Episode 3: The Other Side of the Coin
In late October, CNN released an article to provide some insight into the wild world of ARMY which started off as a promising article. Overall, it could have been a lot worse as far as introductions go, but there were places where it could have gone deeper. In fact, the introduction asks the fundamental question “Who is ARMY?”, yet at the end of the article, we are left feeling unfulfilled.
Attempting to define ARMY is as complicated as trying to codify a human being into a few succinct phrases. By stating that you have the complete measure of ARMY and can explain it, you have already failed in your mission. There are as many facets to the ARMY movement as there are to each individual ARMY.
That being said, if you ask the question, you should try to provide the answer - and this is where CNN’s article drops the ball.
The Okay Points
It is incorrect to say that ARMY won’t give credit where credit is due - in fact, we have ourselves. If an article does something well, ARMY does not leave it unknown. So, what does this article do well?
First, though we don’t agree with the majority of the points that the article makes, the overall tone of this piece is professional. This professional tone allows them to present some information that is factually or statistically correct.
For example, in one section, they state:
“BTS has won the Billboard Music Award for Top Social Artist three years in a row. The group’s latest record, ‘Map of the Soul: Persona,’ recently became the best-selling album of all time in South Korea, with more than 3.3 million copies sold. And one of the songs on the album, ‘Boy With Luv,’ holds the record for most YouTube views within 24 hours (74.6 million).”
This is all factually accurate and verifiable. It’s just one example; there are a few others as well (see the section titled “Joining the club”). It could have been a great deal worse from this perspective.
The writers also did their due diligence to interview a trustworthy selection of sources that will help put together the article. They spoke with one of the co-founders of One in an ARMY (OIAA) and a selection of K-ARMYs. This is also a positive thing.
On the surface, this looks like a relatively solid article.
However, ARMY isn’t satisfied with a surface-level analysis. We aren’t satisfied with a cursory read-through and awarding it a “job well done.” There are things about this article that aren’t as well done and which are very subtle that a surface-level analysis wouldn’t find them.
But we did.
The Bad Points
As you progress through the article, you slowly begin to encounter more and more things that aren’t blatantly problematic but reveal themselves to be problematic the more you think about them.
The article begins its narration by asking who ARMY is and why they are so dedicated. Then the article quickly shifts into an essay on how ARMY streams BTS MVs and singles so “their idols stay at the top of the music charts.”
Out of the seven sections of the article, four of them mention or feature streaming. In a way, this somehow became the focus of the article, when in reality streaming is only one part of ARMY’s efforts to support BTS.
OIAA co-founder Erika Overton was interviewed to talk about her efforts as part of the organization to encourage donations to charities in BTS’s name. The idea of giving back in various ways is a huge part of the fandom. However, the section of the article dedicated to this concept doesn’t spend much time talking about the organization’s projects. It discusses one of their earliest projects but doesn’t address how the foundation has grown and how it sponsors specific projects during the birth months of each of BTS’s members, nor does it mention overall contributions from the many projects which OIAA has highlighted since its formation in 2018.
Additionally, the section is titled “An ARMY of workers” and states that international fans have been working to “harness the hysteria” (emphasis ours) for good, both of which have negative connotations. The first implies a sort of mindless following, while the second implies that craziness accompanies that mindless following - a dangerous combination that isn’t entirely accurate (though it does happen sometimes).
As you can see in the images above, the next section, titled “When the wave turns” then focuses on the negative aspects of the fandom. With a group of people 22 million strong (and counting), there are bound to be incidents when the fandom is imperfect. This is true. There are times when ARMY behaviors need to be called out so that ARMY can learn from the experience and encourage personal growth. We, too, make mistakes.
That being said, if you’re going to call attention to negative behaviors, make sure you find a good example to back you up.
According to the writers of this article, “when an Australian television presenter in June introduced BTS as ‘the biggest band you’ve never heard of,’ ARMY immediately took action on social media to accuse the network of ‘racism and xenophobia.’”
That is, if we may be frank, a very cursory analysis of why ARMY was so incensed about the TV segment. If you watch the segment again, you can see there was a lot more to it. In the segment, one person states that “when I heard something Korean had exploded in America, I got worried,” concluding that it “could have been worse...but not much worse.” They also mocked their singing, and one person (a comedienne) joked that four of the members could be fired so that they could hire a sedan to take them places and give everyone a bit of “legroom.”
So, no, CNN - it wasn’t about how the program implied that people hadn’t heard of the group. It was more pressing than that.
Conclusions
Overall, to borrow a line from that Australian program, this article could have been worse… but not much worse.
Our score:
💜
What ultimately prevents this article from being in the negatives is that it does do a couple of things right. However, it is still not a great representation of ARMY, what we do, and what we stand for.
It spends more time talking about streaming efforts than it does about the concept of giving back. It spends more time implying that ARMY mindlessly jumps into battle for the smallest of slights than it does highlighting how there are other media personalities who have stated that ARMY is very friendly and welcoming.
The piece concludes with the paragraphs in the above two images. There’s a negative implication here that dreaming about a thing makes a person obsessive when in reality it’s common to dream about things that have meaning to you. In addition, they state that their source “leaves comments on their online live streams, hoping that they’ll notice she exists,” which, while perhaps not the worst way it could be stated, still leaves a funny taste in the mouth, like eating something sweet and tasting sour instead.
There is so much about ARMY that isn’t in this article. There’s no mention, for example, on how ARMY connects with BTS because of how real they are. It does not discuss in any depth how BTS resonates with ARMY because they promote a message of self-love and acceptance of yourself as you are and encouraging people to be themselves as opposed to conforming to the standard society has set up for them. It does not even touch at the surface level how ARMY relates to BTS because they are so open about their personal struggles with depression, anxiety, and mental health issues that are kept hush-hush in many cultures, including their own.
In summary, the article only makes a surface-level attempt to answer the fundamental question that is asked in the beginning: who is ARMY, and why are we so dedicated?
There was so much that could have been said but that was skipped in favor of the “stream bot” agenda. There was so much that could have been covered to really show both the positive and the negative sides of being an ARMY. However, the article just… stopped. At the end of the story, we expected to find some attempt to answer the question, but we were left scratching our heads.
Allow us to take a stab at it instead.
We are dedicated to supporting BTS because we relate to them. We relate to BTS because they are real and open - a refreshing change for a lot of us. We connect with BTS because we believe in what they stand for. We support them because their messages have inspired, helped, or moved us in some way.
To believe that we at Borasaek Vision, a small cross-section of ARMY, could completely define every ARMY’s reason for loving BTS and wanting to support them would be a terrible mistake. Each individual ARMY has their own personal reasons, from the simple (“I like their music”) to the complex (“they helped me in a time when I needed it most”). But one thing is the same for each and every one of us: we support them because we believe in them, and no amount of articles dismissing us as mindless hordes can take that away.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any audio & visual content in this video except for the editing. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS. No copyright infringement intended.
Written By: Anna Moon
Edit By: Euni
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