Lessons (not) to learn from: Idols & Scandals Edition
by WasshoiJ · September 11, 2013
Let’s face it, the idols we’ve come to love and adore are young, cute and also pretty foolish at the same time. Well, what did you expect? These members were just your everyday teens and kids attending school with a normal life before entering idolhood. They knew nothing much about the complexities of the working world, and are hardly at the maturity level that is demanded from it. As a result, many idols fall into the traps of the entertainment world and end up with short-lived careers.
Now I love these girls and would pretty much want for all them to remain in their state of bliss and lovey dovey with the group forever. The recent news about the double resignations upset me and I certainly wish that they could have went on with a more successful career. Besides, think of all the love, care and attention that people have invested into them….
So, to all my beloved idols, I have prepared the following article for you – it’s sort of a crash course into scandalhood. While I may not be an idol myself and thus can’t share first-hand experiences and tips with any of you, I wish to point out that many of your seniors had already taken falls and hence can show us many lessons that we all can learn from. Starting from…
Lesson 1: No sitting next to a boy in the bus
Because you know, people may get the wrong idea. Besides, why is that person so special and why can he sit so close to my idol??
In this case, public reaction was so bad that Airi (from C-ute and Hello Project) had to publicly apologize on her blog (English translation) and it caused so much distress to the other person that he got depressed. So girls, sit only besides other girls when in the bus. Better still, sit next to another member and take a picture together. Us shippers will love you more for that!
Lesson 2: No badmouthing of the group after leaving
I think readers here may be very familiar with the series of events that turned out after Cleopatra’s fateful departure from JKT48 and her subsequent TV interviews on popular shows. While I can share some empathy with her because of a difficult work environment (we’ve all come across those before), it is unfortunate that her comments, although honest and sincere, has caused quite a stir (aka drama) as well as divide casual and dedicated fans. Fellow female blogger, “Half of Heart” has also noticed a similar outcome. She writes in her blog
“…At first, the fans were at Cleo’s side, but because of this, many of them moved to JOT’s side…. Somehow, it’s surprising to see the fans, from supporting her changed to abuse her. Her haters, maybe? But her true fans are of course, still exist. They planned a fan project by writing 1000 fanletters for her, how kind of them.” – Half of Heart
To put it bluntly, badmouthing the group without tact will lose you fans, and gain zero or negative PR points. It also burns the bridges that you’ve painstakingly built from your time with the group and it leaves a sour taste in everybody’s mouth. Simply let go and just leave the dirty laundry at the washers.
Lesson 3: No meeting fans in hotel rooms.
Because a hotel room room is closed quarters, nobody else can witness that you guys were -only- playing cards or just chatting about life. There will be simply no way to prove your innocence (or any guilt) of what happens in the room or not.
Also, nobody in the world thinks of platonic friendship and pink pillow fights when you combine the thought of boys and girls staying in a hotel room together. It is so easy to think in the other way instead. So, let’s not leave yourself in a ditch here. Go somewhere public or be with an adult witness who can say that you were merely discussing work and the future projects, preferably.
The 7-11 story is also another awkward story about members and fans from NMB48. The lesson here would probably go along the lines, “Well if you do wanna meet up with some people, then don’t do it at the nearby 7-11 or public spots.” (lol)
Lesson 4: No sleepovers at guys homes
This is arguably the #1 idol activity out there that can insta-rage people from all over the world. Yet, it is also so common I think people don’t bat an eyelid anymore whenever they hear about another incident.
Let us look at the list in AKB48’s Hall of Sleepovers:
- Akimoto Sayaka
- Hirajima Natsumi, Yonezawa Rumi
- Masuda Yuka
- Minegishi Minami
- Kasai Tomomi
- Miyazawa Sae
- And probably more…
(Much credits and thanks to allthingsjpop for the initial list)
And I’m guessing over here but the chances of you getting caught would probably depends on these 2 factors:
1) How popular (or hated) you are
2) How hardworking the paparazzi (or your stalkers) are
So consider that it may be a little bit safer if nobody around really knows who you are, or you are somewhere where the press is not interested in news about scandals and sleepovers.
Which leads me to the next point.
