Joss Whedon and K-Pop

A couple of months ago I read an article about the global rise of Korean pop (or K-pop as it is known), with Facebook and Google+ creating special pages dedicated to the genre. So I decided to investigate. I was expecting some really bad Eurovision style pop, but instead I found something pretty good.

It’s not often that you find some good finally crafted pop music, with catchy choruses and music videos with very slick and precise dance moves. My best discovery was band called Girls Generation. A nine-person pop group from South Korea, who make Girls Aloud and The Saturdays look like those drunk girls you see stumbling down the streets of most towns on a Saturday night after too many Smirnoff Ices.

Here are a few of my favourite songs:




Each of their videos has seen millions of video views on YouTube and they have fans world wide! I enjoy them, even though they are are extremely manufactured. SM Entertianment who created the band make some of their artists train for 4 years before they can release a single, often learning new launguages. What I also find interesting is that their lyrics consist of both English and Korean lines. Making them easy for everyone around the globe to enjoy.

The cross pollination of music styles that have been around since the 30s and 40s. Pete was telling me about episodes of M*A*S*H, which was set in the Korean war of the 50s, where their tannoys would play Cole Porter songs in Korean, but the choruses would be in English.

Maybe Joss Whedon was right...

He is always right, well most of the time. He was with Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series) and The Avengers (Avengers Assemble). He did get a couple of things wrong...can I mention Alien 4 or even Dollhouse?

Anyway, he is good at predicting the future and showing the development of culture and language. I recently watched Firefly and Serenity with Pete. With the film and TV series set in the far future, in a universe of terraformed planets, Joss had a unique way of showcasing the development of language and culture.

In the series, he shows a multicultural universe where Occidental and Chinese culture has been meshed together. Language is made up of a mixture of of English and Chinese, with the characters swearing in Mandarin.

Did the creators of Girls Generation watch Firefly or are they taking influence from the past? Or was it their way of influencing the future. Who is to say...but you never thought I would get them both in a blog post right?

Any comments, thoughts or observations. Please leave a comment below!
Originalsteve

It's time to Geek Out, but where do I start?

I am a bit of a foursquare addict. Those who know me, know that wherever I go, I spend the first minute fiddling with my phone trying to check in. Be it a coffee shop, restaurant, pub, park or my favorite shop. The check ins you make show you what type of person you are and your mayorships define your character. More mayor ships at pubs? You are a person who likes to go out drinking most evenings and weekends. Mayorship at of your local comic book store, yes you are a geek.

My partner is a self confessed geek (you can read his blog here) and through being with him, I have learned to appreciate my love of TV, Sci-fi and love my little quirks. So, if we are in London, wondering around Oxford Street, Soho or even Covent Garden, we usually end up in Forbidden Plant. While looking at all of the action figures one Saturday I take my phone out and check in in. I click the button and stop and stare at my phone. "You are 1 Day away from becoming Mayor".

I turn to my partner...."Have I become a geek?" I ask. He just stares at me with his cheeky grin.

So yeah it's time to admit it, I am a geek and I love it.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I am a Doctor Who fan and I have recently just started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer (I didn't watch it when I was a teen. All my mates were watching it and I was trying to stand out by not watching it....you know the routine) and have been loving it. But something else has hit me too.

I suddenly have a new found love for Superman.

I have always been drawn to the man of steel and remember spending Saturday mornings (before Live & Kicking) watching The New Adventures of Superman with Dean Caine and Teri Hatcher. My partner brought me a little Superman figure and I have been bugging him to to bring over the original Superman films staring Christopher Reeve. I now have a lovely mug which I love. It has got me thinking that it's time to find out more, maybe start at the beginning and read some comics.

But really....where do I start?

I have turned to a couple of friends with this question and got a few blank expressions.

This is a story that has been going on for many decades now and has had many origin stories.  Do I start trying to collect the first edition of the DC Reboot happening next month? Or do I find an original book?

So I turn to you, people of the Internet.

What should I do?

Please send help.