Never-Nevermore🐦‍⬛

thank you, interesting take. it seems everyone interpreted my post the way they wanted to, as it usually happens. kkk what i was trying to convey: op contrasts one extreme - the western model of “freedom” that goes hand in hand with self-destruction with another extreme, the culture of the polished idol image with all its restrictions. and in the end op concludes that “your restrictions are bad, let’s do it like us.” so it turns out our model of freedom is better than yours, while completely ignoring that k-pop is a product of a specific cultural and social system. this was kinda dismissive to me. freedom is good, but showing rebellion and maturity can be done in many ways without necessarily copying the western template. but i see this mainly as a strategy for entering the western market. as for the “western-centric view” remark.. that’s an interesting point. i thought about it! the cigarette itself isn’t the main thing. i grew up on western music like grunge, alternative, britpop, rock etc.. and those rebellious, “gritty” images are very familiar to me, so they immediately stand out.