James Corden, in his show, Late Late Night Show with James Corden joked about 15 yr old girls wishing they were the UN Secretary when BTS visited and delivered a speech at the assembly. There is truth in the joke. Any ARMY would wish to be a UN ambassador or a staff in the UN to see BTS. The joke did not sit well among ARMY leading to discussions and varying opinions on the perceptions of people outside the fandom of ARMYs especially girls and women in general.
What is actually wrong about the joke?
To single out this age group has only led to the amplification of the fangirl trope, an old stereotype. Fans of boy bands are mostly teenage fangirls who have been perceived as irrelevant, delusional and toxic. When this happens, the singer or band is delegitimized as an artist. The relevance of the singer’s or the boy band’s message and the purpose of their songs and concert performances are reduced as commercial items for popular consumption alone.
While it is true that 15 yo girls fangirl over their fave artists, they also find a community with whom they share fangirling activities and events; discussions and conversations that range from kilig moments to profound insights about the songs and concerts they attend. Such experiences contribute to personal growth and a continuous development of one’s understanding of the world.
Entertainment media in the US looks at BTS as just another boy band from South Korea, a small country east of Asia, breaking ground in the Western Music Industry who have successfully established its commercial brand from charting songs to winning awards. What is not openly discussed or selectively probed is the depth and impact of BTS in many aspects of modern life. From business to education, philosophy and psychology - even religion; fashion trends and the creation of new media, BTS has influenced these industries and fields of study. Many of the people who belong in these different industries and disciplines cannot possibly be all 15 year old girls.
James Corden dished out that joke on national TV that had global access via YT at a time when the UN was “promoting” and establishing the implementation of the 10-Year plan for the 17 Goals for Sustainable Development. Of the 17 goals, three are focused on enabling children, women and the marginalized to advocate for equal rights to education, institutions of peace, justice, health care and well-being. He claimed to be ARMY. If he was, then he would have known that many of the songs and musicography of BTS speak of social justice, self love towards becoming an instrument of harmony and acknowledging the female gaze. There are ARMYs who are teenage girls, women and those living in the margins.
It is at this juncture when flipping the coin comes into consideration. ARMY is diverse and well populated by many fans from all walks of life. There are the teenage girls on one side and we have the mature, grown up women on the other.
Back in April of 2023, Titas of BTS Admins and Mod, appeared in WGN News for a five minute interview about fangirling at an age well beyond the teenage years. Demai Granali, Jabba Tantay and this writer graciously answered the questions of the hosts/anchors of the news program. One question is worth noting: ‘There are people in social media who are critical of what you are doing. What feedback are you getting that occurred?” If teenage girls are stereotyped, grown up and mature women are criticized, even ridiculed for fangirling over BTS.
This is the situation and scenario the writer of the paper finds herself in. As a “Tita who is ARMY” with a 22 year old ARMY daughter since 2016, experiences of ridicule and prejudice from people outside the fandom occur in her own family, among circles of non-ARMY friends, even acquaintances and casual friends.
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