I am going to add my voice to the endless throng. Look, I realize that Hallyu stars like to push themselves and all. It's not necessarily their big bad management telling them to kill themselves. BUT, let's get some perspective here. These kids are in their early 20's in a lot of cases. Kim Hyun Joong just turned 23 years old (24 in Korea). We are not talking middle-aged adults who have had years to develop the wisdom to decide when they've had enough. No, what I fault their companies for is using these kids' unhealthy drive to their advantage. Instead of reining them in, they seem quite happy to let them run ragged until they literally collapse from exhaustion or worse.
In a lot of these cases, managers are in an almost parental role, or at least that of close aunt or uncle. There is no way they don't see the bags under the eyes and the bleary expressions, or, in other cases, the drops in emotional state. It is simply not enough to say, "Are you ok?" and go at that. In cultures in which responsibility is so highly prized, I highly doubt the likelihood of getting a straight answer.
The thing is, these companies control so much of these kids' lives as it is. What I want to see is management saying "You are not ok. You will rest. Right now." Is that too much to ask?
0 comments:
Post a Comment