet I see so many similarities because of their closeness. They are two souls from opposites sides of the world with different birth mothers who were brought together through adoption, and they’re now inseparable. When we grow beside another, our similarities bloom."
@buzzfeed and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment are launching the “One Book, One New York” program, a new initiative to get everyone in NYC to read the same book at the same time. Voting for which book we’ll be reading opened up this morning; head on over and let us know which book you think every New Yorker should read!
I, and William H. Macy, picked A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.Vote here.
THIS REMAINS UNSOLVED: A fanzine celebrating Buzzfeed Unsolved as a final toast to the show’s end. Our interest check is now OPEN until 19 Dec! Check our carrd in bio for more info!
Where did March even go? This has been a bit half-assed because of time constraints, but idk, read this when you’re bored at work? This edition is a wee bit late; I wanted to wait out the weekend because I went to an excellent art show and I wanted to share pictures. Unfortunately, the Starbucks I had right before that made the rest of the night not great, but I did eat a very tasty cake and the…
Who do you relate to more: Katy or Aria from PLL? “I would say Katy because her story of chasing her dreams and wanting to become a designer reminded me a lot of my story of moving to LA and wanting to become an actress. We both have the same kind of optimism for life. Funnily enough, Katie and Aria are both very romantic, which I am not, so that’s how we differ. But I see a lot of myself in Katy, for sure.“- Lucy Hale by Taylor Miller for BuzzFeed (2020)
(It’s okay guys, I finally found my white shirt. It’s 100% definitely not my dad’s business shirt. Can I please join the minimalist club now?) Have you heard of the minimalist look, or should I say…aesthetic? Well, apparently it’s a thing now. I was recently chatting with a few friends and one of them commented that they had seen my blog but that I just didn’t look like a minimalist, and being…
A word or two about the selfie stick since it seems to have created a bit of a ripple in RA universe the last few weeks.
Hello! I love the selfie stick. I mean it allows the user to show his/her surroundings which means that it’s really about getting something in the photo besides yourself. Wish I’d had one when Armitage Besotted and I were trying to get the Brooklyn Bridge in our selfie. But…
Many of my friends know that I am an avid ARMY (BTS fan). Last week, one of my close friends and I were talking about the concert that I recently went to, and stumbled upon the topic of idolization of BTS. As he looked at the numerous posters that occupied my dorm room walls, he asked me whether I would ever be able to criticize the group if they ever exhibited potentially controversial behaviors. I confidently answered yes, but knew internally that it would take a lot for me to find fault in my favorite group that frankly takes a large part in sustaining my life at Dartmouth. That subconscious thought was challenged today.
My roommate and I watched an interview BTS did with Buzzfeed UK over dinner. Here is the link to the article/video: https://www.buzzfeed.com/…/which-member-of-bts-are-you-quiz…. You can watch the whole thing or skip to 1:25. To provide a little bit of context, BTS took the “Which Member of BTS Are You?” quiz to see if their results actually matched up. I do want to make the point that I know this quiz was not to be taken seriously, as how can answering a couple of questions (such as, “What type of house is your dream house?”) predict which 1 out of 7 complex individuals you are. Anyways, one of the questions was, “Pick a Karaoke Song.” Among the list were songs like New Rules, In My Feelings, Love Lies, and This Is America.
J-Hope, the last member to pick a song, chose This Is America, and immediately started singing and dancing the hook. One of the members (unclear who because the camera focused on J-Hope) replaces the lyrics “Don’t catch you slippin’ up” with “Did you order donkatsu” (Tonkkasŭ shik'yŏnnya) in Korean. Other members proceeded to follow up and repeat this melody/Korean phrase, seemingly unaware of their actions. Truthfully, the Korean phrase sounded so similar to the original lyrics that my roommate (who is a non-Korean-speaking African-American female) did not even catch that they were replacing the lyrics upon first watch. However, I noticed this and promptly paused the video. I explained the situation to her and then asked for her thoughts. She was mainly frustrated because she felt that the song, which has a serious message, was not being taken seriously by BTS. She was also bothered by the fact that only a select group of ARMYs (socially aware Korean-English bilinguals) would notice and understand what happened in those fleeting seconds.
In an NPR analysis of This Is America, Music Hip-Hop journalist Rodney Carmichael stated, “I think in a lot of ways what Glover is trying to do is really bring our focus and our attention to black violence, black entertainment [and] the way they’re juxtaposed in society.” The song has further highlighted the ongoing process of publicly discussing concealed racism, and as someone living in the United States, I appreciated the song’s impactful message. Because of this precise reason, when BTS started casually replacing the lyrics into a trivial Korean phrase, I felt that they were being disrespectful to both the artist and the work itself.
Contextually, I understand that BTS was not mocking or meaning harm in any way, and they were just having fun while singing a bop. However, as they have become very influential public figures, I think they should be more cognizant of their actions. I say this because the reason why I appreciate them as artists is because they advocate for important societal issues, such as discrimination, mental health, abuse, etc. As a group who partly gained respect for taking a firm stance on such issues, I think the actions they took in the video were not entirely appropriate. Even in the recent speech that RM (BTS’s leader and someone I adore) made at the United Nations General Assembly, he said, “We have learned to love ourselves, so now I urge you to ‘speak yourself.’ No matter who you are, where you’re from, your skin color, gender identity: speak yourself.” Because they have such a huge international following, I personally feel that it would be valuable for them to have basic awareness of worldly issues. Basically, practice what you preach, BTS.
I do want to acknowledge that people may think that I am an easily offended individual; some may defend them by saying, “They were just having fun,” “They don’t speak the language,” “They may not be aware of the depth and complexity of social issues in the United States specifically.” However, the frustration is that while there appears to have been no malicious intent, I felt the impact of their actions.
If you want to share your thoughts, please be respectful and civil. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