Lesson 5: No photo taking of anything that may put you into trouble
This is probably the easiest thing you can do and also the hardest thing you can control if there are other parties involved. If there is someone naughty out there who knows you and loves to take and post photos of you without your permission, gently remind them that ALL your fans are great CSI detectives who can find out anything and hunt them down even from a simple detail. That should scare them a little.
This leaked paparazzi photo may look like innocent kissing between a guy and a girl. But look at how clothes led to an SKE48 member getting caught . Further CSI reveals how she even had to skip a handshake event the next day. If anything, please make sure that you at least bring 2 sets of clothes whenever you go sleep over. And, try not to do anything strenuous the night before an important event. People will not find it that suspicious then.
Over 90% of the above cases may not have happened if photos of the girls did not exist beforehand. So, the next time you decide to hug someone because it’s cold, make sure its really private and there are no extra eyes or camera lens around. Or, you can also simply choose not to do stupid things in public like smoke, drink, flirt, etc.
Lesson 6: No getting pregnant
This (getting pregnant) apparently never happened. But rumours fly quick and people are quick to speculate if:
1) You’re a girl
2) A sex scandal broke out and
3) You’ve been out of public for months
Well, I’m not a SUPER☆GiRLS fan and I can’t comment on what happened during this time. But surely, it must cause a lot of stress and worry to all the members, their family and the fans involved, regardless whether the rumors are true or not. So really, girls, just don’t get caught in this one. Nothing good will come out of it in the short-term.
Well that’s it, these are the 6 lessons (not) to learn from.
All these years, idols have given people all over the world so much hope, love and fun in life. So, when something happens and the girls that we love show up in a scandalous event, it becomes a very painful thing as we fans have to now destroy all that perfect image we had of you and start constructing something else nasty instead. Please spare us from this pain. I am certain that there are many more idols out there who are doing it right and are not getting caught for anything.
These are the people you can look up to.
There is this very popular Singaporean saying. I hope it can be useful to you too.
“You can do anything you want as long as you don’t get caught.” – Singapore saying
Para idol yang kita kagumi dan sayangi merupakan gadis-gadis belia yang selain manis juga terkadang bisa melakukan kesalahan-kesalahan bodoh. Apa boleh buat, pada dasarnya mereka hanyalah gadis remaja biasa yang melakukan aktivitas seperti remaja seusianya, seperti pergi ke sekolah, dan lain-lain. Mereka belum tahu banyak mengenai kompleksitas pekerjaan mereka, apalagi memiliki kedewasaan dalam memahami tuntutan pekerjaannya. Akibatnya, tidak sedikit idol yang terjerumus dalam jalur yang salah dan karirnya berakhir singkat.
Penulis juga sebagaimana fans lainnya, menyayangi gadis-gadis muda berbakat ini serta berharap mereka juga menyukai pekerjaan mereka dengan sepenuh hati dan bertahan bersama grup mereka. Sayang, yang terjadi tidak demikian jika kita melihat pemberitaan terakhir dengan adanya dua anggota yang mengundurkan diri (lagi). Tentu ini mengecewakan. Terlebih mengingat besarnya cinta, perhatian, dan dukungan yang telah diberikan fans kepada keduanya.
Belajar dari pengalaman tersebut, penulis menghadirkan artikel ini, yang berisi tentang tips menghindari skandal bagi idol. Penulis bukan idol, tentu saja. Oleh karena itu, yang penulis berikan di sini merupakan beberapa pengalaman dari senior mereka di industri peridolan. Semoga bermanfaat.
Pelajaran pertama: Janganlah duduk bersebelahan dengan seorang pemuda di dalam bis
Alasannya sederhana, bisa membuat orang yang melihatnya salah paham dan berpikir, “Hei, siapa pemuda ini dan mengapa ia berhak duduk bersebelahan dengan idol saya?”
Contoh yang pernah mengalami ini adalah Airi (dari C-ute dan Hello Project). Ia sampai harus meminta maaf kepada publik (Bahasa Inggeris) elalui blognya. Di sini, kedua pihak terluka, baik idol ybs dan fansnya. Sayang sekali bukan? Jadi, idol-idolku yang baik.., jika sedang berada di kendaraan umum seperti bis, duduklah bersebelahan hanya dengan sesama perempuan. Lebih baik lagi jika bersebelahan dengan sesama member dan kalian berfoto bersama.
