u/SnooLemons7742

this is mostly a post i’m gonna come back to when they announce her departure officially

i think it’s coming now that ticket sales are done. they’re ‘leaking’ stuff now to soften the blow like with pinky up. this feels tactical imo

agree. disagree. i don’t care. but be respectful

let’s see what happens. i’ll come back to this if i’m proven right or wrong

i’ve seen a lot of debate about whether or not katseye will ‘fail’ but let’s be honest.. they’re backed by hybe and geffen. they are quite literally manufactured by the machine. they’re never going to flop by industry standards bc they have every possible safety net to fall back on

some artists and labels become too big to ‘fail’

that’s why i would rather look at an artist/band/label’s values and integrity from an art perspective

so these young girls/women aged 14-21 signed up for the DA program because they believed it was T&D (training and development) camp essentially. they had hopes to hone their skills with some of the best professionals in the industry. that sounds completely amazing imo but that’s not where it ended

main ethical concerns:

- they did not sign up for a survival show (the managers and producers withheld this information from the contestants deliberately)
- the girls are callously eliminated by a robot, not a face-to-face human being
- the girls are told to cast votes for each other that they are told will be confidential (these votes are subsequently revealed to the contestants so that was a deception)
- the girls were thrust into the public eye with fan voting which means many eyes on these children and plenty of social media noise (emily talked about being very aware of the discourse around her and bullying of her appearance)

there are more examples but my main gripe is deceiving the contestants about the nature of the program they’re participating in

these girls all possess the skills and qualities to debut in groups if given the proper environment and direction. it’s clear HxG want these contestants in their arsenal for future projects

my issue is that lying to these children about the nature of the program they’re signing up for (does this mean the parents are lied to as well?) really makes it seem like these execs were fine with how this may negatively impact these (some as young as 14 y/o) children and young women

i’m pretty sure execs have said that they deliberately encourage insecurity among contestants bc it makes the idols work their hardest because they never feel secure

why are we lying and manipulating children for entertainment? *cough* mitra *cough* it also clearly backfired on them when lexie left. they clearly wanted her in the original line up hence why she’s part of saint satine along with emily and samara (other contestants the judges particularly liked)

anyway, do you think it’s morally ethical to lie to children about being on a public survival show where their friendships will be strained and they’ll be made to feel more insecure and competitive than they normally might when they originally signed up for training and development?

for anyone else interested in hearing a former dream academy trainee discuss the process of training

TW: she discusses SH, ED, and injury sustained from training

these girls were regularly getting injuries from the intense training. narjesse talks about an MRI she had to get due to a hip injury. we all saw the story with lexie’s injury too. narjesse said her hip injury was a result of the intense training btw, for anyone who wants to defend young girls dancing until they’re injured!

on a positive note, she was allowed to live in the house with the girls despite no longer being a part of the program

she also describes the bond with the other girls as a trauma bond (her words, not mine)

so yeah this is some new media i’m seeing so would love to hear other discussion/opinions about narjesse’s video

guys i only have 2 seconds to make this post before HxG claws me back into my cell in the basement of the facility where the girls practice 😭😭😭 i always hear them stOMPing above me i stg it’s so hard to sleep

anyways

katseye was NOT the name they were going to go with at first!!! *GASP* i know right??

they were set to debut as…

twerkquoise 👗🩴🧤🩱🧼💫✨

manon was put on hiatus because she changed their name in all the debut announcement rollouts to ‘katseye’ and the brand was forced to go with it

that’s all i can say

i’m being dragged away by my frail little ankles as i type thi-

as the title states, companies like HxG who function in entertainment industry spaces *want* consumers parasocially attached to their product

this achieves fan loyalty, financial gain from merchandise sales, online traction, good and bad press, fan wars which intensify the existing parasocial connections etc.

being parasocial can be neutral. it means to have a one-sided relationship with a person who will never reciprocate your feelings. i think this is a *crucial* reality for consumers to be aware of should they become invested in an artist/group. this idol will *never* know you the way you know them. they will never *owe* you a relationship that is deeper than dancing inside your screen or on the stage you’re staring up at. they are a human being with the autonomy to decide their own intimate relationships in life, just like you or me

so let’s bring this back to HxG and how idol’s images are curated to enhance this parasocial experience for the consumers. companies with abundant resources, staff with expertise in identity branding, facial expression, posture, PR management etc. pour all of this into their products (the idols/artists) and they don’t do this without anticipating reimbursement

not only are idols saddled with debt for their training, styling, food, housing etc. that will take them years to repay, but they will be the face of the brand. they will be both the idol who inspires worship from their fans and the demon who demands punishment from their haters

i believe it is crucial for anyone following a group in this industry to be aware of their parasocial connection to these people. this is why toxicity breeds in fandoms. the entire existence of fandom is a consequence of this curated parasociality

and the end of the day, the girls are strangers to all of us. everyone is a stranger if you don’t know them. we may know *about* them but we. do. not. know. these. people. and that’s okay

this post is based off a response i wrote to someone who said manon was the antagonist of the documentary for good reason bc she was confronted by the other contestants for her behavior

so let’s consider some critical thinking questions about the nature of documentaries:

what is a documentary? who is putting out this documentary? what narrative is being told and who benefits from it? who is harmed by it? what do they gain from creating this narrative?

