by Amelia Chong
On the 8th of September, Twitter trends revolving around Kim Woojin, an ex-member of the K-pop group Stray Kids, took over the internet. Unlike your usual K-pop Twitter trends, this was not in conjunction with his birthday or a new release; rather, it was something more sinister in nature.
Earlier that day, a Twitter account (whose handle consists of seemingly random alphabets and numbers) surfaced and made bold accusations against Woojin, alleging him of sexually assaulting the owner of the Twitter account. Various reactions were seen as this news broke out on the internet—most came up to the alleged victim’s defense, making a pact to always believe in a victim first, while some defended their idol instead.
As of now, there are solid claims that the said idol is innocent and rather a victim of false accusations and defamation; however, many still choose to believe otherwise due to his unconvincing and insincere statement released in response to the issue. There are also other factors at play that contributed to the suspicions towards Woojin, such as the origins of the company he is now signed to.
Through this particular incident, I witnessed other issues that arose which I have decided to speak up about and bring awareness to. Just a disclaimer before I dive into these matters that have been plaguing my mind: I am not here to comment on whether Kim Woojin is innocent or not, nor am I questioning the credibility of the accusations or the defenses and claims made by Woojin’s company.
Stan Mentality
I am pretty sure all of us know how devout some “stans” of a celebrity can be, especially when it comes to defending their wrongdoings or discrediting the severity of their mistakes. In this case, however, I see the lengths that these “stans” will go to in order to have their celebrity perceived in a good light. From discrediting the alleged victim to even harassments and threats, the spectrum of actions they take is massive and severe. The effect of such an extent of stan mentality is extremely harmful—not just to the fans, but also to the celebrity.
This mentality stems from the notion that one’s favorite artist celebrity (or in stan dictionary, one’s ‘ultimate’) is completely flawless and never stumbles over mistakes. I believe that we can see a problem with this sentence alone; no one is perfect, not even those we look up to as role models. This often turns into an obsession of justifying the celebrity’s every single action; praising and elevating them when they do something remotely basic and taking their side whenever they do something wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way saying that all stans act like this, I just want to point out the negative sides in a fandom.
Now you may be thinking: How would coming to my ultimate’s defense be harmful towards them? To put it simply, you are validating their wrongdoings. You are letting them walk down a path to destruction when you shelter them from the consequences of their mistakes, robbing them of the opportunity to learn from it. Everyone needs to learn from mistakes, it is how we grow—and a true fan, in their right mind, wouldn’t hold their artists back from that.
“Always believe in the victim first; it’s better to believe in a liar than a potential rapist.”
This was the stance taken by the majority when it came to the quagmire Woojin was stuck in. Despite empathizing with the alleged victim, I do not agree with this stance and here’s why.
First and foremost, believing an alleged victim means that you are giving them credibility over any other information or claims that may surface later on. This is known as an anchoring bias, in which you tend to be impartial towards the first information that you hear, be it right or wrong. You have to remember that all actions have consequences. When you accuse someone of being a perpetrator, you are already branding them as one not only in your head but also in those who are in your reach.
This leads to another cognitive bias, the confirmation bias, in which one tends to open up to opinions and information that support a preconceived notion whilst shutting out information that opposes it. Putting someone in a negative light will ultimately influence the way you perceive and screen information about them in the future.
I am not discrediting victims who spoke up about their traumas and experiences as I cannot imagine the amount of courage that they need to muster up before even recalling what has occurred to them; rather, I am telling you to be critical of information like this that may come your way. I am telling you to put aside your bias and personal attachments, and listen to both sides of the story. We tend to sympathize with people who make the first claim to be the victim but remember that assault can go both ways. You never know if one is pretending to be a victim just to frame someone; be wary of who you trust.
We are prone to blowing up negative news much quicker, providing it a much wider reach than the clarifications that may come after it. People have lost their careers prematurely—something that they have put in thousands of hours for— before being able to exercise their full capacity to make up for the damage done because of such false accusations. A tarnished name can never find its way back to being snow-white pure.
Your thoughts and notions may change, but your words cannot be changed. Be mindful of what you say.
To say that our society is at its best would be a blatant lie; we are far from reaching our full capabilities. Every one of us should bear in mind that all of our actions and words ripple to cause waves of consequences, no matter how big or small. We are each responsible for ourselves, the way we speak, the way we act and react. We might not be able to change other people, but the least we can do is to take steps towards changing ourselves for the better. With the amount of toxicity in our world today, there is all the more reason to stand your ground and stay firm in your own beliefs.