Pelajaran kedua: Janganlah menjelek-jelekkan grup kalian setelah meninggalkannya
Para pembaca pasti tahu dengan maraknya pemberitaan dan interviu yang dialami Cleopatra pasca ia mengumumkan diri keluar dari JKT48. Di satu sisi penulis berempati dengan apa yang dirasakan Cleo, namun di saat bersamaan komentar-komentar yang dikeluarkannya justru menimbulkan reaksi yang beragam dari para fans. Seorang blogger cewek “Half of Heart” juga menuliskan hal ini dalam blognya.
“Awalnya, fans mendukung Cleo, namun karena komentar-komentar Cleo, banyak dari mereka yang justru berbalik mendukung JOT. Menurut saya ini mengagetkan. Sebagian fans yang tetap mendukung Cleo masih ada. Bahkan mereka sedang berencana memberikan 1000 fanletters untuknya, baik sekali bukan.” – Half of Heart
Singkatnya, menjelek-jelekkan grup hanya akan membuatmu kehilangan fans, dan tidak memberikan efek positif dalam publisitas. Ini juga akan menghancurkan hubungan dengan grup yang telah kamu jalin dengan susah payah dan meninggalkan kesan buruk terhadap orang-orang yang telah kamu tinggalkan. Berpisahlah baik-baik dan tinggalkan segala hal buruk di sana.
Pelajaran ketiga: Janganlah bertemu dengan fans di suatu ruangan hotel
Karena sebuah kamar hotel merupakan tempat tertutup dan privat. Tidak akan ada orang yang tahu pasti apakah kalian hanya bermain kartu atau bercengkrama tentang hal-hal ringan. Tidak ada cara bagimu untuk membuktikan bahwa tidak terjadi hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan di sana.
Selain itu, jika berpikir tentang seorang pemuda dan pemudi berada di dalam kamar berduaan, apakah orang-orang akan mengira bahwa mereka hanya sedang bermain lempar bantal? Tentu tidak. Oleh karena itu, janganlah menyusahkan diri sendiri. Beradalah di ruang publik, atau selalu pastikan ada orang dewasa yang ikut mengawasi ketika kalian sedang katakanlah mendiskusikan tentang suatu project, misalnya.
Pelajaran keempat: Dilarang menginap di kediaman seorang pemuda
Barangkali inilah aktivitas yang paling dapat memancing kemarahan dari seluruh fans. Yah..meskipun karena ini sudah beberapa kali terjadi, membuat kita tidak lagi terkejut.
Berikut adalah member yang pernah ketahuan menginap:
- Akimoto Sayaka
- Hirajima Natsumi, Yonezawa Rumi
- Masuda Yuka
- Minegishi Minami
- Kasai Tomomi
- Miyazawa Sae
- dan mungkin masih banyak lagi…
Menurut penulis, ada dua faktor yang menentukan besar kecilnya kemungkinan idol ketahuan:
1) Seberapa populer (atau dibenci) dirimu
2) Seberapa gigih paparazzi (atau stalkers) yang mengincar
Jadi jika sang idol belum ketahuan itu kemungkinan karena ia kurang dikenal, atau berada di tempat yang pers tidak terlalu berminat untuk pemberitaan semacam ini.
Pelajaran kelima: Janganlah mengambil foto yang beresiko membuatmu dalam masalah
Ini barangkali hal yang paling mudah sekaligus tersulit yang bisa kalian pastikan karena ada kemungkinan keterlibatan pihak lain. Jika ada orang nakal yang mengenalmu serta suka mengambil foto-fotomu dan mempostingnya tanpa seizin kalian, berilah peringatan halus dengan mengatakan bahwa SELURUH fansmu adalah sejenis Detektif CSI yang bisa menemukan semua hal, termasuk hal-hal terkecil sekalipun. Yakinlah nyali mereka akan ciut.
