Koreans Have Mixed Reactions To The Country’s First Lesbian-Themed Music Video
Tenny’s “159cm” music video, Korea’s first music video about lesbians, has been receiving a wide variety of reactions from Korean netizens.
The music video tells the love story of two girls whose relationship is opposed by their parents.
It shows the hardships the girls experience as they are beaten and even threatened by their parents after being caught kissing.
It also boldly portrays the two girls kissing in numerous scenes, something that was never attempted before in K-Pop music video history.
Moreover, it shows a glimpse of the blatant hypocrisy of the mother as she chastises her daughter for kissing another girl while she herself does not hesitate to kiss a priest who is not her husband.
The video, however, features a pleasant twist at the end which has gained the approval of international netizens who have fallen in love with it.
- “MY GAY ASS IS HAPPY”
- “this is sadly the harsh reality for a lot of Asian parents to accept lgbt+ relationships and I just wish for anyone going through this stay strong”
- “I /love/ this so much. I love this lesbian representation. I love the song. I love how beautiful the video is and I love that you decided to tell the story of a lesbian couple instead of a straight’s. Thank you so much for this.”
- “The cinematography is damn so good, it can’t be compared to any MV from any k pop agency. And I also like the song. What a pity that it’s not on Spotify”
- “I know that in Korea being gay isn’t really accepted so I’m happy to see this :)”
In contrast, Korean netizens didn’t seem quite so sure how to react to the video. Some didn’t have much of an opinion about it at all.
- “Maybe because they’re not really lesbians, it just feels ordinary. Doesn’t feel really special or anything.”
- “This is just an ordinary love story between two students. It’s nothing more, nothing less. Don’t label it lesbian + uniform + kiss and just try watching.”
Others were a little more critical of the bold portrayal of homosexuality.
- “This is sickening.”
- “Gross…”
- “I didn’t think I was homophobic but after seeing this it’s a little…”
- “Wow…this is pretty hardcore…probably the most out of all music videos I’ve seen…”
- “Wake up people…homosexuality is not normal even biologically…As time changes, sexual minorities are beginning to stand up for themselves and yes, we respect that but don’t go around bragging about it. Just by looking on Twitter, there are people immersed in sexual pleasures calling themselves gay and lesbian but in fact, they’re simply mistaking physical pleasure for emotional love. Then those adults stimulate the curiosity of students and get them addicted. The cause of increase in teen AIDS. Wake up. It’s sick, end of story.”
Many Korean netizens, however, were a little more open-minded about the situation, claiming that people should respect others’ choices, whatever it may be.
- “There will be those who think it’s sick and those who think it’s not sick. Let’s stop talking bs about biology or whatnot and have some f*ckn respect for each other.”
- “I simply cannot understand. Did you guys create humankind? What is this nonsense about biology? The things that you people are saying are sicker. You’re not the only human beings, you have no right to stick your nose into others’ business and determine if they’re sick or not. Even a puppy passing by can understand, why can’t you? Are you not human? You guys have no right.”
- “Whether or not you’re comfortable with homosexuality is your choice but there’s no reason to criticize them now is there. It’s not even your life, why criticize…?”
- “What angers me is how when you search for books on homosexuality at the library, they all link it to mental illnesses, AIDS, psychology or why people are homosexual. It truly shows the limits of our country.”
- “What’s so bad about a person liking another person? Everyone loves it when there’s a kiss scene between a man and a woman in dramas but if it’s between a woman and a woman it’s sick?”
Watch the full music video below.