we know HxG created this survival competition show. we know they did not reveal this to the young women and children that would be competing/training. we know that manon was scouted to audition for the show. we know that many of the contestants had backgrounds in entertainment. we know some contestants are well-connected in the industry or come from affluence and others are/do not

these are just some variables to consider before i explain why i believe manon was scapegoated by this documentary which would only snowball into further mistreatment

manon was scouted for dream academy, meaning she was hand-selected by HxG in the hopes she would compete and likely end up in the global girl group. this is favoritism. compare this to sakura in the competition for the fourth place in prelude. both these girls have very limited dancing and singing skills, therefore HxG puts emphasis on their potential and works extra hard to evolve their skills over the course of the competition. the other contestants will recognize this favoritism (or, in my opinion, equitable training to get them on track with the other contestants), and in turn will feel jealous or frustrated with the girl receiving this treatment, right? because if they criticize the company and their choice to hand select a contestant and give them more chances than the other girls there could be a problem. they would be going against the machine, which would not be appreciated by a multi-million dollar company who views themselves as helping these girls achieve their dreams (at the expense of the girls additionally experiencing the parasocial nightmare of fame and never getting proper rest for the next 7 years ofc!) so you’d better be grateful!

then we see examples of microaggressions toward manon with crew members like missy refusing to learn how to pronounce her name correctly. this is blatant disrespect beyond ignorance when you have personally, as a company, scouted this girl. the *least* you can do is give her the respect of pronouncing her name correctly

we see manon painted as the antagonist, as unserious, as unwilling to do the work… according to the narrative of the documentary

then we see this build up into a confrontation where manon is not given room to defend herself. the narrative does not want manon to defend herself, does it?

now she is in the group, and up until her hiatus she is the main group member to receive racist attacks/accusations of laziness etc.

this is how a scapegoat is made

thank you for coming to my ted talk

does anyone else think the themes in pinky up read as super apathetic during some of the most globally tumultuous times in modern history?

war and genocide, economy tanking, AI bubble bullshit, billionaires getting richer, celebrities endorsing a bezos-funded met gala, politicians playing with our policies and human rights like they’re emotional toddlers, ICE raids etc.

i’m from the U.S. personally, praying i don’t lose healthcare, but still i’m fortunate enough to live somewhere that doesn’t feel like the hunger game handmaid’s tale in my country

pinky up reads like ‘let them eat cake’ to me bc i’m sorry but most of us will not be able to shake ass while the world is burning bc we’re the kindling they’re lighting a match underneath…

look, i’m gonna read deep into things, deeper than most ppl might think is necessary, because i love analysis and i want to critique the themes of media i consume or see in pop culture. if you cannot stand ppl being ‘too deep’ then this post is not for you and that’s fine. just scroll unless you want to discuss, thanks

‘one day soon the worlds gonna end’

‘i’m gonna live large right before it all burns down’

‘pinky up’

‘i wanna get high right before we’re in the ground’

there’s almost a doomerism to this song, like it’s acknowledging how bad things are but it’s all fine bc we’re rich and we’ll just shake ass to it. it won’t touch us. pinky up!

thoughts?

i’m not saying this surprises me, or should surprise anyone. they are coworkers and they were literally pitted against each other in a competition survival show and then put into a (pre-planned concept) group by HxG where their sisterhood and friendship became a main selling point of their product

i think they are friends, competition, and coworkers all at the same time

lately, and maybe this is because the controversy is causing stress and uncertainty in the group and the girls have to act like nothing is happening, i think katseye has lost the friendship vibe and each appearance feels more corporate/curated than ever

does anyone agree with this sentiment? disagree?

curious what others think about this opinion

did pinky up get so many views bc HxG knew people would watch to get an update on manon’s appearance in the MV?

this is the cycle i’ve noticed with katseye:

- release catchy 2 second song

- spam socials w short form content and promo

- capitalize on virality w collab deals

- never discuss controversy publicly OR have the artists address matters directly to funnel hate toward the individuals and away from HxG

i think it’s absolutely intentional to avoid any transparency about manon’s hiatus bc they’ve completely broken trust with the fans and giving any amount of hope for an appearance is a way to garner views and continue to make money off manon whether she’s in the group or not

it’s just twisted