Contoh foto berikut sepintas terlihat seperti foto biasa pemuda dan pemudi yang sedang berciuman. Akan tetapi, itu sebelum ketahuan bahwa si pemudi merupakan seorang member SKE48 berdasarkan pakaian yang dikenakannya. Penyelidikan lebih lanjut menemukan bahwa si member bahkan sampai harus melewati event HS keesokan harinya. Pelajaran yang bisa dipetik adalah jika kalian menginap, pastikan kalian membawa pakaian ganti dan jangan melakukan hal-hal aneh sehari sebelum suatu acara penting.
Lebih dari 90% kejadian di atas tadi tidak perlu terjadi apabila foto-foto si gadis tidak ada. Jadi, lain kali jika kalian akan memeluk seseorang karena cuaca sedang dingin, pastikan kalian benar-benar berada di tempat privat dan tidak ada kamera di sana. Atau pilihan lainnya yang lebih mudah adalah dengan tidak berbuat bodoh, seperti merokok, minum-minum, flirt, di tempat umum.
Pelajaran keenam: Jangan mengandung
Ini memang belum pernah terjadi. Tapi kabar burung cepat merebak dan orang-orang mulai menebak-nebak jika:
1) Kamu seorang gadis
2) Suatu skandal sex muncul, dan
3) Kamu tidak pernah kelihatan selama beberapa bulan
Penulis bukan seorang fan SUPER☆GiRLS sehingga saya tidak bisa berkomentar mengenai apa yang terjadi saat ini. Tapi dapat dipastikan bahwa ini membawa tekanan dan rasa khawatir bagi seluruh member, keluarga, dan fans mereka terlepas dari kebenaran isu tersebut. Jadi, jangan coba-coba sampai terlibat dalam hal ini. Tidak akan ada baiknya bagimu.
Demikianlah enam hal yang perlu dihindari seorang idol.
Belakangan ini idol telah menjadi inspirasi dan memberikan kebahagiaan bagi banyak orang. Sehingga ketika suatu skandal terjadi, merupakan hal yang sangat menyakitkan bagi fans karena itu berarti akan menghancurkan kenangan indah mengenai sang idol dan berganti menjadi imaji yang buruk. Mohon janganlah tega memberikan kami penderitaan seperti itu. Penulis yakin masih banyak idol di luar sana yang bersungguh-sungguh ingin menjadi idol yang baik dan tidak akan terlibat dalam hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan.
Idol seperti itulah yang patut kita nantikan.
Sebagai penutup, penulis ingin berbagi sebuah peribahasa Singapura, semoga bisa menjadi pertimbangan,
“Lakukanlah yang kau mau..asalkan tidak ketahuan”.
Featured image courtesy of fifthestate
Indonesian Translation by Jyurinii
Lesson 1: thats just stupidity and over-jealousy from fans
lesson 2 : okay
lesson 3.4.5.6 : DUUUHHH
hehe its funny because even though they are DUUUHHH there are so many idols in Japan who get caught for lessons 4 and 5
“You can do anything you want as long as you don’t get caught.” – Singapore saying
Is this a spell word for Indonesian corruptor fugitive which fled to Singapore? I am loving it
Most of the lessons are too extreme for JKT48. I don’t think they are such a wh**e. (pregnant without marriage, sleepover, hotel room “meeting”, etc.)
of course i don’t want to see JKT48 in any of the same situations
but better to let them be aware of the temptations and traps of the celebrity world
than not.
That’s why Aki-P wrote songs that reminds them of their position such as Idol Nante and Renai Kinshi Jourei
But then again, the most important is to never get caught, although that sounds hypocritical.
For me personally, I’d rather they go with it as long as they were idols. If they can’t handle it, it’s better if they stop as being idols instead.
i think you understand as well. cheers
as human beings, i can’t discourage them from living a normal and private life outside their work of being an idol
yet at the same time, i can’t imagine that these idol groups will have the same appeal if they break Renai Kinshi Jourei and engage in a secret love life with another person
At the end of the day, maybe its better not to know. And nobody will know if nobody gets caught
it’s a price you have to pay as long as you’re idol…but I think it’s not an issue either you are young or not because they already know about the rules before joining JKT48…for ordinary girls it’s normal to fall in love but not for them, no one can puff up their chest and declare that they will not fall in love. they can only leave if that happen and pay the price for their action..I hope that JKT members will become more mature and cautious on this issue…that is just my opinion
it’s a great opinion and i very much like what you mean.
In this aspect, I very much respect and honor the members who have determinedly broke off with all their previous relationships once they became a member.
The problem is, the rules itself is still an urban legend. There’s no way we can see what’s written on their contract
And I’m actually fine with them living as a normal girl and getting themselves boyfriend whatsoever, as long as they can live with the responsibility of not “hurting” the fans (which I actually can’t understand why in the world the fans will get hurt just because they have a partner)
I guess there are a 101 ways to for anyone to react to an idol having a boyfriend. Fans can feel hurt, pain, anger, sadness, excitement or even joy (at the thought of the idol being available).
Personally, it took me weeks before I could settle on a proper response. If my oshimen had a boyfriend, I’d probably just lose all my interest. Now, that’s how I view the situation.
Different people handle it differently, I guess.
you are right that some fans are behave exaggerate to their oshimen and we can’t stop that but I think there’s a bright side to the rules. Almost all the girls from the 48 groups average age are around 13 to 17
they are a normal teen and kids just begin to learn life and new to entertainment industry. these rules will be a good lesson for them to learn how things work in idol world although its a bit cliche and restricted and annoying for some of them. Knowing that they can move forward the next step achieving their dreams
IMO it’s not really important whether the rule is written on their contract or not.
It doesn’t matter whether it is an unspoken or unwritten rule. When you’re an idol, you know and fully understand that you should not date nor having a boyfriend.
There are always things that are supposed to be a certain way; things that you know you’re supposed and not supposed to do, even without having a rule or law for everything.
i get your point, my friend, but for the price they had paid, was it worth it? I understand the perks of being an AKB48 member, but here in Jakarta.. i mean, really?
i stand by my opinion on their negative behaviour.. as long as they can do it without getting caught, that’s fine by me. I still think that monkey love — the kind of high-school romance — is an important phase for a teenage girls, and only happen when they were young. If only it’s up to me, you know, i let that happen.
but it’s a good read for the girls, they still have to take precautions.
Well written. *clap*
I don’t know if I was supposed to enjoy reading this as much as I was, but it was so interesting that I read it top to bottom. Especially on lesson 5. JKT48 (and idols in general) SHOULD read this guide. LOL. Kudos.
LOL! Thanks! Appreciate the sentiment.
Now if only this article can be translated into Bahasa…..
Wasshoi san, looks like you were afraid that such a tragedy (scandal) will befall JKT48 members. But, I’d say: Fear not, my friend! Look, I don’t know what it looks like in other countries. But here, having a vulgar affair or scandal is not that easy. Lemme give a few examples: In Indonesia IF you’re: flirting in public area, booking a hotel room or sleepover-ing with your boy/girlfriend, or even visiting a brothel, you’ll be busted by “Hansip” or “Satpol PP”, processed and then arrested by the cops. (That means 9 months rotting in jail, in case any of you didn’t have decent knowledge about KUHP.) So, I presume the girls will think twice before starting to ruin their own career and life.
Hey thanks for the assurance.
Isn’t that great?
Number 1, I think it’s a bit weird if an Idol has to avoid sitting beside a boy in a bus. For example if it happens that the boy is her brother or cousin, why shouldn’t she sit with him. If there are some pictures about it, it’s not like fans can’t ask her via internet or something, right? That’s up for the fans themselves actually.
About Miss C, well.. She had proved herself as the drama-queen in JKT48 career story. When I saw her in Hitam Putih show and just talking around like that, I was, “Oh, come on. Should you do that?” But it’s a past cause. I hope next time there’s no member who will follow her ‘step’ once graduating. It’s just troubling.
And about bad-mouthing itself, one of Morning Musume members also had been caught by this thing, if I’m not mistaken. A record of her talking about the older fans being so stupid when cheering in MM concert. Well, I’ll give my concern in this, because yesterday I also had caught something like this in JKT48. I hope members become more careful for what they say in live show or concert. They can be heard from clip on, and if it’s recorded by someone and spreaded, what they’re going to do about it. It’s okay for them to have a comment, genuine or joking, but they’re idols, people that will always be seen and followed by their fans. It’s disturbing to know something like this.
I’m glad you see the need for fellow idols not to follow some of the mistakes that has been done before.
The Morning Musume (i.e. Ishikawa Rika’s) recorded talk was quite bad as a precedent if I recall correctly. There are rumors that because of Ishikawa Rika’s condescending speech towards fans, the wotas pressured management and that was why her graduation followed not too long later (1 year later). But then again, I wasn’t a fan then, so I won’t know.
The incident in lesson 1 sounds foolish. But it was enough to stir fan reaction such that the guys background and his online life had begun to get scrutinized by fans, (due to some questionable reaction by him) so much so he eventually became depressed over the situation. Now ,personally I have no issue (its 50/50 when you sit beside someone in the train or bus), but, well, it’s sad if you had to see a normal bus trip with a friend turn out like that.
These actions are great learning for us. And I hope they can be great learning for the girls too
For example, recently there are two members who resigned from JKT48. Despite our sadness, there’s also a worry whether their resignment/graduation will cause some riffraffs like previous grad members. Already rumours had been spread though it’s not even a week after they announced the news. Not saying than Kariin or Nichan are like that, but.. Well, it’s not a public secret whenever a member annonces about her resignment/graduatiin it’s like we’ve been dropped by a bomb. Fans are spreading rumours, but JOT itself isn’t very good in explaining the news. :/ It tends to fish out some reactions not only from fans, but also from the grad member, right?
I’ve seen one of JKT48 members do something bad in public place. In women toilet at FX. That’s happened during handshake event RIVER. On that day, some of member JKT48 Gen 2 gather in F1 woman toilet. They seat on couch while waiting their parents to picking up them. And then, another group of that girls come in an join them. The girl, “XX” said something bad. She’s told to other girls that “X” (X is not in toilet) don’t have a good shoes for handshake event. Her shoes look terrible and she ask “XX” to borrow shoes. “XX” lend it, but she don’t really want to lend it. “XX” said to other girls in that room “oh come on, why she can’t buy new shoes. that’s embarrassing and strange”. Other girls not give any comment.
I think is bad to talking about someone behind her back and talk about that in public place. even she do that in public women toilet, there is many female fans too. It’s hurt when you hear another idol from same group insult your oshi behind her back. Until now, I can’t respect her anymore until she change her bad attitude.
I’ve to change the alias since this is still categorized as a mere rumor and there’s no exact recording of the conversation has taken place, yet.
Sorry to hear about the incident but it’s great if you need to let your frustrations out.
XX may have inappropriately insulted X in your view, but if neither party knows about it, then there is no incentive for XX to change. Maybe it’s good that the other girls stayed quiet, because it is a silent agreement that they don’t agree with what was said, either.
Maybe XX was stressed or maybe people are tired from need to let loose. Girls are girls, and sometimes they do bitchy things, and more often than not, they are foolish enough and they make mistakes. They are still young, immature women after all.
Nonetheless, I hope these idols avoid doing the same thing in public.
Keep loving your oshi
it seems Gen 2 is full of problems
Really curious, who is this XX and X anyway? (PM me please )
Kindly be noted it is not for negative purpose, me just wonder, how come their relation seems so bad.. Unlike Gen 1 (that seems) can treat their comrade well no matter what their economic background is..
Maybe Gen 1 is more like a family already cos they spent 2 years of their life together
I’ve been hearing good comments about Gen 2 though so dont let something like this make you think otherwise mister benimaru
i think reason 3 to 6 not an impossible reason anymore
xxx
holy f*#k!!
is dat real?? no wonder she rarely show up on theatre.. preety daring for a 15 yo kid..
Holy F****g S***t!!! Sorry Wasshoi San, looks like I was wrong. Things have changed since I was young.
me feel ya bre..
many things surely change
kids this days
Relax guys, we are still unsure whether it was tampered or not. People in the original JKT48 2ch threads already came to a conclusion of a tampered pictures. Not really sure myself tho’
I just hope people will stop posting NSFW links on this website, it is not meant as a media for tampered(?) porn lovers, that’s for sure.
NSFW Link, sorry, you’ll have to find another media to post your links
sorry for my inconvenient behavior
I agree to most of these lessons though I’m on the fence with not sitting next to boys on the bus.
I kind of give the sister groups more leeway since they weren’t raised in a country where those idols rules were so entrenched and at an early age. Logically a young Japanese girl who was thinking of becoming an idol would take some steps early on as to not, say, have purikas / photo stickers taken with boys. Or write blog entries that reveal too much.Those things may still happen but there’s a context as to why they shouldn’t be seen to be too close with their male friends or classmates, since it may come back to bite them at some point.
I also think of my kami-oshi Miyazawa Sae, at one point (early on) she had to apologize to her fans because wota mistook her brother as her boyfriend, Haruka caused her own ruckus… because she dared to visit a water theme park with her own father.
Reading stories like that, they kind of make my stomach tighten… yes, this is the career they’ve chosen but when a “mistake” is just wanting to be close to your own family, it makes me wonder if I want to be associated with fans like these, who act irrationally and go to the extreme of the spectrum and just reacting.
What if the member was your sister? Can’t you just assume the rational explanation and go from there?
^^ This isn’t all fans… this is maybe more, fans who see a picture of a guy “too many times” (meaning more than once) posed next to their idol and then instantly jump to a conclusion. (And then do something crazy like go hunting after his name and social media accounts and hack them, like it’s a sport.)
I guess that kind of matches up with what was mentioned in lesson 1, the reaction against the male “who sits next to her on the bus”; how he copes with it – or is just, bewildered by the experience and never wants to talk to that member again. Maybe he can see the humour “hey, they think I’m dating her!” Or maybe he just ends up feeling violated.
The members should avoid situations that may be misconstrued, yes.
But also, fans need to act rationally, not automatically jump to conclusions from point A to point Z since you’re probably hurting your oshimen with your actions. Sometimes a girl just sits next to a guy, that’s it.
me never thought that visiting a water boom with your dad were also a violation to those “rules”..
kind a agree with bro angga, why is zat people so irritated seeing their “idol” standing beside other guy
is this means those idols should not seat in front chair when taking a cab?
Just to make clear, it’s not a violation to visit a water park with your own father / family, it’s more she accidentally caused a misunderstanding because of it.
“Haruka: Oh, by the way, I’ve been to the swimming pool with my dad once. When I went on the slide, there were fans that saw us, and it became an uproar because they thought we were a couple on a date.” (Official Guide Book Vol. 2)
Well said. Although I do not disagree with any of the points you mention, I think that keeping fans and their actions in line is a lot harder than bringing idols in line – which is why I chose to focus on the little things, mistakes, and past happenings that idols need to gain an awareness about (even if its written in an awkward tone). But it’s too bad if they don’t read the article, anyway.
That said, the emergence of sensible big-sister idols like Akimoto Sayaka (regardless of her scandal) who are unafraid to stand their ground and rebuke ridiculous fan behavior in front of offensive fans themselves, sure helps in a long way to garner respect within the group and the fan community. Same goes for strong captains like Takamina and Sayanee who are unafraid to demand for what is right within the group.
What about members who in pictures with an actor/malesinger they idolize? It’ll be a funny situation if there’s a day when Ve and Marcel come to the same event and they take photo together. It’ll dissapointing for Ve because she has to endure herself to take at least on pic with her idol.
Harmless photos with celebrities in the same line of work are generally acceptable, unless its of a scandalous nature.
It may cause a little jealousy, but here, the voices of the reasonable, matured fans usually wins.
The keyword is, “scandalous nature.”
But if you’re thinking about the bus incident, it became a big precedent because at the start when the photo was leaked, the majority of fans who looked at it were on the fence too and looked at it as harmless. That is until, a small group of fans commented that she was lying about going home everyday by train (in the picture, she took a bus), and refused to let the incident go until a shitstorm happened for the other guy– Seeing how they had apologized in an official blog, it suggests that no one had a (better) choice but to say sorry and try to let things calm down.
I’m totally agree with this post. Well, just like the lyrics in Yuuhi wo Miteiru ka said, “relationships between humans are indeed troublesome, but still we can’t live alone.”
By the way, thank you for quoting my post from my blog. I have stalked this site for a long time, so I’m still… “Waaa” like that